louisiana




Förra helgen passade Jens och jag på att sticka över till Louisiana, när vi ändå hade ledigt en dag samtidigt. Det är vår favoritutflykt och vi får ju passa på nu; när Jens har flyttat till Göteborg blir det inte lika nästgårds längre - å andra sidan hindrade avståndet från Göteborg mig inte från att åka dit två gånger om året innan jag träffade Jens, heller. :)











Det var mest Poul Gernes den här gången, och det jag såg tyckte jag bra om. Men det jag tyckte allra bäst om med dagens besök var 700 Nimes Road av Catherine Opie, där hon hade fotograferat Elizabeth Taylors hem. Fantastiskt, som allt Opie gör. Och så är det ju alltid fotografi som inspirerar mig mest; det blev visst sådan jag blev.

Lisa Nilsson | Små rum

midsommaraftonen



Kolla, en typiskt midsommarglad tjej! Jag hade en grym midsommarafton p.g.a. världens bästa gäng + mycket god mat + inget regn.


Vi firade hemma hos Karolina och började dagen med en sen midsommarlunch. Kan redan nu varna för högt fokus på mat under denna dag. :)


Rädisor är en så underskattad grej ändå? Nästan ännu mer somrigt än vattenmelon för mig (men inte lika somrigt som ljummen röd saft, nektarin och bulle på stranden).






Sedan satt vi sönder en röten stol och skrattade så att vi tjöt. :)


TÅHTA!


Jag är ganska säker på att den här leken har synts i bloggen förut - en sån där musikgissningslek där ens lagkamrater ska nynna den låt som står i appen, och så ska man komma på titeln utifrån det. Jag tycker det är rätt svårt (för få blues- och swinglåtar med helt klart), medan laget bestående av Karin, Tove och Karolina roade sig med att nynna låtarna i stämmor och sånt. :)


När vi hade lekt klart (och jag hade legat inne på soffan och vilat bort lite tråkig huvudvärk, vilket för en gångs skull fungerade!) blev det kvällsljus och vi väntade på grillen.



Smarr-grillat till middag.


Efter det insåg jag att ljuset höll på att bli lite dunkelt (här är klockan tjugo i elva), så då tjatade jag ut folk på gräsmattan så att jag kunde ta gruppfoto. Ingen fest utan gruppfoto om jag får bestämma. Och ja, ni ser ju vilket guldgäng jag hade äran att tillbringa min dag med!


Sedan gick vi igen igen för jag hade gjort ett midsommar-jeopardy. Jag gör ju alltid quiz men den här gången kände jag för att anstränga mig lite extra. Det blev klang och jubel! (Fast några av frågorna var väl svåra - jag lovar att skärpa mig till nästa gång!)

Vid midnatt när vi hade kalasat i tio timmar och var alldeles trötta och mätta och lite lagom goa i kropp och knopp bröt jag upp och begav mig hemåt. Tack vänner för den här strålande dagen! Kan vi göra om det snart?

Spice Girls | Stop

european blues invasion 2016



Let's start the post with some breakfast, shall we? :) (I know, not the healthiest breakfast, and in my defense, I had scrambled eggs and youghurt with berries the rest of the days. This was just so delicious. :))


We had breakfast here at Central Street Cafe every day for two reasons: 1. Their breakfast was awesome, and 2. It's located in the same building as all our classes = less time spent walking = more sleep. :)



The classes was the best part of my experience at EBI this year. At EBI you get to choose which class you want to go to after a short presentation or demo by the different teachers (as opposed to picking a themed track, like we do at Blues Garden - more on why we have chosen to it that way some other time - or signing up for or auditioning for a level such as beginner, intermediate or advanced). And there were just so many awesome class descriptions, sometimes it was really hard to choose because I wanted to take allll the classes. There were ten teachers and loads of different themes and aspects of blues dance (gosh, I just really love blues dance so much).

I didn't get a lot of photos during classes (mostly because I didn't want to disturb too much), but here are two of Ruth & Mike, who I completely adore.

