LindyGroove Technique Class Notes

Shave and a Haircut

2012-02-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some things I recently found on Facebook. Social networking is not entirely evil.

Why I Dance (and why you should too)

Black Coffee, by the Careless Lovers
A cute video directed by Joon Chang, whom I worked with in the 48 hour film festival a few years back.

A Word on Swing: Lindy Hop Bloggers Bobby White and Jerry Almonte bring back some thoughts from Lonestar

The Loose Marbles, with Meschiya Lake: Holy Cats! I'd never heard this woman sing before. I can't believe she can do that without an amp!

Shave and a Haircut: Blues dancer and sfx guru Logan Gloor shot this stop motion of fellow dancer Eric Eltringham. Before this Eric was known as Thor.

Memories of Hal

2012-01-10T07:42:00.001-08:00

Hal Takier (also known as Hal Savoy or Hal Chavoor) passed away yesterday. My condolences go out to his family, especially his widow Marge. Together they hosted the biweekly dance at Bobby McGee's in Brea for what must have been decades.

I can easily say that swing dancing in Los Angeles would not have been the same without Hal. Of course the dance at Bobby's was an instant bridge between the turn of the century jitterbugs and the "old timers." Still, I think Hal's contribution to us kids (who have been called by some old timers ourselves) was more than just a place to learn sweet old moves, connect to history or even to find our places in a larger community. For the life of me, I'm having trouble putting it into words.

Let's go back a little bit. I remember the first time I saw Hal dancing. It was the clip from Twice Blessed, with Hal in the striped shirt. That was one of the first clips in my collection, and I still think it looks like nothing else before or since. When I first saw it the notion that the dancers in those old clips could be just a short drive away wasn't thinkable, but the dancing blew my mind nonetheless.

My friends and I eventually found our way to Bobby's. We would go every time without fail. I remember Hal as fairly soft spoken, sitting, smiling and from time to time coming out to impress us with some honest-to-goodness bad-assery. I remember Tip and Holly getting lessons from Hal about his signature move, the merry-go-round. Was that why we kept saying "you're doing it wrong" to each other all the time? If you don't remember they went on to win a ton of titles, and I believe their first awards could easily be attributed to their time with him.

See the striped shirt at 2:02.

I just remembered how all the boys sought out striped shirts, surely because of that clip I mentioned above. For a while that was the look everyone wanted.

How could I have not yet mentioned his dancing? The period when we were dancing at Bobby McGee's was the same period that we were first discovering all those beautiful clips that you can now find effortlessly on YouTube. It was also the time of the style war.

For those of you who weren't there, the style war of the aughts was known as "Savoy vs. Hollywood." It was fought by online warriors who generally knew very little about anything. It could be summed up by saying that some students enjoyed dancing inspired by Frankie Manning and the dancers of Harlem while others were digging the dancing inspired by Dean Collins and his protégés.

Hal Takier's dancing was something else. He was from Southern California, but from what I remember, his dancing predated Dean Collins's influence. He was dancing bal-swing, but at the time we barely had words for it. And anyway, Hal's dancing was Hal's, and it wasn't Savoy or Hollywood, and it was awesome.

My memories are starting to blur at this point. All I have left is to thank Hal for his kindness and his contribution.

The History of Lindy Hop (now satire-free)

2012-01-08T09:38:00.001-08:00

Okay, less foolin' this time. Here's a documentary circa 1980s, featuring many of the dancers of (I assume) the New York area of the time. It's definitely Harlem-focused, but Harlem is awesome. So it all works out.

The History of Lindy Hop

2012-01-07T14:10:00.001-08:00

Have I posted this before? If not, here it is.

As far as I understand it, this is all factual.

Cheek to Cheek

2011-12-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

After watching John Bohannon's TedTalks presentation last week, I wanted to take a moment to find some of the other entries in the Dance Your PhD series. After a quick search through YouTube, I found some old friends of mine!

Sommer Gentry and Dorry Segev demonstrating haptic communication
Audio removed for legal reasons.

Last Thursday I taught the Shim Sham and then did a demonstration of how "Eyes Up!" works within a dance. The video above works on what I believe to be the opposing principle. I've long been a fan of dancing blind. I actually love dancing with both my and my partner's eyes closed. Don't do that nearly enough.

I don't have time to consider how these opposing principles complement each other, but hopefully it will suffice to say that I think they do.

Here's the Ted Talks with Dance Your PHD founder John Bohannon

Gorgeous and nerdy at the same time!

Cliptomania: (Mostly) Not Lindy Hop edition

2011-11-27T09:51:00.000-08:00

I missed the US Open Swing Dance Championships for the second year in a row. I am lame. Directly below are two clips from the early days of West Coast Swing.

Lance Shermoen and Mary Ann Nunez on Dance Fever in 1985.

Mary Ann Nunez is a fairly big name in the West Coast Swing world. Lance Shermoen I mainly have known behind the scenes at Camp Hollywood as the guy who makes sure the judging goes right. I don't remember ever having seen him dance in person. Here they are tearing it up!

Jack Carey and Annie Hirsch, who according to Skippy Blair were "the epitome of Classic West Coast style." I haven't seen either of them in years, I'd guess. I'd imagine that they are both at the US Open at the moment.

This isn't swing dancing but I love it! The Hullabaloo dancers, featuring Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie, who both went on to fame with A Chorus Line.

This is from the classic episode "Lucy Gets an Eye Exam," and features "King Cat" Arthur Walsh, who is best known for The Groovie Movie. Spoiler alert: this is one of the episodes recreated for I Love Lucy Live!

Thanks to Burnie Gipson for posting that via Tumblr. I've been looking for the clip on YouTube for years. I remember looking through the dancer guide at Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee for clips featuring Arthur Walsh and this was my treasure find. Of course, my old clip collection has gone the way of the VHS tape.

What a Difference 6 Days Makes!

2011-11-06T10:55:00.001-08:00

In case you haven't been reading my blog, the24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon is next weekend. The event is a fundraiser for the City of Hope. Here are clips for each year of the event!

This is the Fox News clip from 2005. Jeebus!
Dance-a-thon 2005 > $52,000

This is the jam from 2006. I'm at the very end of the clip!
Dance-a-thon 2006 > $102,000

Charleston performance from 2008!
Dance-a-thon 2008 > $185,000

The T-shirt cutting contest from 2009!
Dance-a-thon 2009 > $130,000

Team San Francisco at Dance-a-thon 2010!
Dance-a-thon 2010 > $180,000

That's a lot of exclamation points! The 2011 event is next weekend. Click on the following links if you would like to donate or participate.

Why I do the 24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon!

2011-10-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

My mother is currently recovering from her second surgery to remover her cancer. Her appetite is growing and hopefully she'll make a strong come-back.

My father had a form of blood cancer before he died. He had other health issues as well, but the cancer was no help.

At the age of 12 I was told by a dermatologist that I had a high risk of skin cancer. So I wear sunscreen when I remember and I try to stay indoors a lot and eat well.

***

If you haven't heard of the 24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon before, its a large event put on by some Lindy Hoppers down in Irvine with proceeds benefiting the City of Hope, a center for cancer research, care and education.

I've been contributing to the 24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon since its inception several years ago. Certainly that was before I had learned of either of my parents illnesses. Now that my mother is fighting the disease too I have to think about why I've done it all these years.

If you haven't read it before, here's my write-up of the event back in 2009: What a Difference a Day Makes.

Here's a video re-cap of last year's event that I found on Youtube:

Going all the way through it is an emotional experience. I can't remember a year during which I didn't laugh, cry and feel a great amount of love. It's a very moving event. It's also loads of fun. That's certainly part of what makes me return.

Maybe that's only part of it.

I think I do it because it's very close to home. My parents, me, even friends I haven't mentioned here. I dance for me and mine. It could be your parents, you or your friends. I dance for you and yours too.

24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon 2011 is only two weeks away. Please consider participating or making a donation. Even a few dollars will help a really worthy cause. Even a few dollars can make a big difference.

If you love dancing and hate cancer, please figure out how you can help!

Thanks for your time.

Why you need to fail

2011-10-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Daniel Young, for bringing this to my attention. I've posted more thoughts over on Glow-in-the-Dark Thoughts: The aftermath of Failblog

This seems to make a very good synthesis with the posting I wrote recently on the subject of being a beginner.

ULHS 2011 - Solo

2011-10-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Thoughts for Beginners - Lindy Hop edition

2011-10-01T08:14:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday I went in with little to no plan and we did a class on shock absorption. Remember that your joints are there to help you move around and stuff.

The quote above was posted on Facebook yesterday and attributed to Ira Glass, host of This American Life. I've found it quite resonant so I'm posting thoughts on it here and over at Glow in the Dark Thoughts, my blog about stuff in general.

Nowadays it can be a really intimidating time for a person to come to LindyGroove to be a rank beginner. I often liken a beginners' class to the first day of snowboarding: you spend more time on your ass than on your feet the first day.

New folks come into swing dancing nowadays and see some dancers who have rudimentary partnering skills or better and get all freaked out. It's one thing to be a beginner and another thing to do it in a room full of people who don't seem to be beginners.

If you're a beginner I should point out this: 90% of the people in the room are beginners too. Otherwise they were beginners at one point. Every dancer on the floor had a first day and on that day they felt somewhat like you.

I have observed a lot of fear with beginners of dancing with folks who have stronger skills. Anyone who has danced for a while knows that this is essential to growth, but at first we just feel like we haven't earned it yet. When I taught the beginning Lindy Hop class, I assigned my students the homework of finding at least 5 folks they hadn't met in class and verbally asking them to dance. I'd teach the phrase "would you like to dance" verbatim and I still feel like it's the most important lesson a beginner can learn.

For those beginners who feel terror at the notion of public exhibition, I'll offer this advice: the dancers on the floor can barely see outside of their space bubbles. They won't notice you unless you physically harm them in some way. Be careful not to bash into folks and you'll be fine!

And then some folks I meet say that they suck at dancing and they know because they tried it once or twice. If this is you then I say "Duh! How can you be any good at something if you've only done it for a couple of hours?"

Rant over. See you soon!

EDITED TO ADD:
Now with video!

Hal bal 2001

2011-09-26T13:15:00.001-07:00

Jeez, this was like a decade ago.

Shine

2011-09-19T07:52:00.001-07:00

There's a notion I learned about way back when called Shine. Shortly, that is the way a dancer is able to make themselves stand out, to radiate, to make themselves be seen.

This comes up because over in my other blog, I've been discussing improv and in improv, I've been teaching notions of how to share focus.

As I remember it I was in a talk with the late John Mills and he brought up the notion of shine steps. He suggested that there were three ways to shine: she shines, he shines and both shine.

Since I've been working in improv more recently, it occurs to me that shine steps take at least an ounce of listening. Each dancer might want to consider their partner, if at least to discern, whether there will be a shine opportunity.

There's certainly more to this, but I'd rather just open the door.

Since I mentioned it last week...

2011-08-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

We had a class on rhythm last week and to say the least it was challenging to everyone who took it. Since we've been ramping up the difficulty over the last month I promise that we'll go back to basics next Thursday!

As it occurred to me, we had discussed how rhythm is felt before it is heard. I'd even mentioned that there were at least a few deaf lindy hoppers and that the ones I have watched were more rhythmic and musical than some would guess.

This afternoon I read an interview on Swungover with Tim Vail. Seems cool and topical to bring it up here!

Here's a short section:

In a sense, dancing should be music made visible, and in that sense it is probably more accessible to deaf people than most people realize. What is really different is we pick it up, and sense it in a different way. In that sense, figuring out how to convey the rhythm to deaf people without relying on hearing (remember a lot of the vibrations can be felt) is probably the only barrier there really is.

I'd recommend reading the whole thing!

***

Edited to add:

Here's some footage from the International Lindy Hop Championships!

Everyone please start ravaging youtube to find as many clips as you can!

Goals - August 2011 edition

2011-08-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

We've been having enough of a new regular crowd that I've started assigning homework again. The first assignment was to list five short term goals, five goals to achieve within a year and five long term goals.

Here are the latest lists that some of our students have generated:

Molly
ASAP
1. Be easier to lead
2. Fix Charleston
3. Fix Swivels
4. Resolve up-bounce issue
5. Learn more swivel types

1 year
1. Shim Sham, Big Apple, etc.
2. Find shag people to dance with + practice shag and improve
3. Undo wrong muscle memory in team choreo
4. Get better at lifts
5. Be less nervous (especially dancing with good leads)

5 years
1. Get crazy beautiful fast feet like I see some pros have
2. Keep dancing and have fun!
3. Compete?
4. Be able to follow anything
5. Be able to lead?

Matt

1. Comfort slow dancing
2. Get dance shoes
3. More comfort with height
4. Learn those jazz steps
5. Comfort with shadow Charleston

1. Advanced class
2. Learn better how to follow
3. Enter a dance competition
4. Never be caught off-guard by new footwork
5. Good at "feeling the music"

1. Beat Neil in a dance off
2. Win a dance contest (choreographed)
3. Teach a class
4. Aerials comfort
5. Mix in Tango/others

Rick

1. Be able to read the way my follow needs to be lead
2. Develop a more adaptive lead
3. Smoother lead
4. Reduce head bounce
5. Be able to dance faster

1. Competition-wise, go from 8 out of 9 to be in the top five.
2. Be more balanced
3. Be consistent with my swing out
4. Improve spins
5. Learn to follow

1. Competition-wise, go from 8 out of 9 to be in the top three
2. Learn Balboa
3. Learn Shag
4. Help teach a dance class
5. Learn west coast

***

Love it! I'm going to start working on material to deal with the short term goals and I'll start using material over the next couple of weeks.

Do these give you any ideas of goals you might want to set?

8 Bit Lindy

2011-07-26T01:15:00.000-07:00

Camp Hollywood was a blast. The most common questions that I was asked was "why aren't you at Comic Con" and "why aren't you competing?" More on either of those questions will not be read here.

Meanwhile:

I love these guys. Thank you Morgan Day and Emily Wigger for earning my favorite Golden Budgie to date!

Props to the Funky Monkey!

2011-07-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

One of my first students was a kid named Ryan Hitchin. When we met, he was still in high school and really just starting to get it together in the neo-swing scene. I remember one day giving him an assignment to help him find his core and that by the next time I saw him he told me that he walked miles from school to home by the rules of the exercise. He grew tons.

Obviously, he learned a lot from other folks as the years went on, competing with teams like Supercalilindylicious and working on stuff with friends.

Supercalilindicious

Here's Ryan competing with Bella Viramontes.

Anyway, Ryan recently moved away from Los Angeles to become a dance instructor in Austin. I have to give this guy props. Hard work always pays off!

Go Funky Monkey!

A bit on Viewpoints

2011-06-18T14:11:00.001-07:00

I took a workshop with Eric Hunnicutt during the Los Angeles Improv Festival a week ago and really enjoyed it. He taught a shotgun class about Viewpoints which really seemed to mesh with the things that I understood about movement.

What's the essence of this Viewpoints thing? From my two-hour exposure, I'd say it's a technique for teaching students different ways of describing, seeing and interacting with the world around them, broken down into chunks like "Space," "Shape" and "Time."

This technique seems like the kind of thing I could learn to apply in my dance classes. It's a really cool set of techniques that I'd like to learn more about.

Also posted on: Glow-in-the-Dark Thoughts

LindyGroove in the news

2011-05-09T11:51:00.001-07:00

Ballroom Bootcamp

2011-05-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

There was a short-lived reality series on TLC a few years ago that I really dug called Ballroom Bootcamp. Admittedly I'm not a fan of the ballroom dance world, but I found the show to be compelling in the way that watching someone learn something new and important usually is.

