Balstory: A Journey from THEN to NOW + director's commentary

Last weekend at the Great Lakes Balboa Escape, along with theming and re-theming the snack table all weekend, I shot a panel about the history of Balboa, starting with the roots in Southern California and extending toward modern day! The panel featured Bobby White, Tise Chao and Niko Centino.

SoCal Balstory: A Journey from THEN to NOW 

The video should speak for itself, but here are a few pics I grabbed from a few sources to add a bit of visual flair and also to cover up for goofy moments in shooting. 

During the panel, Tise refers to a few places that were big parts of my personal swing dance history. If you look to the Lineage tag here on the blog, you'll find some of my memories on similar subjects. 

Hal Takier and Bart Bartolo at Bobby McGee's

Freda Angela Wyckoff's 90th birthday celebration

Closing night at the Derby in Los Feliz

I recommend checking out the cards that should pop up in the corner of the video. Those will link to videos which are pertinent to the discussion. There's a limit to the number of cards I can add to a video. I wish I could add so many more. 

I couldn't find a good picture of the dance floor at Bobby McGee's in Brea, but at least this matchbook mentions the Brea location.

There's a lot more mentioned in the panel. I snuck this pic of myself dancing at the Derby in there because y'know, I needed attention.

Let's Rip It Up!

Let's Rip It Up! A class in FAST Lindy Hop

I just finished teaching a three-week course at Fizz called "Let's Rip It Up!" with Naomi Carmeli-Shabtay. Below you'll see the promo copy, the syllabus and two letters I sent to the class!

PROMO COPY

Lindy Hoppers, It’s time to kick it up a notch! Have you been wanting to hit the throttle on your swingouts? Are you wondering how all those competitors can keep up that pace? Do tempos above 200 BPM make you grit your teeth? Well here’s a class for you!

“Let’s Rip it Up!” is class designed to help you meet the challenge of higher tempo Lindy Hop! If you want to learn practices to help you practice that fiery footwork, while staying safe and sustainable! Neil Figuracion is teaming back up with Naomi Carmeli-Shabtay to give you ideas and techniques which will help you meet challenge after challenge!

So if you’d like to hit the NO2 on the dance floor, come join us at Fizz for “Let’s Rip It Up!” September 16, 23 and 30th at 8PM

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Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of what to expect:

Day 1 (September 16) 

We’ll start with getting on the same page about the SWINGOUT. This day will be a basic review, so that all students have a shared vocabulary.

Day 2 (September 23) 

Learn some simple ideas about keeping our bodies safe, then we’ll explore principles and vocabulary and practice techniques to help make a brisk swingout feel effortless!

Day 3 (September 30) 

Let’s try other moves at high tempos and then go ahead and kick it up another few notches!

Day 1 will be suitable for new students who want to learn their first swingout. Please use your best judgment before signing up for Day 2 or 3.

****

Neil Figuracion (any pronouns) hails from East Los Angeles and has taught Lindy Hop since the late twentieth century, on both coasts and parts in-between. Neil is incredibly proud of the years spent dancing with the elders of the Southern California swing dance scene and honors their legacy. And also, Neil has seen every movie in the Fast and the Furious franchise.

Naomi Carmeli-Shabtay (she/her) went to her first swing dance in 2014, fell in love immediately, and has been swinging out hard ever since. Her dance experience includes most things under the swing umbrella: Lindy hop, Charleston, balboa, shag, and she will try just about any partnered dance. Naomi believes a good dance has just a few simple ingredients: moving to the music, having fun, and avoiding injuries.

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SYLLABUS

Day 1

Warmup - let’s play! Watch and follow, it doesn’t matter if it’s perfect right now. Get out of your head and into your body!

The Swingout 

8-count foot pattern, a tool for learning

Moving forwards and backwards

Follows Momentum - The End of the Line

Leads Weight Placement - Lead with your core

KEY FOCUS - Pivots

KEY FOCUS - Who carries your weight?

Two exits - Forward and Backward

Swivels

Simple turns

Question

What’s to come, first-timers, it’s up to you whether you continue. Naomi and Neil demo a few bars at higher tempos

***

Day 2

Warmup - focus on ankles, knees and support, shoulder rolls, rolling spine plus some stretches

First - there are a few approaches to fast swingouts. In the long run your style is your own, but hopefully you’ll apply some principles to whatever you do. Because we’re learning vocabulary, you might get in your head, but remember to breathe and enjoy the process!

To keep you safe, be aware of any tweaks in your joints. Learn how to support your own weight and share in the balance of your partner

Principles of Fast Lindy Hop - Safety, Efficiency, Sustainability, Ease

GOAL - “I can do this all day!”

