Dawn Xiana Moon: Intelligent folk pop with influences from jazz and traditional Chinese music. From Chicago.

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Hello my friend, we meet again.

Yes, it's been the longest absence this blog has ever experienced. I apologize. We're now back in business, and I promise not to lapse so severely again. Here are some highlights from the last few weeks:

I finally got caught up on Battlestar Galactica. I'd share my thoughts, but I don't want to give any spoilers for those who haven't yet seen the last couple of episodes. Suffice it to say that the writers love drastically changing the circumstances of the show at the end of the season. Unfortunately, it looks like Season 4 will be the last.
I saw Phil Keaggy and Brennan Manning perform/speak at an intimate theatre in Wicker Park. Phil really is one of the best guitar players alive--add to that the fact that he's missing a finger on his strumming hand and I wasn't a fan before, but I am now. I'd be happy to have half his abilities. One of the other cool things about that night was that I happened to be there with another dancer--we finally couldn't take just listening to the highly danceable blues tunes anymore and started swing dancing on the side of the room. Keaggy thought it was great, and so did a lot of the other people in the audience--a number of them actually thanked us for dancing. Imagine that!
My brother and three other sets of friends visited Chicago.
I started teaching swing and blues dancing at Studio Viva in Palatine, Ill. In August I'll be teaching at Bob Bills Studio in Chicago's West Loop as well.
Just Plain Folks made a Road Trip stop in Chicago and about 50 singer-songwriters, bands, and even a couple of hip hop artists showcased for each other.
I picked up the calligraphy I'd commissioned for my new logo. It looks amazing! You'll start to see the artwork appearing in the next few months.

Labels: blogging, concerts, musicians, swing dancing, teaching

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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

One of My Other Obsessions

One of my non-musical obsessions is swing dancing, and I'm excited to finally be teaching lessons again! Since moving to Chicago, I haven't taught much in a formal setting. But for those of you in the Chicagoland area, I'll soon be teaching two classes at Studio Viva in Palatine: Blues and East Coast Swing (we'll do a Lindy Hop class when there's an audience there for it--any takers?).

Blues is a sensual dance that grew out of smoky blues clubs and intimate house parties; it emphasizes close physical connection and communication between partners. At its best, it's like a five-minute hug, and I've sometimes described it as slow dancing with style. Dora, who owns the studio, described it as "bumping and grinding without the grinding" tonight, which made us all laugh. While it looks deceptively simple, the principles of the dance are nearly impossible to learn by observation. It's by far my favorite dance (which is probably no accident: I'm a swing dancer that doesn't care terribly much for swing music).

Labels: swing dancing, teaching

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