All posts tagged: swing dancing

Anchor’s Aweigh: Windy Lindy 2011

Saturday night was Windy Lindy 2011, the big event of Wellington’s annual swing calender. The theme this year was ‘Anything Goes’, as in the Cole Porter musical, where anything (and everything) goes on on the SS American. It’s the fourth year I’ve attended Windy Lindy, and every year I’ve shown you my costume, from my saucy Dorothy Gale costume for ‘Pin Ups and Poster Boys’, to my human chicken costume for ‘Freaks’, to last year’s glamourous satin number for ‘Puttin on the Ritz‘. Unfortunately, every year my costume planning seems to happen more and more last minute.  Eek! This year I didn’t really thing about it at all until the night before.  Double eek! But with some help from the Army Surplus store, my long time obsession with collecting images of nautically inspired fashions, a mad pattern draping and sewing spree, a jacket I made almost a decade ago, and a few random accessories in my dress up box, I pulled together a rather cute outfit (if I do say so myself). I made a …

Let’s dance!

The only thing wrong with my New Years is that it isn’t involving dancing.  I’m thinking Charleston. I want to be happier than this couple though.  More like this: That’s the spirit!  Happy New Years! I hope you all had a truly wonderful 2011.

A bit more Windy Lindy

There have been more lovely images of Madame Ornata and I coming in from various sources, so I’m going to indulge myself and give you one last deluge of photos. The first three are by a professional photographer who was at the dance.  HannieSunshine does amazing, beautiful work, and I’m so excited by the gorgeous photos she got of Madame Ornata and I.  It was a very difficult venue to get good photographs in, and she got some impressive stuff.  I can definitely recommend her. Hannie’s last photo has a story.  It is a tradition in Swing circles that when someone has a birthday they get their own personal swing steal set.  All the dancers form a circle and the birthday boy (or girl) gets danced with by as many ladies (or men, respectively) as can pop in and steal him away from his previous partner. A special birthday happened the night of Windy Lindy – one of our dancers turned 75, so all of the ladies vied for a chance to get lucky enough …