Safety - know your body, trust when it tells you to take a break, understand balance, communicate boundaries with your partner, shock absorption (supple rather than strong), cardio conditioning

Footwork

Charlestons with triples (increasing tempos)

Footwork isn’t mandatory, however your points of balance are crucial!

Balance solo and shared

Pivots

Exploring the two extremes of connection, the catch and the end of the line stretch

Goldilocks - weight is Too hot, too cold, just right

Timing 

Degrees of rotation?

Leads - Getting OUT OF THE WAY

Let’s walk through swingouts checking those extremes, pivots when appropriate

Steve Rogers - Can you do this all day?

Swingouts to songs, increasing in tempo. 

What’s your current comfort zone? What can you improve?

JAM!

Let’s Check In! Approaching Zen!

 

For Next Week - Please come with one move you’d like to practice at about 200 BPM (could be an underarm turn, charleston variation, )

HOMEWORK

Laura Glaess Drill - https://youtu.be/lT59ql64LGI?si=BIz5z_rTAjaaO5Gd

Fast Swing Outs Final Sofia - https://youtu.be/jCrplmLt238?si=jl6ECZsodcoQlXO3

Dax and Sarah 21 Fast Swingouts - https://youtu.be/jNGmvwRlH7c?si=XScDWIa3n5YTS3zb

DAY 3

Let’s Check In! Have we discovered anything since last week?

Warmup - Again focusing on ankles, knees, the support system, shoulder rolls, spine

Jedi Mind Trick - Let’s at swing out at various tempos

Workshop - We’ll group students into pods. Each student should have a move that they’d like to try at 200 BPM. 

(Practice clapping on body approximately 200 BPM)

Then we give each pod a chance to try each other’s moves.

JAM

Let’s kick it up a notch! Raise tempos to 200 then 220 then 240 

HOMEWORK a variety of approaches

Joe and Nelle DeMers - https://youtu.be/HXl1opnsp-0?si=KCKlOIIV3cOMbCWv

Tigert and Applegarth - https://youtu.be/Bcq4PJfYTmw?si=SsI8W7ccVlY6ol-j

Kenny Nelson - https://youtu.be/omX2mo8C5QQ?si=Ekh4JPlQ0HfjG6Qa

Oh and Ju - https://youtu.be/SCAyHWZDdG4?si=mcHGNmt_aN31mr8R

Youtube playlist with drum tracks

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqLKBNesVXghevlRRVd6KuzlhOlZs2eEl&si=2Md5HYUmX1UrZpJI

LETTERS TO THE CLASS

Fizz Beyond the Basics - Let's Rip It Up DAY 2 Summary, Feedback and Homework

Hey Y’all,

Thanks for joining the mailing list. Since you weren’t on it last week, I’ll be attaching the syllabus to this, so please check that out for more clickable links, and an overview of where we hope to go!

Here’s a summary of our class last night, along with a compilation of feedback and all the homework for you to do between now and next week. After checking in with a number of students, it seemed like there were some great insights gained! There’s still so much to learn and we’ll keep scratching at the surface next week.

DAY 2 SUMMARY:

There are  a few elements of the syllabus which we breezed past and I’ll do my best to address those next week. I’ll mark those here with an asterisk*

Last night we started with a warmup, focusing on the ankles and knees at first, then shoulder rolls and elongating the spine. Then we did a balance exercise in order to learn to use our centers to focus our balance. 

(Your center is roughly two inches below your belly button, and in toward the spine. We can shift your center to above a strong and supple standing leg to improve one-legged balance.) 

To keep you safe, be aware of any tweaks in your joints. Learn how to support your own weight and share in the balance of your partner. 

(*Remember to breathe and relax)

We briefly discussed a few elements of good fast swingouts - Safety, Efficiency, Sustainability, Ease. Naomi asked us to keep our swingouts smaller at first, outside of a specific stylistic choice, it’s more efficient and sustainable to maintain a smaller dance footprint.

Safety - know your body, trust when it tells you to take a break, understand balance, communicate boundaries with your partner, shock absorption (supple rather than strong), *cardio conditioning

* We skipped Charlestons with Triples/Transitional Lindy. Hopefully we can address this next week.

Footwork isn’t mandatory, however your points of balance are crucial!

*Of the two extremes of the swingout, we only explored the Face-off. We will spend time on the other extreme (the end of the stretch/beginning of the rock-step) next week!

The bulk of the rest of class we rotated through, dancing to drum tracks and songs at increasing tempos. The playlist for class is at the bottom of the syllabus.

