Swing Dynamite Blog
Thoughts and news about swing dancing in Ottawa
Now, it’s like this, little Britches
[ No Comments ] Posted by Claudia on Jul 21, 2011 in Swing Dancing, Swing Music
I HEART Swing Dancing. I HEART Disney movies.
Every now and then, I get the best of both worlds.
Like dancing to this beautiful song by Louis Armstrong from the Jungle Book movie:
Ah, nothing like good ole Satchmo to brighten up your day (or night). So, Forget about your worries and your strife. Just keep on dancing and the bare necessities of life will come to you!
Here’s the original Disney clip:
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Dance outside your city!
[ No Comments ] Posted by Mercedes on Jul 19, 2011 in Getting Good at Swing Dancing, Musicality, Swing Dancing
Jason & Crystal
This past Sunday, Scott and I went dancing in Abbotsford (a suburb, 1h outside of Vancouver). Suburban Swing is run by Jason Warner every Sunday evening throughout the year – no breaks! We then thought it was a fantastic idea to check out the dancing and try to make new connections, seeing as Vancouver dancing dies down during the summer time.
The dance was in a seniors’ centre, with a dance hall, a stage and a sitting area – Jason was DJing. After a few priviledged conversations with Jason, I found out more about the scene; its needs and its dancers. One of the things we noticed is that there was a lot more asking on the girls end (we ask the guys!) otherwise, there’s little chance for you to dance. The reality is, there are – big surprise! – too many girls to the number of guys dancing. Another thing we noticed is that, while playing mainly swing music, a lot of neo-swing and other fusion styles were played to suit different styles of dancers. Namely, a few rockabilly options were heard. Come to think of it, there was an overall fashion statement of either casual or rockabilly dress code.
An area that was surprising to me, was how “East Coast Swing“-influenced the dancing was. Very few of my partners swung out or busted out triples. I distinctly remember a lot of reverse swing outs, actually. A lot of the connection was happening in the arms and less in the body. I managed to follow most moves, but it happened frequently that I found myself wondering what I was doing and where my partner was going. I became ultra-sensitive: I was using my regular connection through my left arm and side (and sort of imposing it on my partner in a way – making it available for him to use) while being receptive to other leads. The upside is that many of these East Coast (or 6 count Lindy) dancers are very musical, as they are use to using “moves” or arms to express themselves.
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A Follower’s Swing Dancing Pet Peeves
[ 4 Comments ] Posted by Mercedes on Jul 11, 2011 in Partnership, Swing Dancing
Although I’ve only been dancing swing for close to two years and have many things to learn, if there is a skill that I’ve developed as a dancer, it’s observation.
Follows – traditionally meaning girls here but refers mostly to the following role in the dynamic – are not placed frequently in a leadership position. This seems clear by the term used to describe them. There have been many discussions regarding the “role” following should play in a “good follow” ‘s dancing. This, in itself, is a fascinating subject and could fill a blog post on its own. However, what I want to focus on is the follower’s experience. Sometimes, we’re given ingredients and we get to make cupcakes with sprinkles on top. Sometimes, we’re given lemons. The most awesome of follows either make lemonade…or limoncello. Cheers!
That said, there are things that make my experience as a follow, quite unpleasant. If you’re a lead, you might want to read these with attention.
1. Teaching me on the dance floor, in the middle of a dance
I’m dancing socially. I want to try new things and have fun. Wasting a perfectly good song and endangering other dancers by stopping in the middle of a song to explain something is not only silly, it’s rude.
2. Pulling too many “moves”
I’m all for trying new things, but if the dance is about throwing your partner in all the moves you know, as though you were dancing by numbers, not only is it no fun for her, it’s stressful for you to go through a checklist.