Beantown Camp 2011: Synchronized Swimming

What a week. Thanks so much to everyone for putting in such long hours to make Beantown such an amazing event! Most definitely worth the investment, says I.

1. Beantown’s Got Talent - specifically the hilarious comments by Jen, Sylvia, and especially Peter. Good, funny, fun times. First time I actually participated in 5 years too :)
2. Soul night - men vs. ladies dance off…Naomi absolutely putting Mikey in his place. Don’t ever step up against Naomi in a dance off…ever.
3. Practicing aerials in the grass near the lake. Beautiful campus.
4. Naomi singing on the last night with Gordon Webster and his bad. It was amazing. That last part with all the call-back singing and crazy jams was just awesome. Ah! Good memories.
5. Getting to dance in the amazing, first-time-ever, Beantown show! It was such an honor to perform with some of my heroes—Ryan Francois, Jenny Thomas, Skye Humphries, Peter Strom, Naomi Uyama, Ramona Staffeld, Michael Jagger, Evita Arce, Mike Roberts and Laura Glaess.
6. Learning Jungle Speed Turbo (or whatever it’s called). I think my butt, for once, sweat more sitting down than dancing.
7. Michael Jagger. Period.
8. Eric Fenn.. Hip Hop.. Double Period..
9. Getting my shizzle broke down and rebuilt even better like the bionic man in the now annual relearn-what-you-thought-you-knew-and-were-good-at-change-your-dancing-for-the-better-awesomeness-that-is-Beantown.
10. Knowing that the time, effort, and money was once again completely worth it. My 5th year was amazing—can’t wait for the 6th!

I wanted to let you know that I had the best time at Beantown this year. Everything was just great! The classes were great, my track partners were great, my housing was just fine, the performances were phenomenal, the teaching was SO good!

I’ll definitely be returning next year, for more of the same.

Best Wishes!

I just got back to Montreal and I wanted to tell you that I had an absolutely incredible time at Beantown! Special shouts go out to Peter Strom, Sylvia Sykes, Ryan, Eric, and Zack and Maryse (of course) for their classes, which were inspiring and really touched on things in my dancing that I needed to work on! Track 5 was really focused on technical stuff this year, getting moves to feel good rather than introducing new moves, and I’m a firm believer in that… 

I was totally thrilled to be dancing to Gordon Webster, and really appreciated how hard he worked to keep us dancing, keep his breaks short, and really play WITH us rather than AT us. All of the evening dances were great, Peter’s Soul Party was especially brilliant and got me out of my pattern box. Definitely a high point of the week!

Overall, you two did an amazing job with the hardest part of event planning: producing an atmosphere. The whole camp felt friendly, relaxed and homey, even when I was freaking out over having three choreographies to dance. It’s a subtle combination of factors that makes that feel right, and not everyone has a knack for it.

Finally, I want to add that Andrew Thigpen’s personality added a ton of positive energy to my experience, he’s the kind of guy you always want at an event: open, easy going, buckets of talent and style… he brings a great energy with him wherever he goes.

I was truly impressed and thrilled with every day of my experience! I had a fabulous time, met lots of wonderful people, and will most definitely do everything I can to make sure I’m there in 2011!

Thank you so much for everything!

Beantown was such a wonderful time. Thank you Tony and Aurelie! It was an honor to come and be apart of it all. Can’t wait to see what you create for next year!

Thank you Tony and Aurelie. It was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster after having been away from dancing for two years, but well worth the ride. What a gift you guys give the Lindy Hop community.

