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. 

*** 

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.

Fizz Beyond the Basics STYLE CLASS - Week 3 Summary

Here's the recap email that I just sent to our students, after the three week class on STYLE that I taught with Ana Christian at Fizz:

Hey Student,

Our three week Beyond the Basics series on STYLE is over. You owe homework to no one but yourself! We hope you have gotten something useful from the class and that you continue to explore and grow. There’s a recap of the class below, in case there’s anything you missed or would like to remember.

Here’s the recap of the three week STYLE series:

WEEK ONE: Essential Lindy Hop TECHNIQUE

We focused on sound Lindy Hop mechanics - fundamental leading and following technique, though possibly different from what you’ve learned elsewhere. 

The leading skills - placement of weight, clarity of connection from core to core, body leading.

The following skills - continuance of motion (keep moving until the end of the line), clarity of connection from core to core, killing anticipation (being okay NOT walking forward and just dancing in place)

Everyone was exposed to the fundamentals of leading and following, both sides. We hope that getting a feel for both roles helps with whichever you prefer to focus on. We didn’t present much in terms of style. However the foundation of style starts with sound technique.

HW playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqLKBNesVXgh-zPTnNolgoLk081YT11x6

WEEK TWO: Dancers get to SHINE!

This week we looked at the idea of a SHINE STEP, which is a move designed to show one’s self off! We asked at the beginning what STYLE means in the context of dance.

We did a quick exercise about keeping one’s face up. We split into halves and each half did as much shim sham as they could muster. The other group observed. The performing group was prompted at first to perform staring at the ground, and then with their faces above eye-level. The observers uniformly remarked that KEEPING YOUR FACE UP makes a huge difference in whether or not they people can see you.

Then we learned two shine steps - First a FREE SPIN for the leads, working from weight placement and core connection and adding an element of balance. We demonstrated a SHOULDER TWIST for the leads which led to an over-rotation for the follows, and that evolved into showing a variety of SWITCHES to follow. 

Our discussion included questions of what to do while your partner is having a shine moment. A suggestion - be their hype-person and cheer them on, help your partner shine even brighter!

We closed by returning to the question of STYLE. We fielded a lot of great answers. Neil summarized: Style can be the expression of your personality through the dance.

HW playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqLKBNesVXggnZbAfJ0Uuxp-D4mYXQ2g5

WEEK THREE: Self-assessment, making CHOICES and a few variations

On week three, we asked folks to bring cameras. We broke up into pods to shoot each other dancing. Everyone got about a video of about four swingouts, focusing on them. Then we spent time watching the videos and offering a quick self-assessment. First - what’s something you LIKE about your dancing. Second - what’s something you would like to adjust. 

(Neil adds - being able to find something positive to say about yourself can be hard. When you find something, HOLD ON TO IT!)

Then we shifted the pods and tried a new exercise, still with the cameras:

Four swingouts, but before dancing, the follow’s camera-person whispered a body part to the follow and the follow would find some way to accent or stylize with that body part, that they could repeat four times. On swingouts three and four, the leads would pick up and try to mimic the follow’s choice. 

We then talked about how creativity sometimes comes from somewhere else. You can be inspired in the moment by what you see, and especially by your partner!

Finally we split up to learn some swingout variations. Ana taught a few simple variations, kick-ball-changes, follow swivels, bootie bumps. Neil taught a harder footwork variation which involved tap steps (or kicks if the tap was too much), and really messing with which foot is doing the standing.

Finally, we came back to field thoughts on what everyone got, and everyone chose things they’d like to continue working on! Neil also established an idea: if you see someone doing something cool, CHEER for them!

HW: watch videos of yourself, self-assess (remember to find things that you like and that you’d like to adjust) and keep playing with it! 

You’re more than welcome to reach out to either of us, feel free to ask us for dances.

In closing, it has been an honor to teach you all, for as long as you were able to be with us. We hope you’ll continue to explore and find inspiration in each other and yourself. Have fun and never forget to GO FOR IT!

