Time has flown by since Beantown and we are still working on our follow-up and going through a ton of photos. The spirit of Lindy Hop was alive and well at camp this year! What a fantastic week with so many wonderful moments.
Beantown Highlights
Here is a selection of just some of the many highlights:
Friday Night Instructor Demo
Seeing all of the instructors together filling the floor was truly amazing. So much talent all in one place! Seeing it on paper is one thing. Experiencing it in person is another! A great start to the week to come.
Camp Social on the Winthrop Lawn
The cool breezes, the beautiful view, a chance to relax and just enjoy time with other campers.
Beantown Bounce
Awesome from start to finish. Listening to Norma rave for a good 15 minutes afterwards was the icing on the cake. She kept mentioning how her spirit had been renewed. What better compliment could there be? Kudos to Evita and Michael and all the performers and crew who contributed to such a spectacular show!
Bobby’s Presentation with Norma
I may have seen all the dance clips before, but never with Norma’s off the cuff comments full of interesting information and a participant’s point of view. Priceless!
Taryn’s Performance in Beantown’s Got Talent
When we added Maduka and Taryn Chidebelu-Eze to our camp staff, we had no idea we were getting such an amazing talent on campus. Taryn treated us to several wonderful performances during the week. My favorite was during Beantown’s Got Talent. Watching her young son singing along with a huge smile and much pride in his face was truly special.
Class Performances
The class performances at the end of the week are always a camp highlight, although this year’s were extra wonderful. Rose provided an excellent setting and the audience was the best ever giving a rousing standing ovation after each group.
Special Award Presentation
This year we added two special awards, Top Student to Jonathan Chen and Spirit of Lindy Hop to Cynthia Simonds. My favorite part was when Cynthia ran down from the back of the room to hug Jonathan, not knowing that she was soon to be called up for her own award. If that didn’t confirm we made the right choices, I don’t know what would. Thanks to Dave Lasagna for the insight to pass the mic to these two wonderful recipients. If there was anything that brought us all together, it was this moment. This one gets added to the all-time best Beantown moments EVER!
Wednesday Night Last Dance
Closing out our last dance with Gordon Webster is a guaranteed fun night! The last 20-25 minute version of “I Like Pie, I like Cake” included a sing along, a jam, some unique improvising from Gordon, and even some crowd surfing from Josh Mclean. You couldn’t plan this stuff if you wanted to!
Happy Campers
Seeing everyone at camp, catching up with friends, meeting new campers, watching everything enfold, seeing the happy faces, feeling the positive collective spirit, having that sense of community. The pure joy is what brought us to Lindy Hop and why we still do it!
Beantown Thanks
Thank you so much to everyone who joined us at Beantown this year, everyone who supported us and encouraged others to attend, our amazing staff and awesome crew and every single person who chipped in one way or another. We appreciate every one of you and could not do Beantown without you! In addition, we must send a huge thank you to Patrick and the entire Endicott College staff for providing us such an amazing environment and helping us to have the best camp possible.
Beantown Campers, you have once again exceeded expectations! We wish you all the best and hope to see you back in 2014!