Anyway, I picked up a DVD collection of the show and watched it all in one sitting.

Here's a sampling:

Not a fan of Jive either, but I still find this completely fascinating.

Here's a report from one of the participants on the show. Sibylla Nash

I just dig this.

Clip-tomania

2011-04-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here's some stuff I'm eager to watch. Not Lindy Hop specifically, but all pretty cool. There's a common thread to these films. Two are more obvious than the third. They bring to mind Jimmy Valentine.

Wheelchair Dance Competition

En Tus Brazos

Love 'N Dancing - Trailer
I just picked this up on DVD. It looks like you can watch in YouTube for $3.99. Fun stuff.

Bonus:

Don't know who these folks are, but fun stuff and actual lindy hop.

Music : Dancers = Light : Painters

2011-04-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a reaction to Rebecca Brightly's post at Dance World Takeover: Musicality is Overrated

To me teaching an appreciation of music to dancers is as vital as teaching an appreciation of light to painters.

I remember a night at Denny’s many years ago when a young dancer asked me what he needed to improve. “your moves are nice,” I said “but you need to listen to the music.” Since then he has gone on to be a world-famous instructor and has been lauded for his musicality. To this students I didn’t need to say much. Others need more.

I don’t feel that the phrases “musicality” and “creative vision” are mutually exclusive, though I can imagine some students and teachers approaching these counter-productively. As well I can see the opportunity for synergy in the exploration of both. To sum that up, it may be possible to learn to appreciate music and to dance creatively in a way that fosters something even more powerful.

I’ve seen a musicality class that I could have summed up in one sentence: “don’t use your limbs like percussive instruments.” That’s really not much of a lesson in my opinion. Another musicality class taught musical structures, which I think is more important, especially at the beginning phases of study. The best experience I had as a student was in a hip hop class when the teacher stopped us and forced us to pull the music apart before allowing us to dance again.

Those are just some examples. More are coming.

By the way, I think Dance World Takeover is a really fun blog and am recommending that you read it now.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Swing Out and Bear Down!

2011-03-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

We got home from Tucson, Arizona last night. It was an incredibly lovely weekend. Fancy and I must offer thanks to everyone who made sure this was such a wonderful trip: Aelynn Heinrichs and Rain Bidleman for handling all of the location, promotion, travel and housing; Kadie Pangburn for putting both of us up in her lovely home (she's also an amazing photographer!); Gayl and Howard Zhao for lending us dance space in their home (Gayl also owns the Dance Loft) and all the students and other folks who were so warm and welcoming.

We taught four classes on Saturday:

Beginner level Lindy Hop - We broke down our basic and then threw out some work on freespins and tuck turns. In-the-moment Leading and Following were secret objectives in this class.
Charleston Chews - We were tacitly teaching Newton's laws of motion until the point when I went and mentioned one of them vocally: "an object in motion stays in motion."
Adventures in the Groove - this is the class on lindy hop improvisation that I wrote a long time ago. I don't get to pull it out at LindyGroove too often since we have so many new folks and it takes an amount of teacher/student trust to teach this class. I'm not going to describe the class here. If you weren't there you'll just have to be there the next time we teach it.
Putting it Together: Style - Eyes up! We taught a couple of stylish examples and then discussed what makes dancers more interesting to watch. Also, if you can't sing, sing loud!

After talking with students there are a few general topics of discussion that I'll leave with. Here are some questions to consider:

relax - with a lower-case r. So many students bring their nerves with them onto the floor. What's the best way to deal with dance anxiety?
Leading and Following - Is it important to use less effort? How does one find the easiest way make this dance happen? What does your partner bring to the equation and waht are some good ways to honor that?
Dogma - what's the point of learning different ways to do things? Why should or shouldn't we experiment with different paradigms?
LOVE - we snuck the word agape into the class at some point. It's a good thing to have. That's not a question.

For those in Tucson, I'll have to recommend the amazing Yoga Oasis studio! Darren Rhoades is a yoga rock star and he's in your town. Classes are dirt cheap. There's so much to learn there. Check it out!

Also, I suggested watching a few videos on The YouTube. Here's one that I'm sure the students didn't write down:

ASSSSCAT! - Here's one take on improvisation. This ain't a dance clip, but it shows the power of Yes And!

The things I learned when I was away - flipside

2011-03-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt from my other blog, Glow in the Dark Thoughts:

Here are some things I learned from Lindy Hop that have influenced my Improvisation:

1) There is someone with you, whether you remember it or not.
2) It's better to play with the person with whom your are dancing than some other person about whom you may be wishing.
3) When someone does something you don't expect, it's way more fun to accept it and perhaps augment it than it is to put up defenses.
4) What's the point of fear? It's not like there's a bear on the dance floor.
5) Listening is more than hearing. Using my senses is an important way to tune in to the world around me, not to mention the person with whom I'm dancing.
6) Everyone was a beginner at some point.
7) There's always more work to do.

These are just several notions that come to mind after more than a decade of dance.

***

This is to say that it's worth it creatively to explore the world around you. If you do something fun, it can't help but carry over into all of your creative endeavors.

I'm sure there are thoughts about how my return to improvisation has enriched my dancing. Not to mention my more recent exploration of yoga. I'll have to let those thoughts simmer for a bit.

Clip hunting

2011-03-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

Fancy and I trade clips from time to time. This is some stuff I found while hunting.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: Too Hot to Handle.

Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor tearing it up.

Project Bandaloop - holy mackerel!

The Neil and Fancy show!

2011-02-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

I've recently started partnering with Fancy Dougherty. It has been a really playful partnership so far. She helps teach the class, we trade dance clips, we work on material. Fancy and I have been hired to teach a workshop in Tucson next month. Our bios are forthcoming!

Hailing from East Los Angeles, Neil Figuracion began studying theater and movement while at UC Santa Barbara. He discovered Lindy Hop by accident and nothing has been the same since. He has learned from international champions and has put in his time with the old-timers in Southern California. Neil has been a formative member of the Los Angeles Lindy Hop scene since the late twentieth century. He has taught Lindy Hop on both coasts and many parts in between and someday may teach swing on the moon! Neil is also one of the innovators behind the Twister Yoga craze and plans to knit a J.R. "Bob" Dobbs sweater some time in the next decade.

Frances “Fancy” Dougherty was born and raised in Van Nuys, California, and enjoys guitars, foreign languages, bubbles and a great swing out. In her dancing career, she has performed with bands such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Captain Jeffrey and his Musical Chumbuckets. She has also been featured in recent productions such as Lee Ann Rimes’ grammy nominated music video “Swingin,” and Paula Abdul’s ‘Live To Dance’ show. Competitively, she has carved her place in the scene with wins in fast lindy and the Camp Hollywood Collegiate Shag Championships. Her other talents as an Olympic sleeper, criminal mastermind and aquatic singer are currently on hold, as lindy hop has stolen her heart.

Together, Neil and Fancy teach the LindyGroove Technique Class in Pasadena, CA. Their partnership is much like that fateful night when the Flying Graysons were shot and Batman met Robin.

Also, Bobby White does it again:
Swungover: An Index of Basic Classic Clips

Seriously, there are enough clips here to last you a month. Watch and enjoy!

It's the Call of the Jitterbug

2011-02-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

Dance, already.

"Everyone gets the jitters and goes bug."

2010-12-12T11:36:00.000-08:00

I'm linking here a post from Swungover. The Definition of the Jitterbug. Language is cool.

We've been working on mechanics a bit lately, especially since we've had an upsurge in new students. Last week we did a class in balance, counterbalance and suspension. The week before that we did a class in movement and connection. This week we're going to challenge our leading and following skills.

Oh, and it's the holiday party. Ugly sweater contest, double-bug contest, and other stuff too!

On other folks who would have the jitters, I'm reminded of the druggy subtext underneath this classic tune. Also, I'm reading the Man with the Golden Arm and just watched Requiem for a Dream, so the world is full of dark twists right now.

Waves and Monkey Bars: a recap

2010-11-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

As I will have to skip the US Open Swing Dancing Championships due to illness, I'd like to take a little time to discuss some of the things we have worked on in class recently.

Two weeks ago, we had an entire class on pulse and smoothness. I'll probably rename that class "Creamy vs. Chunky" or something equally glib in the future. It might have gone over the heads of some of the students, but it's the same content with which I pushed myself and it still inspires me today.

Last week, we discussed music. It appeared that none of the students in class really had developed vocabulary on the subject. When I asked them what a break was, the most prominent reply was "it's a pause in the music." It reminds me of the way folks at the original Memories would all snap to pose on the hit from "See Ya Later, Alligator," by Bill Haley and the Comets!

Honestly, the dancing in this clip is pretty different from what I remember at that club.

At the old Memories, I remember watching from the balcony as the entire room hit the same punch. This was probably the first time period of the turn of the century southern California dancers really understood the concept of a break. It was fun to watch, but I wondered at the time whether everyone would be stuck hitting breaks in that one way forever.

Taking it back to the class last Thursday, I spoke of some different ways to use the music. I remembered the time when I was speaking to one of my math students who expressed that he just didn't understand dancing. This student was a surfer through and through. It came to me in that conversation that a dancer rides the music like a surfer would ride a wave. This seemed to make a visceral connection to that student, but I never saw whether it made an impact on him in the long run.

Then I began to describe the common structures in swing music, taking it back up with Breaks. The way I use it, a break is that last bar of music in a pattern before that pattern can begin again. In See You Later Alligator, this isn't the drum hit at the end of the bar but that whole line: "you say your love for me is true."

Anyway, I may be butchering actual musical vocabulary.

The other image that I used in class was that the structures in music were like Monkey Bars on a school yard. They're there for dancers to play upon.

We did a few exercises around that and then we called it a night.

From the Groovie Movie tribute

2010-10-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

This is from a panel from the Groovie Movie tribute, held last weekend in Los Angeles.

Thinking ain't Dancing

2010-10-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have often said this to my students: "Thinking ain't Dancing."

It has been noted by many other thoughtful dancers that a partner dance is a conversation. I'd like to consider this in a little more detail and to draw out the analogy a bit more. When these dancers refer to a "conversation," to which part of the interaction do they refer? What IS a conversation?

My own personal take on this is that all interactions involve a flow of information. This seems to make sense in the context of a conversation between two people: one person has a message that they would like to share with the other. They might use words and gestures or they might use notes and emails. One difference between a face-to-face conversation and a lengthy long-distance exchange is that when you can see someone their face and body often communicate more powerfully than their words. This seems to be closer to the kind of conversation that we're discussing.

Then there's the physical impulses. While we are dancing, there are a bunch of purely physical sensations. These vary from "ooh, my back hurts" to "I'm hungover," but perhaps the most pertinent in this discussion are the sensations that tell that "I'm touching another human being and they are right here with me."

In class I often refer to "mechanics." In specific, I often am referring to what I believe to be the essential mechanical tools of basic leading and following: a sense of connection from one partner to the other; a sense of balance not only with the partner but with one's self; engagements of a set of muscle groups in one dancer to a corresponding set of muscle groups in their partner; an understanding and application of the core muscles; the support mechanisms of the body from the ground through to the top of the skull. There are an awful lot to discuss, so in class it is more expedient to use the expression mechanics.

In my own personal estimation, these are the most visceral exchanges of information. They don't require a thought process. In fact, it is much slower to process a thought than it is to use our senses. In my beginning classes I sometimes have yelled "stop staring at me and start doing something!" I'll get back to that in a bit, but in short the flow of information goes from my physical image, through eyes into the frontal lobe somewhere, gets processed as information down the spine and usually into the feet. As far as I'm concerned the visual method, while perhaps vital, is also a very inefficient way to learn the dance.

In the improvisation class that I take with Bill Chott, he mentioned an idea called the "rate of acceptance." This is the rate at which after one performer has made a statement that the second performer says yes and then builds upon that foundation. This is in line with what I'm discussing here. One must be able to accept the information in order to use it with their partner.

The thing I mentioned earlier about "stop staring." If I catch a student looking at my feet while doing a step or looking at their partner's feet, I often ask them to take their eyes up and find a new eyeline. While our eyes are useful for communication in the interpersonal sense, they are often impediments to the visceral mechanics that we need to use as Lindy Hoppers.

More about this later. This seems to be plenty for now.

One student's journey

2010-09-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted some thoughts on Alexander Technique, which I studied for a short while when I was in college. To summarize, it's a technique for getting more familiar with one's body. It has been utilized for decades to improve singing, dancing and acting technique. It's worth exploring.

I recently received this note from a student:

I've taken 2 Alexander lessons so far and it's been pretty good so far, but I have a lot of alignment issues to work through. I think I will take a break from swing dancing (at least a month, maybe 2 or 3) so I can get a solid foundation in Alexander for my core support and mobility without worrying about the social aspects. When I try to dance now I can feel that it's just a useless arm lead and that I'm not bending/relaxing in the right places, but I don't have the Alexander mojo yet, so I just reinforce the bad habits and feel awkward. Alexander used to tell people to take a year off their instrument but modern teachers never tell them to take any time off. I'll compromise between the extremes and take 1-3 months off. I will work on retraining my pulsing and watch swing videos with Alexander-style attention during this time of jedi training ;-)

One interesting thing you get from Alexander is learning that a lot of flexibility problems are just bending at the wrong place (for instance at the waist instead of the hips) and not actual muscle inflexibility. Also, releasing the neck to enable Primary Control is pretty cool too. Just by releasing my neck I can go from my normal falling backwards to pull a door open to instead just standing there and activating my chest, which feels more graceful. I think for someone as misaligned as me, this is the only way it is possible to move past the intermediate stage of any athletic activity like swing.

I asked this student whether I could post his note here. He responded yes, but

...[I]f anybody tries anything I mentioned without formal Alexander training they will almost definitely not succeed at it. When you try to release tension on your own you can only go as far as your current kinesthetic sense tells you is possible. It takes a teacher to guide you into unfamiliar but better ways of moving for your kinesthesia to start correcting itself. Before I started taking lessons I thought my neck was plenty relaxed, but then I found out that it was only relaxing enough so that I thought my head was straight. In reality, my head was pulled back and my neck muscles were tensing to keep it there because that was trained as "straight". I had to be shown by a teacher that what felt to me like my head was tilted forward was actually straight and I didn't need to use any neck muscles to keep it from falling over. I still feel now like my head is tilted forward when it's straight, even if I'm looking in the mirror right at my straight head. I would have never figured this out alone or from a book because I felt very sure before then that my head was straight and my neck was relaxed when I was really being lied to.

So, kudos to this student on their first steps down this road. It will be well worth the journey. Hope to see you when you're back!

Bonus:

Another student on Facebook quoted the Sindbad song from the Popeye cartoons. I responded with this video that I remember finding on an obscure vhs tape from Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee. That's how we used to find videos before the intertubes.

Being Present: Alison Scola interview, pt. 2

2010-08-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

Here's part two of our interview with Lindy Hopper and Yoga Therapist Alison Scola. In the previous part, we discussed Alison's entries into yoga and Lindy Hop. To read part one, please click here: So Many Levels.

LindyGroove Technique: Being grounded is being present. What does it mean to be present?

Alison Scola: Being present to me, by Alison Harper Scola! Means having my mind's attention focused on what's happening at the level of what's happening physically, emotionally, energetically and ultimately for me because I do have spiritual practice at the center of my life, what's happening at the higher level of consciousness.