DAY 2 FEEDBACK:

As I continued to check in with students last night, I found a few key moments of feedback. Many students felt they could work on their balance. Some follows felt a little dragged along by their leads, some of whom were still working toward cohesive swingouts. To this end, I will remind all students to take a breath and ask for a reset.

Since we only addressed the faceoff things felt more comfortable at that moment. We’ll need to address the end of the line next week and make sure that moment is as clear. 

Generally speaking, the feedback I gathered after class all fits in the category of things we’d like to hear during class or things you’re empowered to communicate to your partner also during class. Of course things move at a quick pace so it might not be easy to verbalize, but I hope we can make room for more verbal communication next week!

HOMEWORK:

Your homework this week is to practice, watch youtube videos and choose a move for next week! Those are all outlined below.

Practice

Please practice the balance drill at least 3 times between now and next Monday! 

Please practice your swingouts, also at least 3 times. Thinking about them isn’t practice. At the very least put yourself on a floor, do the footwork and imagine where your partner would be. Even better if you have an opportunity to dance with a partner.

Youtube

Laura Glaess Drill - https://youtu.be/lT59ql64LGI?si=BIz5z_rTAjaaO5Gd

Fast Swing Outs Final Sofia - https://youtu.be/jCrplmLt238?si=jl6ECZsodcoQlXO3

Dax and Sarah 21 Fast Swingouts - https://youtu.be/jNGmvwRlH7c?si=XScDWIa3n5YTS3zb

Next Week

Please arrive next week with one move you’d like to practice at about 200 BPM (could be an underarm turn, charleston variation, etc.)

That’s what we’ve got! As always, if you have any questions, thoughts, ideas or concerns, please don’t hesitate to send a response to this email. In the meantime, I hope you’re well and see you very soon!

Sincerely,

Neil Figuracion

Fad23

lindygroovetechnique.blogspot.com

***

Fizz Beyond the Basics - Let's Rip It Up DAY 3 Summary, Feedback and Homework

Hey Y’all,

Thanks for joining us for a few steps on the road toward faster swingouts! There seemed to be a consensus last night that establishing and maintaining some level of practice would help a lot. With that I’ll remind you that practice doesn’t need to be at a specific hour of your week, especially if that’s hard for you to manage. You can practice by tapping your feet to a rhythm while you’re doing other activities. When I was newer at dancing, I’d practice footwork rhythms while pushing a grocery cart, or tap out on the steering wheel while stuck in traffic. There’s a way to keep in touch with your growth, which is simply to keep doing it!

As usual, here’s a recap of last night’s class, a bit about the potential December class I’ll be teaching, as well as a small request. Your homework will be below the sig. As usual, your homework is up to you. However, I would not underestimate how important it is to see people doing the thing you want to do. Please make time for it.

I’ve also included the class playlist, so you can choose songs or drum tracks at various tempos. 

DAY 3 RECAP

Last night we reviewed the moments around the Faceoff, and then took to the other extreme end of the swingout, the end of the line! We traced the connections from one partner’s core to the other partner’s core and then we danced, starting at 180BPM and working our way up! The big advice beside practice, is to remember to breathe!

Then we broke up into pods. The goal here was to workshop a move at a faster tempo, someone showing the group a move and then seeing how it would work at about 200BPM. Afterward we elected a couple from each pod to show off their discovery!

We closed with a check-in about the things we saw that excited us. I hope that you found something to keep you excited and I’d love to hear more about that in the future.

DECEMBER

I’m scheduled to teach the Beyond the Basics Class in December. It’s one of two classes, depending on the availability of a potential teaching partner. 

If Heather-Grace is available, we’ll be teaching a class on Turn Technique! That includes leading and following a variety of turns or spins, the technique behind turning well and finding more rotational stuff to show off!

If I end up teaching solo, then I’ll be teaching a class on the Shim Sham, including Shim Sham variations and potentially a totally other 60s era line dance that is very popular back home, The Madison Time! 

That’s all pending, so keep your eyes peeled for any announcements!

TESTIMONIAL REQUEST

If you’re so inclined, I’m collecting testimonials about my instruction. If you would like to send a brief snippet about your experience in one of my classes or just your time learning with me, I’d really appreciate it. This email is a perfect place to send your thoughts!

Okay y’all, that’s it for Let’s Rip It Up! I hope you’ve got some inspiration to keep you stepping. See you on the dance floor!

