Another Great Thomas and Alice Video

Thanks, Andrea, for the video suggestion.

Short and sweet.  I like this.  Enjoy.

Isolated Perfection - Skye and Naomi

This video is making the rounds and, as always, Skye and Naomi make this look so much easier than it actually is.

Notice their refined movement - the consistency of movement through their centers of mass. They both only move the body parts necessary and keep everything else so calm and quiet - definitely something worth aspiring to. 

Thanks again for the inspiration, Skye and Naomi.

Matching the Music - Dax and Sarah

Looks like I've been on a little Dax and Sarah kick lately.  I just discovered this recent post of a social demo they did at GLHC.

First thing, the song, "Lindy Hopper's Delight" is just great.  This is one of those tunes that comes on and makes my feet want to move.

Second thing, I really enjoy social demos from the pros.  They give a sense of what's possible in a social dance where the lead/follow dynamic becomes the primary focus.  Yes, the pros have so much more practice, larger vocabularies, and are much more familiar with the music, but they give us something to aim towards.

Notice how they change in and out of different types of steps?  They throw in some Charleston, some break away Jazz movement, some large sweeping lines, and some close and tight movement.  They dance with how the music speaks to them.  They creatively play with instrumentation in the song. 

You can also tell that there is a conversation happening in their dancing.  He offers up a movement, she accepts and offers something back.  At one point when they break apart she isn't ready to come back in yet, and he catches this and continues with a new movement while separated and then waits to reconnect a few phrases later.

Personally, I've been striving to expand my dancing to match more closely whatever I hear in the music.  I find that my preferred mode tends to be faster and larger, but that isn't always a fit, so over the last few months I've been working more on smaller, tighter, slower, more nuanced and more efficient movement.

What do you think is your preferred dance mode?  Where do you need to find balance in your dancing?

Sharon and Juan - Showing Off the Follower

I absolutely love Sharon in this routine.  Juan's not so shabby either.

They're wonderful here for a number of reasons:  A fun and playful song with matching musicality, a spot-on performance, smiles that light up the room, but there's something more going on.

I believe, and I could be wrong because I can't find a quote confirming this, that Frankie Manning used to teach that the Leader's responsibility was to focus on the Follower - making her feel comfortable and showing her off. In doing this it allows her to shine and makes the dance, as a whole, better.  (You'll have to forgive me.  I'm digging back into the recesses of my late 1990's memory on this one so even if I'm wrong about Frankie just go with me here.  Oh, and please correct me if I am and I'll edit the post.)

The clear focus in this performance is Sharon.  She moves with certainty adding flourishes to each swingout and extra personality to every hit.  This works because Juan has purposefully taken on a supportive role.  He creates the foundation and she thrives upon it.  He builds the canvas and she paints.  He cooks the meatloaf and she brings the cake for dessert.

This is a team effort and works to great effect.

I believe that there's something very similar happening in Skye and Frida's performances over the last few years.  The video below from 2010 is a good example of when this really dawned on me.  I'm sure I have enough material for a future blog topic, but a quick look at the history of Skye's performances pre-Frida, and then his performances with her afterward seem to show a trend of Skye moving from being the focus of attention to becoming an extremely solid foundation and allowing Frida's personality to shine.


Please note that this is all based on my own observations and I haven't had any conversations with any of these amazingly talented individuals to back this up.  I can't say for sure if this is a conscious effort on their part while determining choreography or their own dancing styles, or if this is simply something that grows out of maturing as a dancer.

Whatever the cause, I can say that especially while social dancing this philosophy works.

Leaders, take care of your Followers.  Make them shine.  Work on your pulse, your connection, your core movement.  Create a solid and clear foundation for your Follower, and then leave her room in your patterns and movements to express herself and play.  If you do all of these things and also treat them with respect socially you will never lack for a good dance.

Slow Lindy Hop from Barswingona

One.  We won't do enough slow Lindy Hop.  Let's do more.  

Two.  Here's some inspiration for you.  Enjoy the slow Lindy from Barswingona.  

Three.  Yes, that's a camera on that first guy's head.

Four.  There is a couple that starts out with her leading and him following.  Nice.

BARSWINGONA 2012 - Skye and Naomi

There's something about their movement that is always so deceptively simple, so practiced and perfect.  I feel like watching this video will say more than any words I can come up with.  Enjoy.

Smokey Feet 2012

This is just awesome and fun.  Who wouldn't want to try this?  Thanks for the link, Heather.

Beantown Camp Strictly Finals

Look who's standing in the back left!

Feel free to skip past the first 2 minutes of all-skate at the beginning.  It's just a warm up and not very interesting.

After that comes the individual couples.  The first thing I noticed is, wow, these aren't all flawless rock-stars.  The next thing I notice is the variety of styles.  This is all Lindy Hop, but clearly these people come from different scenes, use different kinds of connections in the same movements, and are influenced by different instructors and professional dancers.

