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