Sincerely,

Neil Figuracion

Fad23

lindygroovetechnique.blogspot.com

***

HOMEWORK a variety of approaches

Joe and Nelle DeMers - https://youtu.be/HXl1opnsp-0?si=KCKlOIIV3cOMbCWv

Tigert and Applegarth - https://youtu.be/Bcq4PJfYTmw?si=SsI8W7ccVlY6ol-j

Kenny Nelson - https://youtu.be/omX2mo8C5QQ?si=Ekh4JPlQ0HfjG6Qa

Oh and Ju - https://youtu.be/SCAyHWZDdG4?si=mcHGNmt_aN31mr8R

Youtube Class Music playlist with drum tracks

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqLKBNesVXghevlRRVd6KuzlhOlZs2eEl&si=2Md5HYUmX1UrZpJI

Show Me Something!

Yesterday, I finished the trial run of a class called Show Me Something! This was a class designed for young dancers to get their feet wet in the pool of showing off in dance jams and gearing up for dance competition. I had been pitching this class for many years, definitely remember pitching this way before the advent of Covid-19. It was a program developed based on some of the ideas I had for a class on game show competition. 

The name of the class comes from something our bunch in Los Angeles used to yell at each other during jams and competitions. The sentiment is shared with love. 

In any case, I put the class on its feet this June and I'm so glad at the response. Students got some ideas about setting goals, facing challenges, how to deal with the anxiety of preparation, and how to work together to honor your own values and your partners. At least that's what I hoped they'd get. 

Below are drafts of a few of the emails I sent to the class. I'll also share some of the homework and bonus items I gave them along the way. 

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Thanks for being part of the Show Me Something experience! Today we did a very brief jam and then played with a head-to-head competition format, with two couples facing off against each other. Some of the observers volunteered to look for and give positive feedback, either dance feedback or NON-dance feedback. I gave feedback for some things to work on to each group. 

After that we looked at some sample Relative Placement sheets so that students could have an idea how to interpret that information. 

I finally was able to shoot some footage of the Fizz jam so I’ll be sharing that here. However I must be firm with a piece of advice, especially if you have never watched yourself dancing before - PLEASE BE KIND TO YOURSELF! Certainly you can and should use your footage to give direction to your dancing, however if you notice that the self-criticism gets rough then I urge you to take a breath. If you have strong feelings about watching yourself dance, feel free to reach out to me privately. I’ve added a video from Ira Glass that echoes a lot of the advice I would give you, so maybe check that out as well!

NEXT WEEK On Monday I’m gonna give you a chance to try a phrase battle, my hope is that everyone will jump in and do 8 eight-counts of a song, most similar to the format of the ULHS video in the playlist. I’ll assign partners and probably give you time to come up with a plan of attack, and then we’ll go! (If you’re not sure what you’d want to do with 8 eight-counts, my first advice is to watch some videos and steal liberally, at least in class you won’t get busted for it.) 

Before we finish next Monday, I’d love to hear your questions about exploring partnerships, how to manage your emotions as a competitor, etc. Anyway, as always please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, concerns, feedback, etc. Hope you’re well and see you soon! 

*** 

Hey y’all, Here’s another check-in email. This one has stuff I’d like you to play with and potentially prepare before class on Monday. The first chunk is about the format we’re trying out. Then a note about cameras. Finally a reminder of your homework! 

PREPARE TO BATTLE! I mentioned in my last email that we’d be working on the phrase/spotlight battle format, with eight 8-counts each turn. Here’s a video of contest in that format, from Camp Hollywood in 2019. The phrase battle starts about a minute and a half in. 

If you’re curious about the narrative shape of a phrase battle, here’s one way to look at it in terms of story beats (like acts of a play, or the moments of a wrestling match): 

Beat 0: JOCKEY! 

Beat 1: Make your entrance, make yourself known 

Beat 2: Find the pattern, break the pattern 

Beat 3: Heighten and explore 

Beat 4: Surprise! 

Beat 5: Hold the attention as you leave the spotlight 

With this perspective on a phrase/spotlight battle, Beats 1-4 would be your proper assigned eight sets of 8-counts. Beat 0 is just before you enter and Beat 5 is after the eight-eights. I have thoughts about how this is applied by various couples in the CH 2019 video, to varying degrees of success. I’m gonna let you @ me on that, because maybe you should determine what’s fun for you and start looking at how this works in context of a whole set of competitors. And if any of you want to meet up and play with the format together, I’m not against that at all! 

PHONES! Aside from the Phrase Battle, I realized that we’re not getting a lot of footage in class, so please also bring a tripod or other camera stabilizer, if you own one, so each of us has more time and access to their videos in class. We’re gonna do a few phrase battles, with the hope that you watch yourself after our first attempt before we do a second. If you don’t own a proper phone stabilizer, bring something like a bag to prop your phone up against. I’m planning to bring maybe a few tripods myself, depending on what I can carry. 