Beantown Camp 2010—Top 10 Good Times

A few reasons why Beantown was so awesome this year:

1. Feeling like I’m in a House Party movie during the spontaneous soul train and boys vs girls battle at Peter’s Soul Night in the lodge.
2. The foreshadowing of Hammertime, so you’re ready for it when Hammertime actually happens.
3. Tap dancing in the show alongside some of my favorite dancers, and witnessing the amazing Jenny Thomas throw it all together on the spot in 10 minutes.
4. Doing the Big Apple during sound check on the first night and watching Joel rock out with a soccer ball.
5. Feeling like I’ve been to dance boot camp. It’s been a while since I’ve learned this much dance stuff in a week.
6. Watching Reid and our other students bust out the Beyonce hand to hand Charleston move in class.
7. Having the time and opportunity to get to know people and just hang out in between activities.
8. Eric’s hip hop classes, and watching his class performance.
9. PB and J sandwich making/ eating contest and Andrew catching an apple in his mouth.
10. Busting out to the Cangelosi Cards and Gordon Webster as well as Michael Gamble and Mary Freitag’s DJing.

Without a doubt—the best Beantown ever.

My husband and daughter who aren’t from the USA and had never social danced before, let alone Lindy Hopped, said it was wonderful and plan on coming back next year!! Yay!!

Since this was my first time at Beantown, I wasn’t sure what sort of post camp communication would be forthcoming. I do want to let you know that I thought Beantown was the best camp I’ve ever attended.

Thanks!

I can’t thank you guys enough for the FABULOUS time I had at Beantown.  It’s my third camp but my first whole shebang and man, going the extra mile and staying was a BLAST.  Doing a routine in the track really brings everyone together. Met tons of great people, danced my toes off and learned a lot. Such nice people on all sides: the attendees, the instructors and the college staff.

Many thanks!

Thank You!

Thanks so much for putting on such an amazing event! I loved it! Beantown was the Best vacation I’ve ever had! I can’t wait for next year!

Hope you are enjoying the rest of the summer now that camp is over. The Show was a wonderful addition to Beantown, pulling together terrific performances in a much more effective setting than the dance floor. I hope you continue it every year. It’s worth the price of admission.

As always the wonderful instructors are the biggest draw for me. Ryan and Jenny are unsurpassed, of course, but I enjoyed Skye and Naomi’s classes a great deal as well. Michael and Evita just blew me away with their performances and are always among my favorite teachers. Their teaching skills match their performance skills and they are as unpretentious as any instructors I’ve ever worked with.

Thanks for the months of work you and Tony put in to make Beantown such a terrific experience. See you in the fall.

Another wonderful camp! It gets better every time. I am always astounded by how smoothly the camp seems to run. My congratulations on another successful year and my thanks for throwing the best dance camp around.

Thanks again for another wonderful Beantown experience. Michael and I are continually impressed by your energy and your ability to change camp for the better as the Swing scene changes. Again, we enjoyed all the instructors—seasoned as well as lesser-known (at least to us) folks… All four bands were wonderful; we’d travel to hear them again in a heartbeat.

The class schedule, with fewer early morning classes was much appreciated. We also enjoyed the variety and flexibility that the extra tracks—mini as well as one-time offerings allowed.

The Frankie tribute was a gift to all of us. I hope there is always a way to teach the history of Swing during camps and classes.

Thanks again for all you do for the Swing community.

I had a great time at camp this year! It was very well organized and planned out… I enjoyed going to the different classes and all of the performances.

Thank you for a superb camp! I am still trying to catch up on sleep as well. It was SO amazing, truly a special week for many people.

I thought that Beantown this year was great, as usual. I loved my track level, the teachers (especially Ryan & Jenny, Sylvia and Skye once again), Richard’s tai chi classes, Jennifer’s stretching classes, Mihai & Andrew’s late night Blues dance, the late night Soul dances… I also liked the options of the Bal, Jazz, Blues and Hip Hop mini tracks.

Anyway I had lots of fun and I will be back next year!

Hey, I had an awesome time at camp! Thanks so much… Looking forward to Beantown 2010!

Outstanding camp again. Thanks for doing what you do.

Camp was great this year… It was a wonderful week, and I will definitely be back. Thanks to you both for all your efforts, and patience with us… All your focus on making the camp so successful is much appreciated.

See you in 2010.

