A reflection on movement, music, mirth, muse and commensurate relations- Brian Keeler
Above- "Motion of Mirth- Dance Flurry"- a large pastel of a contra dance on the 4th floor of the historic City Hall in Saratoga Springs, NY.
A Weekend of Dance-
After just returning from another wonderful weekend at the Dance Flurry Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY some reflections on dance and other arts seemed apt. I've been attending this dance event for the better part of 25 years but with a hiatus since COVID. So a return this year to enjoy many types of dance and music was especially wonderful. Connecting with partners past and finding new connections makes for a great weekend. I would estimate that perhaps a few thousand dancers and musicians converge for this long weekend each year. From around 10 am until after midnight each day one can find a dozen dances, performances or classes going on at the same time. The event corresponds with Linda's birthday on Valentine's Day too- so that makes it special as well.
The weather is always bitterly cold- but hey, it is February. The wind and snow continued this expectation this year as there were plenty of challenges to the drive there and back. But once there the snow falling outside the rooms full of dancers made the getaway all the more appreciated. Being snowed in at such a place is ok. I do recall one year when the weather intervened in a big way. That was when a severe windstorm knocked the power out in Saratoga for the entire city that weekend. A memory of some of us in a rented house playing cards by candlelight with full winter clothing remains. The festival was cancelled at a humongous financial loss. Not to be deterred, we did find dancing in nearby towns which were not affected by the blackout.
Above- a large oil painting by the author - depicting the interior of Cafe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY where the Dance Flurry is held each February. This 30" x 44" oil on linen is titled. "Light on Flamenco, Cafe Lena."
Dining and Dancing-
First though, a note on the dining. We always take in a couple of special meals at the restaurants in town and for the birthday meal. For several years running it was Limoncello, an Italian Restaurant that has since been shuttered and now the building is home to a bank. This weekend was no exception and we tried the bistro on Broadway, the main drag there, called Boca- Spanish or Italian for mouth. And it was exceptional- asparagus and brussel sprouts like I've never tasted and great corn chowder too. The presentation was so artful and colorful that it seemed almost a shame to dine. We went back to Boca Bistro again on Sunday night for a much quieter meal. And for Saturday night we treated ourselves to Chianti, an Italian Restaurant just off Broad Street. During other festivals we would often pop into the vegetarian cafe on Henry Street for lunch with a great variety of terrific offerings.
History and architecture-
Then there is the history and architecture of Saratoga. Its glory days shine through in the many spectacular Victorians all around town. We used to stay in one of the most ornate and beautiful, the Batchelor Inn with a wonderful spire towering above its ornate gingerbread. The interior is to die for as well. And as dance venues, the Flurry used to have dances in the beautiful Casino in the park. This venue has wonderful ambiance and light. The top floor of the city hall is magical and timeless in its historic nature. I've done several paintings situated in these structures. We've stayed in the banal Holiday Inn for several years, which supplanted one of the Victorians that met the wrecking ball.
Above- A painting of a contra dance at the Dance Flurry. The venue depicted is the 4th floor of the City Hall which is still used as one of the main settings for the Flurry music and dance. This oil titled, "Dance Hall Light" is a 36" x 40" oil on linen- now in a corporate collection in Scranton, PA.
Speaking of history in Saratoga, the historic Cafe Lena, where Bob Dylan got his start is sometimes part of the Flurry. One year an electrifying Flamenco performance was viewed there complete with virtuoso Flamenco guitarist. There is a painting of that included here- above. We think of Sargent's famous huge canvas of a cavorting Flamenco Dancer, now in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
In other years, way back, I would go to the Flurry to perform with various dance ensembles. That would add a certain amount of stress to the event as we were doing routines and sometimes teaching too. Our salsa group one year taught a huge class in the fundamentals of Rueda. It was a challenging endeavor but it went well.
above- The author at the Dance Flurry leading a dip with Erica, during a swing dance. The photographer caught a nice symmetry with other couple also in a dip, mirroring our move. Cool!
But social dancing is really the core of the weekend. And dance offers a bridge which crosses all kinds of demographics and generation gaps to connect people in the music and in the connection of the language of various dance forms. The music is always top notch and in the pocket. Some of my most memorable dances come from partners of various ages and from surprising serendipitous meetings on the floor. A couple of older women, (about my age or older) had some of the best feel and connection along with a true appreciation and knowledge of the dance and with partnering skills. Others, who are new to the dances, are usually appreciative and love to share the moment.
In these fraught times of horrible news coming out of DC and the world at large, it is especially soothing and therapeutic to have a balm for the soul like music and dance. Not to advocate disengagement, but we all need a respite from the offenses to our sensibilities. Our government and democratic principles are under attack. Whew, it is truly awful. We think of the movie that came out in the 1980's called Swing Kids, which chronicled the clash of fascism with jazz and dancing in Germany in the 1930's and 40's. Is our new brand of fascism going to be as oppressive? Well they've taken over the Kennedy Center. What next?
Let's move on to the dance for now.
We took a wonderful Cuban movement class on Sunday to get the last day going. It was instructed by a woman versed in ballet and many other forms of dance and part of a Salsa dance troupe. It was like a moving yoga class with breath and body isolations. She guided us expertly while calling out for us to undulate arms and torso at specific intervals. Suppleness seemed to be imparted to us through watching, listening and following.
