Social dance highlights

SWING ABOUT IT: Local band The House Hoppers performed at Swing Asheville’s Halloween Spooktactular dance, then posed in the photo booth. Photo courtesy of Swing Asheville

The Asheville area is blessed with opportunities to groove and shimmy nearly every day of the week. Partner-dance highlights from 2018 included:

• A monthly Sunday afternoon family dance launched at Harvest House in the Kenilworth neighborhood, with circles, mixers and squares aimed at families with children. avl.mx/5gg

•  Musicians Owen Cauley and Lory McClimans delighted gliding couples at a Sunday evening waltz at The Orange Peel in April. theorangepeel.net

• In June, Karen Jaffe (a local instructor) and Tate Di Chiazza (visiting from Argentina) infused the regular Saturday blues/fusion dance at Veda Studios with the spice of Argentine tango. vedastudios.com

• Iconic contra dance band Wild Asparagus kicked off the June Summer Soiree weekend, playing to a full house at the Old Farmers Ball Thursday night dance at Warren Wilson College. oldfarmersball.com

• Latin dance returned to MG Road in September on Tuesday nights. DJ Edi Fuentes provided tunes for salsa, bachata, merengue and cumbia. (This event is not not currently being held.)

• The BLOCK off Biltmore was hopping in October with the Halloween Spooktacular, led by local band The House Hoppers. A costume contest and photo booth added festive flair to the regular Tuesday night event hosted by Swing Asheville. swingasheville.com

• Veronika Robinson of Kizomba Alegria, from Charlotte, led a vibrant and curious crowd in an Angolan-style kizomba workshop. The November event took place before the Salsa y Más monthly Friday social, hosted by 2umbao, at Veda Studios. vedastudios.com

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About Carla Seidl
Carla Seidl is a writer, independent radio producer, and singer-songwriter based in Asheville, North Carolina. Read and listen to more of her work at carlaseidl.com. Follow me @carlaseidl

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