I wanted to thank you for encouraging me go to the Beantown camp. I felt like it has progressed my dancing and it was a lot fun as well. Your organization of the event was impressive and you help create a very warm and positive atmosphere.

Thanks again for a really nice time.

We had a fantastic time! Thanks so much! :)

I attended Beantown in 1999 and 2000. Both were pivotal times for my dancing. I spent the week immersed in dancing with amazing other dancers that I had never seen before. I met and worked with dancers from San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle and Sweden, all with their unique talents and personalities. We danced all day and all night. The combination of having a camp a manageable size like Beantown for a whole week really allowed our classes to band together and forge relationships with each other and the teachers. I’ll never forget our last class with David Dalmo one week. David had put together an incredibly challenging and interesting routine and had us all perform it for one another. There was electricity in the air and by the end of the class, we were spent. Something had happened and my dancing was never the same afterward. If you’ve never experienced this type of thing, I recommend it. It pays off in so many ways.

Thank you so much for my second Beantown which was awesome! Food was incredible, teachers were incredible, the campus was incredible, the parties incredible. Thanks again for everything. See you next year!

I had a life changing experience this year. I am so glad I signed up for the whole week. I can’t wait until next year. I enjoyed getting to know Norma, that was a real treat. She’s amazing. The food is plentiful and wonderful! The music is out of this world.

I’ve been very happy with everything you offered. Classes were great, I’m always impressed by the highly qualified instructors, new and old. A relaxed barbecue and afterwards was well thought of. For me, the highlight of the week was the Blues night, and the Soul night as well….great great variety to add to the Lindy…Most of all, I truly would love to congratulate you on a job well done. Both of you are great organizers, the camp runs so smoothly, and if there were any glitches, as I’m sure there must be, we the campers are not aware of any! Both of you are around us all the time, tending to every little detail possible and very responsive…Thank you once again….see you next year.

First of all, this year was my all time favorite camp experience! It was hard to leave! I was pretty much happy with everything—the classes, the teachers, the dances, the group of people there, the food…As usual, I especially loved to see Ryan and Jenny as well as Sylvia…I had a great time and will definitely be back next year…Thanks for a great time!

I had a wonderful time, loved the location and hope to return next year. It was great to focus solely on dancing where my only worry was whether I was getting the steps right…The instructors were terrific and classes enjoyable with lots of laughs all around. I enjoyed the shows, practicing the dance routine, dancing every night and loved (loved!) the fabulous soul party. It was great to hear those tunes again and boogie to the mellow sounds of Motown. And before I forget, the Blues Party was fun too. Keep them both.

Finally, my sincere thanks to both of you for your hard work and planning. It was obvious that a lot of Herculean effort went into making the week’s events as smooth and seamless as possible. I know for a fact that the more seamless things appear, the more hard work was done on the front end…So, thank you again for my first Beantown Camp experience. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, had lots of fun and look forward to returning next year.

Tony and Aurelie, thanks so much for another awesome Beantown camp. I was looking forward all year to coming back in 2008 and Beantown definitely delivered for me. The DJ’s were great, the live bands fantastic, and all the students and staff and everyone had such a positive energy!! It really made for a great camp and some great memories. Thanks again guys!

Thanks for all your hard work which made 2008 another fantastic camp! Most of all, I just appreciate the opportunity to get away for a week, enjoy the (semi-) tranquility of the sea-side New England location, and be with people who have a common interest. Some things I liked….

• Good (and entertaining) instructors,
• The workshop schedule seemed more relaxed than previous years. I think that was just right for me.
• The “class performance routines” is always a good idea. Gives a challenge for those goal oriented people.
• I like the campus. The atmosphere is just right.
• I like getting together with all the repeat campers.
• Boilermakers are awesome! Thanks for bring them in!!
• Opportunities to dance with the instructors.
• The lead/follow balance seemed good.
• Food selection was good.
• Townhouse accommodation was great.
• Number of days is just right for me.
• Class size was good.
• and much more

I really appreciate you guys organizing Beantown year after year. Beantown was a key starting point in my Lindy life. Beantown continues to be one of my favorite vacation opportunities. Thanks for all your hard work!

