Comments for Swing Dynamite Blog

Comment on Open Heart Lindy by brynzapoppin

brynzapoppin — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 20:55:32 +0000

And that completely hails back to what Naomi said to me… advanced dancers ask questions when they dance; truly great dancers make statements. It is so easy to fall into the trap of seeking legitimacy. Authenticity, particularly in relation to myself and what I’m feeling, has become harder for me ever since I began competing, but ultimately it is what will bring me victory. I am constantly reminding myself of that.

Great post, Byron.

Comment on Open Heart Lindy by MissCharleston

MissCharleston — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:24:44 +0000

I guess I just never looked at it that way.

Comment on Open Heart Lindy by byron

byron — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:18:09 +0000

In any discipline it’s a challenge to improve your knowledge and skill without losing the spark that you started with.

It’s not bad to care about how your dancing looks or feels. You just have to make sure that worrying doesn’t dominate your dancing.

I think a big part of it is to be motivated by enthusiasm, not fear. When you dance, you shouldn’t be so much afraid of looking bad, as enthusiastic about creating cool lines, dramatic shapes and subtle textures.

Comment on Open Heart Lindy by MissCharleston

MissCharleston — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:24:26 +0000

“Open Heart Lindy, the dance without pretence.”

That sentence basically makes my life.

I’ve always danced with a sort of reckless abandon but once I became highly involved with Swing (mostly the competitive part), I started to care far too much about what I looked like. After reading this it brought back the memories of when I used to dance because I wanted too, not because I felt obligated to. I love being able to just hop on the dance floor and give’er.

I think that dancing with reckless abandon should stage a major come back in Swing Scenes everywhere.

Comment on Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start by MissCharleston

MissCharleston — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:17:56 +0000

I started learning Swing Dance because of a boy.

Back in February 2006 he started teaching me the all-mighty step-step-rock-step pattern that today haunts my dreams. I mastered the ways of East Coast and off I was learning Lindy Hop.

July came around and with it brought the Waterloo Blues Junkie Exchange. Hello Happiness! That weekend changed my life. I barely even knew how to swing out and here I am dancing with some pretty skilled dancers who are sending me this way and that and I have no idea what I’m doing but holy crap am I loving it! I asked everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) to dance. I even had my first encounter with Byron.

In September I moved myself up to Ottawa for school and jumped right into Swing. Here in the Nations Capitol there were Friday dances. That wasn’t enough for me though. I immediately signed up for Swing 1 shortly after Swing Dynamite was created. I believe the rest is history.

Although I originally started dancing because of a boy and because I wanted to be good to show off for said boy, I only stay now because of the people. To quote Bryn “I do this because I love the people, because I love the feeling of dancing with sheer abandon and sharing that with the people around me. . . ”
I’ve made some of the closest relationships of my life because of Swing Dancing. I’m even living with people that I didn’t know before I started Swing Dancing.

When asked what I do for fun “Swing Dance” is the first thing out of my mouth and the last thing I’ll stop talking about. Swing is the reason why I can smile at the end of a day. And it’s all because of the people.

Comment on Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start by byron

byron — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:26:06 +0000

That's funny, because definitely one of the things that attracted me to swing dancing in the first place was the fact that I might be able to throw girls. Throwing people was something I could relate to. Even being thrown was something I could relate to more than dancing.

Comment on Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start by dblack

dblack — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:12:09 +0000

I started swing dancing back in junior high, actually. In Calgary, one of the required units in gym class is social dancing, so in addition to line dances and square dances and polka and the two-step, we learned “East-coast Swing”. It was just step step rock-step, along with some awful moves which have almost never been successfully led on me since, but it was fun and I liked the music.

Then, when I saw a swingUO poster in first year, I dragged my roommate out and I was hooked! Next thing you know, dancing 5-6 times a week. (It’s probably good for my marks that I’ve lowered that number since.)

Comment on Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start by ladybalboa

ladybalboa — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:07:34 +0000

You guessed correctly, Bryn .

I’m glad I’m not the only one who had that concern. Seems pretty valid to me

Comment on Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start by brynzapoppin

brynzapoppin — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:43:18 +0000

Oh my god, Gab (I hope I’ve guessed your identity correctly, ladybalboa)! I was worried about the aerials too! I know a lot of people want to try swing dancing because they WANT to do aerials, but I was the total opposite.

Comment on Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start by Swing Dynamite Blog » Blog Archive » Back to the Roots, People!

Swing Dynamite Blog » Blog Archive » Back to the Roots, People! — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:53:39 +0000

[...] Bryn’s post about starting at the beginning brings up an important point: beyond the roots of swing dancing in Charleston, jazz movement and so [...]