I did something a little bit different and filmed from the back of the room this time for Followlogie 2012 cabaret competitions. While it was neat to see a performance from the other side and to see the crowd’s reaction, playing it back just feels a bit off. In any case, lesson learned, next time I’ll head for the front of the crowd.

This is the routine of the cabaret winners by the “W-Project” girls here in Montreal. I’m a bit biased but this was definitely kickass (although all the performances were great!).

Sundays – Blues (Brouhaha), Lindy Hop vintage/fast swing night (Swing Connexion)

Tuesdays – Swing (Le Petit Medley), West Coast Swing (Dance Conmigo)

Wednesdays – Lindy Hop w. live music (Les Bobards)

Thursdays – Lindy Hop (Le Rialto, once a month), West Coast Swing (Studio 88)

Fridays – Lindy Hop (Cats Corner), Blues (some late nights at Cats Corner)

Saturdays – Swing (Studio 88)

Original list by Balboa Fred!

Working as an customer advocate for one of the most customer-service conscience companies in the world (FreshBooks wut!) day in and day out, I am always blown away when companies these days try to get away with just piss poor decisions.

A couple of weeks ago I was surfing the Facebooks and saw this:

Upon reading this message, I actually felt angry for Meschiya Lake and her band and embarrassed for our music scene. Here she was coming all the way to the great white north (Canadia land) and getting screwed over by the Zoofest music promoters. The business of live music, to me, should be fairly straight forward – party A provides a service that party B pays for. If we want to get more kick ass musicians to play for our scenes, whether they are local talent or imported from the States, our cities can’t be known for screwing over the musicians.

What ended up happening was that the Montreal swing dance scene pretty much bombarded the Zoofest Facebook Fan Page with comments requesting that they do the right thing and pay up!

In the end, everything worked out well as Zoofest did pay up, but it always makes me wonder why they weren’t just honest and straight up with the situation in the first place.

Even though summer is already half way done, I’m still on a mission to grab a beer with all my Ontario friends by cajoling you all to come to Montréal. Of course this mission is a bit self-serving (I like beer, I like wine..) but I believe you would enjoy yourself once you get here. I know my food baby loves Montréal (I’m definitely on my second trimester).

Here’s an easy and quick guide on how to get to the land of the French using public transportation.

By Plane.

Do yourself a favor and take Porter Airlines. If you are diligent and check their sales (which they have often) you can get flights as low as $100 with taxes. Their lounge and service is by far the best economy flight experience I’ve ever been on and the Toronto City Airport (aka the “Billy Bishop” Airport; any WW1 nerds like me?) is near the Union Subway Station. They also have a an awesome shuttle that picks you up near the station and takes you on a five-minute journey so you don’t have to walk or take a small cab fare.

Forget Air Canada or West Jet if you are flying in from Toronto to Montreal, Porter Airlines is what the homies and homettes take. If you are taking PorterAirlines during the day or evening, don’t forget to ask for your free beer beverage. If you are nice, they’ll even give you two. Sometimes if they forget they gave you two, you can even ask for three!

Once you arrive at the airport, there is a convenient 24 hour airport to downtown shuttle service, aptly named the 747. Forget the taxis too, you won’t actually save any time and the bus is 80% cheaper. http://www.stm.info/english/info/a-747.htm.

Featuring nine stops in each direction, the 747 service is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year between Montréal’s central bus terminal (Berri-UQAM metro station) and Montréal-Trudeau airport.

By Train.

ViaRail is actually fast becoming one of my favourite ways to travel back and forth from Toronto->MTL. Yes some haters would say that the train is dead but for a smooth ride with acceptable wireless internet service and for about 75% the price of a plane, the train is pretty darn sweet. Economy class and assigned seating will run you about $70 total one way and believe it or not, the total time it takes to get from point A to point B is not that much longer than a plane than the train (if you include the plane wait times).

Another reason why I like taking ViaRail – I can actually get my shit done on the train! If you are always on the go, having five or so hours just to yourself does wonders for your productivity. I can usually get through all my emails, play a season or two of Football Manager, and edit some photos while enjoying the nice low hum of a large metal object going over some rails.

The train station is conveniently located in downtown Montreal (895 de la Gauchetiere West).

By Bus.

One word – Megabus. Technically it’s two words squashed into one word but if you are low on funds but high on adventure, Megabus has some pretty crazy deals from $10 one way. The average price I would say is $20-27 but I’ve gotten quite a few trips for $10 the past year. I only ever go on Megabus when I need to red-eye a trip (midnight bus ride, arrive 6am) but it’s definitely a very popular choice for many travellers.

Forget about Greyhound if you are trying to get from Montréal from Toronto. They have about three thousand stops and takes about nine hours as opposed to the six hours on Megabus.

Bonus tip! Megabus no longer stops in Kingston for a food break. So pack accordingly or the six hours is going to feel like six days.

Bonus tip number 2! Get to the line up about 45 minutes prior to departure and you’ll probably end up getting the coveted “front of the bus, on the second floor” seat. It’s worth getting there early to be on the second floor of the bus because it’s significantly less bumpy.

Watch out for drunk people getting on the red-eye bus though. More than likely, they won’t make it. You’ve been warned.

By Walking/Biking.

GTFO.

So I’m finally all settled in Montréal! Hurray! Got my little corner office set up, bike paths memorized, and my one phrase in french all loaded up and ready, “Je voudrais un café moyen, s’il vous plaît”. All that I am missing is a set schedule of dance classes and practices to go to every evening to keep myself out of the streets. Seems like a pretty easy task right? Just find all the dance studios in the city, the schedule, class fees, and register for said classes.

BZZZZT. Incorrect. Thou shall not pass.

The reality is that most dance company/studio websites have outdated class information, bury their prices as many as three to four clicks (for the diligent web surfer), and worse of all, have broken or none existent registration systems. How does this even make any sense? Can you imagine how many non dancers quit the sign-up process just because it was too confusing or the price wasn’t listed anywhere. Some of the basic questions people ask when committing to a new activity are, “when is it, where is it, and how much is it”. Those at the very least, should be on the front page of every dance business.

Now, one day I’m going to own my dance studio. And one day, I will have a website for this dance studio. On the front page of this website is going to be, in a very clear but polite manner, a schedule of classes that day and a schedule of upcoming series sets or workshops. I will be even bold and include information on the costs and a button for people, if they wanted, to go ahead and pay me right there and then for those classes. It might even include a little twitter/facebook action button after registering that will allow participants to broadcast to their network of friends that they have, in fact, just registered for a dance class at Hamfats Dance Studio* (name pending). Dancers will be able to find information about classes and be able offload their cashola in exchange for the dream to learn how to dance and lead a better life. It will be easy, it will be painless and most of all, it will be profitable. One day…

Related Articles: http://hamfats.ca/studio/a-schedule-board

It’s no Montreal, but I have to admit, Quebec City was a fun and delicious city. The only beef I had was that the entire event felt like a sales pitch for me to learn swing dancing. Well, I’m already sold on that so you don’t need to try to up-sell me to a large drink at every opportunity. The plus side, the beef poutine I had was crazy awesome.

1. One of my favourite routines this year :)

2. Toronto’s Flapper Troupe

3. <3 Frida <3

I love hitting up Montreal for dance trips. More venues. More dancers. Excellent food and people. I always leave feeling… hmm maybe next weekend I should go back again.

Group Photo Session from Swing L’ete

Swing L’ete 2009 from Harbord Hamfats on Vimeo.

A Few Photos….