So when it comes to Lindy Hop, let's say for example I'm dancing with a beginner dancer. So somebody literally like maybe this is their first day ever dancing and this dude has no clue how to lead. I could be like "oh, this is lame. Ugh! He has no connection!" or I could find the connection that is there. "He's not dancing to even the tempo of the music," or I could find, well "where is he?" and dance with him in his rhythm.

LGT: That's so important.

AS: And I could look at what's going on with this human being who is trying to dance with me, emotionally. "Oh, he's shitting his pants and completely insecure. So how can I be loving and kind towards him in that?"

LGT: So many people are critical of beginners when they start. The critical mind seems so completely out of the moment. It's like there's someone they expect to dance with, rather than the person who is actually there.

AS: Yeah, so I think that example is - how can I take being in the present moment and apply it to the situation? On the flip side, if I'm dancing with an advanced dancer, let's say "Oh my god, everybody's staring at us." What's going on with this person emotionally? Well, they're probably feeling self-conscious, but their ego is masking that. So how can I be as loving and kind and as present with that, in acceptance. And maybe some of that's going on inside of me. What's going on inside of me and what am I offering them?

LGT: Is it so conscious? There's that thought of being "in your head." Is it conscious like that where you're actually going through the process of thinking "what's this person thinking?" or is it somewhere else?

AS: Let's say for example I notice if I am dancing with a beginner dancer, my first thought is "Oh crap, he's gonna rip my arms out of the sockets," or "oh man, this isn't the dance I was hoping for." First I notice I'm being judgmental; I'm being critical. How is that making me feel? Is it closing me off to this person? When we are separated from our true nature, which in my opinion is love.... When I'm disconnected from love I don't feel good. and I know you're not feeling anything good from me. Usually it starts with me being in observation of something that's causing me discomfort and then I'm able to go into an awareness of that - go like "eww, I'm not sure that feels good to me." So how can I move toward something that's more whole and more a part of alignment with my true nature.

LGT: Tell me about what breathing means to you. I know that it's not something that we talk about in Lindy Hop, but it's certainly something you talk about in yoga. There's so much about it, but give us an introduction to the idea of the Breath.

AS: I'll give you that introduction through my own experience. I used to suffer from severe anxiety disorder - panic attacks. My tendency was toward being ridiculously anxious and the Breath, learning how to breathe, was what allowed me to release that from my process and my body. And what I discovered was that I didn't take deep breaths.

LGT: Deep breaths?

AS: Full and complete. I constantly was in a state of shallow, short inhalations with very little exhale. As I watch people function in the world, most of us breathe that way. When we're not breathing consciously, when we're not consciously taking a deep breath, we're breathing really shallow, which triggers the nervous system to think that we're in danger. (laughs) And so our physical reaction to that is anxiety. So through my daily life I've had to train myself, and my yoga practice has done this for me, to take deep conscious breaths. When I am able to check in with that the same thing translates into my dancing. Is my breathing right now causing my frame to tighten? Is my breathing right now adding to the fact that I'm anxious to dance with this rock star dancer?

LGT: (chuckles)

AS: What if I took deep breaths? It immediately lets my body relax. It lets myself relax emotionally. It gets me grounded and into the present moment that I just rambled about before. So the breath is intimately connected... In fact when I've done private lessons, Lindy Hop lessons, especially when people are working on performance or aerials or something like that, the breath is a huge part of letting the energy flow.

LGT: Any last thoughts or anything you'd like to share?

AS: I also think Lindy Hop, it speaks mostly to the physical. Everything that we've spoken about speaks to the spiritual or energetic. [Lindy Hop] speaks to the physical. We're street dancers, right? And most of us have no clue about how to take care of our bodies. But Lindy Hop and all of swing in all of its forms is one of the most athletic and strenuous social dances that exist. And a lot of us have no clue how to take care of our bodies. So we get hurt. You see Lindy Hoppers saying things like "Oh yeah, I tore my ACL. I have to go have knee surgery," or "Oh god, I just broke my neck." Yoga is the only reason that I'm still dancing today. The only reason I'm still doing any of these things.

LGT: [...that you're] still able to dance?

AS: Yeah, and it's also the thing that's prevented me from having surgeries that doctors told me that I had to have. I was told three years ago that I had a hip injury that couldn't heal without surgery and I healed it with yoga. That's why I'm jumping around on the floor today.

So my advice or my offering to all these beautiful Lindy Hoppers is: find some sort of physical practice besides dancing that makes you feel good inside your body. Maybe it's yoga. Maybe it's stretching class. A lot of y'all are rockin' the P90X.

LGT: Hahahaha!

AS: But whatever it is, figure out how to take care of your body in a way that allows you to keep dancing, because we want to be the old guys on the floor however may years from now.

LGT: Thank you, Alison!

AS: Thank you. It's been a privilege.

So Many Levels: Alison Scola interview pt. 1

2010-08-03T02:09:00.000-07:00

After the Sunday morning yoga class at Camp Hollywood 2010, I sat by the pool at the LAX Marriott with yoga therapist and internationally famous sassy lady Alison Scola for a brief discussion of Yoga and Lindy Hop.

LindyGroove Technique: Which did you get involved in first, Yoga or Lindy Hop?

Alison Scola: Yoga.

LGT: How did you get started in Yoga?

AS: About 16 years ago, I had crippling lower back pain that stopped my entire life. I couldn't work. I couldn't dress myself. I was literally bed-ridden from the back pain and found nothing made it better. It was at that point somebody said "hey, you should try Yoga," and I went to a yoga class and for the first time I found something that made me feel like I didn't mind living inside my body for a little while.

LGT: How long did it take for you to get to a point where you were no longer in pain?

AS: Pain free? Well, the body is a tricky thing. It's not just structural. It's way more than physical mechanics. The working through the emotional stuff that was tied to the low back issue in addition to the structural stuff... I think it was probably close to a year before I was completely pain-free.

That's what brought me to yoga. That's what taught incredible healing aspect of what a yoga practice could be.

LGT: So then, how did you get to Lindy Hop?

AS: Ha haha! So, what yoga opened up for me was the fact that life was supposed to be joyful and that we were supposed to be happy inside these physical bodies, rather than imprisoned. I had always wanted to try swing dancing. Maybe a year or two after I started my yoga practice there was this free swing lesson at the Spy Bar in Cleveland. I found that night, the most fun thing I had ever done in my life.

LGT: Now was that an East Coast lesson?

AS: Oh yeah, 6-count East Coast, baby! My first Lindy Hop lesson was taking a six-week session with Valerie Salstrom.

I found that swing dance was something that absolutely brought me into the Present Moment like nothing else. Because there was no place else I could be inside my head or physically other than right there. And I discovered the most amazing joy that I have ever found in my life.

LGT: Getting back to yoga - there are a couple of ways people view yoga. Some people might view it as a fitness regimen and some folks view it more deeply. What was your experience with that?

AS: What yoga taught me was that it was about much more than what was going on physically. Yoga has been a holistic experience for me from the beginning of my journey. It has been about realizing that as I function as a being in the world that there is an energetic level to who I am. There is an emotional level to who I am. There is a physical level to who I am. There is a spiritual level to who I am. And that all of that lives inside of this body.

So when I have emotions that I'm not expressing or feeling in other ways, they get trapped inside of my body. I've literally had yoga practices where I opened my quadricep and ended up sobbing my face off or opened my hamstring and can't stop laughing. Because it's emotions lingering and all it wants to do is get moved out.

I'm a yoga therapist, which means I use yoga as a means to help people heal on all of those levels. So when I work with somebody, when they come to see me, I take a look at what's going on with them, the initial thing that's aggravating them and I observe it on all of those levels of their being and figure out ways to address how to heal that on all of those levels. That's been my internal process and that's what yoga has taught me. The deepest thing that a yoga practice has taught me has not been how to have long hamstrings. It's been how to learn to love myself in an attitude of acceptance of all that is and just be present with myself.

LGT: How does that apply to Lindy Hop? Or does it?

AS: Hahaha! It absolutely applies to Lindy Hop on so many levels! So when I am connected to another human being and when I'm connected with that other human being to the music, all that's there is energy. So there's all of this energy that we're tapping into, that we're sharing with each other, that we're exchanging and that we're adding to. And all of that's working on that level of emotion, so we're in that joy, or if I'm in competition, then I'm in my nerves, or if an entire room full of people is watching me, maybe I'm in my self-consciousness. Whatever that aspect is and being able to be with that fully and wholly in that experience... and of course there's what's happening physically, which is the "duh" part of that answer. "Duh really, we're physically dancing?" And now brain just blew out of the back of my skull.

LGT: What advice do you have for someone who might not know a lot about yoga and is interested in exploring?

AS: My advice is to listen to their own inner guidance above and beyond anything and everything. And explore! 'Cause there's many different types of yoga out there and each of them have their benefits. Because every person is different and every person has different characteristics and qualities.

Right now, the most popular forms of yoga in the United States are Vinyasa practices and hot yoga - yoga in a heated room, core power, Bikram. Not to digress into a cultural statement, but the fact that those forms of yoga are the most popular here in the west makes a lot of sense. These forms of yoga are about pushing your limits and being in intensity, vs. a more Eastern way of existing, of just being at peace. But there are so many benefits to those forms of yoga as well. Hot yoga, for my constitution is great. Because when I'm in a hot room my body says "oh, thank you! I will stretch and be open!"

LGT: (chuckles)

AS: But there's other types of people with different constitutions. The heat aggravates them and literally makes them physically ill. So it all just depends on who you are and listening to who your are rather than trying to force yourself into where you think you should be. It's just about observing and seeing what feels good. I think the biggest takeaway is that yoga is supposed to feel good and make you feel good. So if you're finding that you feel bad in whatever type of practice it is you're doing, it's probably not right. Try a restorative class instead. See what happens, y'know?

LGT: What lessons can someone take from the yoga practice into the Lindy Hop world? And maybe even vice versa?

AS: I'm gonna tell you what the biggest lessons I've taken away are. I've already said them before, so to reiterate, for me it's about being present with myself and the energy that is there, in full acceptance and appreciation. The other things I've taken away are how to be grounded. Well, I guess that's the same answer.

End of part 1. Check back for part 2 soon!

To quote Bruce Lee

2010-08-03T01:19:00.001-07:00

I've been mentioning this post from Bobby White's Swungover quite a lot lately, so it seems right that I should post a link here. The Heavy Follower.

In the post, Bobby examines a few different situations that contribute to the so-called heavy follower. It's well worth the time it takes to read, and even more the time it might take to put it into practice.

***

Early on in my Lindy Hop career I remember a note that I took after seeing Bruce Lee's classic Kung Fu film Enter the Dragon for the first time.

"It is like a finger, pointing at the moon. Do not concentrate on the finger, for you will miss all of the celestial glory."

That quote seemed immediate to the stuff I was exploring in Lindy Hop. To boil it down a bit, it's often easy to confuse the DANCE STEPS a student might learn in class (in this case the finger) with the act of DANCING (the moon.) I quoted Lee quite often in my early Swing improvisation classes. I haven't used the quote in years.

That is, until I was recently reminded of the finger and the moon while listening to the Zenprov entry, the Finger and the Moon. Zenprov is podcast series about scenic improvisation, but I feel the discussion is still resonant. Check it out!

Edited to add: I extend the idea of the Finger and the Moon to include things like style biases as well. It's a very apt analogy.

What I like about the Zenprov post is the idea of the Narrative mode of thinking vs. the Direct Experience mode. For anyone who has ever been stuck in their head while dancing, this is really worth exploring!
***

And lastly, from Camp Hollywood 2010, the Fly Rights!

Look at the Squares Out There... Strictly from Dixie!

2010-04-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

I've been asked by a few students to write about a question recently. Over the years I've heard many folks make similar claims. I'll be considering a few thoughts on the subject, but I'm more interested in reading your responses.

What do I do when the person I am dancing with disengages from me?

This is an ages old question. Most of the students who have asked me have been somewhat frustrated that more experienced dancers might accept a dance during which they appear completely disinterested. One might imagine the more experienced dancer merely going through the motions of the dance, rather than sharing the conversation (however limited) that their less skillful partner might be able to share.

I'll admit that I'm not completely innocent of this. If I'm disengaging at all it's usually because I've been made uncomfortable at some point. However, when I dance with a beginner I usually have to focus on the mechanics enough that I'll close my eyes and engage my other senses. That's not really the same. There's a difference for me between a less skilled dancer and someone who has creeped me out.

I often will check to see how much a follow reads a lead and then see how much further I can stretch that. For me, it's less about playing over their heads and more about throwing out challenges. I also never accept sorry for an answer. If a follow ever apologizes to me for missing a step my response is most often "I'm not bleeding. Don't say sorry."

There's the social side to this question. Back in the early 20th century, it wasn't acceptable to ask a stranger to dance. It's only in our rebuilt ballrooms that it's considered de rigeur to accept an invitation from a stranger. There may be an expectation that dancers should always accept an invitation. While this is great for generating excitement in new young dancers, I can't recall a social precedent for this behavior outside of social dance.

I've seen small dance scenes completely implode due to social dysfunction. In some places the dancers come off as just plain rude. Most scenes (not just the swing dance scene) share a lot of elements of good ol' High School cliquishness. There might not be any changing that in the long run.

At least a few times young leads will ask me about that begrudging non-rejection. It seems to me that many experienced follows have had enough experiences with harmful dancers that they feel a need to protect themselves from "weaker" leads. The word harmful above might be used to describe dancers whose caveman-like turns end in injury or the guy who trolls around the room in search of new conquests.

My general response to the fellows asking me this question is that the follows really need to build up trust. This isn't something that is easily given, especially if some alarm bell rang for them. Some of that trust can be earned by learning to dance well. I've always assumed that there's an inherent sense among follows that if a dancer has figured out how to dance well then they might care more about the dancing than the sexual conquest. At least they might care about the two equally. Is this an incorrect assessment?

Is it a truth that dancing with a beginner is somewhat stressful? Certainly anyone's company can be enjoyed on the dance floor. I know that I've been injured by follows in the past just through their lack of awareness. When dancing with a follow who isn't following through in the connection, I sometimes feel pressured to take up the slack. I'm being completely honest here. It can be somewhat stressful to dance with a person who isn't completely on my level. Have you ever been stuck in a conversation with someone who wouldn't listen to you? Maybe the best response from me would be to listen more closely to my partner.

So what should a young dancer do?

I believe the social barriers can often broken in time and with honest hard work. If it is a social problem then getting to know folks in some other context can be really helpful. If there's an opportunity to go out to after-hours eating with a group of dancers, this might be a good way to get to know people. The skill issues I think are only resolved by will. Spend some time working on something not on the dance floor. Watch some videos and really observe them. Ask some experienced dancers for a moment of advice. If they're comfortable with it, many dancers will help you out.

It's all about building trust.

***

So, this post was written in the middle of the night. If anything doesn't seem right or seems screamingly wrong, please let me know about it. Otherwise, I'd like to read your thoughts on the subject.

The missing ingredient

2010-04-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

I woke up yesterday morning wishing that the music at LindyGroove were more exciting. When I say that, I mostly mean in reference to the music. Most dancers at LindyGroove, from my observations at least, appear to go and hear songs that they like. I would hope that the dancers at LindyGroove instead went to hear and dance to music that brought out some level of fire in their dancing. I long to see the dancers at LindyGroove have more than just a good time. I want to see the dance floor explode!

I had been talking with a new student the last week and he felt that the music was pretty flat.

