Swing is Alive!

My town has it´s annual celebration of Partionales coming up in June. Each town in the DR has a Saint and every Saint is celebrated in a different month. Our saint is San Juan Bautista here in Las Uvas. Every year each pueblo throws a week long celebration for their saint. This event is kind of like a holiday because almost all the relatives from around the country and the states come down to join in the celebration. The people go to mass every day and party every night. The town next to us is celebrating their Patrionales this week, so I´ve gotten a little preview of what it will be like. The first night is a Modelaje, where they will elect the new Reina (queen) de Las Uvas. Then the following 6 or 7 nights, the entire town gathers, drinks, dances, and watches any entertainment provided.
This year they’re in for a special treat because Harmon Dance Works is putting together a few swing routines to perform. We have a little over a month to learn swing, choreograph the dances and get us up to par to perform. Vamos a ver. We had our first practice last night and so far things are looking promising. All these kids are born with rhythm. I`m pretty sure they start dancing merengue while still in the womb, so we have to work on retraining their hips to be less wiggly. We laughed and laughed and laughed last night trying to learn the basic steps.