Sincerely,

Ana and Neil

***

Thanks to Ana for teaching with me and rolling with the punches. Thanks to all of the students who came in and found some inspiration! 

Bobby Mcgee's & Southern California Swing Legends

My old friend Kasey Buharie recently gave me permission to share her video archive to YouTube. It's kind of a process to get all the details and info up.  I'm planning to release them over time. All the released videos will go up in this playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqLKBNesVXgh2mLcaWnP2DkYWvErZ5Eg4

So far a few clips from Bobby McGee's including our Southern California legends and some of the "kids." I'm hoping to get more onto the list soon so please keep looking out.

Thanks to Jackie Kimmel, Andrew Selzer and Maricela Fajardo for their help with the project.

Lineage - the one who kept us together - Holly Dumaux Ginsburg

I was saddened to learn earlier today that my old friend Holly Dumaux Ginsburg passed away suddenly this morning near her home in Palos Verdes. All of my previous Lineage posts pay respect to dancers from earlier generations. Holly has earned her spot in the family of lindy hoppers who we should remember, even though we only started dancing within days of each other.

Holly was witness to my own earliest days of exploring the lead/follow dynamic. We were in the first bunch of students taking private lessons with Erik Robeson & Sylvia Skylar, right before the phrase Hollywood Style popped up. This was that period sometimes called the Style Wars, more about which some other time.

She more than once credited me with making leading and following work for her. I'll take the compliment, though I'd be remiss if I didn't note how much hard work, blood, sweat, tears and LOVE Holly put into the dance with her then partner Tip West.

Tip & Holly were among the crew of young dancers who spent so many Sundays with the old timers at Bobby McGee's around the turn of the century. As far as I'm concerned they're the dancers who really understood Hal Takier's lessons on how to do the Merry Go-Round. That was one of their signature moves, and I know how important it was to them to get it right.

And these two were up in the top of the competition all the time. I remember watching a full house at the Palladium for one of the early Camp Hollywood events and feeling like the roof exploded when they landed one of their stunts.

But if it was only for collecting moves and competing, there were so many of us doing that. Holly was a mother-figure to us, then the young dancers. And while the world was looking at Tip & Holly as rock stars, to us in Los Angeles, they were family.

So many weekends spent at Holly's condo in Pasadena, watching VHS footage we collected, or going over steps together. Holly made sure everyone felt welcome. I'm sure she felt that we were all kin. She was one to keep us together.

And though I haven't seen her for many years, many memories are flooding back. I'm grateful to have spent so much time with Holly and hope you'll find some time to remember her yourself.

Alive & Kicking -> Feelings

The wonderful documentary Alive & Kicking is now available on Netflix. Everyone should watch it.

It makes me incredibly homesick.

http://www.magpictures.com/aliveandkicking/

How to Fake it 'Til You Make it

It has been over a year since I left Los Angeles. I haven't taught at LindyGroove in all that time. Still I don't have the heart to build a new blog or even to rename this one. I hope you don't mind. I'm in Chicago now and not nearly as ubiquitous as I was in Los Angeles or Kansas City. Focused on other things I guess.

I was talking to a young dancer the other night, a beginner who'd maybe started in December and with whom I've had some good conversations. I remember the day I met him, how he was still putting the Lindy Hop basic together. Since then he's had some difficulty, especially since he's completely terrified of getting on the dance floor, terrified to ask people to dance with him. He's been coming out regularly for months but only dancing three times a night, if even that much. I remember giving him my standard beginner homework assignment - ask ten people to dance, at least five of whom should be strangers. He remembered that he had to ask three, and maybe only on that one night. I know that it must still be extremely hard for him.

So here's a rant about confidence. These are a few stories which I remember fondly. Maybe one of them will resonate with you.

The Math Student

Outside of dance, I work a lot on my students' confidence. As a test prep tutor, I've heard the worst that people can think of themselves. People really take their own math histories to heart. With math, many students have very powerful and toxic self-esteem issues. It takes a large amount of trust, listening and meaningful guidance to help a student build beyond those deep, insidious feelings.

