New England Dance Festival

The New England Dance Festival is the best thing to happen to the east coast!

Have you ever had too much fun? We came darned close last weekend! 

Three amazing days of lessons, competitions and social dancing in Newton, MA!

Daytime featured lessons in in two-step, west coast and east coast swing, cha-cha, waltz, nightclub 2Step and line dances. 

And, there were all kinds of competitions in the main ballroom. 


Not just the pros, but competitions for all kinds of people!  Pro-ams, couples of all ages and children.  Unlike ballroom competitions, there were plenty of breaks for social dancing.

At night, there were three ballrooms for dancing.

One was mixed styles, a second was filled with west coast swingers - and a room for line dancing! 

Saturday night’s highlight was the WSDC Jack n’ Jills.

Dancing went on until the wee hours!

Featured teachers and judges included local pros Robert Cordoba and Anne Fleming, and an assortment from all over including John & Dee Soares (RI), John Whipple (FL), Dancin' Dean (VT), Kristin Ham (CO), Richard Duggar (TX), Sam & Chris Wetzel (PA), Lou & Catherine Gagnon (Canada) and Clive Stevens came all the way from the UK!

Robert Cordoba and Deborah Székely are internationally acclaimed teachers and performers.

Robert gave amazing musicality lessons including song structure and handling breaks – with practical application.

This guy knows how to teach so that all levels of students get something out of his classes. He’s the guy pros go to! http://www.robertdeborah.com/

The competitions were very interesting.

Everyone did an excellent job - and it was an amazing show to watch.

No one appeared nervous and there was a great deal of joy on the dance floor.

The costumes were gorgeous - ladies in brightly colored satins and rhinestones - gentlemen in glittery ties and cowboy hats.
It took my breath away!

Suzanne Mosely w student Paul Grande, 1st overall in Male Silver Novice

It is important to note that the teachers presenting their students in pro-ams did so with astonishing grace.

Dee Soares, Kathy St. Jean, Richard McMurrich, Suzanne Mosely essentially danced in the shadows of their students and let them shine.

When it was their turn - they took flight!

Suzanne Mosely with partner Richard McMurrach:

                                                                                

Saturday night there was the Black & White Ball featuring masters competitions and professional performances. Afterwards, there was general dancing in the main ballroom.  DJ Dave Muzii (NJ) did a great job of rotating the music to give everyone plenty of inspiring two-steps, cha-chas, waltzs and east coast swings. 

PATS ON THE BACK FOR A GREAT JOB WITH THE COMPETITION MUSIC SELECTION! 
Need a DJ? dmuzii@comcast.net (or Facebook).

But the best show was in the west coast swing room - where Wildman Louie DJ'd and Robert Cordoba MC'd the WSDC Jack n' Jills. Anyone could enter, everyone could participate and there was the thrill of the adventure. These competitions were run much better than last year – with partner changes and adequate numbers of judges.  When everyone gets an honest shot, then it really is fun. 

Congratulations to:

Newcomer:
     1st Daniel Aube & Mariel Manzone

     2nd Michael Egan & Kayla Cosgrove
     3rd Pam Marshall & Kelley Wharff

Novice:
     1st John Quarto-vonTivadar & Christina Ferrari
     2nd David Lamon & Laura Ciabarra
     3rd Josh MacDonald & Elaine Morgan

The event is held at the Boston Newton Marriott and it is always a pleasure to stay there. The staff is wonderful.

Everything is available including Starbucks!  And great bar.  Really good hotel shop, too. 

There are all these little details, like cookies and cold water with lemon in the lobby. (This stuff is important when you've been dancing for 3 days practically straight!)
 

The hotel is on the Charles River and it is possible to rent a row boat ($16 per hour) or explore the scenery on foot when taking a break from dancing.

With the hotel discount, an hour in a kayak is a measly $12 and the river is easy to handle and beautiful - like floating through a Monet painting.

It is a MUST-DO EXPERIENCE!

ttp://www.paddleboston.com/


It is really easy to get to the hotel by hopping a train from Boston to the Riverside stop on the Green Line and the hotel shuttle happily provides service (even during the mid-day break). The Bolt Bus out of NYC is $15 and takes 4 hours. Add another $2 for the subway. What a deal!

  
Update: WorldWide Bus now offers express service from Manhattan to Newton, MA - with a stop at the Riverside Station.

http://www.worldwidebus.com/

When it comes to meals, there are several options. The hotel restaurant (and the bar too) is excellent - you can get something small or big, cheap or expensive and it is quality all the way. Awesome breakfast buffet too! Or, a ten minute walk down the road leads to Dunkin’ Donuts, Bruggers, liquor and grocery stores, a pharmacy and pizza. There is also a shopping mall nearby.

Kathy St. Jean and Randy Deats just took this event over from Jack and Debbie Paulus last year. They started off very well last year (read my review in the archive).

This year, it only got better. Already this is THE premier annual country dance event on the east coast.

Don't miss out next year!

This event could be developed into a week long extravaganza. Add other types of dances. (Salsa? Hustle? Ballroom?) There is outdoor sports, shopping, sightseeing - fun for the whole family - what more could you ask for in a summer vacation?!

http://www.nedancefestival.com/