Swing Dynamite Blog
Thoughts and news about swing dancing in Ottawa
Meet the teacher: Tina Davis
[ No Comments ] Posted by brynzapoppin on Feb 23, 2009 in General
In case you live under a rock and have somehow managed to miss all the hype, Blues Blast II is just around the corner. Last year, this event packed nearly too much goodness for some of you to swallow. But in true Swing Dynamite fashion, we’ve decided to make things even crazier this year. Double the teachers, double the learning, double the fun.
To help you prepare yourselves, I’m going to be profiling each member of our astounding teacher line-up. One bite at a time–remember to chew.
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Tina “Sweet T” Davis is easily one of the world’s top blues DJs (I’ve borne witness to several standing ovations in response to her sets) and has been widely recognized as such for many years. But more recently, she has been gaining notoriety for her dancing and teaching, as well. It’s no surprise: Tina embodies the spirit of blues more than anyone I know; I distinctly remember learning more from one dance with her than I had from years of study. She is a woman of power, sensuality, humour, and grace. Her big booming laugh is tempered by striking humility and a quiet dark side so delightfully wicked that, should you ever catch a glimpse of it, you’ll feel strangely blessed. She is not unlike any of us: strong yet vulnerable, troubled yet hopeful, captivatingly beautiful and yet not immune to moments of ugliness. Blues music, she writes below, “cuts through all the crap and the walls that people build up around themselves… it gets to the essence of living and being a human being.” Humanity: deep and complex, yet as eloquently simple as a blind man on a porch, strumming his guitar to the tune of the sweltering heat. The difference between Tina and the rest of us is that Tina is brave and ardent enough to bare all of her humanity on the dance floor.
Have you always been a fan of the blues?
I’m not sure if I can say definitively how long I’ve been a fan of the blues or blues music, but I’ve listened to music as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I used to make mixed tapes all the time. I listed to the radio constantly, literally going up and down the radio dial soaking in different types of music. So for me, the Beatles and the Supremes were as real and relevant as Duran Duran or Run DMC or anything that was on Top 40 radio in the 80s. If I was exposed to Blues music as a kid, I probably slotted it under the heading of “oldies”.
I think being exposed to different kinds of music growing up definitely helped me when I started partner dancing (first with ballroom and eventually with Lindy and Blues). It definitely made me appreciate different types of dances and adapt to them more quickly than the average person walking into a ballroom studio at the time.
Now that I dance, teach to and listen to more blues music I realize that blues music is everywhere and has been the basis for a lot of music. I hear that “blues shuffle” everywhere.
What is it about blues that speaks to you the most?
The emotion and universality of the music. Everyone has experienced heartache. Everyone has experienced loss, or tragedy… or great joy or overwhelming desire. I think that all music certainly reflects the human experience, but blues music cuts through the crap and the walls that people build up around themselves… it gets to the essence of living and being a human being.
How would you sum up your dancing philosophy?
You gotta have fun!!!! If it stops being fun, don’t do it.
Your teaching philosophy?
More of the same… I try to teach with a little fun (which is the best thing about teaching with Don), but I also try to get students to be the best dancer they can be in their own skin. I don’t want them to emulate the latest, greatest Rockstar dancer on the planet. I’d much rather they be their own Rockstar.
And finally… what’s the one thing you hope people take home from your classes?
Just one??? I guess I would say that quality and clarity of movement is a big deal and can hide a lot of sins. I said something a couple of weeks ago during a class that will probably be the brightest thing I ever say during a class – passion without control is just chaos.