CENTURY BALLROOM TURNS 20!
HAPPY 20th ANNIVERSARY CENTURY BALLROOM!
Two decades ago, The George Gee Swing Orchestra received an email from a then-fledging ballroom in the Pacific NW requesting we make a stop at their town during one of our regular west coast tours. Our memories recollect jam-packed dance floors and wildly enthusiastic music and dance lovers clamoring for every note and rhythm in our NYC style.. Flash forward to 2017 and The Century Ballroom and owner Hallie Kuperman continues their tradition of honoring musicians and dancers with a month-long celebration this past February. As one of their first nationally touring groups to grace their stage, Hallie arranged for The George Gee Swing Orchestra to travel from NYC to help celebrate their 20th Anniversary on a Sunday, February 26th Swing Dance Extravaganza Finale! One of the few remaining classic ballrooms in the country (NYC's Roseland was recently demolished, Chicago's Willowbrook burnt down last year - leaving rarities such as Catalina Island's Casino Ballroom off the Los Angeles coast. All dazzling displays of dance architecture, which all have hosted GGMI swing dance productions).
The February 26th event was also our return to the Century Ballroom in nearly 16 years, so it especially evoked a warm sense of homecoming after such a long hiatus (it wasn't that we didn't try, but Hallie and we could never get our schedule aligned). With the stars aligned in perfect swing formation, the party was an SRO event with over 450 in attendance being serenaded by the full 12 piece GGSO - complete with a roster of NYC musicians plus the extra special vocals and dancing of John Dokes.
(let's start planning the Quarter Century Bash!)
George Gee Swing Orchestra performs Basie's "Shorty George" for Century Ballroom swingers!