Here's a photo I didn't take: Leigh and Annette taught a faboulous called Ultimate Swagger (I know - the name alone is worth a mention. :)) and for me it was transforming. For me, it was about getting all the awesome dance I have inside, out - I can't describe it better. I just felt so much more ... daring after the class, and I felt that same night while social dancing how much difference it made. The classes during the rest of the weekend just kept strengthening that feeling, but I know that's where it started.


Lunch! Few things in life make Johanna happier than food when she hadn't understood herself that that was what she was needing. :)


Dinner! See above. :)





I took almost no photos at all during the social dancing, just these of Dan Nash. I have to tell you, the Saturday and Sunday nights were not my favorite parts of this event - and not because the place wasn't full of people I would have loved to dance with, because it really was. The venue was beautifully decorated, but it was much too warm and humid and the floor was a disaster - sticky and impossible to dance properly on. I love listening to great live music and chatting with friends, and so that's what I did; but I love blues dancing more, and I just couldn't get much out of the dancing. On Friday though, it was a different venue and the floor was a little better (at least for my taste and my shoes), so I did manage to get a few good dances there.

Here's a photo I didn't take: Someone I didn't know came up to me as I left the dance floor after some solo dancing to Mark's electronica set (don't tell the blues purists :)), and said "I have to tell you something - your solo dancing to the past couple of songs was absolutely beautiful. You should do that more often". That made my day.


Cute and tired at four in the morning. :)




Yay, awesome teacher showcase! I'm so inspired to do some partnered choreo myself - if only I had a partner to dance it with, that is.



And then, as the last class on Sunday afternoon, I chose the Blues Jeopardy class with Leigh and Annette. So much fun, even though the questions were much too difficult for me. So many lovely people in this photo, by the way!

When we were on our way to London, I was a little worried, thinking "why did I book two blues dance workshops with just a week and a half in between? I'm already tired, EBI is just going to make me more tired". But when we left London, I was nothing but giddy happy that I would go to another event just two weeks after that; I just wanted more and more and more, more classes, more social dancing, more time spent with friends living in other corners of Europe, more blues. Best feeling.

(Here are some photos from our first days in London including the awesome Stompin' the Blues.)

(Want to see more of my dance photography? Here is the tag for blues dancing posts and here is the tag for all dance photos, including lindy and balboa, and if I'm not mistaken, some West African dance classes on the beach in Senegal. :))

Professor Longhair | Big Chief (pt. 2)

wicked, bankside and stompin' the blues




So, Johanna and I went to London last week! That was fun! (Am thinking some of my English speaking friends might want to be able to read this, so I'm switching to English just for the London posts.) We were greeted by London weather at its best and welcoming signs. :)


Not that that mattered - we knew how we wanted to spend our first evening in London. I know, I know - I've seen it before, but it's just the most amazing musical and I just had to see it again. :)



Me, in the green light of the foyer. :)


The next day, we decided to just walk around ...





... and eat ...



... and maybe do some shopping :) ...


... and eat some more. (WHY THEY PUT CORIANDER IN MY FOOD?! is what Johanna's expression is saying. :))


And then, we went dancing! European Blues Invasion, the dance event we were there for (and that I went to two years ago as well) didn't start until the day after, but every Wednesday, it's Stompin' the Blues at the Joker in Islington. We decided to join the local dancers there, and it was so very lovely.




It was so great to see my London friends again and I felt truly welcome there, like I had been missed. Best feeling.



Breakfast! We had so many good breakfasts during this trip, this was just one of them.




Later that day, I went for a walk. I was trying to get to Tate Modern, but got off two stops too late (don't know what I was thinking - I had just mixed up the stations in my head); decided to walk along Bankside (at Bankside? On Bankside?) to get there, and when I got there, it was closed. Just this one day that I had decided to go there, it was closed (to prepare for the opening of New Tate Modern, apparently) - otherwise it's always open. Bummer.





Anyway, it was a nice walk. I was very touristy and stopped at all the maps to see where I was and what all the buildings were called. I love maps.



(And to let myself forget that I missed Tate I went to Paperchase on my way back to the hotel. It's not quite the same, but it is after all my favorite paper store in the world. :))

And that same evening was the first night of European Blues Invasion. The event itself will have to get its own blog post, though. :)

Kristin Chenoweth & Broadway Original Cast | Thank Goodness