What I almost always crave to hear and am almost always disappointed to not hear at LindyGroove is good ol' fashioned swing music. More on that later.

Then I read on Twitter that Jonathan Stout would be doing a DJ set at LindyGroove. It being April 1st, I questioned for a second and then I tweeted my own little April Fool's joke, about Jonathan Stout's all blues set. If you don't get the joke, then you should probably listen to one of Jonathan's CDs with his combo The Campus Five. Heck, apparently you can listen to their tunes from the link.

Jonathan has DJ'd at LindyGroove in the past, but for me this would be a rare treat. In fact, so many amazing swing dancers showed up for the set. Many folks who generally avoid coming to LindyGroove were out in full force. Add to that what appeared to be a large spring break bump in population and we had a crowded dance floor. It rightly kicked ass!

There was swing music on at LindyGroove and the floor wasn't decimated. I'm sure there were grumblers. Considering how often I grumble at LindyGroove, I'm sure they will get over their frustrations. Most of these dancers haven't been challenged to dance above 200 beats per minute in months. This is the kind of kick in the pants that LindyGroove needs. And it needs it a lot more often!

One new dancer told me that it was happy music. In fact later, I was so overjoyed that I hugged Lance Powell awkwardly and thanked him for bringing Jonathan back.

Jonathan pulled out his own little April Fools. As soon as I heard Wade in the Water I knew something was up. The song didn't even reach its first chorus when the scratch of a needle brought on a jam. Couples who have been working on their material and folks who just grabbed each other on the spot went in. In the past I have more often than not just ignored jams when they have happened. Something about this one just drew me in. I watched the eyes of the crowd as Minn and Angel pulled out their tricks. There was that unmistakable "wow" moment as well.

Sure, some of the dancers might have gotten a little tired. It's like going from a game of putt putt to a full game of golf, I imagine. But watching the crowd, there was definitely something in the air. Many advanced dancers might say that the crowd didn't know the difference. All I can say is that what I saw was exactly what I woke up wishing for.

****

On a related but separate note, I remember one New Year's Eve. I was in St. Louis with my friends Ed and Jenny from Kansas City. We had driven across Missori to find a decent dance. I noticed after a few moments that I was feeling somewhat deflated. What I found there was that there was no swing music at all. Most of what was played was blues or blues-related music.

The distinction I realized at that moment was that blues music has a downward inflection and that swing music had an upward inflection. I asked the DJ for an up song. He asked me why I wanted to hear a fast song. I explained that I didn't care if the song was slow or fast, just that it be up. I'm not sure he got it. I explained it to another dancer there that night. We found that there were plenty of fast songs that still have that down feeling. That's not what I was hoping for. I realized then and there that at least some of the music that I dance to in a night should have that upward inflection.

That upward inflection doesn't really seem to exist outside of swing music. Modern listeners and new students often don't have a context into which they can fit those sounds. It's not like being a teenager in the 30s and being surrounded by those orchestras and bands. I could go on for hours about West Coast Swing having lost that connection to swing music. This isn't meant to insult any dance or any movement in the dance. All I know is that a Lindy Hopper must in their career take the time to learn to feel swing music.

***

I take this advice from the late Willie Desatoff: if you want to understand swing, you should listen to Jimmie Lunceford and Chick Webb.

Please don't think that I mean that you have to only dance to the classics. I was the rebeliously diverse DJ who broke Diana Krall, the Real Group and Oscar Peterson's Night Train at the old Memories. Just know that if you don't learn real swing music then you won't learn real swing dancing.

You are now free to move about the dancefloor.

Nasty Habits

2010-03-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

The homework I gave last week was to make a list of goals - goals for the coming month and goals for the year. If you have already started work on this, please feel free to click on the "homework" tab on the right to see what other students compiled last year.

Some postulating has been done on the notion of habits on the interwebs lately. You'll see the word habits mentioned a few times in the responses to my No Account Count postings. Click on the "8-Count" tab to read those. The theory goes that if one teaches the Lindy Hop using by numbers, then students will tend to learn the dance in discrete chunks, forming 6 and 8 count habits. Perhaps I am misinterpreting the comments. Please feel free to correct me if I have mis-characterized the argument.

With that argument in mind, I have to ask whether teaching beginning leads "left-right-triple-step, right-left-triple-step" and follows "right-left-triple-step, left-right-triple-step" as a basic is also objectionable. Certainly in the long run, no dancer needs to use those specific footwork patterns. However, if a teacher doesn't teach discrete patterns, then what should they teach?

Certainly it could be said that the old-timers varied their steps, however by the time Frankie Manning was teaching there was certainly a specific definition to the timing being used. I can't speak for what the Swedes learned from Al Minns. However, I have to question whether the teaching itself didn't create habits regardless of whether the teachers were counting or not.

Learning requires repetition; in repetition habits are formed. That's my theory and I'm sticking with it.

I studied a small bit of Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais Method when I was in college. Both have to do with the un-learning or re-learning of habits. Specifically those habits relate to alignment and breathing and over the years while the exercises grow more distant, I remember using them to reconsider the habits in my thinking as well. Yes, it takes work to grow beyond a habit but it's certainly possible and even more enlightening.

I'm actually excited for the Yoga/Feldenkrais Fusion workshop at Mission Street Yoga coming next month. Come join me in South Pasadena!

The No Account Count Part II: Connect the Dots

2010-03-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Let's start this week by congratulating everyone who participated in and donated to the 24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon last weekend. Over $180,000 of donations were collected for the City of Hope, which sets a record for the highest grossing donations to date. All I can say is that I'm excited for next year already.

Secondly, I'd like to plug two Lindy-centric blogs I've been reading lately:
Black Belt Lindy, by John White
Swungover, by Bobby White (no relation)

Both of the above blogs feature thoughtful consideration of the Lindy Hop. I'm especially loving John's Bruce Lee and Madd Chadd entries and Bobby's The Old Timer series.

Okay, now on to the topic of the day. A few weeks ago, I had posted about a school of thought that has arisen amongst some teachers that seems to suggest that counting is something that shouldn't be taught. Recently I got involved in a Facebook discussion on a similar subject. Bug Brockway asked in question of the day whether follows should count or not. I'll post here my own responses to the question:

This has been a subject of debate lately, and while it's easy to say that no dancer actually needs to learn counting, I'm leaning toward the opinion that every dancer at some point is better off for having learned the skill. I believe that all beginners can benefit from understanding numbers, and that numbers are one step towards actual listening. Others have different approaches.

An eight count is a fundamentally grounding element in dance. That is to say that if both partners have an feel for the eight, if not the down-beat, then at least they have ONE thing in common. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I like to look for common groud with my partner and having a count (especially in the beginning) can be a key element in finding synthesis.

In the long run, we always transcend our dogma. My only care is that I and my partner find each other. Any tool I use in aid of that is worth knowing.

A few others post responses, but without permission, I'll just sum up that some folks insinuate that use of numbers might completely remove a dancer from the use of their own sensations, and others agree with my assessment of counting as a tool. Bug herself does not seem to specifically state that numbers are bad in general, and in general I think we agree that students need to let go of numbers, but this is the internet and subtlety of communication is occasionally lost. In my mind I'm talking about the argument that I've been posting here. I would imagine that on her end she's essentially suggesting things I discovered long ago, that letting go of numbers is quite important. I'm reacting to the arguments of others that numbers are bad in general:

Many students in middle school question the need to learn Algebra. If they don't ever plan to use it in future life, why will it be important to learn in the 8th grade? It's confusing and it has all these letters and maybe they weren't doing so hot with the numbers as it was. They can sort of figure out how much it costs to buy a slice of pizza. Why? It's a very common hostility that seems analogous to the arguments I've read here and elsewhere. My response to the question of why is "because it is helpful to learn to see the world in more than one way."

To me it is beyond merely helpful, it can be quite beautiful. So while it doesn't take a course in Calculus to be able to catch a ball, my understanding enriches the experience. It may not seem that way to some, but I personally find it to be true.

With regard to the dance, I have used many math and physics terms to reach my students. A student who understands vectors and momentum will have little trouble envisioning the same in their body. They still have to bridge the notion from their head through to their bodies but at least an image has begun to form for them. Other students need to physically encounter the situation. There's a different way to deal with every student. Some students are so in their head that you have to break them. Even for these students, giving them an abstraction can allow them enough comfort to trust a teacher that bit.

No, the Harlem old timers didn't count. I've heard that. I think of the developments in the time since. I've spoken to old timers who have seen what has come since. Not necessarily the Harlem old-timers on this subject but other folks who were around in the period. There are old-timers who believe the dance has gone so far beyond what the originators have done. I believe it too. I'll never stop thanking the originators for their primal gift. That said, I know I can feel, and I'm not them. The world of Lindy Hop is still growing and changing and evolving. That's something beautiful to me.

As for improvisation, as long as I've studied it, numbers have never gotten in the way. The first key to real communication is saying "yes." The second step is expanding upon that.

The numbers vs. no-numbers thing is starting to remind me of the Savoy-Hollywood mess. A lot of dogmatic rhetoric. No, strictly speaking no dancer needs to count. Yes, in a very true way, every dancer must learn to feel. If I were to boil down my statements, I would say that not only are numbers and feeling not mutually exclusive, they can actually enhance each other to a very real extent.
...

Connect-the-dots is not the same as drawing. All the same, anything that gets a kid to put pen to paper ain't bad.

I spent some time talking to folks at the Dance-a-thon last weekend. One prominent teacher's response to the question of whether counting was good or bad was "it depends on the student." Students have very different ways of learning and it is helpful to have methods to reach them all. An engineer is going to have a very different reaction than a musician for instance. That's a generalization, since I know some engineers are also musicians, and also one can't assume that all engineers think or learn in the same ways.

A last event, I was working with a student recently who had only had one beginning class at a dance venue and who admitted that he was terrified of the dance. He couldn't put together the "one-two, one-two-three" counts that the teachers in that class had used. It didn't make sense to him. Add to that a lot of anxiety about asking partners to dance and he was quite terrified. Within seconds of using the very simple "One Two Three-and-Four" count, those elements of fear dissipated. He actually developed a working swingout that felt really good within minutes of losing that fear. We made clear that in the long run, the numbers were only a step along the way, but having something as simple and repeatable as an 8-count added to his sense of safety.

It seems like this kind of discussion doesn't just happen in swing dancing. This morning, Scott McCloud posted an article on Twitter about a new device for fledgling comics creators: How Do We Feel This Morning?

Watch those videos and read the comments. Tell me your thoughts about the uses of technology in art.

And inspired by Bobby White's exploration of Old Timers on his blog, I think I will spend the next two weeks exploring my own roots as a front-line peace-nik in the Savoy/Hollywood War. I'd like to spend the next couple of weeks exploring the so-called Savoy and Hollywood Swingouts. I'm feeling nostalgic. Go study the clips already now.

edited to add:
I was re-reading an article on Fayard Nicholas, of the Nicholas Brothers, in Dance Teacher, from the July 2004 issue. In an interview with Paula Broussard, Fayard gives an overview of his career. This passage is particularly cogent to the discussion:

Unlike most dancers, Fayard doesn't use counts. "He sings the steps," say [New York Tapper Jennifer] Lane. "He scats them out so that you get the whole musical feel, not just the parts of the step." Katherine [Hopkins-Nicholas, Fayard's wife] usually provides the counts for those students who still prefer to break down routines into bars of eight. "We make a good combination," she adds.

I actually really like this approach.

To everything there is a season...

2010-03-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

Turn, turn, turn.

It occurs to me that it has been a while since we've done a class on turn technique. I was watching A Day at the Races the other day and there's this one dancer in the non-Lindy dance sequence who does the most amazing set of turns I can remember seeing. She's spotting so fast that it looks like she has two faces, and she just continues turning for what feels like three minutes. Unfortunately, I couldn't find that on YouTube, but this is a really nice demonstration of Baryshnikov's pirhouettes from the movie White Nights.

So, this week we're going to talk about turns. Not just talk about, we're going to work on our turns.

Also, in order to raise money for the dance-a-thon this weekend, I will be selling short private lessons for donations this Thursday at LindyGroove. If you want to be involved, there's still just under a week to get cracking. There might still be spots on Team Old School left. Here's my write-up of last year's event: What a Difference a Day Makes.

Swing the wing and whip the hip!

2010-02-26T11:08:00.000-08:00

The title to this post is a quote from The Groovie Movie, which is one of the shorts that Los Angeles dancers found inspiration in during the late 90s. The quote refers to Jean Veloz' hip action during her swivels. Since one of the topics we covered last night was swiveling, and since I asked the follows to watch for examples of swivels, you should check that video as well. The Groovie Movie can be found elsewhere in this blog, if you'll just click on the tag marked "Groovie Movie" you'll find it.

We mentioned a few names to check out on YouTube. I don't have time to post links of them all. Alice P. will probably be happy to do that over on Rantings of a Lindy Hopper. At the moment I have time to post one clip, which features the hips of Jewel McGowan, possibly Dean Collins' most watched partner. Dean Collins is often credited with bringing Lindy Hop from the Savoy Ballroom to Los Angeles. Whether or not this is strictly true, it can't be denied that he's a very important figure in the Southern California Lindy Hop world, and a pivotal figure in the evolution of Swing Dancing. Jewel McGowan was his partner for quite a while, appearing with him in several movies. The clip below is from Buck Privates, featuring Abbot and Costello.

You'll see Dean and Jewel doing their thing around (1:36), but overall this clip has been a pretty influential one.

While we're on the subject of swivels, we are asking for the follows to check youtube for the following names: Nina Gilkenson, Frida Segerdahl, Freda Angela, Jean Veloz, Sylvia Skylar... There are probably so many names to mention. Follows, your work is ahead of you!

Any regular posters have suggestion on dancers to watch? That goes for Leads and Follows. Who would you recommend watching for pure style?

Pop(turn) will eat itself

2010-02-25T12:10:00.000-08:00

We've had a recent influx of new students over the last month, so we've been more focused on mechanical issues and leading/following fundamentals. Since most of the class is quite new, I plan to bring back the class on pop-turns tonight. It follows from our recent class topics pretty well and brings some light to the basics of the lead/follow dynamic.

Mechanics are important, vital even. However, I'm even more excited for the day that all these students understand the way their bodies interact and are ready to explore topics about enriching the dance: playfulness, music, improvisation. I think some of the questions are starting to be asked. A few days ago, I was asked how a follow could discern the lead's rhythm. Phrased the way it was asked: "how can I tell when my partner is on One?" I didn't really address the rhythmic cues in the pulse between the partners, mostly since we discuss it so much in class. I answered with regard to music. We were listening to CDs on a laptop computer, so it was especially tough to hear the bass line. I'm really looking forward to the day that I can explore this with the new students.

There are many more thoughts to consider, but thumb-typing is not conducive to long blog-thoughts. Anyone have input on their discovery of rhythm and partnering?

The Rantings of a Lindy Hopper + The No Account Count

2010-02-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to Alice P's Lindy-centric blog: The Rantings of a Lindy Hopper. Alice has been one of my assistants in class for the last several months.

We had a lot of new students in class last week. We took it back to basics, did a few leading and following exercises. It seemed mostly that people needed to iron out the swingout more than anything else. I admit that the class feels like it is taught by committee. Alice, Charlotte and I have pretty distinct points of view. Alice and Charlotte have both been recently excited by a recent workshop with Dax and Sarah. I'm typically skeptical.

