Video Overview: The Battle at Jazz Jam

There are two main ingredients for to make a Lindy Hop competition significant.

1.  Get a lot of good dancers to show up.

2.  Put video of it up on the internet ASAP.

This is the reason why I'm posting about an event called Jazz Jam in Stockholm, Sweden.  I always thought the scheduling of this event was brilliant.  It takes place right after Herrang Dance Camp ends.

Herrang is THE most popular Lindy Hop dance comp in the world, attracting hundreds of dancers from all over the world for four weeks straight.  To teach them, Herrang hires an huge array of the best dancers in the scene as instructors.

These people are the hardest of the hardcore, and when the camp is over, they usually want to keep going.  Enter Jazz Jam and their main Lindy Hop contest simply known at "The Battle."

It's a pretty straight forward, no-holds-barred, winner-take-all dance contest.

The organizers have been pretty good about letting people take videos and putting them up on the internet.  In the YouTube Era, if no one can see what happens at your event, then it's as good as not existing at all.

Event organizers are usually tempted by the short term financial gain of selling DVD's of their event, but that doesn't compare to the marketing value of free, online videos.  That is the lesson that has made The Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown the premiere competition event of the community.  It's also the reason why an event like The American Lindy Hop Championships barely registers on anyone's radar these days.

Back to The Battle.  It just took place on July 26, 2009. and a few videos are available online.

Dancers in order of appearance in the spotlight rounds are:

1. Gabriel Cavallini & Mariela Fuhr
2. Michael Darigol & Carolyn Palma
3. Mikaela Hellsten & Oskar Markusson
4. Rebecka DecaVita & Emilie DecaVita
5. Crista Seipp & Jamie Cameron
6. Rickard Ekstrand & Frida Borg

This video includes snippets of the preliminary rounds.  The finals include a medium round (spotlights start at 2:47) and a fast round (Spotlights start at 6:47, the first couple is cut off).

I actually think the medium round is much more interesting than the fast round of this contest, but it is close.

Here's a second video of just the fast round, but the end is cut off.

The winners are Rickard Ekstrand & Frida Borg

There's also a solo contest which I'll post later this week.

As an added bonus, here are the previous three Battles starting in 2006.

2006

(Turn the volume down on this one.  It's rowdy)

Dancers in order of appearance

1. Vincenzo Fesi & Isabella Gregoria
2. Frida Segerdahl & Sakarias Larsson
3. Hannah Zetterman & Mattias Lundmark
4. Daniel Heedman and Åsa Palm
5. Rickard Ekstrand & Rebecka Hallberg

The winners were Daniel Heedman & Åsa Palm.

2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84X78uM8A_8

Dancers in order of appearance

1. Rikard Ekstrand & Rebecka Hallberg
2. Sakarias Larsson & Ria Di Biase
3. Peter Loggins & Mia Goldsmith
4. Henric Stillman & Joanna Eriksson
5. Kevin St. Laurent & Emily Haffberg
6. Daniel Heedman & Åsa Palm

The winners were Henric Stillman and Joanna Eriksson.

2008

Dancers in order of appearance

1. Vincenzo Fesi & Isabella Gregorio
2. Kevin St. Laurent & Emily Hoffberg
3. Dax Hock & Alice Mei
4. Andreas Olsson & Hanna Sigurd
5. Pontus Persson & Lizette Rönnqvist

The winners were Vincenzo Fesi & Isabella Gregoria

Gabriel Cavallini & Mariela Fuhr

Michael Darigol & Carolyn Palma

Mikaela Hellsten & Oskar Markusson

Rebecka DecaVita & Emilie DecaVita

Crista Seipp & Jamie Cameron

Rickard Ekstrand & Frida Borg