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April Newsletter (Gordon Webster and Exciting Workshop)

Hey Medina Lindy Hop Swing Dancers,

April was a phenomenal month but in May and June we’re having events that will take Medina Lindy to the next level.  Headlining the list is the Gordon Webster Septet swing band coming in June as Medina Lindy’s first live band! Here’s the full scoop about Gordon Webster as well as May’s news with a Cliff’s Notes version first, followed by the full details.

Cliff’s Notes version:

  • 20% off Early Bird Special for Gordon Webster Dance (only 200 tix available and they are selling quickly) – Our last newsletter broke the news: Gordon Webster’s internationally acclaimed jazz septet will play our June dance, with vocalist Julia Weatherholtz. Such a win for us! People travel far to hear Gordon play. Your pals who don’t dance can still come enjoy the music. Use code EARLYBIRD now through May 31st to get 20% off tickets to the June 15th Gordon Webster dance event here. This event is a mini-Lindy exchange. This means it will gather dancers from all around the area and will have a special workshop and performances from dancers in Buffalo, Rochester, and Medina.  Check out the details below to see all that’s happening and how to get your tickets before they sell out.
  • Intermediate Lindy Hop Workshop with Expert Guest Instructors: You don’t want to miss this class taught by expert instructors Doriel Pryntz-Nadworny and Marta Pedrero. It will take place on June 15th from 6-7 PM right before the Gordon Webster dance. The class is called “Sharing the Stage – Helping Your Partner Shine.” See below for more information about the class and how to get tickets.
  • May Dance with ABC Channel 7 news: Calling all dancers! ABC channel 7 news reporter Mike Randall will be at our May dance.  Let’s show him what an amazing thing Medina Lindy is by filling the dance floor.  That dance will be on Thursday, May 18th with a beginner 6-count lesson at 6:30 pm and the dance itself from 7:30-10. We need as many bodies as possible for both the lesson and the dance.  Bring your roommates, bring your relatives, and come on out and snag your 15 seconds of fame as we use this unique opportunity to spread the word about Medina Lindy.
  • Mixing Six and Eight Count – May’s free progressive Lindy Hop lessons will help you to mix 6 and 8 count patterns. The next lesson will be on Monday, May 1st at 7 pm at Bent’s Opera House. Click this link to find info about the lesson schedule.
  • Open Meeting: Our open meeting last month went well. We have lots of new ideas on how to spread the word about Medina Lindy and how best to support and encourage our growing community.  See below for the important takeaways from that meeting. Our next open meeting will be on May 29th at 7PM and will have a zoom option for people to join from home as well as in person at Bent’s Opera House.

Details:

