When we put on our very first Beantown Camp in 1997 we had a vision for what kind of week we hoped to create. Beantown has evolved over the years and along the way there have been many wonderful camps, but this year, our 14th, everything came together in the most incredible way to surpass our wildest dreams. We are still feeling overwhelmed with it all. It wasn’t just the outstanding classes and dance parties, but also the fun stuff that happened in between and the positive energy all around. There is so much that happened over the week and here are some of the special highlights.

Beantown Instructors!

One of the main goals of Beantown has always been to provide an amazing learning experience. Of course that requires amazing instructors and this year Beantown had that and more. There was so much participation of the instructors in all the camp activities throughout the week. Many of them made a point of mentioning how much they enjoy coming to Beantown, which may be partly due to the wonderful camaraderie, eagerness to learn and great team spirit of everyone attending.

The Show!

We knew we had the new state-of-the-art performance hall, incredibly talented instructors, and some great production help, but never could have imagined HOW incredible the show would be. Everything came together quickly with a lot of hard work. It truly was beyond what we could have expected, especially for a first time show. Many people mentioned that it was Broadway quality, and they just might be right! A highlight of the week for a lot of people and a phenomenal production from beginning to end. The bar has been set very very high! Big thanks to all the performers including, Dan Newsome & Gaby Cook, Chris Nickl & Shirley McAdam, Patrick Szmidt & Natasha Ouimet, Richard Badu, Andrew Thigpen & Karen Turman, Mike Roberts & Laura Glaess, Ramona Staffeld, Naomi Uyama, Peter Strom, Skye Humprhries, Michael Jagger & Evita Arce, Ryan Francois & Jenny Thomas, the one and only Norma Miller, and Dave Lasagna as emcee. Thanks also to Ryan for putting it all together and to the production team including Melissa Cook, Michael Gamble, Wil Reed, Tony Neves, David Braverman, Chris Hugo, Ed Wilson, James McClurkin, Ben Loper, Martin Frechette, Joe Toth and Vinay Rodrigues.

Dance Parties!

The music was outstanding this year thanks to the Cangelosi Cards, the Mike DiBari Swingtet, the Racky Thomas Band, Gordon Webster & Friends (featuring Naomi Uyama!) and a great crew of DJs headed up by Michael Gamble. Thanks also to Blues Cafe for hosting the Saturday Late Night Blues Party and Peter Strom for the most fun Soul Party ever! It was so great to see the wonderful energy on the dance floor night after night.

Beantown’s Got Talent!

Now that was entertainment! Dave Lasagna really outdid himself this year as emcee. The celebrity judges, Sylvia Sykes, Jennifer Coulombe and Peter Strom were hilarious. The acts…what can we say? Beantown does have talent! Every year someone surprises us with something special and this year that was Jon Tigert with some classical singing. (A multi-talented guy!) Special thanks to Karen Turman and Andrew Thigpen for encouraging, enticing and assembling the participants. Now if we can just get “Hammer Time” out of our heads…

NEHLC Competitions!

Favorite features of the competitions are the friendliness among the competitors and the wonderful support from the audience. It was great to see beginners get out there as well as seasoned competitors. Girls ruled in the Solo Charleston and Jennifer Stout swept her 3 competitions! Thanks especially to Joel Domoe for running everything and Melanie Myers for helping with competition coordinating. Thanks also to all who participated, Michael Gamble for DJing and the illustrious panel of judges including Sylvia Sykes, Ryan Francois, Jenny Thomas, David Coulombe, Jennifer Coulombe, Richard Badu and also Joel and Melanie.

Camp Crew!

