The Swing Movement

[catsmeow]

No one wants to dance on the floor next to a flailing maniac who can't keep their feet in their own space, wears no deodorant, and whose dreadlocks are whipping their sweat onto your vintage clothing!

I've seen my share of idiots on the dance floor, but not a dreadlocked one. I'd like to see that! lol
Mind you, you don't need to be into the "grunge" look to be stinky! There's nothing worse than any kind of dancer with BO and bad "vintage" breath! lol

 

[Tommydean]

for those of you that know your bands. i was looking through the big band section at the local book store and found a cd by the name of "Gordon godwins Big Phat Band" sounded good. anybody know the story about this band?

 

[Paisley]

No one wants to dance on the floor next to a flailing maniac who can't keep their feet in their own space, wears no deodorant, and whose dreadlocks are whipping their sweat onto your vintage clothing!

Ah yes, the sweaty swat--long damp hair right across your face.

I wish teachers would teach more floorcraft: taking little steps, keeping your feet close to the floor, not doing aerials in a crowd, looking back if you're moving back, giving your partner a little pull if he's about to back into something, not sending your partner into someone else, and keeping your arms in Barbie position. If all that is hard to remember, it's best to keep your dancing small.

 

[Fletch]

It's too bad

...that the dance-as-sport thing didn't catch on as an al fresco activity. Like something people do in parks or plazas, typically for free. Why can't a scene be a street scene just as easily as a club scene? That way the clubs could've been left for the paying, drinking, dressing customers.

I suppose they could've instituted a dress code, but given the San Francisco influence over the whole movement, that probably wouldn't have gone over.

Anyway, it's all water under the bridge now. (Or cocktails under the bridge if you prefer.)

 

[Paisley]

People have done lindy bombs outdoors around here before, even though dancing on concrete or grass is hard to do. However, here in Denver, it wouldn't work very well about most months out of the year. The low temperature lately have been in single digits.

I do think that more community centers and schools ought to promote dancing. The Denver Turnverein is one such place, and the Colorado School of Mines has a ballroom dance club. But I've read that at high schools, the students just want to freak (grind in a way that would get you smacked at a swing dance).

 

[TraderRic]

I learned to dance tonight!!!

Today is my birthday and I'm still at sea & away from home. I was telling my friend at dinner that I wanted to do something fun tonight since I had so much work to do all day. When she asked what I wanted to do I said "take me dancing". I knew that she had previously had lessons and goes dancing in the DC area. We had also talked about her showing me some steps before.

Anyway, she went through an entire lesson with me and then some. We did two different styles. I think the first was a Lindy with twirls and charleston kicks. The second style was easier with higher tempos. It's where you hold both hands (sorry, don't know the name). I caught on quite fast. It might help that I'm a former pro trombonist and was a featured dancer in several musicals. I just never learned to swing before, but always wanted to. She's a fantastic partner, too! The only drawback was that we had to do this in my stateroom with about 3 X 10 feet of usable floor space.

It was so much fun. I'm sure we'll continue to practice. I really hope to start going to dances when I get back. I know there's a fairly regular one in my area. I'm so happy I finally learned to swing dance!!!

 

[TheKitschGoth]

Just curious, I'm planning on starting to learn to dance, and everytime I type lindy or swing into a search engine it only comes up with jive in my area. Are they very different? The class I'm looking at is described as 40's and 50's jive.

 

[Miss 1929]

Oy...

...that the dance-as-sport thing didn't catch on as an al fresco activity. Like something people do in parks or plazas, typically for free. Why can't a scene be a street scene just as easily as a club scene? That way the clubs could've been left for the paying, drinking, dressing customers.

I suppose they could've instituted a dress code, but given the San Francisco influence over the whole movement, that probably wouldn't have gone over.

Anyway, it's all water under the bridge now. (Or cocktails under the bridge if you prefer.)

Well, who would be paying the band to pay in the parking lot? Not the grungers!