HOMEWORK The homework is listed again below the sig, so I hope you can spend some time on it! Please let me know if you have any questions and all that. Have a great week! 

Sincerely, 

Neil Figuracion 

Fad23 

*** 

Hey there! 

Thank you for joining me for Show Me Something! I've been pitching this class for so many years and I'm glad it finally got a chance to breathe. I appreciate you being there so much! Last night's class was one that many students anticipated with anxiety, but I also believe it was a bit of a threshold for everyone to cross, we did phrase battles! 

Well, first we spent a few minutes doing a warmup dance, thanks to Desiree Roffers for helping me know what the issue was with the sound last week. If I had my druthers, I'd lead a half hour warmup, and really get everyone moving, but sadly there's never the time here. 

We checked in about the homework. A few folks really found Alive & Kicking to be inspirational! I'm not going to unpack all of the comments about the shorter videos (I didn't take notes) but it was great to see new ideas about how others were soaking that in. 

Next we started our phrase battles! I assigned partnerships and gave everyone the basic format. Initially folks were were worried about counting out 8 counts of eight. So we did that together as a group, and we noted that if the music is well chosen for the format, then the lead-in should be intuitive. 

So we created a lineup order, and everyone got a chance to do a phrase of 8 eight counts, to Minor Swing, by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappeli. 

This was followed by 10 minutes of collaboration with the same partner, about what we might do with 8 eight-counts in the imminent future. I set up tripods during this time, so I wasn't able to interact with pairings. My advice today is that choreo might or might not serve each of you. Maybe the plan could include some level of Improvisation, Musicality or Self-expression. The main point is that each partner could consider their own values, priorities, etc and play together to find an approach that touches on those! 

After 10 minutes of prep time, we got a second phrase battle.

A lot of the students expressed some level of anxiety, but in the end it seemed like folks were glad to have taken the leap! 

We had three cameras rolling, so we split up into groups so everyone could get a look during class. I reminded everyone that we use our footage as a tool to learn what you'd like to improve rather than a hammer to hit yourself in the head with. It seemed to me that folks came away with the beginnings of a plan! Teaching this class has been an honor. I hope that it is just the next step in your development, and that you have a long and inspiring journey ahead! 

If you would like to send a testimonial about your experience learning with me, which I might use for promotion, I'd really appreciate it. And as usual, if you have further questions, concerns, ideas, etc. please feel free to reach out to me! 

Sincerely, 

Neil Figuracion 

Fad23 

*** 

HOMEWORK 

Week 1 

Relative Placement 

Optional - Lance Shermoen on Relative Placement

Jo HoffbergInstagram post: 

BONUS - Laura Glaess Drill for Fast Dancing Drill for Fast Dancing

Week 2 

Competition Footage (Watch One Clip a Day!) - 

Documentary - Alive and Kicking 

Jo Hoffberg Instagram post

Develop questions about how to partner Prepare for next week's phrase battle! Watch competitive video and rank dancers. Compare to actual ranking 

Ira Glass onthe Creative Process

Fizz JamJune 17, 2024

BE KIND TO YOURSELF! 

Week 3 

Swungover video 

More Jo HoffbergInstagram

Even More Jo Hoffberg Instagram

Still More Jo Hoffberg Instagram

Yet Again Extra Jo Hoffberg Instagram

BONUS This video showed up in my Facebook feed from like 20 years ago. LA LindyBinge 2002

And speaking of other old stuff, this was a contest with me from 2001, the Hal Bal

Flashback to 2001!

 

Sailor Mike Mizgalski sent me these pics of flyers from some of my first dance improv classes back in 2001. I'm pretty sure I first taught Adventures in the Groove a little before this, at one of Melinda Comeau's Nevada bus trips. However, these flyers were my first attempt at promoting the class, which I had been developing for a few years at that point. 

Maybe I'm misremembering, because now that I think back to 2001, and remember September 11 it makes me think this might have been the trial run for the class I taught in Nevada. I guess memories are triggering other memories. 

These pics bring back a few memories, like watching someone else's improv for Lindy Hoppers class and noting what was missing. And messy attempts to unlock related ideas that I tried on the road, at workshops at Skidmore and Carnegie Mellon. 

Anyway, Tip and Mike were kind enough to let me give the class a shot at the Swing Pit - the original spot at Domenico's in Pasadena. Guess I'm just gonna flash back for a bit.