But of course I, myself, did some dancing. The wonderful thing about Lindy Hop is that it speaks every language. Of course, a few times there were leaders trying to explain some move or other to me. I nodded politely to their French exclamations and then just tried my best to follow better the next time. Many times, I did confess "Je ne parle pas le français" (which I learned in my handy-dandy Pimsleur French lessons I practiced with in my car). They were always quite nice and switched to English for me.
Le Caveau de la Huechette
I danced a couple times at Le Caveau de la Huechette, a jazz club in the Latin Quarter, which is filled with Jazz clubs. Le Caveau was just a few minutes' walk from our amazingly located apartment. The band and dance floor are in the basement. The building has a history of being used in wartime and during the revolution, including as a prison and torture chamber, as I understand. It is small, dark and hot. Smokin' hot! Fun dancing there.
There ware quite a few regulars, but once they saw I could dance, I didn't want for partners. It was energetic--a blast! I've never spun so much or so fast as I did there. Once I even got some applause when I spun so fast that my toonies showed!
My first night there, two couples came dressed in vintage clothing, and I was a little intimidated. I thought they'd be first on the dance floor and the last to leave, putting on some great moves. But, no. They just sat there watching. All dressed up and no dance to do. Here they are:
Here are a couple videos of the bands that played Le Caveau. I regret I did not take down the bands' names.
I recorded this song because it was one of Annette's faveys when she was little.
Here was the boogie-woogie band that played the other night I went.
It was super crowded the second time and I stayed for just the first set, as it was starting to get dangerous. No Balboa in Paris, apparently!
Dancing on the Seine
Paris has a pretty active swing dance community, and there were several dances in a couple different locations in Paris each week. I chose to dance here, on the banks of the Seine, because again, it was a location that was within walking distance, and it was on the banks. of. the. freaking. Seine.
It was DJ music, and it was pretty good stuff! The dancers were all quite skilled. As I said above, sometimes I didn't quite get something. The language of Lindy is the same, but the dialect is a little different. I had fun.
This was just a section of the area in which we danced. There were hundreds of dancers there. Quite thrilling to dance and to watch.
In the 12 days I was there, I went out dancing 4 or 5 times. I could've gone more often, too! It was great. Next time I'm in Paris, I'll dance every night!