Can you see the differences?  Which couples do you prefer?

Frankie and Dean - Swingout Comparison

Thanks to Scot Alsop for the reminder about this comparison edited by Nick Williams.


In the video you can see clips from two 1941 movies.  One features Frankie Manning and the other features Dean Collins - two of the most influential Lindy Hoppers of all time.



They were dancing to different tempos, so it's not a perfect comparison, but tell me what you think.


Do they look similar? Different? How? Why?

Simply Playful - Thomas & Alice

When asked about being a dancer and choreographer Frankie Manning would respond that he was only doing what the music told him to do. This both sounds very simple and also sets a very high bar. 


Just move the way the music says.  It's that simple, right?


Here is another video my friend Heather Warner-Dubin reminded me of the other day. This is Thomas and Alice performing a social dancing demo at Fram.


I love how they play with their movements, matching them to what is happening in the song. To me there is always an inherent silliness to Lindy Hop and Jazz in general. It has something to do with a deep connection to joy and celebration, and this song exudes silliness with the scat lines and even the tuba bass line which I always seem to find a little bit silly sounding. 


If we break their dance down we see that most of their movements are very common - they do a swing out here, a side pass there - but they mix in extra flavors to match what the music is saying. They dramatically extend the 1-2 of a swing out, they add in little hops to emphasize the end of a phrase, they play with a melody line and hold a pose. It's simple and yet very difficult at the same time. 


Think of it like painting a still picture of a scene in front of you. As the scene (the song) plays out how are the characters feeling? What is the mood of the lighting? What is the pace of the scene? This is analogous to the feeling of the song. How does it pulse? How fast or slow is the song? How does the melody interweave with the instruments? How do you set the scene with your movement to paint this picture? 


Next, to paint a picture you need tools. Paint brushes, pencils, colors, different types of paint, inks, materials. These tools are your vocabulary of movements - everything from triple steps to swingouts to jazz movements. Anything you've learned about moving is a tool during your dance. 


Ultimately there is also a level of artistry that can't be taught or supplied to you. It's that spark inside that comes out of you and into your artwork. Some say it's part of you, deep down. Others claim it's the human ability to reach out and draw upon that which is outside ourselves. Either way, you, in your own personal way, are combining the things you've learned with something deep down to create something completely new. 


So easy, right? Just mix in how the music feels with the moves you know and add in a little of your own artistic interpretation and tada. And that's what's so wonderful about this dance. We can always keep learning more about each of these areas - and when we watch couples who have honed their skills in all three it creates art that inspires us.

Pro-Am - Carl & Nina

Some of our readers are immersed in the digital world of Lindy Hop videos.  Some of you are even travelers who may have learned from or danced with some of the people featured in these videos.  Some of you a newer to dancing and hopefully you're using the videos I post to get up to speed on what's going on with our amazing dance.  It's this last group I have a question for.

Above is a Pro-Am event from 2007.  Yes, 5 years ago.  Pro-Am events are interesting because they pair a professional dancer, someone who makes a living dancing and teaching, with an amateur, someone who doesn't.

So here's the question.  Which of these two is the pro and which is the amateur?  Can you tell?

Those of you who know are probably yelling at the blog right now, but please don't comment.  I'd like to let people who don't know watch and see if they can figure it out.

This was a video posted by my friend Heather Warner-Dubin a few days ago.  Things have been busy for me and I requested some help with video ideas, so thanks Heather.


What isn't there to love about this performance?  Quality of movement? Check.  Solid connection? Check.  Traditional moves performed well? Check.  Creative use of musicality? Check.  Fun? Check.  Feels like a social dance? Check.


This is a great video to draw inspiration from and, in my opinion, the dancing they do here - 5 years ago - is still very relevant.  

Frankie Manning

Frankie Manning's Birthday is this Saturday, May 26th.  He lived from 1914 to 2009 and is the most significant reason why we are all enjoying this dance today.

This video says more than I can ever say about this amazing man.  I hope you enjoy.

Yoyos - Kevin and Jo

Here's a great exercise for both leads and follows.  Turn up the volume to hear the instruction as the recording is fairly quiet.

Pay particular attention to his rock steps and the way he leads the direction of this move first with his body and then uses slight changes in the connection allowing for a wind up in her rotation.  Also pay attention to how connected she stays with his arm and how she commits to the direction changes.

I also noticed how she holds his arm firmly.  This is something Kelly Adams first pointed out to me.  I find that with some follows, especially smaller, lighter follows, this can help add a certain solidness to their connection.  Of course this is not a necessity and I'm sure some people would argue against it, but it's also not "against the rules" so try it and see if it works for you.

Smooth and Technical, Close and Slow

While searching through some old 920 special instructional videos I came across this one with Jean Ma and Bromley Palamountain detailing some slick moves I'd really like to try out.  


I'd love to see someone locally pull off these moves in a social dance without telling me ahead of time.