Once I had a math student who was getting Ds in class. After a few weeks of working on the basic skills, he was performing much better in practice. He was starting to develop the skills he needed. Still though, he was scoring Ds on his tests. It was starting to get to him.

I asked him what was different about taking a test in class vs. taking the practice tests before-hand. He wasn't really sure. In subsequent practices I asked him questions like "WHO solved this problem?" At first he wanted to give me credit. My response - "What did I actually do?" I think for the bulk of those problems, I only smiled and said "and what next?" He was forced to take credit for his own actions.

We had a talk after that. In order for him to perform well on his tests, he had to rewrite the messages he told himself about tests. Those messages were pretty standard - "I suck at math," "I hate taking tests," "this is too hard." He had to replace them with messages like "I solved that problem yesterday." "I have remember this material" and "I'm going to kick this test's ass!" I made sure his parents were okay with that last one.

His next test came back with a B. As long as I was in Los Angeles, I think he continued to get Bs, and hopefully has been doing fine since then.

She didn't realize that she was a beginner
A friend of mine who learned to dance in a smaller community told me that when she attended her first swing dance event she experienced an utter breakdown. She had never realized that she was a beginner. I wasn't there for that event, but I imagine her locking herself in her room and refusing to attend the dance. By the time I met her, that dance was a few weeks past and she was ready to explore swing dancing again.

We all hung out in a small group of friends, with whom we started organizing events, having meetings and such. We all got to spend a lot of time together. I always saw this friend as the heartbeat of our group. She kept us together and feeling good about ourselves. So it always surprised me to hear that she was so gripped with fear.

There was a swing event in another town and a group of us took the road trip. And on the opening night of the dance my friend was starting to feel anxiety. We sat and talked for a bit. She said she had fear that people would judge her. I told her what I'd noticed about her since meeting her only months before:

"Everyone LOVES you!"

It was true. Every time we had a meeting in public, she was recognized by someone she had worked with in her professional life or and old friend or... They were always filled with joy to run into her. And she was just her kind, lovely, beautiful self.

If someone was willing to judge her based on three minutes of dancing then they weren't worth her time. That weekend went pretty well for her.

Lessons from a Game Shows Champion
I've personally competed on and won three game shows. There has been plenty of tooting my own horn so I'll bring it to this - what was it that made me able to do that? Yes, my head is freakishly big, but that's as much a burden as an aid. I like to think there's something else there.

I remember the last game show I did, Trivial Pursuit: America Plays. The shooting day was at least twelve  hours long and I was at the end of the list. I brought a game with me and hoped to engage my competitors. Otherwise we'd be bored out of our skulls, I think. So every once in a while we'd pull out a card from the game and just help each other guess. At least it kept me in play for the long day, right?

The day was really draining too. As we saw more and more competitors make it to the final round and lose their winnings, the group of us remaining started to get really demoralized. The audience was feeling the drag too. So I just kept playing the game, because it helped me stay playful.

Then my turn came up. Three of us were chosen, one of whom was a lady who said that she was terrified she'd have to play against me. I brushed that off. I went to make-up and said I was worried about the sweat on my fingers, like for pressing the buttons. The make-up artist suggested putting a light layer of something on my fingers and that really helped.

During the game I really had to play. I remember getting beat to the buzzer on an obscure one. I was glad to have whatever was on my fingers. In the end I had to put some effort toward feeling the light go on, the light which alerts us that we can press the buzzer. It paid off. I went to the final round. I won it, as I mentioned earlier. That's not the point.

The point is that if I hadn't kept myself at play and been honest about what I was nervous about I would have never had a chance.

I've often wanted to teach a class on how to win game shows. The skill set is valuable for folks in every field.

Fake it 'Til You Make it
I will often teach my dance improv students that one of the best ways to earn confidence is to "Fake it 'Til You Make it." You don't earn self-esteem by thinking about it. You earn it like you earn anything else, practice and play, and working the fabric of it until it fits.

I have other stories of confidence, but I think the post is long enough. I'm curious about your own stories of confidence. What have you got to teach me?