  • 20% off Early Bird Special for Gordon Webster Dance (only 200 tix available and they are selling quickly) – On June 15th we are having a Medina mini-Lindy Exchange with our first ever live band performing at a Medina Lindy! The event is scheduled for Thursday, June 15th. Gordon Webster will join us at Bent’s with a seven-piece band featuring vocalist Julia Weatherholtz. They will be playing 3 full sets from 7:30-11PM. People travel far to hear Gordon play. This is a great event for both dancers and jazz enthusiasts. Seating will be available for spectators. Beginner dancers can also learn to swing dance at the free beginner lesson from 7:00-7:30PM.  You can get your tickets here. Use coupon code EARLYBIRD to get 20% off tickets through May 31st. A mini-Lindy exchange means that dancers will gather in Medina from all around the region. We will have a special workshop taught by guest expert Lindy Hop instructors Doriel Pryntz-Nadworny and Marta Pedrero (for an additional workshop fee). That workshop will take place from 6PM – 7PM (see more info below). There will be performances from dancers of all levels from Buffalo, Rochester (including representatives from the RIT Swing Dance club, the Brick City Boppers), and Medina (including some of Medina Lindy’s own students that started Lindy Hopping only a short time ago). There will be a special multi-couple performance of a strictly Lindy phrase-spotlight and all-skate which will give you a feel for what Lindy Hop competitions look like at bigger exchanges nationwide.  Bent’s Opera House can hold 200 dancers so we will have to shut off tickets after 200 are sold. Take advantage of that early bird special and get your tickets early so you don’t miss this amazing event.
    • Special at Bent’s Hotel: If you’ve been looking for an excuse to stay at the Boutique Hotel at Bent’s Opera House, here’s your chance: Bent’s is offering 20% off their normal room rates for guests booking for that night who mention Medina Lindy.
    • More about Gordon Webster: Gordon Webster is a jazz musician and bandleader, a favorite in NYC since the mid 2000’s, and famous worldwide for his modern take on vintage swing music. He’s played for dancers in around 100 cities in over 20 countries. He’s a regular at Snowball in Stockholm, and also has appeared in performances at Swingtime Ball in Beijing, Lindy Shock in Budapest, CCX Montreal, and the London Lindy Exchange. US-based Lindy Hoppers will know him well from events like DCLX, Beantown Camp, and Swing Out New Hampshire. If you’ve heard the song “Eight, Nine and Ten,” chances are it was the version recorded by Gordon Webster’s band featuring Australian singer Hetty Kate. So this is a pretty big deal for us. We’re so lucky to have him nearby in WNY. This is an event you will not want to miss.
      • Gordon Webster (Photo Credit: Gracieuseté)
  • Intermediate Lindy Hop Workshop with Expert Guest Instructors: You don’t want to miss this class taught by expert instructors Doriel Pryntz-Nadworny and Marta Pedrero. It will take place on June 15th from 6-7PM right before the Gordon Webster dance. You can use the coupon code EARLYBIRD to get 20% off tickets to the workshop now until May 31st.
    • Course Description: Using improvisational exercises, you will learn ways to take your partner dancing to the next level through better listening and responding to your partner as well as creating space for your partner to shine.  In Lindy Hop, when your partner shines, you both shine!
    • This is an intermediate level class. Although this is not a pattern class, you should be comfortable with standard 6 and 8 count patterns such as pass-by turn, tuck turn, swing out, circle, etc., as some well-known patterns will be used as the base on which to build better partner interactions and improvisation. The exact patterns used will be reviewed quickly but the focus will be on other material.
    • Meet your instructors:
    • Doriel Pryntz-Nadworny (he/him) has been a mover all his life, drawn to acrobatics and reckless ideas (often with his brothers). At age 16, Doriel travelled to the International Lindy Hop Championships (ILHC) to compete in the Junior Division, where he became hooked for life on Lindy Hop. Since then, Doriel has taught at Lindy exchanges throughout the US in addition to teaching classes closer to his home in Rochester. Doriel believes that inspiration in jazz dance comes from hearing the music, seeing the embodiment of the music in his partner, and valuing shared freedom of expression. In classes, he and his partner help students be inquisitive, have fun, and express all their ideas, no matter how goofy they might be. Doriel supports every dancer’s unique inventions in the classroom, in an effort to honor the origins of this jazz dance – as a street dance, shared alongside the music and other people on the dance floor.
    • Marta Pedrero (she/her) discovered Lindy Hop in 2012 in the streets of Barcelona, where she was born and raised. She had studied contemporary dance since age 5, but now she’s a swing fanatic. She taught in Barcelona for several years before moving to Boston where she taught and organized events for Boston Lindy Hop. If you travel the workshop circuit, you’ve likely seen Marta there. She just moved to Rochester last summer and is excited to share her passion for swing dance here in Western New York. Teaching is Marta’s career, on and off the dance floor. When she’s not teaching dance, she teaches schoolchildren in Fairport, NY. She values students’ individuality and loves fostering their self-expression. As a dance instructor, she passes on the Lindy Hop tradition while also encouraging students to dance with their own accent. That means feeling the music and listening to their bodies. For Marta, dancing with a partner is all about communication, respect, joy, and helping her partner feel cared for.
    • You can see more information about the class on the website here and you can get tickets here.
  • May Dance with ABC Channel 7 news: Calling all dancers! ABC channel 7 news reporter Mike Randall will be at our May dance.  Let’s show him what an amazing thing Medina Lindy is by filling the dance floor.  That dance will be on Thursday, May 18th with a beginner 6-count lesson at 6:30 pm and the dance itself from 7:30-10. We need as many bodies as possible for both the lesson and the dance.  Bring your roommates, bring your relatives, and come on out and snag your 15 seconds of fame as we use this unique opportunity to spread the word about Medina Lindy. As an example of the type of reporting he typically does you can watch this video of a report he made about Medina Lindy’s Julie Berry who owns the bookstore Author’s Note in Medina.
  • Mixing Six and Eight Count – May’s free progressive Lindy Hop lessons will help you to mix 6- and 8-count patterns. We will take some basic six-count patterns and turn them into eight-count. Then we will add in an eight-count Lindy pattern or two such as swingouts and circles. The lessons are on the first three Mondays of every month. The next lesson will be on Monday, May 1st at 7 pm at Bent’s Opera House. Click this link to find info about the lesson schedule.
  • Open Meeting: Our open meeting last month went well. We have lots of new ideas on how to spread the word about Medina Lindy and how best to support and encourage our growing community.  Our next open meeting will be on May 29th at 7PM and will have a zoom option for people to join from home as well as in person at Bent’s Opera House. From the last meeting we discussed reaching out to see if we can get grants to increase our programming and reach.  This has already resulted in a very fruitful meeting with GO Art in Batavia. Also, we want to make it easier for you to help spread the word. We’ve added a resources page to medinalindy.com so people can download and print flyers and business cards or post them online where needed. We got lots of feedback on how the classes and dances are going and things that can be done to improve them.  We have already implemented these changes.  And we discussed ways to reach out to more groups to get even greater involvement in Medina Lindy.  We will continue to work as an organization to spread the word. Our best ambassadors for Medina Lindy are you, the dancers.  The more you can bring your friends, colleagues, and acquaintances and spread the word to other community organizations, the more this Medina Lindy community of dancers can grow.

These next two months will be an important part of Medina Lindy in the Village’s growth path. I look forward to experiencing all these amazing events over the next two months with you.

I’ll see you all on the dance floor!

Thanks,

-Phil Berry