After class Charlotte and I had a brief conversation about counting the basic. When she was learning from Dax several years ago, he did not use any counting, but rather the scat-rhythms like those that were popularized by Stephen Mitchell and others during the 90s. So rather than "one two three&four five six seven&eight" teachers might use a rhythm like this "boop doo doop-dah-doo, boop doo doop-dah-doo" or some such. Charlotte suggested that she would love to compare a theoretical Lindy Hop culture that never learned counting to another that learned from the numbers.

The thought of removing the numbers doesn't really bother me, but it does remind me of this sort of hostility toward math that many folks have. I tend to blame this sentiment more on teachers than anything else. I certainly agree that learning numbers changes the way one thinks (in the dance and in the world), however, I also believe that one can learn one paradigm and then transcend it. You can learn how to count and then learn to abandon the count. You can always keep the numbers in mind for a rainy day.

So I put it up for debate: what are the strengths of beginners counting and of beginners not counting? What is to be gained by either approach? Is one way superior to the other? Can't we all just get along?

By the way, I don't mean to criticize Dax & Sarah or Charlotte at all. I'm mostly hoping to open up and interesting conversation.

This week I plan to teach a class about balance. Feel free to click on the balance tag and see the previous posts on the subject.

The LXD

2010-02-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

I've been following the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers since the teaser first dropped last year. They're not Lindy Hop, but they're well worth your time and attention.

The first teaser, Choices.
I've posted this here before.

Official trailer: Moments

The LXD perform on So You Think You Can Dance

The first point

2010-01-15T11:54:00.001-08:00

I was working with some students after class yesterday (by the way, the class went wonderfully. One student said it changed the way that it made him think about dancing!) and I returned to a point that I remember so clearly and which has influenced the way I have taught leading and following for my entire career.

The scenario: he had some basic lindy instruction and she didn't. I asked them to dance and he tried to do the swingout, with her completely befuddled and wondering what she'd have to do the whole time.

I don't buy into the mishegos that every mistake made in dancing is the lead's fault. However, in the case that the lead isn't noticing how much his partner is struggling, this is certainly the case.

My response: F*** your training. If your partner isn't with you then you've got to find them first. Practically, it's better to just do steps in place than to do swingouts if your partner isn't ready.

Then I taught them how to make a swingout work. Of course, the first impulse was to find each other first and the second is to do something together.

Then I set them on the dance floor and as always I asked them to find some dancers they didn't know and ask them to dance too. I miss having students that need to be taught how to find dances. I think that homework is probably the most important assignment of a beginner's dancing life.

Stomp Stomp

2010-01-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

I have absolutely no idea what this video is about, but this song has been stuck in my head all morning, so here ya go. The Wonders of YouTube!

The song is Stomp Stomp, recorded by The Cats and the Fiddle.

This evening we'll be doing some exercises exploring rhythm. Charlotte will be preparing an exercise. I have some thoughts on the subject myself and have some ideas that I'm really looking forward to exploring.

Last week we discussed accomplishments and goals. One student mentioned that they were feeling much more confident dancing with experienced dancers. Another suggested that a goal for them was to let their dancing feel less deliberate. We also discussed taking a field trip down to some farther dance venues.

I confirmed that I would be doing a lot more yoga, which is keeping in line with the commitment I made to the class last year to be more physically active in my life off the dancefloor. I'm also doing improv classes again, which is getting back to my roots. Some of my first dance instruction exercises were based very much on improvisation exercises that I did in college.

So here's to an exciting twenty-ten. I'll be posting a bit more often in the weeks to come!

Facebookery

2010-01-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working on a fan page for Facebook. This is mainly so that there will be another venue through which to post updates about the class. If you're on Facebook and you're interested in becoming a fan, please click here.

I'll still be posting here, but for quick shouts, Facebook seems to be able to get a lot done.

I haven't posted anything for a while, so here's another clip of the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers!

A toast and kudos!

2009-12-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

Before I share these clips, I'd like to mention an anecdote. I was working with one of my students a few weeks back on his swingout. He was having that normal frustration with body leads that happens before you figure out how to do it. He huffed "this is like spelling!" and explained that you had to have all the pieces in the right place. It made sense to me. It's often said that dance is a language. Even if we only count the communication between lead and follow, shouldn't it matter we take care to communicate clearly?

I've been working through The Artist's Way for a few weeks now. The author mentions that Spelling is one of the main reasons that some writers choose to give up on their art. Whatever frustrating thing comes up in the dance, the choice seems to be either to give up or to climb past the challenge. I think the most interesting folks are the ones who choose the latter!

I propose a toast: Here's to more challenges!

As an aside, I should note that this student has made some enormous strides in the past few weeks. He is starting to put it together really nicely.

From last weekend at the US Open, here are Dave Frutos and Kim Clever competing in and winning the Sophisticated Swing division. Sophisticated is an age range competition, which essentially means that both performers are between the ages of 35 and I'm guessing 50. Dave and Kim are the first ever Lindy Hoppers to win that division, so kudos to them for not only winning, but for making history!

Also making us proud were the One2Swing California Rolls. This is the routine that brought down the house twice this weekend! Congratulations to the whole team.

As far as I'm concerned, the hand dancers won the weekend. See the previous post for a little more about that. I'm gonna have to go back to the videos I picked up a few years ago.

I Want to Hand your Hold

2009-11-20T11:41:00.001-08:00

I mentioned Hand Dancing briefly in class yesterday. It was such a brief mention I don't think anyone would remember it. Hand Dancing is an offshoot of swing dancing that's as far as I have observed completely regional to Washington, DC.

Here's an example of what has now become known as Old School Hand Dancing:

Lately Hand Dancing has taken on a lot of influence from West Coast Swing. The modern movement in Hand Dance is dancing to more modern music. Here's a bit from last year's US Open, just under a year ago:

Thoughts?

Lindy on the Rocks!

2009-08-18T09:26:00.001-07:00

Here's footage of Peter Strom and Nina Gilkenson dancing in the invitational jack and jill at Lindy on the Rocks.

The Jump Session Show

2009-08-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

Looka There!

2009-08-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a clip from a 2005 featuring Skye Humphries and Frida Segerdahl.

We're working on slow dancing this week. I wonder what that will bring.

Camp Hollywood footage

2009-08-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here's the final from the amateur Lindy division held last night at Camp Hollywood. If I find more I will post it here. Congratulations to the competitors this weekend, whether they won trophies or not. The winners of the amateur division were Aubri Siebert and Gabe Cashman (third couple).

Also, you should buy Camp Hollywood DVDs.

The One2Swing Jitterbugs - All the Cats Join in

The One2Swing California Rolls - Love Me or Leave Me

The Underground Jitterbug Championship - Dax and Max vs. Tiffiny and Kenny
edited to add:

Here are the results to all of the contests:
Amateur Lindy
1st – Gabriel Cashman & Aubri Siebert
2nd – Will Ayces & Jenny Knox
3rd – Jason Vaughan & Tunde Hrotko
4th – Dean Curtis & Ali Bevilacqua
5th – Daniel & Tomoko Young

Shag
1st – Johnny Lee & Rebecca Williams
2nd – David Frutos & Kim Clever
3rd – Marcus Koch & Baerbl Kaufer
4th – Morgan Day & Karen Vizzard
5th – Joe McGlynn & Heidi Rosenau

Amateur Jack and Jill Leaders
1st – Dean Curtis
2nd – Morgan Day
3rd – Matt Richey
4th – Sam Chan
5th – Douglas Van Sant

Amateur Jack and Jill Followers
1st – Yon Richner
2nd – Sharlene Choy
3rd – Jenny Knox
4th – Tomoko Young
5th – Mariko Ozawa

Advanced Jack and Jill Leaders
1st – Dax Hock
2nd – Marcus Koch
3rd – Tip West
4th – Bromley Palamountain
5th – Shesha Marvin

Advanced Jack and Jill Followers
1st – Moe Sakan
2nd – Sarah Breck
3rd – Laura Keat
4th – Sara Deckard
5th – Casey Schneider

Team
1st – One2Swing Jitterbugs
2nd – One2Swing Jitterbugs’ The California Rolls
3rd – The Fly Rites

Balboa
1st – Zack Richard & Maryse Lebeau
2nd – Chris & Beth Grover
3rd – Steve Garrett & Heidi Salerno
4th – Marcus Koch & Baerbl Kaufer
5th – Jacob Wigger & Jen Scricco

Pro Lindy
1st – David Frutos & Kim Clever
2nd – Max Pitruzzella & Annie Trudeau
3rd – Shesha Marvin & Sarah Breck
4th – Mike Pedroza & Nikki Marvin
5th – Kenny Nelson & Tiffiny Wine

Showcase
1st – Zack Richard & Maryse Lebeau
2nd – Max Pitruzzella & Annie Trudeau
3rd – Kevin St Laurent & Jo Hoffberg
4th – Mike Pedroza & Nikki Marvin
5th – Andrew Hsi & Sarah Breck

Slip Slop Shim Sham

2009-08-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

So much stuff from Camp Hollywood!!!

Here's a bit that I worked on that has a clip readily available. Max Pitruzzella and Annie Trudeau taught a class on the Slip Slop Shim Sham and I thought it was really cool. I showed up halfway through class and had to spend a lot of time catching up. Watch the whole clip and you'll get an idea of one of my weekend projects.

Camp Hollywood schedule

2009-07-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

Posted because people have been saying that they can't get the main schedule on www.camphollywood.net to load. It's going to be a killer weekend and I haven't even read the schedule.

FRIDAY, JULY 31
10 – 11am
Marcus & Baerbl – Lindy Basics (Beginner Track)
Ben & Sheri – Permutations of Lindy (Intermediate Track)
Kevin & Emily – Flash & Trash from Around the World (Advanced)
Jeremy & Laura – Jammin’ Combos (Masters)
Joel & Alison – Texas Tommy (All Levels)

11:15am – 12:15pm
David & Kim – Lindy Basics II (Beginner Track)
Mike & Casey – Whole Body Dancing (Intermediate Track)
Max & Annie – Advanced Aerials *partner required (Advanced)
Marcus & Baerbl – Fast Lindy Routine (Masters)
Kevin & Emily – Bad Technique is Not a Style (All Levels)

Lunch Break 12:15 – 1pm Lunch buffet near ballroom

1-2pm
David & Kim – Charleston for Lindy (Beginner Track)
Mike & Casey – Swing Out Intensive (Intermediate Track)
Kevin & Emily – Power Moves (Advanced)
Max & Annie – Connection (Masters)
Marcus & Baerbl – Finding Your Center (All Levels)

2:15-3:15pm
Marcus & Baerbl – Mixing 6s & 8s (Beginner Track)
David & Kim – Charleston for Lindy Int. (Intermediate Track)
Mike & Casey – What Would Al & Leon Do? (Advanced)
Joel & Alison – Put the Stank on it (Masters)
Ben & Sheri – Competition Class (All Levels)

CONTEST SCHEDULE
4:00 - 5:00 - Pro Lindy Prelim
5:00 - 6:00 - Am Lindy Prelim
6:00 - 6:30 - Balboa Prelim
6:30 - 6:45 - Shag Prelim
During Friday night dance: Shag Final, Balboa Final

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1
10 – 11am
Mike & Casey – Footwork Variations (Beginner Track)
David & Kim – Redirection Connection (Intermediate Track)
Max & Annie – Charleston Variations (Advanced)
Jeremy & Laura – Getting Crazy with the Footwork - Shag (Masters)
Marcus & Baerbl – Footwork Workout (All Levels)

11:15 – 12:15pm
Joel & Alison – Balboa Basics (Beginner Track)
David & Kim – Hot Off the Griddle *partner required (Intermediate Track)
Mike & Casey – Lindy Routine (Advanced)
Max & Annie – Masters’ Aerials (Masters)
Kevin & Emily – Al & Leon Shim Sham (All Levels)

1-2pm
Kevin & Emily – Spins & Turns (Beginner Track)
Joel & Alison – Smooth Combos - Balboa (Intermediate Track)
Marcus & Baerbl – Crazy Footwork for Shag (Advanced)
Max & Annie – Slip Slop Shim Sham (Masters)
Jonathan – Live Music Theory (All Levels)

2:15-3:15pm
Ben & Sheri – Slides (Beginner Track)
David & Kim – Letting it all Hang Out (Intermediate Track)
Joel & Alison – The Kitchen Sink - Balboa (Advanced)
Kevin & Emily – Fancy Footwork (Masters)
Mike & Casey – One Man Dance (All Levels)

CONTEST SCHEDULE
4:00 - 4:30 - Advanced J&J Prelim
4:30 - 5:30 - Am J&J Prelim
5:30 - 6:30 - Showcase
During Saturday night dance: Team Division, Pro Lindy Final

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2
11:15am – 12:15pm
Joel & Alison – Lindy Classics (Beginner Track)
Ben & Sheri – Sweetheart Moves (Intermediate Track)
Kevin & Emily – Fast Lindy (Advanced)
Max & Annie – Slides Variations (Masters)
Mike & Casey – Partnered Black Bottom (All Levels)

Lunch Break 12:15 – 1pm Lunch buffet near ballroom

1-2pm
Mike & Casey – All Flash, No Trash (Beginner Track)
David & Kim – Shag (Intermediate Track)
Max & Annie – Crazy Footwork Variations (Advanced)
Jeremy & Laura – The Balboa Genius – Getting In-sync-ocpated (Masters)
Joel & Alison – Big Apple I (All Levels)

2:15-3:15pm
Marcus & Baerbl – Shag Basics (Beginner Track)
Jeremy & Laura – Smooth style Lindy Dean & Jewels Secrets (Intermediate Track)
Max & Annie – Technique (Advanced)
Kevin & Emily – How to Lead & Follow Rhythms & Syncopations (Masters)
Joel & Alison – Big Apple II (All Levels)

CONTEST SCHEDULE
4:00 - 4:30 - Am J&J Final
4:30 - 5:00 - Adv J&J Final
5:00 - 5:30 - Am Lindy Final
6:00 - Awards
During Sunday night dance: Intergenerational Jitterbug Contest

The Winterlit Charleston Underground

2009-07-29T08:58:00.001-07:00

I don't know any of these performers, but eff it. Just dance wherever you can. There are no excuses.

Jazz Jam

2009-07-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

Alice has been talking about doing a solo jazz class for a while. Seems like a great idea. Here's a great clip of examples. Watching this, I'd recommend focusing on one dancer and viewing it three times.

The clip features Jo Hoffberg, Juan Ignacio Villafane and Bobby Bonsey. The winner was Juan Ignacio Villafane, who I believe was wearing the black t-shirt.

Badass

2009-07-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

Midsummer Nights Swing on Fox

2009-07-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

All the Cats Join in!

2009-07-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

We've spent the last few weeks going over basics in the Lindy Hop. Last week we took some time to address the mechanics used in tuck turns. This week I'd like to return to faster swingout technique and the fall whip.

In the meantime, here's a classic clip from the Disney film Make Mine Music. Aren't you lucky you don't have to dig these clips from the archives of random video stores?

They're Still Doing the Lindy Hop?

2009-07-09T11:04:00.001-07:00

From the Speakeasy blog at the Wall Street Journal:

Standards

2009-07-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

Before class last week, I was considering the standards for considering oneself able to dance Lindy Hop at a proficient level. When we understand these elements, we should be able to improve upon them.

Perhaps being able to do a number of swingouts in a row might be a good marker. It takes solid technique to repeat 4-8 swingouts in succession. To me, this sounds like more of a measuring stick than an actual standard.

