Portland Lindy Exchange Full of SURPRISES!!!

WOW!! What a fun time we all had!! Those who came down/up and joined me and the Portland gang for the exchange:
- My brother Kyle (as part of his birthday present!)
- Jeff from PBDA (came up early on Thursday!)
- the lovely Mariah from LG/PBDA
- our gal Cindy, former PBDA, now in Colorado
- Calle, infamous Swede from Seattle and the 007 of the swing scene (ssswwwwoooooooonnn!!) I think he averages 10 phone numbers per dance, eh?
- and the biggest and best surprise of all… ORVILLE!!! Former PBDAer who went up to Alaska and is now living in Seattle!!

Wouldn’t you know it?! I caught the flu the week prior the exchange and was, for the most part, out of commission. Dang it!! Don’t get me wrong, I went to half the stuff, but could only dance 3-4 songs the whole night. For once, I was thankful for the slow, bluesy numbers.

The exchange officially started on Thursday. Jeff came up early and asked me if I would go to Nocturnal, a small, but fun venue for the lesson and dance. He called me as I sat coughing away at the Emergency Room in the Hospital and rightfully declined.

Friday, I dragged myself to my Portland office only to be turned away by my co-workers. I believe the words, “What the hell are you doing here, get out of here!!” were used. As returned back to my hotel, Jeff called and asked if I’d like to join him while he “drives around Portland.” No walking and being chauffeured around sounded good to me so I joined him.

Our little drive ended up as a 5-hour tour of the beautiful Northwest. We followed the Columbia river, north of Portland, then headed west to the coast. We saw one of the most picturesque monoliths, “Haystack rock”, which Kyle later pointed out to me was the setting for the movie, Goonie’s – when the pirate ship broke away and sailed the Oregon coast. It was stunning, similar to what you would see at Big Sur.

Along the way, I urged Jeff to drive to Tillamook to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory, which is, admittantly, my absolute favorite cheese! (TMI, I know…) Anyway, it was really interesting and got to fill up on all the curd and cheese we could stomach!

We drove back in time to get ready for the first dance at the Crystal Ballroom! Jeff decided to join me in taking the light rail and walking to the dance. As we ascended the stairs and walked into the ballroom, he, (and later… my brother and Mariah) wore the expression of wonder, awe and a smile and said… ”Wow!”

The ballroom has an amazing floor, it’s very, very bouncy. Even in the sidelines, when you’re not dancing, you feel like you are! The ballroom depicts several round murals surrounded by white lights and you feel like you’ve stepped back in time.

There were already lots of folks there. I was greeted by Karen and other folks that recognized me from the Steven & Virginie workshops. I was able to dance with some of my favorite Portland leads like big hair & crazy Jason, the cool and colleted Joel, the ever-talented, ever-energetic Kevin from Seattle - just to name a few. They’re all fantastic and super-friendly!

Cindy made it to the dance!! It was so good to see her again!! Also… I saw this guy… who I swore I’ve danced with before, back in my early PBDA days. I hesitantly approached him and said, “Hi, did you use to dance in Pasadena?” He shook his head, smiled and said, “Jenny!! It’s me, Orville!!!” I nearly knocked him down!! God, we lost a good one at PBDA!! OMG, I forgot how fun (and tiring) it is to dance with him! I asked him where he is now. He was in Alaska, but has been living in Seattle for the last year and a half. I told him I’ll be up for Camp Jitterbug and he’s looking forward to it as well!

The dance was filled with so many people, the band was good – a lot of blues – which was surprising but the DJed part had some good songs. Because I was still under the weather, Jeff and I decided to leave a little early. It was a long wait for the light rail and Jeff commented that he’s going to take the car tomorrow. That sounded good to me.

Saturday morning I slept in until I got the call from Kyle at the airport. He’s just about to jump on the train, so I said I’d meet him at the stop in 25 minutes. The day was shaping up to be a beautiful one. I am so glad it didn’t rain that day.

I met him at the train stop, walked him back to the hotel, he checked in and we immediately headed out the door and took the train to downtown. He loved Portland’s public transportation system! We happened upon the Saturday Market at Skidmore Fountain and decided to explore a bit. I bought us both a pair of cheap sunglasses because 1) the sun was out and 2) because of my weakened immune system, I developed a second viral infection in my eye, conjunctivitis, or “pink eye” and looked liked the I was possessed by the devil. (I know what you’re thinking... don’t even go there…) It didn’t hurt but looks awful… you’ll see in the pictures.

