31/03/2020
Dear dancers:
We hope, first and foremost, that you and your loved ones are all well and, if possible, at home.
If you can’t stay inside, thank you for being on the front line for the rest of us and please do your best to stay safe.
Cutting to the chase: this was the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make. We’ve been in observant expectation (and a healthy amount of denial) for the longest time possible, but it’s unavoidable.
Due to the current state of the world, we don’t have the means to organise a Blue Skies Lisbon Lindy Exchange worthy of its name, of you, and of all the past editions.
The time it would take to put this event together is being cut short by all the uncertainties we’re facing at the moment.
It’s an unfortunate combination: we don’t know how or when things will start to get better, we can’t get anything moving, and we couldn’t afford to wait any longer to get started.
Watching everything unfold has been the most heart-wrenching and sordid exercise in patience.
But we’re not stopping, dear dancers…
We’re going to keep on keeping on, washing our hands, social distancing until further notice, help our elders, do countless remote meetings, harass all the bands, push all the local businesses, and by this time next year the registrations for Blue Skies 2021 will be opening.
And, fuelled by the fresh taste of regained freedom and health, and the untameable desire to HUG and DANCE and LAUGH OUT LOUD AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to all of you, it will be our best Blue Skies yet.
Dance and art have been essential to maintaining our sanity in these weird times (and get us out of the couch), so keep dancing, keep in touch with us, and, if possible, support your local Lindy communities, festivals, teachers and musicians.
Here’s to hoping that this all blows over sooner than expected and that we’ve made a huge mistake.
Here’s to “Blue days, all of them gone / nothin' but blue skies from now on”
Can’t wait to dance with you soon,
The Team