However, it's more than just doing swingouts.
Connection: There's too much to say about connection in the time that I have. At least one should consider how much they are connecting with their partners in the most mechanical and efficient way possible. Keep in mind the pain factor: if you cannot tell whether your partner is feeling pain, you might want to take a look. That's a really great yardstick.

Timing: If the swingouts are off-timed, not keeping up with or racing ahead of the music then you've got a problem. At the most basic level, one should be able to keep those eight-counts happening every 8 counts. When one becomes more proficient, varying tempos should be no problem.

Stamina: How much can you keep up with the faster songs?

These notes are pretty general. I'm sure you can come up with more. Any ideas?

Origins

2009-06-29T18:30:00.001-07:00

I'm incredibly burned out on a certain current event. This is as close to the topic as I feel like getting. It's actually nothing to do with Michael Jackson and is a compilation of some really great movement. For me, it would be enough to listen to this clip with the sound turned down. The music in the clip hasn't anything to do with the dancing. Slow it down and see if you can make this happen.

Camp Jitterbug Jack and Jill Finals

2009-06-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Alice for sending the link!

Deese Knees

2009-06-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a compilation of the knee care advice that I've been able to collect over the last few weeks. To recap the comments I received from the previous knee care blog:

Orin suggested:
-Ice your knees for at least 20 minutes after dancing.
-Stretch before dancing

To which my response was:
With regard to the stretching, that's something that everyone should consider. What stretches would you recommend? It has been a while since I regularly stretched before dancing and to be honest, I feel that my best dancing came when I took the time to get my body ready.

Emily Falcon suggested via Facebook:
"suede or leather shoes, keep your knees bent and don't dance on concrete."

To which my response was:
I'd like to expand on that a bit. Of course, bending the knees is the best way to facilitate shock absorption. In the same vein it is advisable to keep your heels off the ground so that the ankles can aid in this.

With regard to the advice about leather shoes, it appears to have to do with reducing the friction between the dancer and the floor. If you have only danced on rubber soles this might take some adjusting, but it is worth taking care. Almost exclusively, I dance on hard leather.

I later added that keeping your knee aligned with the direction of your feet would be helpful.

Recently, Kirsten Welge commented on the same thread:
More details on the "keep knee in line with foot direction" bit - this doesn't just go for dancing.

If you notice this issue in dancing, you are likely doing this in all walks of your life. I sure was!

What helped me:
-Pay attention when you're walking around, DDR-ing, stretching, or doing other activities.
-When you catch yourself, correct yourself and feel the difference.
-It also helped me to do a few lunges right after the catch and correction - another opportunity to really focus on alignment and pay attention to what the 'correct' feel is.

I echo the dancing in suede-sole shoes. I picked up a pair of 'real' dance shoes when I started lindy hop after 6 months of dancing WCS in rubber soled sandals and sneakers. HUGE difference in feel, and my knees/ankles felt better... though I'm sure part of that was also the floating dance floor for lindy vs. linoleum over concrete for WCS.

I also strongly recommend doing lunges, daily if you can. Work 'em in when you're walking the dog or cooking, when you find yourself with nothing to do. Stronger knee muscles = less pain.

One other thing I'm planning is starting up kneee exercises recommended by MDs for weak knees/cheerleader's knee. Eg sit on a chair, raise your foot, lower foot, repeat ~12x per foot, three sets each. Add weight to increase resistance as this becomes easy.

The 200 squats program (google it) might also be another way to prevent knee issues and strengthen legs. Have not tried this but when I do, I'll report back.

1 oz prevention >> 1 lb cure!

I was directed to a Facebook blog by David Stockin, focusing on joint related supplements:
While learning to dance has certainly been one of the single best things I have ever done in my life, there are some down-sides to the sport as well; an insane amount of mileage to the odometer on my car, a collection of Tommy Bahamas shirts large enough to open my own store with, and the occasional joint pain. I know what you’re saying, it could be old-age… but I’m going to completely rule that possibility out and place 100% of the blame for my aching knee squarely on dancing!

So last week when my knee starting hurting, a deluge of advice came in from all quarters; braces of all sorts, magnets, titanium patches, orthotic shoes, stop dancing for a month, walk in a straight line for hours, say my prayers (that person REALLY didn’t know me very well at all)… but when a Doctor told me about Glucosamine, I listened up.

Having never heard of Glucosamine, and being a perpetual skeptic, I decided to put my crack team of research analysts on the job (I call them the Google) and poured through a mountain of info. Most of it was mixed. Turns out, that many studies have been done regarding the efficacy of Glucosamine for improving joint performance, half of the studies show positive results, the other half show no improvement over a placebo. I was quite puzzled over this, especially considering that Europe had approved Glucosamine for use in joint pain. Many people don’t know this but in the US, drugs only need to be safe to get approval; they don’t actually have to work (in fairness they do need to show some small level of benefit). On the other hand, drug manufacturers in Europe have to prove both safeness and effectiveness.

It wasn’t until I ran into a Mayo Clinic document that the whole Glucosamine puzzle became clear. There are two (2) types of Glucosamine:

1. Glucosamine Hydrochloride - This one doesn’t work
2. Glucosamine Sulfate – This one DOES work

Some other common additives that seem to help include Methyl-Sulfonyl-Methane (MSM) and Chondroitin Sulfate. You can typically find a pill with all three (3) of the above included. Typical dosage is 1500 mg a day, with positive joint improvement measurable via X-ray measurements in 6-weeks. All of the studies showed that both varieties of Glucosamine are safe.

I pass this information on, so that my fellow dancers will not waste their time, money and pain, on the wrong kind of Glucosamine. I found the supplement that I am currently using at Trader Joes, but I am sure there are many sources for Glucosamine Sulfate. Good luck!

Here are some responses to David's post:

Forrest Walsh:
What if the body can heal itself? But we need to allow it. By deep pranayama, kundalini or tantric breathing allowing flow of energy or life force, perhaps even guiding it. Or just chilling enough so that stress is eased so the body can do its thing.

I would love to see Forrest expand upon this.

Barry Chin:
after 30 years of volleyball - i have learned the value of stretching - and proper mechanics. if you are doing some sort of repetitive motion that actually is causing damage, better to address that IMO. and forrest is correct - a consequence of any sort of stress that provokes the fight or flight physiological response is the shutting down of the body's healing mechanisms. constant stress does contribute to the body breaking down more easily.

Alright everyone, now it's time to share!

Are You All Reet?

2009-06-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

In preparation for this week's class, here's a recording of Cab Calloway's classic tune Are You All Reet?

We'll be exploring the feel of music and offering examples of how to tune in.

Just say "thank you."

2009-06-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

I have a catalog of compliments that I update from time to time. I'd love to read a list of nice things that other folks have said directly to you. That's already a homework assignment, but I still want to see more.

A couple of key compliments that I remember:
The late Leonard Reed, inventor of the Shim Sham Shimmy, mentioned to me in passing at the Argyle that "you are a beautiful dancer."
The late Big Jim Overton, the drummer for Indigo Swing, told me that he could "see the chi in [my] dancing."

A couple from last night:
One prominent dancer used me as an example of timing to two students: "He's never off time."
A young dancer reminded me of my old reputation: "a girl could get better dancing with you."

Today's lesson on the blog: accept the compliment. It's the easiest thing to do. Just say "thank you." It's less funny than deflecting, but much healthier. It could be as simple as mentioning how much you've improved, or that your partner appreciated something that you did. Say thank you whether you want to or not. If you're blushing, that's part of the thrill.

So now it's time for you to update me on the compliments you have received recently.

Tomorrow's class will focus on styling, with Alice P. coming in to share her take on swivels.

Camp Jitterbug Jack and Jill

2009-06-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here's footage from the recent Camp Jitterbug Jack and Jill. This clip features Shaheed Qaasim (in the tie) and Kristi Clark (in the skirt ;) ). They dance a lot together, but I imagine that this draw was random as that is the way of the Jack and Jill.

Most of the Jack and Jills I've seen have given about half this time per heat, meaning that the judges get half the time to look at the dancers. I think it's cool that the contest coordinator chose to give use to whole songs. It's harder work for the dancers, but the judges get to actually see something.

If you're considering entering the world of competition, Jack and Jills are a great place to get your feet wet. If I were to guess, I'd say this was from an amateur level competition. I could be wrong there. Divisions are pretty muddy in the Lindy Hop world.

Survey: knee care for Lindy Hoppers

2009-06-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

The Bees' Knees

Folks, I'd like to compile some helpful tips for taking care of one's knees. Please respond with your advice.

Zero = Infinity

2009-06-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a weird piece of my personal dance philosophy. This seems like shoe-gazing to me. Pardon me while I stare at my toes for a few minutes.

Back when I was new to Lindy Hop (well, when I was new to East Coast Swing, back in the heyday of the Derby) I remember seeing a friend of a friend who had written down a list of perhaps twenty moves that he had learned. My immediate reaction to this was dismissive. I didn't say it out loud, but I remember later calling out this behavior in classes that I taught. "Do you really want to be the guy who dances from a list of moves?" I asked. Of course, when asked that way, it's really easy to want to say no.

My thinking on the subject at the time was that dancing should be completely fresh and that list-making would only serve to stifle creativity. To a certain extent I have always felt this way, still do feel this way. When I dance with a partner, I'm more focused on having fun than on performing steps. There are a lot of levels to this upon which I won't elaborate now.

Suffice it to say that I never think of "dance moves" when I am dancing. The reasoning behind this is that if I have no moves, then all moves become available. Just like the title says, zero equals infinity. More or less, this works for me. Perhaps that's because I've been at it for long enough.

It comes with its drawbacks, surely enough. It might be easy to repeat the same moves over and over if one is not paying attention. Perhaps if I've repeated the same motion enough that I notice it, it's time to increase the variety. Last night I noticed myself making the same kick again and again. Time for a new way to approach that moment.

Thinking ain't dancing, I always say. The action of making lists seems to be one example of over-thinking the dance. On the other hand, perhaps I have been wrong with regard to making lists. In some ways I wonder if not having organized the steps has been a different kind of limitation.

At some level I'd like to re-imagine this idea of list-making. The notion of a completely memorized by rote routine, like the ones that are most often taught in swing classes, still seem problematic to me. Speaking to another teacher, she felt that more often than not classes don't teach essential skills like leading and following. I still agree with this. However I imagine there's a good way to use a list to set one's self free.

If instead of seeing the catalog of moves as the goal we use it as a tool, the creative impulses might not be clogged. Once a dancer has mastered move on their list, it might be time to take that move somewhere else, to find a new challenge with it.

Global Shim Sham

2009-06-01T01:16:00.000-07:00

In honor of the late Frankie Manning, the organizers of the Frankie95 event planned for folks around the world to record and share the Shim Sham to compile into one short video. Here are the results:

The Joy of Paradigm Shifting

2009-05-25T22:17:00.001-07:00

Here's a thought that occurred to me while I was in New York last weekend for Frankie95. It puts me in mind of a conversation I had with Eugene (who was within a month of learning his first Lindy Hop steps) a couple of weeks back during which he complained about follows who didn't completely give in to his lead. A little bit of prefacing may be necessary.

About a decade back, I had visited Manhattan for a week or so. I remember attending what might have been the last night of the Louisiana Bar and Grille, which was one of the popular venues of the time. I remember getting kicked a lot on the dance floor and believing that it was more than I would have been kicked on a similarly crowded dance floor at home in Los Angeles. I theorized that Manhattanites, due to living in such crowded conditions, were very unlikely to put a premium on personal space. Residents of the Big Apple regularly spend their time in very tight spaces - subway cars, elevators, even sometimes the outdoors seems crowded to me. As this is apparently the case, it makes a lot of sense that the Lindy Hoppers of New York deal with their dance space in exactly the same way.

Now for a person like me, who gets kind of itchy when I'm around big crowds, this can be a big issue. I've always put a premium on good floorcraft, the notion that dancers should be aware enough about their surroundings that they don't bump into other dancers. It was something that seemed important to me from very early in my career. I consider myself more than adept at the basic skills of floorcraft. At the very least, I apologize to a dancer if I kick or step on them. I help them if I have injured them in some way. More often than not, unless I'm really off, I'm pretty good at avoiding collision. It's important to me on a primal level.

The two paragraphs above appear to be examples of two opposing paradigms. Paradigms are ways of viewing the world. In the first view, dancers take up their space and pay little to no attention to the dancers around them, expecting the same from those around them. In the second, dancers are responsible for their own safety and the comfort of those around them.

What happened at the Frankie event, was that I spent Friday night incredibly tense. Gritting my teeth and squeezing through the crowd was about all I could manage. I got kicked a lot, and I heard at least a few other visiting dancers complaining of the same. As it stood on Friday, I was getting dances, but on my part they leaned to the side of paranoia. It happens a bit with me when I'm in very crowded spaces. Even just walking through the ballroom was difficult and it made those initial exchanges, the asking strangers to dance bits, harder to do.

Mind of course that there were many dancers at the event that were not from Manhattan, so please take the blanket statements with several grains of salt.

On Saturday, it was even more crowded. How was I going to get any dancing done in that mass?

I'm not really sure how it happened, but at some point I accepted that the rules were different in this place. People would bump into me from time to time and I'd just have to deal with it. There were more important things to focus on, for instance my partners and their fun and safety. When I made that switch, I smiled a lot more and found it easier to ask people to dance and to make slightly better first impressions than on my tension-filled Friday night. I had an incredible night, even after one of my shoes finally gave in to months of abuse.

Which brings me back to my conversation with Eugene. He had complained of follows who just wouldn't follow the way he had intended. My response to him was that no one can expect that the person they're dancing with has the same rules and technique that he has. Part of the joy of Lindy Hop is bridging the gap between those varying points of view.

Sometimes you just have to go outside of your comfort zone to learn how to be comfortable.

Hellzapoppin' finals!

2009-05-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a contest finals from the Frankie95, the Memorial event dedicated to the memory of Frankie Manning. Held in Manhattan, this was easily one of the most moving and important dance events I can recall attending. If you weren't there, you missed something special, but at least you can check out the clips that will be popping up soon.

Hellzapoppin' finals

Part 2:

Frankie95 footage

2009-05-22T05:02:00.001-07:00

I'll be attending Frankie Manning's Memorial service this morning, but thought it would be good to post some footage from last night's party. I wasn't there, but it looks like it will be fun tonight.

Here's the first jam circle of the weekend.

Shaking like a leaf...

2009-05-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

If anyone ever tells you that blues requires less technique than Lindy Hop, it's only because they don't know better. Here's Joe and Nelle performing at BluesSHOUT!

Frankie Manning - get well soon!

2009-04-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

Lindy Hop legend Frankie Manning has been hospitalized. Frankie can be viewed elsewhere in this blog in the dance clip from Hellzapoppin', in which he danced one of the most memorable and influential routines of all time.

Here is a re-post of an email sent by the organizers of the upcoming Frankie 95 event. That's the event celebrating Frankie's 95th birthday later this month.

Dear Friends of Frankie,

As you might have heard, Frankie entered the hospital a week and a half ago, due to problems with his medication. Then on Friday, he was taken into the intensive care unit after he developed pneumonia. It is a very serious situation.

Although he cannot talk or move his limbs, he recognizes people and responds to their messages of caring and love. Throughout all of this, his spirit remains strong and his family and close friends are with him.

Please take some time during your day to send Frankie healing energy, prayers and love, and tell everyone you know to do the same. You can also send him a personal note of encouragement here:

Frankie Manning, PO Box 737648 , Elmhurst NY 11373

Frankie needs our support!