There was dress code at first, but the club owners got greedy and started letting the riff raff in. In San Francisco. Some of us out here do dress! And it was so disappointing when it started to go downhill.

It was nice while it lasted - and we all made a lot of money playing for a little while! Now we all fight tooth and nail for the gigs.

 

[Miss 1929]

Happy birthday, sailor!

Today is my birthday and I'm still at sea & away from home. I was telling my friend at dinner that I wanted to do something fun tonight since I had so much work to do all day. When she asked what I wanted to do I said "take me dancing". I knew that she had previously had lessons and goes dancing in the DC area. We had also talked about her showing me some steps before.

Anyway, she went through an entire lesson with me and then some. We did two different styles. I think the first was a Lindy with twirls and charleston kicks. The second style was easier with higher tempos. It's where you hold both hands (sorry, don't know the name). I caught on quite fast. It might help that I'm a former pro trombonist and was a featured dancer in several musicals. I just never learned to swing before, but always wanted to. She's a fantastic partner, too! The only drawback was that we had to do this in my stateroom with about 3 X 10 feet of usable floor space.

It was so much fun. I'm sure we'll continue to practice. I really hope to start going to dances when I get back. I know there's a fairly regular one in my area. I'm so happy I finally learned to swing dance!!!

Don't they let you dance on deck, like Fred Astaire in Follow the Fleet?

 

[Miss 1929]

Try Ballroom

Just curious, I'm planning on starting to learn to dance, and everytime I type lindy or swing into a search engine it only comes up with jive in my area. Are they very different? The class I'm looking at is described as 40's and 50's jive.

You should be able to find loads more if you go to the trained professionals! Ballroom dancing usually encompasses both East and West Coast Swing, Lindy, Waltz, Foxtrot, and American Tango (not to be confused with the real tango), sometimes a little samba, rhumba, cha cha thrown in. It's a great way to get familiar with all the different dances. After all, you don't want to be one of those annoying people who Lindy to EVERYTHING!

 

[reetpleat]

Ah yes, the sweaty swat--long damp hair right across your face.

I wish teachers would teach more floorcraft: taking little steps, keeping your feet close to the floor, not doing aerials in a crowd, looking back if you're moving back, giving your partner a little pull if he's about to back into something, not sending your partner into someone else, and keeping your arms in Barbie position. If all that is hard to remember, it's best to keep your dancing small.

While I agree that back in the day, a few dancers got carried away, I think experienced dancers are quite skilled at avoiding other dancers. I hav seel floors full of dancers as i am sure all the dancers here hav, where many people work well together.

I think that the problem sometimes is non dancers who are not as savvy at avoiding other dancers. granted, if everyone is just doing a simple closed position swaying back and forth, no one bumps into anyone.

But I have alwasy thought, with apologies to anyone who says different, that this is the common phrase thrown about by people who just did not like the dancers "intruding" on their scene with a little less concern about style and clothing.

I have been on both sides. I hated the fact that many dancers were not willing to contribute to the aesthetics of the scene. And i also found a lot of the dancrs kind of square and corny. I also agree that they can be cheap and alwasy tried to encourage them to at least pay the cover instead of always trying to get guest listed. i mean, what is five bucks for a live band? But at the same time, think a lot of people were kind of snobbish and did not realize two things. One was that the lindy hoppers were reintroducing a much more authentic and cool style tha brought out the public and added real vintage flabor to the scene, and that the dancers were an important part of the scene that made it possible to have large bands at 1000 person venue shows. Without them, the whole thing would have never really happened like it did. Perhaps soe would have prefered it to stay amongst a small group who patronized a few bars, but I for one, am thrilled i wa able to be a part of a huge movement.

 

[reetpleat]

People have done lindy bombs outdoors around here before, even though dancing on concrete or grass is hard to do. However, here in Denver, it wouldn't work very well about most months out of the year. The low temperature lately have been in single digits.

