Business picks up

December is a great time for vacations because few people take the time for dance lessons during the holidays. People who are planning spring weddings are beginning to call for dance lessons now. These are the couples who think ahead, smart to learn to dance before the pressure of the wedding is crowding their thoughts. People who call 2 weeks before the wedding and cram a lot of lessons into a small period of time so learn something, and what they wind up with is far better than rocking back and forth in a musical hug, but their is experience is far less enjoyable. I do enjoy the challenge, but much prefer working with the ones who give themselves time to relax and really learn the dance.

More on Swingout Northwest
For those of you who don't know about dance camps, they are a great way to immerse yourself and make great leaps forward in a short time. I don't recommend them for beginners, however. You need to have some basics to build on to get the most out of the experience. Basically, you take classes all day and dance all night. If you're young enough, you sleep when you get home. If you need a full night's sleep, you make choices. Swingout Northwest is a week long (some camps are 2 or 3 days) with about 61/2 hours of classes a day, 3 meals, an evening dance and a late night dance. It's one of my favorite camps because everyone lives and eats together, as opposed to camps where you go to a city and find your own lodging. I like the community feeling as you schmooze with the people at your table. Also, I don't miss much work the week between Christmas and New Year's. Self employed people get no vacation pay. More later!

New location for Swing Camp

I'm finally home from yet another Lindy swing camp. A new location, this one is in a Salvation Army camp near Mt Rainier. A perfect snow on the second day created a pristine woodland beauty that thrilled the people from warm weather areas like the bay area. The east coasters were less than enthusiastic. The snow crystallized on the second day and sparkled in the sun like a Christmas card. I never realized it actually did that in real life. More on this new site later...