Swing dancers ready for weekend's Flurry

PHOTOGRAPHER: Patrick Dodson

Tom Swimm and Candace Johnson, both of Halfmoon, dance the night away to the live music of Sonny & Perley Jive Five during a First Friday Capital Swing Dance at the Elk's Lodge in Albany on Feb. 6.

Share on Facebook

Save

Ron Miller of Rotterdam walked briskly across the auditorium floor at the Albany Elks Lodge.

He had company. A young woman held his hand, and Miller led the way to a corner of the wood.

Seconds later, both were on the swing. Quick steps, triple steps and single hops were in play, as they were for about 30 other couples on the floor.

Swing dance prospers in the Capital Region, and will flourish this weekend at The Flurry, the annual festival of traditional dancing and music that will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at five locations in Saratoga Springs. Swing, zydeco, hip hop, break and square dancing will be among the forms represented.

Things begin shaking on Friday, when the first of 400 weekend performers take city stages. The first of 250 events will include early evening country dance, swing, waltz, contra and Cajun sessions. Ticket information and an online schedule are available at www.flurryfestival.org.

The Flurry

WHERE: Saratoga Springs, several locations

WHEN: Friday-Sunday

HOW MUCH: Day passes, $3-$65. All session, $8-$100

MORE INFO: www.flurryfestival.org

Miller is always confident he’ll find people to swing with. He’s met dozens of partners at the First Friday Capital Swing Dances, which have been held in Albany on the first Friday of the month for the past 25 years.

Places to dance can be found as well. Wednesday night swing sessions are held at Bombers Burrito Bar in Troy; the Saratoga Savoy Diamond Dance is held the third Friday of each month (except in February) at the Saratoga Music Hall. Blues and swing are boss at the Hudson River Coffee House in Albany on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month.

“It’s magic, it’s the live music,” said Miller, an information technologist for the state Comptroller’s Office.

“A lot of beautiful people come out to the dance; they’re beautiful inside and they’re beautiful inside their feet. It’s just a tonic to get moving to music . . . afterward, you just have a glow.”

Last Friday night, there were about 100 people in the lodge on South Allen Street — bitter cold temperatures might have persuaded some regulars to skip the date. The live band, the Sonny and Perley Jive Five, was in motion. So were toe-tapping, hip-turning, wrist-spinning and skirt-twirling dancers.

Swing enjoyed a resurgence during the late 1990s, helped along by bands such as the Royal Crown Revue, Brian Setzer Orchestra and Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. Kids danced swing in clothing store commercials. Swing outfit Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999.

The First Friday dances were founded by Patti Melita and Teresa Broadwell. Patti knew the dancers, Teresa knew the musicians. They gathered both groups at First Unitarian Church in Albany. The site has changed over the years, to places such as First Lutheran Church, the Albany Hibernian Hall and now, the Albany Elks.

“People can come with or without a partner and have a good time,” added Melita, whose band, Patti-O & the Hip Hooligans, will play at The Flurry and at the March 6 swing dance.

When Melita is the dance floor, she looks forward to the passing parade of dance partners. Young and inexperienced are fine with her.

“They’ll dance with an older person like me because they’ll learn something,” she said. “I’ve been swing dancing since I was 10 years old, and I was 10 years old in 1952.”

Jim Dolen, who runs the Friday swing fests, believes about 50 percent of the people who go to The Flurry visit the swing sessions.

getting out there

During the Friday events, he just wants folks to dance. He doesn’t want them wearing their coats or sitting forlornly on chairs that line the walls.

“I tell everyone, ‘Ask everyone to dance,’ ” he said.

Moriah Jones, 18, of Rexford, was one of the junior swing dancers last Friday. “I have a blast,” Jones said, “especially with the people who have more experience than I do . . . they just throw me all over the floor.”

Some dancers think more like Ron Miller — swing dance and its music, moves and moods becomes a salve for the soul.

“I love to dance, it speaks to me,” said Carol Tyrell of Albany. “It says, ‘You’re alive! You’re alive!’ And you should be moving to enjoy life.”

Try something different

The Flurry, the festival of traditional dancing and music that will be held this weekend in Saratoga Springs, always offers creative workshops and sessions. Here are a few of the more eclectic ones:

— “Sea Shanties & Drinking Songs,” Friday, 7:30 p.m., Parting Glass Pub

— “One Night Stands: Callers’ Workshop,” Saturday, 10 a.m., Saratoga Hilton

— “Drumsong: The Art and Spirit of Drumming,” Saturday, 2 p.m., Saratoga Hilton

— “Slangpolska: Next Big Thing from Sweden,” Saturday, 2:30 p.m., Saratoga City Center

— “Austentatious! Unusual Dances from Jane Austen’s Era,” Saturday, 8 p.m., Saratoga City Center

— “Foot Stompin’ Throw Down Cajun Dance,” Saturday, 8:15 p.m., Saratoga Hilton

Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 395-3124 or at [email protected]