Anyway, it was the first day of market for the year and so there was such a lively feeling in the air. There were arts and craft, jewelry and food vendors. It actually made me homesick for the Montrose Farmers Market back in California (though not half as big…).

We jumped back on the train and proceeded towards downtown. We passed Pioneer Square, where the afternoon dance would be, I pointed it out to Kyle and we just stared because there was about 400 protesters carrying signs and banners. We didn’t know if it was anti-war or anti-fur, the train moved on before we could discern what all the hub-bub was about. Too bad I was sick too because the night before, there was a Portland Pillow Fight at Pioneer Square. Around 300 adults and children wildly swinging synthetic or feather and down pillows – I saw it on the news, everyone was laughing and it looked like such a fun time. Remind me to put one together in L.A.

Kyle and I enjoyed a sibling, birthday lunch at the world famous (so says the plaque on the wall) Jack’s Crawfish and Seafood. He wanted some yummy clam chowder and cod fish and chips and he got exactly that! After lunch, we headed back to Pioneer Square where the demonstrators had dispersed; a canopy was up with the band, Pork Pie, blasting out the awesome tunes and a bevy of swing dancers filling the square!!

I stepped into the corn-mealed brick square, threw my backpack at Kyle and ran towards Joel for my first few dances!! Kyle met to some of really cool follows like Lia from Hawaii. All in all, the band, the singer and all many, many spectators and the crowd watching made it such a fun event!! Heck, it was even free, paid for by an music performance grant by the recording industry and arranged by the local federation of musicians in the Portland area. (How cool is that!) In fact, one of the dancers, Kevin, surprisingly picked up a sax and started to wail with Pork Pie! Totally impressive! Musician and awesome dancer to boot! ;)

The dance ended way too early, we said hurried good-byes as Kyle and I ran to catch the train. We met Mariah - who just arrived - at back at my hotel and we got ready for dinner. Dinner was at Fenouil (pronounced "fen-wee") a new upscale french bistro in the heart of the Pearl District in Portland. Hey, it's my brother's birthday and I thought, why not? Jeff, Mariah, Kyle and I were joined by Calle and Cindy. We had awesome appetizers. Mariah opted to try something new so she ordered the French Fried Frog Legs! Kyle was brave enough to taste a sample, but no one else dared venture this culinary treat. The group filled up on wonderful entrees and I took the liberty of ordering the petite chocolate souffles all around. Much to Kyle's delight, his plate had a lit sparkler on it!

With awfully full stomachs we head on out to the Crystal Ballroom! That night we still got there fairly early for the ballroom handn't yet filled up. I saw this as an opportunity to get to dance the more popular Portland leads who have follows that flock around them! The band that night was DK Stewart and the DK4. They were wonderful! They could played all types from lindy to smooth to blues and sounded great! It's nice to know that where ever you go, swing dances are the same. They do birthday dances and the Shim-Sham. The one thing I have to tell you that Portland swing dancers love to do is the Big Apple and Charleston - these guys are nuts over it and they really enjoy and fun with it! I'll have to take a class again on this. The last Big Apple lesson I took was with Frankie at Camp Catalina. Portland's version is about three times as fast and 10x as wild!!

I guess when you have fun, time goes faster. I wanted to dance with Calle all weekend long, but there (as always) was a line of gals ready to tackle anyone who would get in their way. Cindy ran with Calle in hand and handed him over to me. Unfortunately, they just played the last song. I said, no problem, I'll get to him at Camp Jitterbug. He took me into his arms and we started to slow dance as he sang to me Elvis' "Are you lonesome tonight?" Damn him and his manly charms!! We dance the whole song as others watched me blushed through all of it. Thanks Calle, you really know how to get to a gal. :)

As everyone readied for the late night, we were done. Except for Mariah - she got a ride and I wished I had the energy for it. It was going to be at Village Ballroom - which is a cool, vintage building. Lindy hop upstairs and blues downstairs - the best of both worlds.

Ok, this is where the long story ends because all the excitement and dancing eventually landed me back in the ER Sunday afternoon (that's another story...). There was another dance at the Crystal Ballroom which Jeff and Cindy attended and I opted to rest and watch the Oscars back at the hotel.

Know that the exchange was beyond any of our expectations and that the Portland dancers are so genuinely warm, kind, generous and full of life. I really feel that it was a privilege to be able to be part of this fun and awesome exchange!! Thanks Portland, we had a BLAST!!

Click here to view the 2006 Portland Lindy Exchange photos