Lineage - the Inspiration of Freda Wyckoff

My last post a few months ago was a meditation on the lineage of the Lindy Hop. There I mentioned Freda Angela Wyckoff having celebrated her 90th birthday. Earlier this week I received the news via Facebook that she was in intensive care. This morning I received the news that she passed away from heart failure last night.

Morgan Day dubbed her the Queen of the Rock & Roll Lindy era. I think to many of us (including Morgan) she was much more than that.

Here are a couple of her memorable videos from YouTube, dancing with George Christopherson:





I'm sad to say that none of the photos on my classic MySpace profile with me and Freda survived the transfer to new MySpace. There weren't many, but I remember a picture with Freda, Lila Desatoff and me, in which the ladies wore t-shirts with bikinis printed on them. Perhaps someone has a copy somewhere. There are plenty of photos of Freda surfacing on her Facebook profile at the moment. She clearly meant a lot to us.

Do I even remember the time she went from being the lady who danced in those clips to being a person whom I knew and loved? Faintly perhaps. I'm not sure if it was my first or second time at Bobby McGee's. At that point I was still taking in those first whiffs of family, like being part of a thing that was more than a hobby. Freda wasn't alone in that sense, but she was a major part of that.

The thing I remember is that she loved us kids. She welcomed us with open arms, without reservation. I mainly remember lots of hugs. There was a lot of love in that woman. That's what I remember more than the dancing.

Here's the tribute that my friends at the Swing Pit made for her 90th birthday just a short while ago.

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Watching this clip now I think it was Dave Frutos who put the word "Lineage" into my mind via this exact clip. It's a sadness for me that I wasn't there. I miss you all, my friends.

Here's a comment I wrote just minutes ago to a photo of Kim Clever and Freda from that same party: 

Hugs, Kim 

I miss Freda too. I had been thinking about her since I moved so far away. And I think that more than her dancing were the open arms with which she greeted us youngsters. 
And I hope you won't mind if I say I feel you embody that really well. So in some way, Freda lives on.

In memory of Freda I suggest that you find a way to hug someone at a dance this week. Just let them know they are welcome. Show someone some love.

Lineage

Now that I live in the Midwest, I've realized what it is that Southern California has that most other places don't. This morning I spent a good half hour responding to Scout Craft's question on Facebook about the benefits of social dancing in Hollywood style. I was unaware that folks still used that phrase. I've always believed that branding dance styles is ludicrous. I'm much more concerned with the lineage and the traditions of wisdom that have been passed along.

But now I have to reflect on what the style of dancing at home meant to me and it wasn't a style. I personally never tried to dance like the old timers, but sort of swimming in the same pool with them was a big deal. Now that I've lived in places where their influences aren't felt I know a lot more clearly what it is that they shared. I miss that. Most places don't have a direct link with their history. Most Lindy Hoppers don't have a familial connection with their dance.

Bart Bartolo passed away in February and Jack Carey passed away last month. Freda Wyckoff just celebrated her 90th birthday last weekend at the Swing Pit. I'm glad I knew all of them.

I went to a Balboa event last month and I think there's a giant missing component in the modern Balboa community. I'm not able to elaborate on it very much but old Balboa dancers really wanted to impress upon us that Balboa could be danced as slow as 80BPM. That range of tempos has really shrunk over the decades and it seems like most modern Balboa dancers don't even know this is an option. 

I include that last part in this post because it's about lineage. And as our elders continue to pass on, I think it's vital to remember their knowledge. 

The History of the Flapper

Amy Johnson posted the first of these on Facebook so I'm posting them all here. This is a neat perspective on the pre-Lindy Hop Jazz Age.

From Smithsonian.com

The History of the Flapper

• Part 1: A Call for Freedom
• Part 2: Makeup Makes a Bold Entrance
• Part 3: The Rectangular Silhouette
• Part 4: Emboldened by the Bob

Tangentially, I've really enjoyed the first three seasons of Downton Abbey. The third series starts in 1920 so I'm curious (and please don't spoil anything) about where the show will head after that.

What are your thoughts on Electro Swing?

I have a lot of thoughts bubbling about Electro Swing, but not a lot of time to compile them. So I'll ask you: what do you think of Electro Swing?


Caravan Palace


Soo Chan Lee and Hyun Jung Choi

A couple of clips from Showdown 2012

Sharon Davis & Juan Ignacio Villafane vs. Lisa Casper & Chance Bushman


Evita Arce, Nathan Bugh and Sharon Davis

Swing That Thing!

I'd forgotten how long I'd been waiting to see this documentary. It captures the Los Angeles swing scene at the height of the resurgence, circa 1999. Yeah, it's a snapshot of a different time.

The state of the art of fast footwork

Mickey and Kelly, All Bal Weekend 2012