I've been focusing recently on building a broader range of expression with my dancing.  I've spent a lot of time over the last year working on fast and big - on being more showy.  I didn't feel like I had much to "throw down" in a contest or a jam circle.  I'm happy to say that I've begun to make some strides in that direction, but I've noticed that I'm lacking also in the tight and technical area too.


When it comes to smooth movement, slower tempos, close or neutral connections I feel less sure, less practiced.  The video up top isn't particularly close or slow, but it's smooth and technical - one of these areas I wish to improve in.


So let's talk about close, slow, smooth Lindy Hop.  You've probably seen this video (cough cough, Skye and Frida).  They're close, smooth, connected, and the tempo of the song is slow, but they work in both slow and quick movements while remaining tight.

And that's one of the things I love about Lindy Hop.  These are all broadly different movements and steps, but they're all the same dance.


Do you have any suggestions for inspiration when it comes to smooth, technical, close, and slow?

Peter and Naomi - Dancing to Vocal Jazz

Here are two more dancers recognizable by only first names, Peter Strom and Naomi Uyama, doing a choreographed routine at last year's ILHC.

Most of my friends know that my favorite type of music to dance to is mid 1930's instrumental Jazz.  I love the really chunka-chunka rhythms and the syncopations.  I find inspiration in the energy of an era in music where Jazz was still a bit rough around the edges and full of innovation, but not every dance is filled with this kind of music.  

The playlists at the large dances here in Tampa are much wider and include everything from the occasional 20's Hot Jazz, 40's and 50's pop vocal Jazz, 50's and 60's Rock-n-Roll, modern songs, current remakes of old songs, Neo-Swing, and even the occasional 70's R&B, Soul, or Funk.  The DJ's cater to a wide variety of tastes and, as would be expected, Vocal and Pop Jazz from the 40's and 50's makes up a significant percentage of the regular mix.

"Where are you going with this, Tom?" you ask.

Good question.  Did you notice the song in the clip?  It's "I Could Write A Book" by Sarah Vaughan.  

This is not the thumpy chunka-chunka 30's Jazz you find most often in these competitions as of late.  This is a song that would be much more common in our scene.

I picked this clip because I felt it was relevant and shows some very creative uses of Jazz movements and musicality to a vocal Jazz number.  Of course the routine is choreographed, but take apart the pieces and look at how they fit into the song.  Watch how they play off the hits, the melody, the loud and the quiet moments.

Bury these ideas deep into your mind (and your feet) and see what you can do.  I hope this inspires you to break out of old patters.  I know it inspires me.

Dax's Triple Step Practice

Quick update!


I was talking with David Toop tonight, as we practiced swingouts, about the importance of pulse and carrying the pulse through in your triple steps, and I recalled these two videos featuring Dax Hock showcasing some triple step practices.


Take a quick look and feel free to copy his movements either by yourself

or with a partner.

Notice how he keeps the pulse even and steady regardless of what his feet are doing.


If the three beats of a triple step can be stated as "tri-ple-step" there's a downward movement into the ground on the "tri" and "step" while the "ple" goes no higher than the starting neutral point.


One of the things I notice a lot in our scene is a "ple" that moves upward above the neutral point, creating a bump movement that breaks the pulse and looks uneven.


Try these out and see if you can mimic the steady pulse shown in these videos.  Practice doing this in front of a mirror or video camera to get a good view of yourself and see how solid you can make your pulse - and then see what you can do on the social floor with a partner.


Enjoy!

Skye & Frida - Simple Patterns

Of course I couldn't go more than a few weeks before posting something with Skye and Frida.

Here's a demonstration dance - this time from an event in 2008.

Look past the low quality shaky-cam, the muffled All That Meat and No Potatoes by Fats Waller, and the odd mix of on-lookers and you'll find what I love the most about this:  The simplicity of movement.  The patterns are nothing complex; there's just a solid pulse and movement that naturally flows.

Skye leads so effortlessly from his core, Frida follows so effortlessly from hers.  They dance in the rhythm of the music, not on-top-of the rhythm.  They are both so solidly connected and so loose at the same time (and in just the right places) creating an effect that the tempo is slower than it actually is.  No really, get out of your seat and just step through a swingout with the song playing.  It's pretty quick, isn't it?  They make it appear slower and more relaxed than it actually is, and this is proof of their efficiency of movement.

I'd love to see more of these kinds of movements and patterns used in our scene. Watch the clip a few (hundred) times before you head out to your next dance and soak up the spirit and feeling of this until it just flows out of you.

I'm a firm believer that we tend to dance like what we see.  If you spend most of your time watching everyone else in the scene, you'll probably move like everyone else.  Spend more time studying and watching the type of dancing you're aspiring toward and you'll start to feel and move differently than everyone else.

On a side note I'd also like to hear more pulsing upper mid-tempo jazz in our scene as well.

Do you have any favorite songs that are similar in rhythm and mood to this one?  I'm always interested in recommendations to add to my collection.