Swing Kid

For over four hours today, I was happily sequestered inside Dance Manhattan on West 19th Street taking the Swing Dance Crash Course.

O. Mi. God. Best fun in a long time and I have lots of fun.

Fabulous teachers, partners and music.

Only during the last 30 minutes did I begin zoning out, the result of sudden and extreme hunger and two hours sleep last night. I had been up doing my travel grant application in the middle of the night...despite a party where I had 2 shots of tequila, a huge glass of wine and coffee with amaretto. I never used to have any tolerance to booze. Now I can drink like a guy. Soon, like a sailor.

I wore a swingy black dress to class today. A sash in my hair. Fishnets. Black Mary Janes.

The effort was appreciated.

It was so good to resume dancing, given up over the last several months of travel and supreme busyness.

I'm still supremely busy but also supremely determined to have certain elements in my life.

Swing dance is one of them.

And there is an academic angle to my enthusiasm. While researching resistance efforts in Germany in the period leading up to WWII, I discovered that there was an anti-Hitler movement of young people called the Swing Kids. A movie was made in the nineties, by this very name, and is considered a cult classic. It awaits me at the Barnard library.

Enjoy the following clip. It'll make you wanna jump up and dance!