Big announcement… I’m doing something a little nuts to celebrate the launch of Rhythm and Blues. Watch!
I’m sending this media release out to national media this morning too, so I’m utterly bound to this. Discuss!
Dancing Fool Jill Murray celebrates new YA novel Rhythm and Blues at SweatFest
Studio Sweatshop challenges students to 28 dance classes in 28 daysMontreal, February 1, 2010… When Jill Murray, author of teen novel, Rhythm and Blues, heard about Studio Sweatshop’s audacious SweatFest challenge— 28 classes in 28 days— she leapt at the chance to live like her characters for a month… and spun, 6-stepped, chasséed, moonwalked and even downward-dogged.
Out February 9th, from Doubleday Canada, Rhythm and Blues, the follow-up to Murray’s critically acclaimed breakdance novel, Break On Through (2008) is the intimate-yet-glitzy, first-person account of a young hip-hop dancer who gets swept off her feet and out of her comfort zone when she is recruited into an all-girl pop group with Grammy ambitions.
“Sitting still is the the hardest part of writing,” says Murray, 32, who did everything from dance classes to singing lessons to research for Rhythm and Blues. “SweatFest will be the furthest I’ve ever pushed myself physically. But hey, it’s an Olympic year, right?” She laughs, unwilling to let her characters have all the fun. “Their teenage knees might be stronger, but they get their enthusiasm from me.” To keep herself motivated, Murray will donate $10 to Canada For Haiti for every class she completes, and blog the experience every day at www.jillmurray.com. “We can do this.”
“We can do this” is exactly the attitude echoed by Sweatshop founder, JoDee Allen. “We want our students to succeed,” she says, stretching in the airy, sun-filled studio at the corner of Mont-Royal & Clarke. “We hope it pushes everyone to try new things— step outside their comfort zone— go a little crazy.” B-boys (breakers) doing yoga? Hip hop girls breaking? Waackers and poppers trying Kung Fu? It’s all a part of Allen’s SweatFest master plan.
“It’s really straightforward.” For $100 (+ tax), students buy an unlimited month-long pass for Sweatshop classes in February. Anyone who achieves the outrageous 28 for 28 goal wins signed copies of Murray’s books, and is entered to win the grand prize: a 20-class card at Studio Sweatshop ($250 value). Students can register online at www.sweatshop.com.
“It’s a pretty chill atmosphere here,” Allen admits. “If you feel silly, no one’s judging, ‘cause we’re all in the same boat.” And then there’s the sweat factor: “While everyone complains about the snow and cold, we’re steaming up the windows. It gets pretty hot!”
“It’s called Sweatshop for a reason,” quips one student.
Related posts
- Solid State Breakdance Takes It Back to Toronto
- Sweatfest: Day 1, the kickoff
- "It's called Two-step because it has two steps"
- Sweatfest, Day 10: the Tao of the Leaderboard
- SweatFest, Day 3: So much laundry on my mind
- SweatFest, Day 4: The Dayoffening
- Sweatfest, Days 8 & 9: Sweaty Like the Wolf
