Lisa Sieverts seems to be the keeper of this wonderful tradition, and started this season off by calling a truly magical dance at Scout House in Concord, MA on Thursday, Aug 28, with Spare Parts providing the music.

I got a few photos but they don't catch the magic so I'll try some words too.

For me, it felt like being home in several senses of that phrase:

• The music was great and the calling was excellent. Lisa called several dances by North Carolina people (Robert Cromartie and Dean Snipes, for sure, and probably a Gene Hubert). I gave a WHOOP everytime she mentioned N.C., so everyone knew I hailed from there :-)
• I knew a lot of the dancers, some from Pinewoods, and some just from having danced up here for a week. There was even a guy there (named Ken) who comes down to Feet Retreat but lives up here!
• The surface of the floor was really good. Not quite as good as Greenfield, but really quite comfortable.
• The energy on the floor was high and focused and relaxed, as only a critical mass of good dancers can make it. Yep, there were dances that "planed" - a term used in sailing for that magical moment when a sailboat (usually a catamaran) lifts up out of the water and skims along the surface. In dancing, it takes the right music with the right calls and the right dancers - all of that to achieve the smoothness and speed and fun that add up to that powerful feeling that many dancers call "flow". Ah yes. It's what I dance for.
• From the previous bullet you might have guessed that there were lots of really strong, smooth swingers. My belief is that, as the swings go, so goes the dance. And there it went great.
• There was a nice mix of ages, though not quite as many of the 20-somethings as we have at TCD. That always adds to the richness of the dance. And, of course, lots of older folks like me who have years of dance experience and know how to make the dance flow.
• It got crowded (four lines in a hall narrower than the main floor at CCC), but most dancers just adjusted to "dance small" and all was well.
• BUT, unlike the usual TCD dance, there were more men than women, so I had no trouble finding really good partners for every dance, including the mid-dance waltz. (And yes, to folks at TCD who didn't know I waltzed: I do now! I also Hambo, and learned a little bit of English and swing too! Yep, I'm turning into a multi-faceted dancer for sure.