Of course, we will keep you all updated as his condition changes.

The Frankie 95 Team

A clip from Barswingona

2009-04-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers

2009-04-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

I'm really looking forward to John M. Chu's new project.

Up Close and Personal

2009-04-07T01:13:00.000-07:00

Here's an unusual clip featuring Carla Heiney and Nick Williams.

Any thoughts?

The full Time Warp episode, entitled Blades and Volts, aired yesterday on Discovery. If you set your DVRs, you might be able to record the whole thing soon.

edit: at least for a time, the full clip is available for watching here.

Omnibus

2009-04-05T08:13:00.001-07:00

During a private lesson the other day, I quipped "Lindy Hop is the dance of Freedom!" It was funny if you were there. It's also true.

When dancers are just beginning Lindy Hop, it's easiest to think that the Lead is the boss and that the Follow is the subject. Stated another way, the leader has control over the follow. While this may be true in a rudimentary way, it seems to me to lack a certain dynamic.

Here's a thought that occurred to me the other day, mostly unedited:

"I've always rejected the notion of control in dance, especially with leading and following. It is often suggested that the Lead is in charge of the dance. While there are good reasons to suggest this (to beginners for instance - ed) I prefer to consider that the partners are cooperating, collaborating, synthesizing."

Why don't I like the word 'control'? It has too many nasty connotations. Also, there are better words in almost every case. If someone uses the word controlled with regard to their own movement, there are words like precise, balanced, dextrous and a host of others.

I often have used the phrase "leads, you're driving the bus." While it is a bit more romantic to suggest a carriage, the reason I go with the bus image is that there's something very physical in that image for me. I imagine a bus driver really using their body in a way that a carriage driver wouldn't. Maybe it's a tour bus driver, since they're also in charge of showing their passengers a good time.

This is also a really over-simplified view. I think later it becomes more like a bicycle for two, where one person is responsible for steering and both need to be engaged or fall.

I think both of these metaphors fall short of the potential of the dance. After you get past the driving metaphors, then it might be time to consider the dance as a conversation. That, however, is a much longer discussion which will be taken up elsewhere.

ILHC video

2009-03-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

This is the Jack and Jill from the International Lindy Hop Championships. Check it out!

The Highlight Reel

2009-03-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

This is fifteen minutes worth checking out. It features a lot of folks worth checking out. This is what dancing in Los Angeles was like before LindyGroove.

Lindy Hop: SoCal style - A Year in Review

There's a new homework assignment coming this week. Class this Thursday is called Let's Play!

Johnny talks to J. P.

2009-02-24T22:08:00.000-08:00

I didn't expect the interviews to be full-blown, but Johnny Wu has done a great job of getting some good questions in there. He interviewed a dancer named J. P. (I would guess that it's J.P. Babiera?) and got probably a good minute's worth of conversation down. This is a great example of how just a few simple questions can turn into a decent amount of information.

Great work, Johnny! Hopefully this has given you some food for thought.

You might not have a digital recorder on you, but just get some thoughts on paper. That's all that's required for this assignment.

Dancer: J.P (Last name unknown)

Johnny: You've got some smooth chops on that dance floor.

J.P: Thanks man!

Johnny: How long have you been swing dancing?

J.P: About 10 years

Johnny: I see. Did you start from scratch doing the Lindy or did you do other kind of dancing before that?

J.P: Well, I pretty much started from scratch, right to Lindy Hop swing with no prior dance experience.

Johnny: I see. You must really love it.

J.P: Totally. Oh yeah. Lindy Hop is so much fun!

Johnny: Very cool. How long did it take your to realize that you are a good dancer?

J.P.: I haven't realized that. LOL! Probably about 3-years, after I won a Jack and Jill contest

Johnny: Nice! I'm still trying to learn my basic steps while fine tuning my techniques.

What advice do you have for a novice like me?

J.P: Go social dancing as much as possible and just practice, practice, and practice, there is no other way around it. Try take classes and learn some cool routines if you can.

Johnny: I am, and have been. But I still have to think about all the moves before I do them. I would like to pull them off naturally, without having to think about it you know.

J.P: Don't worry, that is totally normal. It's part of the phase that you can get out of it eventually. What helps me is to somewhat visualize what moves you're planning to use in this dance in the beginning of the song, so you don't have to pull something out in the last second.

Johnny: Hmmm...,that is a great advice!

J.P: Having said that, don't forget to relax your muscles and feel the music. Don't get overly hung up on doing "the moves". ALWAYS AIM TO BE SMOOTH for your follows--not FLASHY!!

Johnny: Make sense. I've always felt that I need to impress my follow with some fresh moves and not bore her with the same, generic moves like the lead before her, guess I was wrong to think like that?

J.P: Well, perhaps some follows will like the flashy moves BUT ONLY IF YOU CAN PULL THEM OFF CORRECTLY, otherwise, I'd say just stick with basic moves but be smooth. You can almost never go wrong with that unless you smell bad, hahah! I think most follow would prefer the simpler stuff more.

Johnny: Hahah, I hear ya!

That's why I always make sure to wear my "Brut".....hahah!!

Johnny: Hey thanks again for the input, J.P.

J.P: No problem--anytime

Charleston - Minns and James style

2009-02-20T01:49:00.000-08:00

There's so much to Charleston, man.

Here's a clip of legends Al Minns and Leon James doing a bunch of Charleston variations. At the end of the clip, they do a short bit of The Itch.

Your homework this week, as I mentioned in class:
1) Write the work that you will do to achieve the goals you noted for the first assignment.
2) Footwork and movement drills. If you don't remember them, make something up - KEEP WORKING on this!
3) Interviews - I'd like to see something on paper for next week's Touchstone class.
4) Re-watch Groovie Movie and check the body isolation that those dancers were using. Challenge yourself.

I didn't mention this last night, but we'll need video cameras for next Thursday's class. If you can bring one, it would be really helpful.

Improvisation and movement

2009-02-17T11:51:00.000-08:00

I was surprised to see Chester Whitmore in this clip and not as a performer! I don't really see this as an improvisation, but I found it really amusing. I mean they obviously had learned lines and stuff. Still, being able to deal with an audience that isn't prepared is certainly improvisational.

This week I'll make sure to include the drills that I didn't get to show last week. In fact, I may shorten the improvisation content of class to focus more on movement. I will probably start the class with Passing the Itch, though because it is both movement and improvisation-related. I'd rather get you guys practicing stuff at home. So this week I'll focus on drills, I think; footwork and torso isolation, I'll guess in advance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_improvisation#Lindy_Hop
Re-reading this entry on Lindy Hop and improvisation, I was left non-plussed. It was fairly thin as an entry, and didn't seem to really have anything important to say. I think I will do my first Wikipedia edit soon.

So here are the things I would consider when it comes to improvisation and Lindy Hop:
Call and Response - This is one of the most important structures in Jazz and Blues. There will be more to say about this when we get to it. It's in the music and it's in the dance.
Shining - I think a huge element of making yourself stand out is a kind of fearlessness. Becoming comfortable with improvisation is a step in the right direction.
Saying "YES!" - All improvisation breaks down when one partner says no. It doesn't work if both partners aren't engaged and ready to go toe-to-toe. In the long run, I'd hope this means expanding your comfort zone. However this also means that each dancer must gauge and acknowledge their partner and the circumstances of the room around them.

There's plenty more to consider when it comes to improvisation and movement. We'll get to that when we get to it. In the long run, just have fun.

Your OTHER Left Foot

2009-02-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

You ever wonder where the expression "I've got two left feet" came from? I'm pretty sure it was a response to some student pick up their right foot when a teacher (friend or whoever) asked them to pick up their left foot: "No, your other left foot."

"I've got two left feet."

The topic is footwork in Lindy Hop and it is immense. Let's start with some basic ideas!

One of the exercises that we've spent a lot of time on is a balance exercise and hopefully that will be implicit in all the work we do. If we have one leg standing on the floor then we should have enough support to do stuff with the other leg, right? That assumes that our weight isn't up in the air somewhere, like in a jump. Most of the things that I can think about to do with my feet revolve around the transitions between switching the weight from one leg to the other.

For example, I'm dancing on my left leg and my right leg is free to dance in the air the air, then with a hop, my center lifts and both legs are in off the ground, and then my right leg lands and my left leg is free to do whatever it wills. You have done this before. It's called running.

It's really easy to over-think this stuff, so most students learn better from observation and repetition. If you're confused about the paragraphs above, work a little bit to figure out what it means and then let it go. Trust the drills.

The other notion that makes Lindy Hop footwork a bit different from Tap or other solo dancing is that we have a partner, and we have to interact with their weight. Leads, it should be assumed that you are comfortable with placing your partner's weight. Follows, it should be assumed that you are comfortable being placed. But you're students, so let's assume you should probably still work on that a lot.

There's a lot more give and take to the interplay between lead and follow, but for now let's work from the assumption that when the lead places the follow, the follow is supported on one leg and has the other free, more or less.

Needless to say, the best way to improve on this stuff is W.O.R.K.
Only this time, with feet.

Thanks to Mary Freitag, who'll stop by today with tips on follow styling.

Clipped again - featuring Hal Takier

2009-02-06T14:34:00.001-08:00

Hal Takier is celebrating his birthday this Sunday in Long Beach at the Golden Sails. You should consider attending. He used to hold court at the late, lamented Bobby McGee's in Brea and his birthday parties were some of the most popular nights. The way that my generation of swing dancers learned was to go here and get schooled by the masters. Hal certainly is one of those, and I'm sure that you'll run into more of them if you show up!

Hal and Betty in Maharajah

Twice Blessed - this film has the same plot as The Parent Trap, though it pre-dates it by a decade or so. Hal is in the second clip, with the twin who can't dance. Even still, both the clips are hecka cool.

Dance Party - features so many of the key Southern California swing dancers, including Dean Collins, Willie Desatoff and Hal Takier.

What You Want! Baby I Got It!

2009-02-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

Here are the first round of goals, sorted into categories. As you may notice, many of you have similar goals. Alternately, you may see some goals that you might not have previously realized were important to you, or that bring focus to goals that you already have. I hope you'll feel comfortable looking in on each other in class.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to email them to me or to post them here.

The next part of this assignment is to generate a list of steps that you can take to achieve your own goals. For instance if one of your goals is to improve your Charleston, you might list:

Create a short Charleston drill
Perform Charleston drill every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning

Or if you have an issue with staring at the floor:

Note when I am staring at the floor.
Find something interesting to pay attention to, i.e. my partner or the people nearby.

Some of your steps might work best when done off the dance-floor, at home for instance. Other plans might be intended specifically for the floor.

The next part of the assignment is obviously to implement the plan. This might work a little bit without actually doing more than making a list, but it is much more effective to work on a problem than it is to ruminate on it.

After a while, you might feel like these guys:

Lindy Hop/Assorted swing fundamentals

Practice Charleston – Mike
Dancing to fast song - Jorge
Retrain my muscle memory so that I fix lingering problems with my swing out, lindy circle, and sugar push – Frank
Get through a song without messing up shag footwork –Frank
Learn more Charleston, Balboa, Shag moves so that I can dance a whole song in any of those genres – Frank
To be able to dance comfortably to faster songs – Frank
Get tuck turns down – Allan
Become a better social dancer – Allan
Finally learn how to do that kick-around Charleston – Corrie
Be consistently able to follow the Shadow Charleston – Corrie
Figure out how to get into & out of tandem Charleston – Johnny
Be able to mix 8-count moves with 6-count moves – Johnny
Be able to make smooth transitions between lindy, bal, and charleston moves – Johnny

By far the most repeated goals here are related to faster dancing and Charleston. Of course, those two are vitally related to each other. So for those of you who want to work on dancing at higher tempos, I would highly recommend some kind of Charleston work.

Frank, I might not be focusing very much on Balboa or Shag, but if you have any questions about those, I'll be happy to consider them. Johnny, the important thing to consider in the transitions between those dances is an understanding of the core/weight change relationship between the partners.

Allan, you mention it elsewhere, but the best way to become a social dancer is to dance socially. There really isn't anything else for it.

Physical conditioning

Strengthen knees through stretching to avoid pain! - Kirsten
Good swivels without knee pain - Kirsten
Build up my endurance – Jorge
Improve stamina - Allan
Become more flexible physically - Johnny

This is also related to the fast-dancing mentioned above. For my own endurance program, I have added running the block each morning with my dog. Anyone have any good links to stretching programs?

Understanding/Vocabulary

Be able to teach beginners without messing them up – Jorge
Learn the shim sham at a decent level – Mike
Master the Shim Sham – Corrie
Clean up and master my shim sham – Jamie

Some of the students have started to pick up their Shim Sham work to a decent level, to a level at which it is not necessary to watch someone do the steps to remember them. I'd hold each of you to this standard. As I have mentioned elsewhere, there are plenty of secrets in this dance which will help you grow as a dancer, and which I will call upon from time to time in class.

In stages, the first thing to learn is to count. Counting makes this routine so much easier to learn, not to mention all other dancing.

Once the steps are in place, the next thing to learn is how to dance them. Last night I asked Allan, who does seem to have the steps in the right places at the right times, to start using his arms a bit more. This is part of the plan. Just go with it.

Thirdly, it will be crucial in class to understand this routine musically. It is not merely a list of steps to repeat, but a key to understanding songs, to finding interesting bits in those songs and putting them to work.

Jorge, the more vocabulary and practical understanding you have, the better your instruction will become. Luckily this is a long term goal.

Balance

Improve balance – Kirsten
Consistently show solid balance with engaged core - Kirsten
Get the core better – Jorge
Improve in control and centeredness - Mike
Improve balance – Allan
Better balance – Jamie
Be able to do some free spins with ease - Johnny

We've done a few balance exercises, and I'm sure we can find more. The breathing exercise is only a beginning to a deeper understanding of balance and dance. Should I suggest doing these exercises on a regular basis, rather than only when I ask for these to be done during class?

Leading/Following

Improve sensitivity to leads – Kirsten
Be able to establish connection with leads faster and follow more readily - Kirsten
Learn to follow – Jorge
Have core, absorption and connection down better – Jorge
Learn to communicate with inexperienced or difficult dancers – Mike
Learn to lead well enough that I don’t lose flow of the dance during a song – Frank
Be able to read my partner better – Allan
Become a really fun lead so that the advanced leads will be happy when I ask them to dance! - Corrie (see also psyching up/creativity and style)
Better connection – Jamie
Be a great follow – Jamie
Have a supportive frame – Jamie
Become a more consistent lead – Johnny

As I mentioned last night, trust is the major issue that interferes with leading and following; that goes for both leads and follows. Following closely after that are the habits that we learned from our teachers, the ones they didn't notice were being taught. Some of this is just going to be up to our own work.

With regard to core, frame (sic) connection and absorption/compression as Jorge mentions, the rope exercises will be very important. Exercising in relation to balance, mindful of engaging the proper musculature is vital.

As for the habits, it's a bit harder to recommend here as there are so many to deal with. The easiest way to beat a habit is to find a superior technique and then to become comfortable with it. For instance, it doesn't usually work to say "I'm going to stop looking at the floor" but it might work to say "when I notice that I'm looking at the floor, I will choose to look at my partner instead."

Relaxation/Breathing

Improve technique, starting with "perfecting swing out" not just having a working one - Jorge
Learn to relax my back to improve connection - Kirsten
Remember to relax and have fun! - Corrie
Learn how to breathe - Corrie

This is going to become more and more important as we progress. Beside the breathing exercises, it is recommendable to note the moments of tension or over-thinking and to add the step: take a deep breath.

