Hiland Dance Studio - Promo Photos
Just a quick post with a few recent promotional photos I took for Hiland Dance Studio in Albuquerque. Looking to learn salsa inside and out? Check out Abdul's classes! He posts class information on Facebook. I hope these photos show just how much fun his classes are.
505 Stomp & Rocky Mountain Girl Jam - Albuquerque and Denver Dance Events
Lindy hop. Chorus girls. Live music. Team Performances. Lip Sync Battle. Dancing until the wee hours.
In April two dance workshop weekends happened back to back, one in Albuquerque, one in Denver. Dance weekends are the most fun times for a social dancer. You get to hang out with your dance friends all weekend, learn new things, and most importantly, dance, for hours!!!
505 Stomp is an annual lindy hop workshop held in Albuquerque each spring. Instructors are brought in from across the country, there are classes all day, dances all night, and laid back competitions during the dances. Rocky Mountain Girl Jam is a workshop weekend focused on follow technique and solo dancing. Performances and social dancing fill the nights.
I've been photographing 505 Stomp since it began in 2008, but this was the first year I made it to Girl Jam and got to photograph it as well! Both events were so much fun. If you are a dancer and have never made it to an event like these I highly recommend it.
505 Stomp
Rocky Mountain Girl Jam
Interested in having me photograph your event? Contact me.
Heights Community Center 75th Anniversary Party
A place where I've spent many Tuesday nights dancing and hanging out with friends, Heights Community Center celebrates 75 years of happy feet walking through its doors (and dancing on its floor).
Preface
Seven and a half years ago when I first made the move to Albuquerque I knew no one in this lovely Land of Enchantment. I had just driven from Florida to begin a six-month-long photo internship at the Albuquerque Journal and was in search of the local swing dance community, which I hoped existed. I had already been swing dancing for a few years by then and it was my main creative outlet outside of photography. I think I was in Albuquerque no more than two days before some deep digging on Google spit out what seemed to be some outdated info on a weekly Tuesday night dance at Heights Community Center. With nothing else to do on my first Tuesday night in Albuquerque, I drove into town to see if the dance was actually happening. Much to my excitement I found a rather large crowd of people dancing when I got there!
This became the place where I met my soon-to-be Albuquerque friends. I don't remember who I met or danced with that first time at Heights, but boy was I excited to have found a place to dance. Much to my surprise (and excitement) I soon learned of other weekly swing dances. The Tuesday night dance at Heights Community Center will always have a special place in my heart though. It's where I first found a community that would become a very big part of my life and where I began some very close friendships.
History & A Party
On December 30, 2014, the Calming Four hosted a 75th Anniversary Party for Heights Community Center. According to the city of Albuquerque website, Heights Community Center was the first community recreation center in the city. It was constructed between 1938 and 1942 as a National Youth Administration Project, one of several New Deal programs active in Albuquerque during the Great Depression. During World War II, servicemen stationed in Albuquerque for training flocked to dances at the center. Folk, square, and swing dancing groups still actively use the center's wooden dance floor, which many consider the best in the area.
So the space and floor have been going strong for 75 years, but now, finally, the floor needs to be replaced. There are only so many times you can sand down and refinish a floor, particularly a dance floor. Desi Brown, Tuesday night swing dance organizer, and the Calming Four, are beginning a year long fundraiser to raise $10,000 for a new floor. The 75th Anniversary Party was the kick-off for the fundraiser.
Learn more:
- Calming Four: Primordial Swing Dance Group. Join them every Tuesday night at Heights Community Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- Tuesday Night Swing ABQ group on Facebook where Tuesday night dancers can post info, not run by Calming Four.
- Lessons (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) begin at 7:30pm. Dance begins around 8:30pm, ends at 10:30pm.
- Heights Community Center can be found at 823 Buena Vista Drive SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.
To donate to the new floor, a donation account has been set up at New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union:
- The Calming Four HCC Floor Donation Fund Acct: #2426670-1.
More photos can be found on my Facebook page: Morgan Petroski Photography
Steve & Chanzie Denver Workshop - Highlights in Photos - Dance Photography
I've never blogged about any of the dance weekends I've photographed over the years so it's time to start! In December I photographed a workshop weekend hosted by Swingin' Denver. Here are my favorite images from the weekend.
Hi there! I've never blogged about any of the dance weekends I've photographed over the years so time to start! There have been many in the past seven years, but this one brought me out of town and not only gave me a personal recharge for my love of swing dancing but inspired my fiancé to want to learn more and more. How great is that? In December I photographed a workshop weekend hosted by Swingin' Denver. If you're in Denver and want to learn how to swing dance I highly recommend looking them up. Swingin' Denver brought in Steve & Chanzie to teach smooth style lindy, collegiate shag, and boogie woogie. In addition to classes during the day there were dances at night, as with most dance workshops. You can never dance enough. These are just a few of my favorite images, from classes both days and Saturday night's dance in Boulder, CO. I hope the photos show how much fun everyone was having all weekend, how focused people were while learning, and the fun teaching chemistry that Steve and Chanzie brought to the classes. They are great to learn from and amazing to watch dance together.
To see more photos from the weekend visit my facebook page: Morgan Petroski Photography.