*************************************************************************** Swing News, Mon 4/20/98, Issue #1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear swing folks, Our informal e-mailings of the last few months have now progressed to a larger network of swing dancers and other enthusiasts, with the possibility of creating a full-fledged organization down the road. Five of us even met Saturday at Bob's place and came up with a mission statement. (See below.) We decided to send out an e-mail around Monday of each week announcing the upcoming Friday Swing Night and other swing happenings that are in line with our mission. When people on e-mail spread the word to those without e-mail, everyone in the network is reached. Of course, starting something new isn't without its glitches: for instance, multiple copies of the same e-mail were sent out last week; and I think Bob just figured out how to keep everyone's e-mail address from appearing in the message; and some of us have now figured out who Bob is; and the remark we attributed to Kacy regarding "Los Fabulosos Cadillacs" being danceable (Are they? See review below) actually came out of someone else's mouth -- not sure whose at this point. But lots of fun was had by all last week. So read on, and hopefully we'll see you out this weekend! - Sam Howdy, I am bob. (if you wondered) It has been a job getting this swing letter together. Thanks bunches to Sam, Michelle, Duane and Sherry for their help in getting this out. I think we all agree that the effort has been worthwhile. I personally had a really great time the other night swing dancin' and getting spun out to Dan E. at the Sugar Palm, and what a great turnout of dancers, too. Thanks for letting me serve you and Keep on swingin'!!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK'S MAIN EVENT You don't want to miss the Friday night Swing Thing in the grand ballroom of the fabulous Sugar Palm Club. A small admission price gets the following: * Swing DJ Matt Mikas * Free dance lessons from 9-10PM. * Dance Contest at 11 PM. * Swing showoff at midnite. Four couples get one song each to strut their stuff. * Beautiful large sprung wood dance floor!!! * Air: The Ballroom is a Nonsmoking area; adjacent rooms are provided for smokers * Cost: $4 When: Friday, April 24th: Where: The Sugar Palm at 248-5549 for more information Directions: Take Exit 1 off I-4. Go south a couple of blocks to Palm Ave. Take a right. Go a few blocks to 15th St. There it is on the left. You can turn left on 15th St and pay $$ to park or turn right and look for street parking. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER EVENTS THIS WEEK U92 Oldies and Sock Hop at the Historic St. Petersburg Colliseum. Friday, April 24th. Featuring The Sevilles, and ???? (Garbled phone message. I'll call tomorrow) Doors open: 7:30PM. BYOB/Non Smoking. Address: 535 4th Avenue North. 813-892-5202 This looks like a cool thing to do! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPCOMING EVENTS Warhol Arrives! The Exhibition of Andy Warhol at the Dali. Featuring: Swingin' entertainment by Dan Electro w/Horn section. Item: The Dali Museum presents THE PARTY AFTER THE PARTY. A special event celebrating the opening the opening of ANDY WARHOL at the Dali. This Zodiac Group sponsored event will be Friday, May 1st from 9PM to 1:30AM at the Salvador Dali Museum, 1000 Third Street South, St. Petersburg. This is a fundraiser for the museum. Admission of $40 includes Swingin’ entertainment by Dan Electro and the Silvertones. Free swing lessons by Frank Ingo. Champagne and food provided. Creative Black tie/ Glamorous dress preferred. For tickets and reservations call the Salvador Dali Museum @ 813-823-3767 ext. 3039. It is a smoke free environment. Thanks Michelle! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAST WEEK IN REVIEW Sugar Palm Dan Electro with the horns, dancers, drinks, classes On Friday night well above 100 happy swing dancers, me included, were treated to the jump blues and swing of Dan Electro and the Silvertones. The Sugar Palm hosted the band and provided lessons early in the evening. Dan's horn section kept me hopping as the dancing lasted virtually "all night long" - Dwayne On Thursday, some of us made it over to Jannus Landing to see the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, one of the new popular swing bands. The place was packed, mostly with concert watchers, but the swing dancers cut a floor through the middle of the crowd out in the courtyard. The band was good, and loud, playing about everything you'd expect them to from their CD's. The other band, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs played a mix of latin and ska rhythyms; their trademark was abrupt switches, every minute or so, just when you were getting used to one thing, to a totally different style and rhythym. Many people hadn't had enough dance and were still trying to swing; it was something. --Sam --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BAND REVIEW Dan Electro and his crew provided an excellent show Friday at the Sugar Palm. They were "in tune" to the needs of the dancers. They played several numbers off their CD. No problem with the sound here. Their highly polished act is a dance sensation. These boy's rank a minimum of 4 dancers (5 being the highest honor bestowed upon a group). When Dan's group played at the Mainsail event on Sunday, Michelle reports that they played a bluesy set which was very exceptional. These guys are top notch. But don't take our word for it. Get off your duff, put on your glad rags, shut off the boob tube, and get out there and check it out!!! There are only so many dances left! Once you miss one it is gone forever. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SWING NETWORK As promised above, here's the preliminary mission statement we came up with for our swing network. Send any comments or suggestions to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . In rough order of priority, our mission is: 1. To make swing nights economically viable so that they will continue; to do so, we must unite the smaller, fragmented groups of dancers that, before the latest swing revival, had few places to go. 2. To get swing dancers (and other enthusiasts) the type of entertainment and instruction they want; this includes large, smoke-free or open-air dance areas, great music, and the ability to show up at a main event and know you'll have others to dance with. 3. To build a sizeable, supportive, and self-sustaining community of swing dancers/people. 4. To help dancers improve their skill and style through events such as one-time workshops. 5. To promote good health through dance. 6. To introduce new people to swing dancing. 7. To be the hottest thing going in entertainment! We're meeting again this Sunday. If you're the type of person who's good at organizing and wants to help, send an e-mail to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NAME THAT NETWORK We need a name for our swing network! Send your best suggestion to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . Next newsletter, everyone can vote on the names. Whoever submits the winning name forever gets the honor and glory of having come up with the name. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADOPT A DANCER Since some people don't have e-mail addresses, we're going to start an adopt-a-dancer program so that the swing network is complete. The way it works is someone with e-mail agrees to "adopt" someone without e-mail; in many cases, it will be someone they already know and are in contact with on a regular basis. Every week after the e-mail comes out, the person with e-mail calls up the one without and gives a quick summary of the main event and anything else they think is important. Stay tuned for more details. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Swing News Send submissions or addition/deletion/change-of-address requests to XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . The deadline for any Monday's issue is the Saturday before. ***************************************************************************