Guest blogger Danielle Marie Georgiou is the Artistic Director and Choreographer of DGDG: Danielle Georgiou Dance Group. She also serves as the Assistant Director of the UT Arlington’s Dance Ensemble.

Looking to do a little dancing this weekend? Even if you’re not a “dancer,” this weekend’s events are sure to be entertaining (at the very least)!

Tonight, Sons of Hermann Hall is the place to be, especially if you like drinking, dancing and the 60s.

Hosting two lavish events, it’s dealer’s choice as to what type of dancing you’d like to partake in. There’s the Drinking and Dancing Competition and The Dallas Smoke’s 8th birthday party (if you’re feeling lucky, double down and do both).

Drinking and Dancing Competition; The Lab; San Francisco, CA 11/09; Photo: http://www.aesthletics.org/

It’s common knowledge that drinking and dancing go hand in hand; yet, they are always separated on the dance floor. Why? Current Artist in Residence at CentralTrak Tom Russotti just might have the solution to that age-old question: the Drinking and Dancing Competition. Friday’s fête merges these two harmonious activities into one spirited event that involves you, a drink and your groove thing shaking. Basically, you’ve got to master the art of dancing while drinking a drink.

Interested? Here are the rules.

• You need to coordinate your beverage with your dance, your partner, your music and your liver.
• There will be two competitions: an open floor competition and a choreographed competition.
• In the open floor competition, contestants will all dance to the same music.
• In the choreographed competition, dancers dance to their own preselected music and routines.

At the end of the night, two final pairs will emerge as drinking and dancing champions.

On a bit of a more serious note, the Drinking and Dancing Competition is part of Russotti’s mission as founder of the Institute for Aesthletics, an organization dedicated to the playing of sports as an artistic practice.

Man w/ Bowler Hat @ 2nd Base Straitjacket Softball #2 New York, NY 3/08; Photo: http://www.aesthletics.org/

Aesthletics is a conscious acknowledgment of sport, especially contemporary spectator sports, as a mixture of physical activity, social interaction, movement, performance and ritual with aims to unleash the great opportunities inherent in competitive contests for social – rather than monetary – capital. As such, aesthletics merges the language of sports with the methods and goals of participatory art to produce games that foster social interaction, deliver significant meaning and context, and promote a more creative and widespread culture of socio-physical activity.

The competition starts at 8 p.m. As one of the judges, I expect to see mighty fine dancing!

If you’re feeling more like channeling Twiggy or Warhol or getting down to a little Motown, then consider The Smoke’s party – Dallas’ longest lasting, hardest hitting, sweatiest Mod/60s dance night. From July 2003 to now, The Smoke’s been playing tunes your feet love to shuffle to. DJs Marcos and Jason will be hosting DJ Brett Koshkin of Austin’s Soul Happening. All ages are welcomed, and there’s a $5 cover. The party starts at 9 p.m.

Elledanceworks Dance Company

Then, on Saturday, Elledanceworks Dance Company will be performing at the Dallas Museum of Art. This new, site-specific work will be in the “Silence and Time” exhibit, which is inspired by the work of John Cage, specifically his 4’33”, and Merce Cunningham. Choreographed by long-time company member Tiffanee Arnold, the hourlong performance is comprised of vignettes based on artwork in the gallery.

Elledanceworks will perform at 2 p.m. on Saturday. A Q&A with Arnold will both precede and follow the event. A second performance featuring pieces of Elledanceworks’ repertoire will take place on July 30 at the DMA.