Event Archives
Friday, Jul 11, 2008 • Harlem on My Mind: A Celebration of Jazz, Swing, and Tap Jams • Not a SDLI Event
“Harlem on My Mind: A Celebration of Jazz, Swing, and Tap Jams”
FRIDAY, JULY 11 AT 6PM
WHAT: For the Bronx Museum’s First Fridays! program, “Harlem on My Mind: A Celebration of Jazz, Swing, and Tap Jams,” the sounds of the Ray Abrams Big Swing Band – a powerful 17 piece group continuing the tradition of great jazz music created by the bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington – will surely “swing” you into motion. The event will also feature a tap and swing performance by the great young dancers of Hoofer’s House. Please note: Due to the July 4th holiday, this event will take place the second week in July.
For more information, and a complete schedule of upcoming First Friday events, please visit http://www.bronxmuseum.org/programs/firstfridays.html
WHO: Featuring the Ray Abrams Big Swing Band, lead jazz vocalist Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch, and dancers from Hoofer’s House. The event will be hosted by Rashida Bumbray from Hoofer’s House.
WHEN: Friday, July 11, 6:00 – 10:00pm
WHERE: The Bronx Museum of the Arts
South Wing – Lower Gallery
1040 Grand Concourse @ 165th Street
Bronx, NY 10456
Ray Abrams Big Swing Band
This highly professional swing band, which actually started in the 50’s, under the vision of Hank Dougherty, was acquired by Brooklyn’s famous jazz saxophonist and prolific arranger, Ray Abrams. Ray passed on in 1997, but the band continues to entertain lovers of swing and classic-jazz. The 17 members of the band consistently recreate the unforgettable hard swinging, finger-snapping, toe-tapping sounds of the greatest swing-bands of the 40’s and 50’s. Our musical arrangements feature many of the band’s exceptional soloist, as well as swinging vocals and a fine selection of love ballads, uniquely sung by our featured vocalist, Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch.
The band’s library of musical arrangements, is lengthy and well rounded, ranging from the still modern sounding charts created by founder, Ray Abrams, to the swinging big-band charts from the minds of arrangers like Sam Nestico, Quincy Jones, Sy Oliver, Neal Hefti, and so many others. This valued musical library supports the bands ability to create a well-rounded program of classic-jazz as played by the bands of Basie, Ellington, Hawkins, Foster, Hampton, etc.
The band’s unique ability to perform to the spirit of the music and to swing at the drop of a hat, is consistently nourished by the very dedicated skills of the band’s leader, Ervin Simpson, who has led the band since 1998. No doubt, this ability to swing the most beloved songs from The Classic American Jazz Songbook, explains why the band continues to maintain a growing presence on LI and in the tri-state area.
Band Contact:
Frank Barbuzza
Email:
Phone: 516-680-7670
This is not a Swing Dance Long Island Event (Not a SDLI Event)
The listed event is NOT sponsored by Swing Dance Long Island, Inc. This event was thought to be of interest to our SDLI’s members. Before traveling, always verify the event information directly with the organizer’s website, since things change and events do get canceled.
Friday, Jul 11, 2008 • TGIF @ BROOKHAVEN - In My Blood (Confessions of a Ballroom Dancer) Book Signing by Tony DiFranco • BNL
TGIF @ BROOKHAVEN on Friday, July 11th:
Dance Lesson: “More Hustle Moves”, by Donna DeSimone
SPECIAL EVENT ON JULY 11TH --> BOOK SIGNING BY AUTHOR AND FILMMAKER, TONY DIFRANCO!
(Quoting Rudy...) Many of us know Anthony DiFranco. Aside from being a college professor and a published writer/novelist, he is also an independent film producer/director/editor. A while back, at Brookhaven National Lab’s Berkner Hall Auditorium, we had a film screening of his then newly-completed full-length feature film “Happy Ever After”.
He just released a new novel, “In My Blood (Confessions of a Ballroom Dancer)”. I think this book will be of interest to most of us who are in the Long Island Dance Community. “..I think it will be a fun read for anyone who’s into ballroom dancing”. He will be present during our dance on July 11th, and will be happy to sign every book that will be sold by then 
The book is a paperback, 304 pages, priced at $15.
If you want to see more about the book and about Tony as a writer and filmmaker, check out his website at:
http://www.p-pix.com/
....
IN MY BLOOD
A new novel by Anthony DiFranco
If by chance you’re a ballroom dancer - here’s a story about a world you’ll recognize. And if you’re not, here’s a candid love story set in a world you’ll recognize as well.
Tommy and Laurie are virtual strangers in mid-life when they meet at a Long Island ballroom dance. Each sees something mysterious but compelling in the other’s eyes, each takes a chance on a wild ride that begins at the hover point of a spin turn and may or may not sweep the rest of their lives into it.
Their ride carries them across the gamut of dance experiences - the studios, the Latin clubs, the big social dances, the exhibitions, the dance weekends - all against the backdrop of onerous day jobs, aging parents, and troublesome ex-spouses.
I wrote In My Blood after fifteen years of involvement in the dance world. I wrote it hoping to illuminate, through an imagined story, a number of personal experiences beyond the dance scene itself: the dynamics of love relationships, the madness of independent filmmaking, the meaning of my parents’ lives and deaths, the lost beauty of the past. I wanted to write about every passion that had gotten “in my blood.”
I thought it would be fun, too, to comment on the psychology and the sociology and the history of ballroom dancing, and to weave all these elements into a single story that would sweep readers along just like a good waltz. The result is In My Blood.
- Anthony DiFranco
....
DJ Music
Music will be provided by DJ.
BNL Social & Cultural Club (BNL)
The BNL Social & Cultural Club holds weekly dance socials (TGIFs) and workshops at the North Ballroom, Brookhaven Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory every Friday evening from 7 to 11:30 pm.
Unless otherwise noted, workshops and lessons are from 7:10 pm to 9:30 pm with a food break in-between, followed by open social dancing up to 11:30 pm at the Brookhaven Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York.
Cost per person: $15(members)/$20(non-members), or $8/$12 for social dancing only without the lessons; members rate applies also to all Bera members with BNL ID, SDLI members with ID, students with school ID, and all subscribers of the Social-L list and the Yahoo DanceLovers group. (Special events have different rates).
Dance socials are open to the general public, but require a photo-id at the BNL front gate.
Their most current schedule is: BNL Social & Cultural Club Calendar
They also maintain a mailing list. To join: BNL Social-L email list
Contacts (Click below to send e-mail):
Rudy Alforque, 631-344-4733, or , or
Jack Guthy, 631- 929-8287, or
Brookhaven National Lab
Brookhaven National LabGo to LIE Exit 68 north on William Floyd Parkway;
(There are signs to: Brookhaven National Laboratory) About 1 1/2 miles away, turn right (before the second light), to BNL’s gate. Present a picture ID (driver’s license is ok) to the guard. From the Guard Booth, go straight, turn left at the first light; A few hundred feet away, on your left, is the Brookhaven Center. For more details on directions, visit: http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/maps.html