Overall, I really enjoyed my Beantown experience—I learned a lot, met a lot of really nice people, and had fun pretending I was a college kid again. If I can make it work, I’d really like to go again next year and will recommend it to the dancers in my local scene…it was an awesome time and I look forward to doing it again soon! Thank you for all your hard work!

Beantown is my favorite week of the year!

Beantown was awesome. This year was my second year and my expectations from last year were far surpassed. Andrew Sutton was amazing addition to the camp instructors. My Birthday jam was amazing with Ramona, Peter and Ryan all coming into my jam circle. Absolute heaven for me.

I’d like you to pass along my thanks to not only yourselves, but all the folks who helped with Beantown this year. My daughters, Emily, Maggie and I had a wonderful time and feel like we came away with much that was valuable. You guys have created something that is truly special. There is a warmth and good vibe about the camp, the classes, the dances that is no accident. The level of instruction was excellent. We took away something from every class we attended. The folks who came were friendly, fun to dance with and fun to get to know. The music was great—thanks to all the DJ’s. The camp was well organized with much thought given to the track levels and many other details. Every night, we had an amazing time dancing as there were many advanced dancers and they were friendly enough to enjoy dancing with those of us with less dance experience. My only regrets center around the fact we couldn’t take every class (some were at the same time and it was hard to choose!) and I wish we’d planned on being there the whole week.

This was my first Beantown Camp and I had the best dance-event time EVER (and I have traveled to well over 25 exchanges and camps all across the US in my 2 3/4 years of dance history.)…I was super impressed with the smooth logistics, the very friendly and accessible staff and SIMPLY EVERYTHING else. My biggest compliments to all of you and thank you for creating an event that doubtlessly will have been one of the funnest weeks of my life.

I am not sure exactly what and how it happened, there is some mystery to it, but when I came back from Beantown to my local turf I was told by so many dancers that my dancing had transformed. I honestly wasn’t even fully aware of it myself. Leads that have danced with me for over two years said that I feel more connected and a lot more fluid and follows told me that I look so much better, more relaxed and yet sharp on the floor. Whatever happened, it’s the fastest progression I have ever made in my 2 3/4 years of dancing and that while I had more fun than anywhere else, or maybe that’s exactly why it happened. I seriously still feel "home-sick" for Beantown and I will be back next year for sure!

THANKS for another wonderful camp. As always, I return well-fed, tired, inspired, and enthusiastic to move my dance forward. I know it’s a tremendous amount of work to organize a camp and you and Tony remain nose to the grindstone months before and throughout the week to make it a great experience for us. Thank you!

I felt so free! The camp experience, besides being wonderful fun as always, has made my dancing smoother, more relaxed, and more expressive. I have learned how to get much more out of even the simplest moves…Thanks for a truly wonderful week.

Thank YOU for the BEST camp ever!!!…Once again a fantastic time! Thank you for all your hard work! See you next year—you are my favorite camp!

I truly enjoyed my first Beantown Camp - it was outstanding. The accommodations were very good, the teaching was phenomenal, the bands, the DJing, the dancing were all “more than you can expect”…Thank you for putting this wonderful event together.

Thanks for your hard work and a good week of dancing. I look forward to returning next year.

Thanks for all the work that you put into Beantown. It’s a national resource for sharing and preserving Swing dancing.

I had a wonderful time at your Beantown camp. I feel sorry for the folks who couldn’t make it. The instructors were excellent, the food was excellent, the atmosphere was excellent. I was so sad to have to leave on Monday evening. The format of your camp allowed a careful balance of engagement and downtime for me. Thanks so much for all the effort you made to make this a positive experience for me.

I had a terrific time at Beantown Camp; it was friendly and fun and a great time all around!