I do think that more community centers and schools ought to promote dancing. The Denver Turnverein is one such place, and the Colorado School of Mines has a ballroom dance club. But I've read that at high schools, the students just want to freak (grind in a way that would get you smacked at a swing dance).

San Francisco used to have a regular event at hte park every weekend for probably five years or more. I went ocaasionally. But the music tended to be slow and I didn't really care to dance like that. It is much more abou tth whole experience to me. i usually didn't drink when I danced, but I still liked it to be in a poorly lit ballroom or club. dancing in the park in the afternoon just seemed too square for me. No fun. Here in Seattle, i rarely go out as the places here are so low on atmoshpere as well as good dancers that it just isn't the same. But I always have a good time when I go. Just not enough to get me out of the house.

There wa a time when it was five or six nights a week and I couldn't imagine doing anyting else. Oh well.

 

[Miss 1929]

Times change, Reetpleat!

And we are both a lot older and wiser...I remember you!

Regarding invading others' space on the floor - for about 3 years, I studied Cuban popular dance with a master from Havana. He says that there, if you nudge someone else on the floor, it is like slapping them, and you tend to get beaten up!
Even when the music gets very hot, one stays in one's own little orbit, so that everyone can enjoy the experience. And when you are talking about outdoor dances on the plaza, with about 3000 dancers at once, you see the reason for that self-control. Also, they all dance exactly on the beat, so you can hear the orchestra. And no talking! Cubans are an interesting culture, they take the music very seriously.

 

[Salv]

Just curious, I'm planning on starting to learn to dance, and everytime I type lindy or swing into a search engine it only comes up with jive in my area. Are they very different? The class I'm looking at is described as 40's and 50's jive.

The 40's and 50's jive classes will be rocking/R&B based rather than swing/jazz and the style will be quite different.

This is typical UK-style jive:
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There are some lindy classes in Brighton - try this page first, there are a couple of different classes on Monday nights. And there's a contact number for another class on this page.

 

[TheKitschGoth]

There are some lindy classes in Brighton - try this page first, there are a couple of different classes on Monday nights. And there's a contact number for another class on this page.

Oooh thankyou! That first one's a lot closer to me! (And cheaper than where I was originally looking)

 

[TraderRic]

Don't they let you dance on deck, like Fred Astaire in Follow the Fleet?

For one thing, I don't think I could ever dance like Fred Astaire. Maybe we could pull it off if we still had teak decks, but now we have this coating called "non-skid". Think little 1/8 inch spikes so you keep tracktion when it's wet. I don't think it would work out so well. I suppose we could go to the Wardroom, but we haven't had a big ship wide musical number like Anything Goes in weeks. People might think it odd. lol

You've reminded me of a bumper sticker I once saw which read, "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did backwards and in high heels". I thought that was great.

 

[Paisley]

The left, right, rock step done while holding both hands is jitterbug or East Coast.

I don't do the jive, but from what I've seen on TV, it's a different dance from lindy and jitterbug. It seems to involve a lot of kicks and a different stance. I'm pretty sure it's a ballroom dance; I've never seen it done in a club.

I've always thought that the remark about Ginger Rogers was made by a non-dancer who didn't realize that it's harder to lead than follow.

 

[Fletch]

I've always thought that the remark about Ginger Rogers was made by a non-dancer who didn't realize that it's harder to lead than follow.

I always thought it was made by a 60s-era feminist who spent too much time at the movies growing up and was looking for a zingy metaphor that she thought applied to all society.

 

[Dr Doran]

I always thought it was made by a 60s-era feminist who spent too much time at the movies growing up and was looking for a zingy metaphor that she thought applied to all society.

 

[dakotanorth]

Jive?

(In regards to the Jive youtube clip):
It looks like Jive is east coast swing (6-count swing) with heavy styling in the body. Lots of arms, "attitude", etc. Not a lot of footwork at all like boogie woogie.
If you're just starting with swing dancing, probably start with East Coast Swing just to get moving. Hopefully they will teach you triple-steps in it. From there you will need to learn more about lead and follow connection....