Year after year we are helped by the most wonderful crew! We really don’t know how we would manage without our good friends Martin Frechette, Suzanne Gaudet, Rachelle Gaudet, Joe Toth, Meredith Patneaude, June Joyce, Steve Carmel and Deb Carmel for running the water crew, Beantown Shop, Beantown Cafe, transporting staff, setting up and breaking down camp. Many others contributed as well including Ben Loper, Denyce Zabrecky, Betty Stone, Margaret Marks, Anne Orens, Tony Neves, Ed Mello, Benson Wong, Dave Samanen plus all our scholarship workers and others who pitched in when needed. Thanks also to Dave Lasagna for lunch time entertainment as well as emceeing and so much more, Andrew Thigpen and Karen Turman for their promotion help and for entertaining us all week, Jaya Gamble for coaching the Yellow Track, Jamie Norman for working day and night as well as running sound for the bands, Tara Weinstein for running the open practices, Jennifer Coulombe and Catherine Crocket for the morning and afternoon stretch classes, Richard Badu for the Tai Chi classes, Rich Moffitt for camp photos, David Braverman for the camp DVD and Ed Wilson for the shoe chroming party. We also want to thank everyone who helped spread the word and introduced new campers to Beantown. Beantown could not be what it is without the contribution of so many and we truly appreciate every one of you!

Endicott College!

Endicott is a beautiful campus and each year there is something new for us to enjoy. The college staff are incredibly helpful, especially Patrick. He went beyond the call of duty both day and night, and always with a smile. We are very fortunate to have Paul and the food service staff. They go out of their way to help everyone with specific food or dietary requirements and to provide us with wonderful, healthy meals and some deliciously decadent desserts. We also heard this year how much the Endicott staff enjoys having Beantown on campus. Beantowners are their friendliest group:-)

Beantown Campers!

Beantown campers are the best! Thank you all so much for your wonderful energy, enthusiasm and happy smiles! This year we may have had our most diverse group yet with attendees from 33 states and 7 countries. There was a wide spread of ages and even 3 generations with the Searle/Sato clan from Maine. The best part is how everyone came together as one big family! Although the memories are still very fresh, it has been fun reliving it through the many photos and videos posted on Facebook and YouTube. Check out: http://www.youtube.com/beantowncamp There were so many other wonderful moments during the week, including spending time with Norma, Saturday night performances, relaxing down by the beach at the BBQ, hanging at the pub, and enjoying seeing everyone participating in the class performances. Plus as always, seeing old friends and making new ones! A few people have posted their top 10 lists and we’ve included them below. Best wishes to everyone for a fantastic summer! Happy dancing, Aurelie & Tony

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 band. 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! Andrew Thigpen

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. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7tT3q0LyQA 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. Karen Turman

10. Singing opera for Swing dancers… weird… but cool.. 9. Michael Jagger as a Salsa Instructor. 8. Just Chillin with Norma Miller. 7. A great Soccer Game with Joel and Mikey and Davis. 6. Being Recognized as “Marshall” from How I met your Mother everywhere I went. 5. Long philosophical talks with Evita Arce, Mikey Pedroza and Andrew Thigpen. 4. Rocking a World cup Tribute in the Solo Charleston Competition. 3. Michael and Evita’s amazing “Shake that Thing” and “Singin in the Rain” routines. 2. Realizing again how much of a dance infant I am… It’s good to be reminded of your place every now and then. 1. An amazing 21st Birthday week! Jonathan Tigert

1. Michael & Evita’s “Singing In The Rain” at The Show. This is the one memory from Beantown 2010 above all others which I will carry with me. 2. Ryan & Jenny’s comedic Charleston routine at The Show. 3. The Lindy Hop Addiction public service announcement skit. 4. Twelve campers from Minnesota, including four over the top terrific townhouse-mates… Plus three instructors with strong Minnesota ties. 5. The wacky wild adventures of the inflatable dinosaur in our townhouse. Still waiting on photos. 6. Zack & Maryse, both as balboa instructors and teaching a terrific little routine for our track. Their positive attitude, encouragement, and incredibly friendly demeanor are very much appreciated. 7. Almost peeing my pants when Sylvia gave me a huge compliment in a balboa class. Seriously. 8. Michael & Evita’s “Blues Clues” class. Yummy ochos. 9. Food. Food. More food. And terrific food at that. 10. Geeking out with Richard Moffitt about photography. Brent Casavant