bouncyI did Saturday and Sunday at the NEFFA festival, my first year attending (finally!). Next year, I hope I'll be able to do all sessions, because there was just so much to try! Among new things,
ghislaine and I tried a contra style called triplets, which was interesting, but challenging, especially when your triplet ends up with more inexperienced folks than not. penk and I did some Scottish country dances, which were very nice, as well as English country dances, also nice, and similar enough to contras that I could mostly muddle through.I bought a pair of jazz shoes for dancing, and I can tell already that they'll be a good addition! We went to a really cool singalong session with some kind of songs where all the different parts have different words and tunes and come together on one word -- anyone know what those are called and where I might find some with words and music?
But, truely, the highlight of the weekend were the contras. I had a hard time with some of them, but for the most part, I felt really, really competent, which is always pleasant. After deciding that I wasn't ready to brave a contra medley, I let myself get sucked into the one on Saturday, in a hall that was just incredibly packed, and it was totally awesome and fun and I just wanted it to keep going! *bounce* There were also some really great contras with new and unusual patterns, and it was fun to try them out. I did the medley on Sunday, too, in the same hall, which was really quite a lot less crowded, I'm glad to say, and it was just terrific.
I was pooped by the end of the weekend, and I slept about 10 hours last night, and I'm not really sore at all, which is nice. I actually feel like I could have done MORE dancing, and I wish I could! I'll have to get the next bunch of good dances to attend from mew and see what seems doable. And, one of these days, damnit, I'm gonna get to a Greenfield dance. Woo!