Musicality

Be able to hit breaks in music more consistently/effectively - Frank
Improve Rhythm - Frank
Learn to express the dance in a musical way with my body - Corrie
Have a good sense of musicality - Jamie

We have done a bit in this class already dealing with music and rhythm. I'll save those comments for a later post. In the meantime, the best way to get better at this is to listen to music. Let me know if you would like any recommendations in this arena.

Habits/Idiosyncrasies

Fix the turnout issue I have (don't over-rotate away from lead)
Losing my "salsa" hips – Joelle
Drop my arm when not using it – Mike
Reduce extraneous movement - Mike

As I mentioned above, breaking a habit can be tough to do. Repetition is the main thing here, but a question might be asked about what is worth repeating. Find those things that feel good (as opposed to feel normal or feel familiar) and repeat those things.

Mike, I'm going to add "remember to face my partner and pay attention to them" to your list. That's related to your reduce extraneous movement goal. With regard to arm movement, I think more students need to add this to their lists. Rather than "drop my arm when I'm not using it," perhaps "engage my arms and bodies in the dance." I don't really feel there is a point at which I'm not using any part of my body, though I've been known to go through the motions from time to time.

Psyching up!

Become a bolder, less self-conscious dancer - Kirsten
Dance with a person without having to warn them that "I'm still learning, please have patience with me" - Joelle
Trying not to be so nervous – Joelle
Getting rid of that "I'm not ready" feeling (this might take more than a month) – Joelle
Jam circle ready (without aerials) – Jorge (see also performance technique)
Be less cerebral – Mike
Gain confidence as a dancer – Mike
Become less afraid of talented dancers – Mike
Succeed in Neil’s Beginning Intensive class – Frank
Spend more time social dancing – Allan
Dance with more experienced people – Allan
Get the courage to ask the advanced leads to dance more often – Corrie
Keep having fun and never lose the sheer enjoyment of dancing! - Corrie
Keep having fun!!! - Frank!!!
Keep motivated in learning swing dancing - Johnny

Obvious steps in this category: ask unfamiliar/talented dancers to dance. The worst they can do is say no, and if so, screw 'em. Easy breathing can help with anxiety and repetition is another great route to confidence.

Style/Creativity

Figure out meaningful, interesting options to occupy my left arm/hand – Kirsten
Break the habit of looking down – Joelle (see also Psyching up/habits/)
Look less lame (stance and general body movement, even when not dancing Like getting a glass of water or walking or simple Charleston) – Jorge
Have better footwork so i don't have to do jumping jacks when playing with the music – Jorge
Look not only less lame, but cool in my stance and in my dance – Jorge
Fix my exit move from washers/up-downs/duck walk – Frank
Improve shine – Allan
Learn styling – Corrie
More styling – Jamie
More creativity – Jamie (see also psyching up)

If you are interested in growing your style, it would behoove you to watch dancers whom you enjoy. Also, if you haven't heard it before, it's worthwhile to pick those dancers with whom you share some body traits. For instance, I should not imagine that I will look like a dancer who is 6+ feet tall with a long reach. That said, there are things that you might learn from these dancers, so it is always worth a look.

You will all benefit from watching yourself either in mirrors or on camera. Some dancers like to consider that any moment of dancing caught in a snapshot should look endlessly cool. I'll leave you to your own devices on how strict you'll be with yourself in your own regard.

Jorge, the main thing you can do is watch yourself on video and work to improve. However some of your issues stem from that bouncing ball thing you mentioned. Thank Laura Keat for that by the way. It's going to be very important for you.

Kirsten, I like that goal.

Frank, I'm not sure of the specific steps by name. Feel free to show them to me and I'll offer any advice I have.

Miscellaneous/Performance

Impress people at my friend’s wedding in May – Mike
Re-learn some moves off the Camp Hollywood DVD
Visit some Swing dancing clubs that I haven’t been to before – Frank
Do some performances (for example, the Big Apple, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy) – Frank
Get back into shape for the air raid – Allan (see also conditioning)
Learn some aerials (they look so fun!) - Corrie
Be able to compete – Jamie
Be able to pull off some aerials - Johnny

Some of these are obvious: Frank, there are plenty of clubs around town that feature good dancing. Since I don't know where you normally visit, I'll recommend Paladino's and Strutter's Ball. Also you might consider doing some traveling to find out what dancing is like in other areas. Some folks prefer Lindy Exchanges, but I like going to a town when nothing special is going on. It's an eye-opener, for sure.

Mike, you might want to consider bringing someone to the wedding with whom you can dance. Having a decent dance partner never hurts in those odd situations.

For those of you interested in competing or learning aerials, I'd recommend highly to check out Kim and David from Ventura. They run Paladino's every month and are very popular teachers at Camp Hollywood every year. The other side of competing though, is looking cool/pretty/exciting. Watch clips and find a style you like and then go for it!

Lastly, while chatting with Kirsten last night, it occurred to me that I could post my own goals for the class to see and to perform my own assignment. Here goes!

Short term goals

Improve my stamina and core strength (added running with my dog; will start Two Hundred Sit-Ups program this afternoon. Will also add push-ups and other strengthening exercises to the program)
Learn new tap steps (it has been a while for me, but I will go back to The Tap Dictionary for some steps to practice, and if I can't find that, then YouTube)
Get past my occasional ruts.
Find a partner with whom to work for competition. (I have a prospect or two here. This has always been tough for me.)
Learn some new moves. (they're worth exploring, ya know!)

Long term/Ongoing goals

Learn some good performance aerials (You students are not alone. I'm waaay behind the curve of my generation. However having a partner will help here.)
Improve my competition performance. (in case you were unaware, I compete every once in a while, but being so behind the curve in aerials and partnerless doesn't help in this regard, I still make it to finals from time to time, but weekend-long stamina could help here too.)
Earn a buck or two. (I'm pretty generous with my info, but if you know anyone who would be interested in private lessons, I'd be willing to take their money for instruction. Email or call me for rate questions)
Teach at more workshops. (for as long as I've been teaching, breaking in to the workshops has been difficult. As I am not a popular contest champion, putting my name on a flyer does little to help event organizers with their fears about generating attendance. However, every workshop that I've held has been illuminating and requested again, but for reasons outside of our control don't happen often enough)
Choreograph a team routine. (I started one a while back, stopping for my own injury. I'd like to get back to this at some point.)

On the other hand, you could pay someone else to do the work for you:

Pimp my Dance Partner

2009-02-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

This is a 2-part video from Marcus Koch, a world-famous teacher and a pal of mine from way back. He's a corny guy, but I thought you might be able to relate to this video a bit. He's running a camp in Munich at the end of the month, Rock that Swing. I don't have a passport, but it sounds like fun!

Homework assignments

2009-01-29T12:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, homework is required, but there's still hope!

With these assignments it is vital that you record these thoughts in some physical way, as opposed to simply thinking about them. This means using your notepad or hand-held device so that you can look at your notes in the future. I will never ask you to make a list of moves and generally will discourage you from this impulse. What is more interesting and invigorating is a series of ideas.

Assignment: Goals - List your goals with regards to this class. What would you like to achieve in the the next month, year and decade? What work will be necessary to make this happen?

Assignment: Interview - Choose a dancer whose dancing you have enjoyed. Approach them politely and ask questions about their dancing and how they approach what they do. Feel free to ask them about their technique and philosophy. If they are willing to show you some steps (and please make sure they don't mind) then feel free to take their feedback.

Assignment: Compliments - List the compliments you have received with regard to your dancing. You should probably also make a list of compliments you have received elsewhere, but that belongs in another book.

Exercise this!

2009-01-29T01:52:00.000-08:00

I recently saw a demonstration of Honda's Asimo robot at Disneyland and was reminded of some powerful exercises. If you haven't heard of Asimo, it is a project to create a humanoid robot, like Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons, but on two legs. Here's a commercial:

While Asimo is certainly an achievement in engineering , in terms of balance he's got nothing on the potential of the human body. Still, if you've seen Asimo's ability to balance, I'd ask you to consider challenging yourself.

Balance exercise #1

Standing with both feet shoulder-width apart and arms outstretched, slowly and easily raise one leg forward, then lower without letting it touch the ground and then raise to extend the same leg backwards. Bring that leg back to standing and repeat with other leg.
Close eyes and repeat the process, which for most students is much more difficult.

Questions to ask: Why might closing my eyes make the balancing more difficult? What are the tools which can be used to make this balancing easier?

Thanks to Marcus Koch and Baerbl Kaufer for this exercise.

Balance exercise #2

Standing with legs shoulder-width apart and arms outstretched, raise right foot to meet left knee, balancing on the left foot.
Lift gaze to ceiling, or look upward.
Point fingers and bring them easily to the tip of your nose.

Questions to ask: Why would moving my hands to my face change your balance? What skills can be learned to improve my balance?

Thanks to Emily Falcon for this exercise.

Lead/Follow exercise #1

With a partner, join hands facing one another.
Let the lead choose to walk either forward or backward, letting the follow find their ease in following. The lead may choose to switch directions, forward or backward only, with the follow working to become more sensitive to the physical sensations necessary to follow.
As the follow becomes more comfortable, the lead may adjust their movement by shifting forward or backward and ending mid-step, with a foot in the air, challenging the follow to adjust to unexpected weight changes. While it is also difficult to make the follow move sideways, it is NOT a priority. Leads should work on getting a sense of how comfortable the follow is with the shifts in backwards/forwards movement.
Repeat the exercise, with the follow closing their eyes.
Repeat the exercise, but now with the lead closing their eyes.

Questions to ask: Which senses will I need to engage in order to be a better lead or follow? Why does closing my eyes make a difference in using these senses? How can I turn on my receptors?

Lead/Follow exercise #2

With a partner, dance a few measures of Lindy Hop.
Let the follow close their eyes, continuing the dance.
Switch roles, letting the lead close their eyes while the follow re-opens theirs.

Questions to ask: Did I anticipate my partner or was I successful in connecting with them? How do I engage the senses that activated when I close my eyes? What is the default state that will engage the essential lead and follow connection?

Thanks to Simon Selmon and Rusty Frank for the above two exercises.

Lead/Follow Exercise #3

Two partners bound at the wrists with a held cord or rope. Dance socially, but instead of using fingers and hands to lead, use only the cord and the lead's right arm/follow's back connection for leading.

Questions to ask: What modifications do I have to make in order to lead or follow under these circumstances? Which impulses are essential for leading and following and how can I access them?

Counterbalance/Compression exercise

Face a partner in a two-handed closed position
Choosing a partner to lead, slowly bend the knees as though sitting, noting the musculature that connects from one partner to the other. When a comfortable sit has been created, note the counterbalance used to keep both partners aloft. Viewed from the side, this would be called a V-shape.
Let the lead pull the couple together, both coming to standing.
Repeat and switch roles.
Stand as in step 1, but place both palms against each other as though each partner were performing a push-up against a wall.
Each partner should lean in toward the other, noting the work from their hands, arms and shoulders through to their cores. Viewed from the side, this would be described as an A-shape.
Work the transition from the A-shape (compression) slowly and easily through to the V-shape (counterbalance), and back again, noting the work in the corresponding musculature.

Questions to ask: What is the most efficient way to use my musculature when transitioning from A to V and back? Which of my muscles felt strain during this exercise? Where does my partner feel strain and how can I tell before asking? What can I do to ease this strain?

Thanks to Melinda Comeau for this exercise.

Breathing Exercise #1
The breathing exercise can be very dangerous to describe in text, as it it often misunderstood by students. The most important consideration when working on the breathing is to release any unnecessary tension. The image of a full breath might be one of a four-sided box, being your chest and belly, your sides and your back, open at the top and the bottom. In a full breath, each of these sides should feel relaxed and easy.

This exercise works well with a partner leading the way, but once it has become familiar it can be done solo.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, imagining a golden thread from your scalp into the sky, lengthening you to your tallest, easiest height.
Cut the thread, rolling the chin to the chest and continuing the roll down the spine to a relaxed fold at the waist as low as you can go without straining.
The standing partner places their palms pressed lightly at the nape of the folded partner's neck, right at the top of their spine, requesting a breath; "take a deep breath into here... and then out." The standing partner should note when the folded partner has released tension in that area, adjusting their touch responsively to their partner's breath.
When the musculature has opened up and released tension, the standing partner brings their hands somewhat lower and repeats the request.
Repeat step 4 until the folded partner's breath has opened up at the near the lower lumbar region of the spine. Take a few breaths in and out here and then hold in, roll up the spine to standing, remember the golden thread, and then release.

Questions to ask: It seems better to me not to suggest getting extremely self-conscious about breathing. However I would suggest doing a bit of research on the subject if you are interested. Perform a Google search on deep breathing. I can't suggest any of these links specifically, but it might be time for an adventure, though I believe that my approach to body awareness was informed by my teachers' suggestions of Feldenkrais Method and Alexander Technique, though I don't consider myself deeply educated in either. Buyer beware.

It looks like I have some research ahead!

Thanks to my college movement and voice teachers for this exercise. I wish I could remember your names.

Shim Sham Shimmy

2009-01-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

There are many examples of the Shim Sham Shimmy, but here's one that is close to my heart, the dance is about 5 and a half minutes into the clip:

This was the performance for which I learned the Shim Sham so many years ago. We performed with the late Leonard Reed, the inventor of the dance, at the Orpheum theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. So there while there are endless Shim Shams worth learning, this is the one that we'll be working on in class. Please don't use my fledling style as an example. For inspiration, check out Leonard, Rusty Frank or Chester Whitmore, all three of whom led the charge that night!

And also thanks to Maxwell DeMille and Tracy Blue for inviting me to perform! I wouldn't have been there without you.

Lindy Hop clips, part 1

2009-01-27T13:36:00.000-08:00

Hellzapoppin', featuring the Congeroo Dancers and the Slim and Slam all-stars.

Hellzapoppin' is easily one of the most influential clips in history. The Congeroo dancers were a sub-group of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers.

Groovie Movie, a Pete Smith short featuring Arthur Walsh, Jeanne Phelps-Veloz, Irene Thomas, Lenny Smith and others.

Groovie Movie is easily the film clip that influenced me most. It's a tongue-in-cheek dance short that kicks booty anyway.

Jammin' the Blues, a short film by the incomparable Gjon Mili, featuring dancers Archie Savage and Marie Bryant.

Lindy Groove Lindy Technique class overview

2009-01-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Lindy Groove Lindy Technique class blog. I'm your host and tour guide, Neil. It's my job to make sure this class rocks!

The Technique class focuses on teaching Lindy Hop skills to dancers through ideas, discussion, homework and exercises. It is geared to any student who is interested in improving their dance technique, as long as they have an applied understanding of the Lindy Hop. That means that a student must know the Lindy Hop swing-out and other associated moves and especially have spent time on a social dance floor shaking their groove thang.

Concepts that will be discussed in class include: essential leading and following, balance, body awareness, improvisation, style, musicality. Students will also learn Shim Sham. The emphasis in the Technique class is on growing an understanding rather than on learning new moves. If your goal is to learn new moves, keep looking. I'm sure you can find a class that will teach you new moves.

Required items: a notepad, pen/pencil, a will to work, a sense of humor. There is a suggested donation of $5.

To your right you will see What's Buzzin'. That's your handy guide to the various posts on the blog. Notice the high number of dance clips? You might want to check out some of those. From time to time I post homework here. You can use What's Buzzin' to click directly to the latest assignment. Get it? Got it? Good.