Thank you so much for camp. I had a great time. I wish I had stayed for the Whole Shebang. I am hoping to attend the whole camp next year. The location is great, the accommodations are great, the food is great, the other attendees were great to dance with and spend time with. The teachers were great. The performances were great.

On the whole, it was very well organized, and I had a blast! Great job, and I hope I can come back next year!

Thanks for another great Beantown this year! I count myself lucky to be able to attend. Thank you for making it happen! Beantown is the crème de la crème of dance camps!

Thank you to both of you, for all of your hard work. Beantown camp has such a community spirit about it that I just love! It is truly a unique experience. I hope you can continue to bring this great dance experience to all of us.

This was my first time at Beantown Camp and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I’m looking forward to next year’s Camp! The instructors were terrific and very accessible. I found that they really were there to help us learn and not to push a particular set of routines. I was very impressed with their professionalism and friendliness—and patience.

The other participants were fun, friendly, and interesting people. Talking, dancing and sharing with others who embraced a common passion was eye-opening and empowering.

The accommodations were comfortable and the varied food selection and high quality was outstanding, far better than I would have imagined. You folks did a great job, Thank you for all your hard work.

This past camp was the best one ever for me, and that is saying a whole lot. The joy of dancing and of life was abundant everywhere. For me the highlight came at 3:00 AM on the final night, when exhaustion took away all my technique, leaving simply a man, a woman, and the music.

I LOVED Beantown Camp. I CAN’T wait to come back…and hopefully participate in more events like this. : )- Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such wonderful hosts.

Thank you both for a wonderful camp experience. It was fantastic.

I talked to soooo many people, lots of them brand new, that can’t wait to come back next year. I also can’t wait and I now have a wonderful connection to the Endicott College campus. I think Endicott has taken Wheaton College’s place in my heart… I’ve already been telling people about what a fantastic time I had. I can’t shut up about it. Rest assured, that when camp registration time comes around, I’ll be doing commercials for you!

Thank you both for arranging the camp! I am sure it is a monumental effort!

As a first time camper, I send my thanks for an exceptional experience. I plan to be back!

This was definitely my best year ever at Beantown. As a nine year repeat offender, I’ve had a lot to compare.

Congratulations on such a great job this year! You guys never cease to surprise me with your process improvements year-to-year.

And a supercalifragilisticexpialidociously big thanks to the two of you for putting on such a spectacular event. Jennifer Coulombe told me that going to Beantown was going to be life changing, and she was absolutely right. How great is that?!

I just completed my first Beantown camp experience. It was a blast and I want more! Thank you so much for all of your hard work. What you put together was incredible!

I still feel like in dancer’s heaven—dead but happy!! We enjoyed your camp very much, we took some stuff from it for our dancing and we would love to come back next year.

Hey, my first Beantown camp was great! Had a good time, ate good food, and the classes were great as well. Good job!

All in all, from the food in the cafeteria, the teachers, the DJ, the music, Beantown was AWESOME!! Everyone just seemed to be having a positive, fun attitude and really wanting to learn and dance.

I must say that this is the first time my wife and I attended Beantown and that it exceeded any expectations we had. It was incredibly well run and the classes were well structured. We are looking forward to next year.

This was my first time at Beantown, and it was a lovely experience! The classes were really good, and both the djs and the band were fantastic. I regret that I could only do the weekend—next year, I will hopefully be able to stay a bit longer. Thanks again for putting on such a wonderful event.

Overall a great weekend!! I had a great time. This was my 3rd Beantown, and I think it was the best one yet.. Thank you for putting in all the time and effort to make a week like Beantown possible.

First of all I’d like to thank both of you for a job done so marvelously! I had a great time and enjoyed the whole experience. Everything was executed very professionally and very pleasantly. And the instructors were oh so marvelous! Rather than going one by one I’d rather tell you how every aspect of the camp delighted me. Speaking of the delight—the food—so yummy and healthy! Thank you again.