Tales of Two Cities

Dance Video

Last September when my sister, Gery, and her husband Bob, visited us and, among other things, set up the Treasure Hunt for Emily, I took a series of photographs of the two of them doing some of their West Coast Swing moves. 

Last week, I finally went through the pictures and put together a short video using Animoto.

You can see it here.

 It makes you want to dance, doesn't it?

Dancing Duo

My sister, Gery, and her husband, Bob, currently have two major passions:  travel and dancing.  

Of course, they set up wonderfully complex treasure hunts for the youngsters in their extended family and also write children's books.  But dancing has been a passion for quite a few years now.

During their recent visit with us they posed for some dancing shots in my living room "studio."

And so I present:  The dancing Ruddicks.

I got quite a few cute shots of them, but post production will have to wait until our return from Paris.  I've got an animoto video in the works too, so stay tuned.

Dancin' Girl

No Flying Ladies Allowed

As anticipated, dancing was on the agenda during our recent California visit with my sister, Gery, her husband, Bob, and his sister, Barbara.  Although West Coast Swing continues to be Gery and Bob's favorite dance, East Coast Swing is more popular at the local venues.  East Coast and the closely related Lindy Hop are like the jitterbug of my youth and are easier swing dances -- less stylish really -- than today's West Coast.

Shortly after we arrived at Barbara's, unrelenting task master Gery and dancing partner Bob put me to work trying to learn a series of East Coast Swing steps (or maybe Lindy?), including steps that G&B call the skip, the jump, the chicken, and various Charleston-like kicking maneuvers.  Definitely funky stuff, although clunky might be a better description of my execution of these moves!  With my mind full of the different dance patterns, we were off to the Tuesday Night Swing Dance Party at the Atomic Ballroom.  This dance studio features a huge dance floor with mirrors along two walls, which permit you to watch yourself being funky, always assuming, or course, that you can stop watching your feet long enough to admire your twirling image.

Wednesday night we went dancing again - this time at Tia Juana's Long Bar and Grill.  At 8:30 p.m., tables were pushed aside to open up a modest-sized dance floor in the bar for a lesson taught by Shesha Marvin, ably assisted by the very attractive Nikki Klaus.  (Shesha advertises himself as a full time swing dancer with twenty years of experience.  Is this akin to loving photography and making a living at it? Lucky man!)  He took us through an increasingly complicated routine which we practiced with constantly changing partners. (I learned from one helpful fellow that it is my job to have my hands in position at all times ready for him to grab.)  Afterward, the floor filled with couples, including many we had seen the night before at the Atomic Ballroom, and the party began.  Because the area was small and the risk of collision was relatively high, Bob and I automatically adjusted by limiting some of our moves to be sure we didn't hit anyone. So, of course, we didn't do any aerial maneuvers (as if!).

Actually, despite the ads (see photo above), in order to avoid injuries to other dancers and innocent bystanders (not to mention the lifter and the liftee), arials are not allowed. This means that dancers are not supposed to do anything that results in both feet of one of the dancers being off the floor at the same time. Darn!  I mean - really - I coulda been a contender. 

California Here We Come ...

... right back where Charles started from!  He was born at the Presidio not too long after the Golden Gate Bridge was completed.  In addition, his great-great grandfather, Oliver D. Greene (1833 -1904), is one of a number of Congressional Medal of Honor recipients buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio.

Friday we are off to San Francisco to visit good friends Myra and John Grisso for a few days.  We are really looking forward to catching up on what they have been doing over the past year and exchanging grandparent stories.  (I know the latter sounds really dull.  But you can trust me on this.  It is endlessly fascinating once you become a grandparent.)  I'm hoping for some good photo ops in San Francisco. Stay tuned.

Our pending departure brings back memories of last year when we left for our annual California trek on November 2, election day.  After voting at the Boston Public Library early in that morning, I remember walking over to Copley Square to view the preparations for John Kerry's victory rally.  We were on the other side of the continent when we learned that 'twas not to be.

After our visit with the Grissos, we will head south to Laguna Hills to spend some time with sister Gery, her husband Bob and his sister Barbara.

My mother died in late December 1999 and, since then, my sister and I have been getting together annually.  Until this year we have spent a portion of our time together sorting through boxes and boxes of pictures, clippings, letters and memorabilia (including a lot from Dad's years working on the space program).  The task was to decide what to throw away and what to save and pass on to one of Mom's four children or one of her eight grandchildren.  (I've lost count of how many great grandchildren there are but it is at least 7.) It was hard, often very sad work, but it brought me closer to my sister which most certainly would have made my mother happy.

This year, with all of the work behind us, we will be free to play, which means visiting museums, going out to eat, meeting up with brother Jim in La Jolla, doing at least one photo shoot (I hope) and, my favorite, going dancing.  Dancing is Gery and Bob's passion.  They take it seriously and work hard at developing their routines. It is a real pleasure to watch them perform on the dance floor.  Each time I visit, the two of them give me dancing lessons -- in past years I have been tutored in Two Step, Night Club Two Step and West Coast Swing -- then off we go to one of the venues they enjoy - usually a funky bar with dance floor.  Gery generously shares Bob as a dance partner so I get a chance to try out what I have learned.  This year the hot thing on the West Coast is East Coast Swing which is, I gather, a descendant of the Lindy and the Jitterbug of my youth.  I am excited about learning something new.  I've packed my dancing shoes.  Can't wait!