Summer Dance Social August 17th, for the Veterans Memorial

The Summer Social Dance Party at the Arlington American Legion Was a huge success, with over 40 local dancers attending. We look forward to seeing everyone for our upcoming Fall Social Dance on October 19.

 

 

 

 

Summer Social Dance this Saturday

Please join us this Saturday at the Arlington American Legion as we host our seasonal Summer Social Dance. These dances are being held to raise the needed funds to update the Arlington Veterans Memorial. Our goal is to raise all the money needed to add the names our our fallen soldiers to the Memorial Wall. Join local dancers, friends and family members our of local service members. Veterans of the past and present will be there.

 

Arlington Veterans Memorial needs our support

Join us for our  Seasonal Social Dance Party!

 

8:30PM - 9PM

Dance Lesson with Rebecca Gentry

 

General Dancing 9-11

 

Pot Luck Snack table

*Optional to bring an item to share*

 

Casual attire

 

Adm. $15 at the door

cash or check made payable to the American Legion Post 139

 

Free Parking in the lot

Arlington American Legion Post 139

3445 Washington Blvd, Arlington VA

 

My visit to the Zeigfeld Theater.

What dancer's life would be complete without a visit to the Zeigfeld Theater? It seems almost as important as visiting the Roseland or the Totem Pole. Since some of the great places are now impossible to visit, like the Old Totem Pole and the Rainbow Room, I have put the ones which I am able to visit on my bucket list.

The Zeigfeld  has been an item on my bucket list for several years now, and this summer I finally made a visit to the great Zeigfeld movie theater. The present day Zeiglfeld is the 2nd theater to bear the name, rebuilt as a tribute to the original Zeigfeld Theater. The lobby is filled with Zeigfeld history.

Here are some pictures that I took during my recent visit:

 

The display cases in the lobby have original costumes worn by the Zeigfeld girls.

But by far, the coolest artifact in the Zeigfeld lobby, is this invitation to see "Smiles".  The show is mentioned frequently in the book  "The Astaires", by Kathleeen Riley. Although the show was a flop,  "Smiles" combined  Marilyn Miller with very young Fred and Adelle Astaire. As far as I know, there is no known dance footage of Fred and Adele Astaire. But there is a news reel footage clip of Fred and Adele from this Broadway Show, Smiles. I've been searching Youtube for it and it seems impossible to find.

I think that's why "Smiles" is so important to dance history, and how cool is it that there's an old flyer invitation from Smiles in the Zeigled?

 

Internet rumors say that a sound newsreel clip exists of Fred, Adele, Marilyn

Miller and Florenz Ziegfeld together with a bunch of chorus girls and a piano player. It runs under one minute and is possibly  rehearsal footage. 78 records from Smiles are easy to find on Ebay.

A glass case with Marylin Millers dance shoes?

 

Eddie Cantor's gloves are also on display in the Zeigfeld Lobby.

 

Leaaving this lobby, one travels up by escalator to the Zeigfelds mezzanine level. The restrooms offer very clever shoe signs, outside the theater entrance.

Twin Cities Open 2013

In July, Sophia and I traveled to Minneapolis for the Twin Cities Open. The event was held in the Marriott City Center, in Downtown Minneapolis.  The event was hosted by Scott and Amy Anderson. This was our first year attending. This event was one of the most welcoming that we attended this year. The ballroom had a very colorful backdrop, depicting a Broadway Theme. Participants received homemade chocolate chip cookies.

During the weeks leading up to this event, Sophia was on extended travel in Europe. While she was away, I had had surgery scheduled, leaving us unable to practice during the month of June. This was our first time back on the dance floor, after almost a month without practice. We had a lot of fun dancing at this event, and even more fun as spectators. Even though we have been (unknowingly) participating in the Dancers Cup Tour for several years now, we didn't really know how it worked until we arrived at Twin Cities. It was interesting to watch the progress of this event, to see how the results played into the DCT. I missed seeing Charlene Proctor at this event, she was noticeably absent from Twin Cities and missed by many. 

We're both very thankful to Scott and Amy Anderson for hosting us.