The Capital Times FEATURES Monday, October 5,1998 7 |
Swingin’ dubs bring ’3os back to Harrisburg
Continued from Page 1
Levitt, who were swingin’ before it was
popular.
From there, two other groups of dancers
Dance instructors Marty Lau and Lori
Rozzi, both part of the Harrisburg Rat
Pack, show The Vault how to swing.
If you wanna jump, jive an* wail...
Appalachian Brewery Company
Cameron Street, Harrisburg
Friday nights
Big Tbbba Mista’
Oct. 24
Day: Balloon Festival, Hersheypark
Night: Club Zee’s, Camp Hill
Hie Vault
2nd Street, Harrisburg
Wednesday nights, 9 p.m.-l a.m.
PSH hit by Blizzard of Bucks
By Ken Lopez
Staff Writer
Amid whirling dollar bills and a boisterous
student body, junior Brian Broeaux lowered
his hands, frantically attempting to scoop as
much money as could. After sixty seconds
of scavenging on the Sept. 15 evening, the
Meade Heights resident walked away $45
wealthier and became Penn State
Harrisburg’s 1998 Blizzard of Bucks Con
test champion at the Meade Heights Com
munity Center.
New York City-based Kramer Entertain
ment presents the show to over 40 colleges
nationwide every year. The group is currently
touring each Pennsylvania college, making
its second annual visit to PSH.
formed, called The Jumpcats and The Savoy
Swingers. Together they form what is com
monly known as the Harrisburg Rat Pack, or
H.R.P. They give lessons, and “stmt their
stuff’ at many local clubs, including The
Vault, The Jewish Community Center and
The Appalachian Brewing Company. They
also follow the Big Tubba Mista’ shows.
Lau explained, “We are combining our ef
forts to what we think is hep. We’re pushing
it and keeping it alive, for now. We have
something that everyone wants right now, so
we make ourselves available. People see us
dancing at a BTM show and want to leam
what we do.”
Jonny Victor, lead singer of BTM is happy
to be a part of it all. “We have been playing
out of the area recently, and I was amazed
that they still want to hear disco in Atlantic
City,” he said. “The major markets, such as
Philly and New York, don’t have as much
interest as Central Pa. does. There has been
a strong national push of swing, and I’m glad
Central Pa. is finally hep enough to grab
something that was new.”
So where do the “hepist hep cats,” and
“swingin’ gals” go to don their Zoot Suits,
Fedoras and Saddle shoes? The Vault is one
place, located in downtown Harrisburg. It
was the first club in the area to hold a swing
night called, “Swing Time w/Jump, Jive &
Wail,” featuring DJ Hep Daddi and the drum
mer for BTM, Bob Brechbill.
Photos by Kim Glass
The show is hosted by two aspiring come
dians, Dustin Chafin and Lisa Landry, and
engages contestants to participate in a vari
ety of unusual games.
In one game, four contestants were asked
to stuff their mouths with marshmallows
while enunciating the phrase “funny bunny.”
In another contest, participants donned baby
bibs and bonnets while downing orange juice
from a baby’s bottle. The person who finished
off his/her bottle first won.
After three rounds of games, Broeaux en
tered the Blizzard of Bucks Plexiglas cap
sule with a chance to win up to $5OO. Al
though he was the only person to advance to
the championship round, every contestant
walked away with a Blizzard of Bucks T
shirt.
Wanda’s
Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg
Wednesday nights, 9 p.ra.-l a.m.
Jewish Community Center
3301 N. Front St., Harrisburg
236-9555
Oct. 25, Sundays in November
Olympic Skating Center
Enola, Pa.
Oct. 18,7:30 p.m.-lO p.m.
Ray Rossi, club owner, was reunited with
swing when his 9-year-old son was listening
to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in the car.
“I like to attempt to be on the edge of con
temporary as much as
possible,” he ex
plained. “I like to keep
the club fresh and
new. So when I saw
BTM in the area do
ing real well, I de
cided to hold a night
for swing ”
Much like the
Swing era of the early
20th century, the new
swing era is all about
your own personality
and flair. You can Jit
ter Bug, Lindy Hop,
traditional swing or
make up your own
moves.
“That is why swing,
and one of the other
variations of swing,
called the Lindy Hop were popular so many
years ago,” Lau said. “You don’t necessarily
have to know how to do all the steps. You
can take the basic steps and build on them to
make them your own.”
Rossi wanted to make sure his club played
traditional and new songs so everyone would
Mission possible
Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find the normally unnoticed oddities of Harrisburg,
In the next issue, Barb Roy will give you a list of things to Find. But you're only compensated if
you're the first to complete the mission. The agency has no tolerance for slow operatives.
If you're successful, fame and fortune will follow (OK, you'li get a prize and your picture in the
Cap Times - but hey, take what you can get).
This paper will self-destruct in about eight months, two if it gets wet.
Crossword Companion
Answers on Page 4
Across
16 Resort
17 God of War
18 One who
takes another out
20 Without
1 Bottom
5 Bit; scrap
8 Stop the flow
12 Range
13 Each
14 Microphone
(slang)
15 Circle
purpose
22 Musical
performance
24 Fuss
27 Rough casing
around seeds
28 4th Greek
letter
32 Pertaining to
an animal paw
34 Leaky
35 Tidbit
36 Age
know where the roots of swing lie. We can
hear both Louis Prima’s original version of
“Jump Jive An’ Wail,” as well as the Brian
Setzer Orchestra’s new version.
and more people
show up each week. So if you’re sitting
around the house bored one night, grab your
Fedora or Saddle shoes, throw on you best
zoot suit and head on out for a swingin’ night
at a swingin' club.
It's guaranteed you won’t be able to keep
your feet still. “Go Daddy-O!”
37 Single
38 Uttering
41 Intertwined
44 Church
platform
48 Claim; charge
49 Beverage
51 From Gr.
Ares (comb,
form)
52 43,560 sq. ft.
53 Take
advantage
54 Type
55 Footwear
56 Half qt.
(abbr., pi.)
57 Pig pens
Down
1 Poet
2 Melody for one
3 Remitted
4 Ready
5 Rhea
6 Fix
7 Feature
8 Lesser
9 Wheel
10 Squeezes
11 Snafu
Swing night brings
an eclectic group of
people to The Vault,
and it is different
from any other night
there. Rossi said,
“Swing music has
brought out lounge
lizards from the past
who went out to
clubs in the Disco
era. We get an inter
esting cross section
of people, which is
good because the
more diversified the
room, the more we
can keep it going.”
Harrisburg is cer
tainly keeping swing
alive, because more
19 Gave back
21 Virgin Mary
23 Dog
24 Just
25 Daughters of
the American
Revolution
(abbr.)
26 Shout of
approval
29 Card game
30 Wine cask
31 Enzyme (suf.
33 Afternoon
show
34 Hawaiian
dish
36 Oldest
39 Slack off
40 Lens
41 Bad case of
the
42 Wealthy
43 Air (comb,
form)
45 Lope
46 Airy; aerial
47 Spoils
50 Copper or
bronze money