Movie Night SONW
Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.
-- Ingmar Bergman
Wednesday, December 27, 2000
Two years ago: Swing Out I
Our first full day at camp! My alarm clock worked, which I hadn't been sure about. I dragged myself to the shower. Although some folks preferred the shower stalls to the gang showers in the other dorms, the big showers have one advantage -- in the stall this morning, I couldn't get the spray directed anywhere but in my face. With a larger space, I could have moved out of the way at least.
I ate a good hearty breakfast -- oatmeal, pancakes, and bacon, then got the Cafe Internet on the phone. I wanted to make sure they'd found the print job I slipped through the mail slot last night. The woman who was working had found it, but hadn't read the accompanying letter yet. She was fine with what I wanted, no problem.
I made my way up to JFK, a rough building that sits up on top of the hill behind the fort. I think it might have been used as a theater at one time, since there's an elevated portion of the floor that could serve as a stage. Mattias and Åsa were our instructors -- a Swedish couple. They taught us a simple combination of steps, then really worked the details. We worked on connection, stance, and really leading each move. This is especially important in class, when by repetition the follow might know what to expect.
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Dapper Dan had thought about coming into town with me after class, but he called Mailboxes Etc. and found that his package hadn't arrived yet. So I drove to the Cafe Internet by myself, on this unusually sunny morning. The newsletters were printed and looked good. I indulged myself by getting on line and checking email, but there was only list mail, darn it! So I sent a message to Jack, letting him know how I was doing (and hinting that I wanted to hear from him). I miss him!
I spent a few too many minutes reading Yehoodi.com, so some folks were already entering the dining hall when I got back to camp. I put the newsletters, a pale yellow stack of paper, on a counter in the entry to the cafeteria. It made me smile to see folks picking them up eagerly and reading them. One guy laughed heartily because I'd put a note about some campers eating chocolate cream pie at the airport, in <HOMER> markup language.
When I went to my first afternoon class, I asked what I'd missed during my run into town. Lennart Westerlund had taught -- I was sorry to miss him, but I hope we'll have another class with him this week. This afternoon class was in the upper story of 204, where the late night dancing had happened last night. The room is rather long and narrow, which can make it difficult to see the instructors. We were taught again by Matthias and Åsa. The first half of class we worked on a jazz dance routine -- falling off the log, some cross-over steps, a turn, a pivot step.... Then the second half we worked again on the morning's routine -- six-count inside turn, hip catch, turn with a quick stop, six-count texas tommy to reverse skate position, then a rotation to side-by-side. I found it interesting that different leads seemed to have problems with different parts of this.
The second afternoon class was jazz dance with Chazz Young, back in JFK. The steps he was teaching were simple to begin with (adding turns later in class made them a bit more complicated), but the repetition of knee bends started to bother my legs. I wanted to save some energy for the next class, so halfway through I went and sat down, just watching the rest of the class. I do like his spirit and energy! He was very encouraging, reminding dancers to use their arms and bodies, not just their feet. "But you'll get it, I know! When you feel comfortable, you'll get it!"
Back to 204 for the first session of electives. I'd chosen Shag and Balboa with Rob and Diane Van Haaren. The room was pretty packed! They asked for votes on whether to switch between the two dances, or do three days on one and three on the other. The second option won, but they decided to spend the first three days on Shag, which is a very bouncy dance. So I decided to come back when they start on Balboa. Shag felt too strenuous right then.
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So I had some time before dinner, to come back to my room and do newsletter work, and journal writing also. Dinner was meatloaf, corn, and good salad. It's amazing the number of vegetarian and vegan folks we have at camp. They get special entrees. For example, tonight they got big portobello mushroom caps stuffed with breadcrumbs, onions and herbs. After the meal, Viola got up, along with a few other folks, and made some announcements. (I guess we can't get away from these announcements entirely, though the newsletter does help some. ) Viola started talking about the Cabaret, but said that a lot of details would be in the newsletter tomorrow. Maren said the expression on my face was priceless! I was surprised because she hadn't given me word one of this stuff yet.
The movie wasn't scheduled until a bit later, so I hung around in the lounge chatting with folks. The notebook I'm carrying around is proving very handy! I have pockets to put any slips of paper people give me, I have blank paper for notes and to give to people to write on (Viola, for instance), and I have my schedule in a page protector.
When I walked across to the little jewelbox of a theater, I was surprised to see Adam making popcorn with a commercial popcorn popper. This was a surprise! At the last meeting this had all been up in the air, but the caterer we are having for new years eve had a machine and rented it very inexpensively. The hot popcorn added to the festive atmosphere! Plus we had candy and soda, all free. Jane and Stephen Osborn asked me to sit next to them, in the second row. There followed a long delay due to technical difficulties. (Why didn't they test this out before we got there?) Mark Kapner got up and started some impromptu singing to entertain us -- "My Belly Button", the Great Titanic, I don't wanna dance, I want a hamburger. He was able to do this because Joe Ross had forgotten his guitar in the theater, just by chance!
Finally, the clips, on a keystoning video projector. I was a bit bugged by inappropriate laughter and "smart" remarks from the folks near me during sections of an old documentary called "The Spirit Moves", but they settled down soon. There were gasps and shrieks of amazement when Whitey's lindy hoppers are shown, with amazing speed and aerials.
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My original plan for the evening was to get done with the newsletter early, take it to town, all so I could get to bed early. Things didn't work out quite that way.
I got newsletter material from Viola at last, plus various notes and notices were deposited in the pink envelope. This system is working! After I finished adding the article about the Cabaret night, I walked over to the staff house to get the articles Karen promised me. But she wasn't there yet! Lovica let me in, saying she was working on an ad right then -- she's selling some dance shoes. I asked her for a roster of our instructors and their home towns -- there'd been an anonymous request for this info.
Lovica, Gavin and I sat around the table chatting for a bit. Karen hadn't left me anything in the pink envelope on the staff house door, so we tried to raise her on the radio -- no good. Just as I was about to leave, she and Steve walked in the back door. I sat her down at the table and made her write, while the rest of us kept talking.
After she was done, I walked back across the parade ground to my dorm. Being out in the dark, in the middle of that big empty space, was a powerful feeling! If the moon had been out, I'd have done some running and jumping; as it was I contented myself with admiring the view over the water.
So this all added up to not finishing the newsletter until after midnight. I drove to town and back, and was still in bed before one in the morning, so that's not too bad.
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