Joy Street Orchestra

Dear Friends,

What is a Rumpus, you ask?

A temporary pocket of benevolent chaos, where joy is allowed to be messy, embodied, and contagious.

A collective permission slip to be more alive than usual.

How do we get there?

Through the music, of course.

Our musician-magicians will lead the way — through swing and waltz, with blues and boogie-woogie, with shimmer and surprise, into laughter, connection, and shared reverie.

Come spend an evening on Joy Street.

Come dance, dream, and delight with us.

Join us for Rumpus at the Reverie — our annual Masquerade of music, mischief, and belonging.

This Friday, February 6. Doors open at 8 o’clock.

Details and tickets at www.ReverieBallroom.com and go to Events.

When you dis-guise yourself with a mask and step onto the dance floor, you become a different "you." You may find yourself bringing forth parts of your deep essence that you've always wanted to make public.

The same occurs with your many partners. And so you never what may transpire. As dancer Heber Farnsworth wrote, after our first Masquerade, "The Masquerade ball was AWESOME. The mystique of the mask was magical."

Masques, my friends, are only required until the ceremonial unmasking, part way through the dance. Yet many keep theirs on all night.

Wear a mask and discover new parts of yourself, as well as unexpected surprises from your partners. (Some masks at the door for $5.)

Get details and tickets at www.ReverieBallroom.com. Look under events.

It’s been a transformational year for blues harpist J.D. Hagopian:

On a pilgrimage to Clarksville, Mississippi, mythic home of the blues, he learned one of his ancestors is the blues-guitar legend, J.B. Lenoir, a master who played with Muddy Waters, Elmore James and the Chicago Blues crowd.

Then J.D. was invited to perform this March at the Fort Worth African-American Roots Music Festival.

And this Friday…J.D. will bring his harmonicas to the Reverie Ballroom stage for our Masquerade XVI.

Dancers love grooving to J.D. and Joy Street. Get all the details and your tickets at www.ReverieBallroom.com

Don't miss the best Big Dance of the year. We could all use a hefty dose of Radical Joy right now — and that's what this evening delivers. In spades.

Come dance to the 13-piece Joy Street Orchestra fronted by chaneuse Dina Blade, Rockin' Rafe Wadleigh, songbird Lucia Neare and Bluesman J.D. Hagopian. Plus the always-fresh performances showcased in the Cabaret d'Artiste.

Swing, Blues, Waltzes, Classic Rock 'n roll, Latin, West Coast, R & B and more.

Get all the details and your tickets at www.ReverieBallroom.com

We've heard from three dancers who say they want to attend Masquerade XVI, but might not because they think parking stinks on Capitol Hlll.

Here's the truth: Parking stinks all across Seattle now. It's today's fact of life.

But the Seattle Central College lot makes parking easy. It's cheap and open till 7 the next morning. Just one and a half blocks west of the ballroom on East Pine Street.

And there's Light Rail just two blocks north of the ballroom. Plus busses, taxis and uber.

Don't let parking keep you from a night of Radical Joy.

Grab a ticket at www.ReverieBallroom.com

Saturday afternoon at 4:53: Joy Street's 13-piece orchestra just finished a three-hour rehearsal — half of the music we'll play at the Masquerade: everything from bump-and-grind blues to a haunting Mexican folk waltz — and the musicians came away jazzed to the rafters.

Dancers are going to love the grand mix of music on tap — just six nights away now.

Get details and your ticket at www.ReverieBallroom.com

Need some Serious Joy these days?

Grab your ticket to Masquerade XVI: www.ReverieBallroom.com

Come join your dancing pals for a night of connection and Joy.

These days, community Joy is a radical act.

Get details and tix at: www.ReverieBallroom.com

Our dance community's favorite jazz vocalist leads the 13-piece Joy Street Orchestra into the best variety dance imaginable. A full three and a half hours of dancing.

Expect classic swing, majestic waltzes, R & B standards, Cuban Cha-Chas, 50s Rock 'n roll, West Coast Swing, gut-bucket blues and more — featuring Rockin' Rafe Wadleigh, Songbird Lucia Neare and Bluesman J.D. Hagopian.

And the only rule: You gotta masque up for the first part of the evening, until the ceremonial unmaking in the second set.

Dancer Heber Farnsworth said, "The Masquerade...was AWESOME. The mystique of the mask was magical."

Go to ReverieBallroom.com for details and tickets.

Come to the best variety dance imaginable: a 4-hour evening featuring the award-winning Joy Street Orchestra, with Rockin’ Rafe Wadleigh, Blues Harpist J.D. Hagopian, Chanteuse Dina Blade and Songbird Lucia Neare — plus a surprise opening act and the intermezzo performances of the Cabaret d’Artiste, lighting up the evening during the two band breaks.

Dance to Swing, R&B, Fifties Rock ’n’ Roll, West Coast Swing, Latin, Pop, Waltzes of all tempos, Blues and more.

Remember the only rule: To enter, everyone needs a mask, that’s masque, friends. By custom, we all stay in-disguise until the ceremonial “unmasking.” (We’ll have a few masks available at the door for $5.)

Get details and tickets here: https://www.reverieballroom.com

We know many hearts are heavy. The horrors unfolding in Minneapolis—and echoed across our land—touch us deeply.

This Masquerade is not an escape.

It is a sanctuary. A moment to connect. A circle of presence in a world unraveling.

We do not gather to ignore or to look away—we gather in remembrance. That beauty heals. That movement connects. That witnessing one another, even behind masks, is an act of defiance against despair.

Join us not to forget, but to remember that togetherness is our superpower.

We gather to reclaim joy as a sacred, necessary act.

Come, let's dance.

Sending love to you all.

More details and tickets here: https://thestranger.boldtypetickets.com/events/178012038/masquerade-xvi

P.S. If you want to attend the Masquerade but are feeling financial hardship, please DM me.