Other years a wide variety of styles have been sampled at the Flurry, from Tango to Swedish folk, African, clogging and many others. This is part of the appeal of the event; it is a great opportunity to learn about other cultures, music and dance in one weekend.
Above- an oil painting by the author of a group of contra dancers in the City Hall at the Dane Flurry.
This work titled. "Light on Their Feet- Dance Flurry"- this 40" x 35" oil on linen is availble at the North Star Art Gallery in Ithaca, NY. www.northstarartgallery.com
What is my favorite dance? Well, Balboa comes to mind- (a not-so-household name of a dance) as it has been one of my faves for many years. It combines the close-embrace body connecting and lead of tango but with the music of the swing era and patterns and style all its own. However, I really like the variety of dance styles and partners that know me understand that I like to mix up the forms occasionally. The idea for me is to honor the various dance forms while not feeling constricted. Franky Manning, the famous Lindy Hopper, used to say that it is all swing. This blending or borrowing used to be looked down upon but now it is more accepted and even taught as "hybrid dancing." So it has an official description and acceptance now. We see the dance forms morphing and evolving too - with some dancers of West Coast Swing making this style into a really poetic movement that seems to have no similarities to the original form. On observation of this evolving form or West Coast Swing one cannot even see the basic sugar push move.
Over the years, I've been traveling to dance weekends and classes all over the states, and in Europe too. I attended the famous Lindy camp in Herrang, Sweden way back in 1997. I also attended a weekend at Como, Italy a couple of times. My former dance partner, Sharon Youcha and I also hit some spots in London and Paris a few times as well.
The Music-
Then there's the jamming at the Flurry. They set it up to have the jams facilitated by the musicians that are featured over the weekend. This year the jam I participated in was led by Danny Lipsitz and his band, The Brass Tacks. Those joining in on vocals and other instruments were truly terrific and with the band doing all the heavy lifting and calling the solos it makes for an inspiring session. To sit in and be part of these top level bands makes one feel like we are on the stage at the Blue Note or the Iridium jazz clubs in NYC. And there are impromtu jams happening in the hallways over the weekend.
I mentioned the commensurate relations in the subtitle, so let's touch on that. Occasionally someone does ask me if there are parallels to painting, dance and music. And, yes, there are many and they've been covered by many others in essays, books and documentaries. But one that stands out is the balance in figure drawing (with the model) and the awareness of weight-bearing in dancing. One needs to determine this when drawing the nude and one also needs to know this in dancing. Elements like rhythm, timing, intervals and movement also come in.
Sometimes I will offer a basic dance class in Balboa before the gigs of our band, Zingology. Here's a poem our violin player wrote about the class. Joanna's new book of Poetry is called, Salamanders in Winter, was published by Cayuga Lake Books, 2023.
Ornithology- By Joanna Green
At the honky tonk swing dance
Down at the Grange last night
Sweet rock-steppin’ in the corner with my love
We pretend to know what we’re doing
Watching the other dancers strut their stuff
The women sparkling in Cinderella shoes
Their bare skin sheened with sweat
Our friend in jeans and floppy T-shirt
Dips and turns them with restrained flamboyance
A stack of papers peering out of his back pocket
Playing his partner like a fancy toy at the end of stick
Spinning her then turning her this way now that
Pulling her in to turn her aroundPushing her back out
Then reeling back in with that magic energy
That connects dancers and loversLike two magnets
The push pull push pullThe unashamed sex of it all!
Men with stone faces spread their fingers wide
Across the backs of womenHolding them close in, hips moving like mirrors
Like the bills of two exotic birds in their mating ritual
The heat rising in that close hold
Until he releases her to swing out and awayWith her face flushed
Or is it just my face, watching Like some lonely ornithologist?
October 2019
The above poem was inspired by a Zingology gig (the author's gypsy jazz band) and a dance class at the Enfield Grange- just outside of Ithaca, NY.
With Joanna's nod to the honky tonk and Grange, we can recall some of those iconic images in American painting of the jazz age and those from the heartland of America. Thomas Hart Benton's painting of dancers and musicians in the American west or in New York City dives capture some of the feel and tradition. And his work out of Americana legend, the Ballad of Frankie and Johnny also portrays the feel of those early times of jazz. You probably know the tune. It also recalls that alcohol and drugs were part of those scenes and they often had unfortunate consequences. Most dance events today are about the music and offer the dancers venues without the smoke and booze of past years.
Above - Thomas Hart Benton's painting of dancers and musicians on the frontier in the American west.
But we also think of the art of dance from biblical scenes like Salome dancing in front of Herod or even Greek vase paintings. And to wrap up- we have been taking in two wonderful museums nearby during the Flurry weekend. One is a small museum, but with a superb collection, the Hyde Museum in Glens Falls, NY. They have a small oil of Salome. And the Clark Institute is only about an hours drive in Williamstown, MA. There are several depictions of dancers there to fit in with our theme, including a bronze of the Three Graces by Carpeaux.
To view a video from Piazza Navona in Rome with the author dancing with Linda Graves-
To view a video of the author dancing to Zingology at the Old Carter Barn near Tunkhannock, PA-
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