h. nazan ışık—

1 July 2015—

Do you like to dance with live music, or listen to it, or just watch people dance, and enjoy being outside? If the answer is “Yes”, Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing festival or program is just for you.

The annual dance party Midsummer Night Swing, runs from June 23 to July 11, offers music lovers salsa, disco, classic swing, tango and much more with live music.

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Aview of the stage and dance floor in Damrosch Park.

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On the opening night people danced big band swing to the music of Jonathan Stout’s All- Star Orcestra.

I was there on the first night – as an observer-. There were some couples moving together very rhythmically to music. They knew the steps, obviously they danced together before, or maybe they took classes together. İt was very pleasant to watch them.

In front of the stage there is an elevated official dance floor. One must get a ticket to dance there. But people can dance outside of the dance floor as well. And it is free.

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Second time I was there, it was a salsa dura night. This young couple was dancing outside but just next to the dance floor to music played by Orquesta SCC. They were young, full of energy and definitely knew salsa.

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This couple too, were dancing salsa outside of the dance floor.

The difference I notice was ladies on the dance floor had nicer dresses and dance shoes.  Another thing that caught my attention was people who danced on the dance floor had to check their bags at the bagcheck. Others were carrying them while they were dancing.

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The program is usually from 6pm to 10pm. At 10pm music has to stop. But there are some nights called “Silent Disco” and party goes on until 11:30pm.

The second time I was there was one of these “Silent Disco” nights. At 10pm when the sound system turned off whoever wanted to stay on the dance floor had to put a wireless headset on. And D.J. broadcasted directly to their headphones.

Since we didn’t hear any music that was the funniest scene I saw. Everyone was moving differently.

The observers started asking: “Are they really dancing to the same music?”

The full schedule can be found at MidsummerNightSwing.org.

 

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Photos © h. nazan ışık, All rights reserved