I'd like to be as honest as possible on this blog. Because of that I tend to shy away from negative criticism of events or performances. The scene is pretty small, and I'm pretty aware that any kind of chatter is bound to have some impact on teachers being hired or events succeeding or failing. At the same time I don't want this blog to be just about sunshine and rainbows either. So talking about other events especially competition events, (and ones I have not attended to boot) is a little dicey for me given my work with the International Lindy Hop Championships. I usually get around this by just commenting about videos, but in the case of the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown, its getting harder and harder to do that without putting those videos into some sort of context. In my mind, there are local events, regional events, super regional events, and national/international events. There are only a handful of events that I would consider touchstones. Events that everyone talks about even if they weren't there. Events that drive the scene.
Connection Through Culture
My parents visited me this weekend which gave me a lot of time to think about a few things. Dance related and otherwise. My mother cooked dinner because she bought me this new fangled cooking machine and wanted to show me how to use it. And by show me, she just did everything herself as my dad and I watched a movie. Even though we were far away from where they raised me, I found myself immersed in familiar sights, smells, and sounds. My parents speak English fairly well. My mother's is better than my dad's. But they mainly speak Pangasinan or Tagalog to get their point across to close friends and relatives or just to each other. It used to annoy me growing up. Not so much anymore. I've come to appreciate what it means to be able to fully express yourself in the most comfortable way.
Guest Post: The Evolution of The Evolution of Lindy Hop Pt. 9
We had already set the choreography by Winter 2009, anticipating that we’d probably need to add a moment or two from that year before performing it at ILHC 2009. We chose to put a reference to the Silver Shadows’ Tribute to Frankie Manning from Frankie95. This was the highlight of the entire festival for me, such a beautiful gift to honor Frankie’s memory. It also served as a modern day reference to Frankie Manning and what he did for the dance community. We knew we already had two Silver Shadows references for the ending, but we really didn’t think we could live with ourselves if we left this one out, so we just tacked it onto the beginning of that sequence.
Jam Cellar: The Musical
A couple weeks ago I referenced the guest DJ show The Jam Cellar did for Yehoodi Radio a couple of years ago. In addition to 10 of our only best DJ's contributing their favorite songs to play at the Jam Cellar, the executive producer, Jesse Miner encouraged us to be as creative as possible with the program. We didn't need that much prodding. Since a number of the Jam Cellar crew at the time were pretty musical, we decided to write and record our own theme song for the show. Here it is in two parts.
Guest Post: The Evolution of The Evolution of Lindy Hop Pt. 8
2008 Jump Session
In January 2008 Mikey Pedroza asked me to partner with him for a group routine with Laura Keat and Jeremy Otth for the Jump Session show at Camp Jitterbug in Seattle. I was so flattered and excited to be included in the show. Mikey really wanted to do a spoof on the groove era of lindy hop. So he introduced me to a whole bunch of clips from 2000-2003 that exemplified this style very reminiscent of West Coast Swing, all using some serious micro-musicality. Huge pants and body rolls were a must. I definitely remember the UFO pants at Herrang 2000 and Janice Wilson’s class on body rolling in lindy with Jay Z’s “Big Pimpin” as the soundtrack. The clip we kept going back to in order to steal moves was Todd Yannacone and Emily (aka Jo) Hoffberg’s “Love me or Leave me” routine from ALHC 2001. At the time, I’ll admit that we were poking fun, but the joke was on us—that stuff was extremely hard to execute and Todd and Emily nailed it. This clip has turned into one of my very favorites.
Guest Post: The Evolution of The Evolution of Lindy Hop Pt. 7
ULHS 2006 was another epic event, especially the fast dancing division. This was the first time that Showdown was really published via youtube, and that particular comp went totally viral and is now one of the first clips that comes up when you search for “lindy hop.” We really considered quoting Nick Williams and Ria Dibiase and their incredibly innovative aerial inspired by a dance scene in the movie Idlewild, which garnered them first place in the coolest competition of the year.
Believe It x2
It’s not too often that you get to hear the same band with the same personnel play the same song on the same recording date and give it two entirely different feels. The band I’m referring to is basically a one time deal called “The Chocolate Dandies.” This particular aggregation recorded for Commodore Records in New York City over 60 years ago on May 25, 1940. They made six recordings that day including two versions of “I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me.”
The Evolution of The Evolution of Lindy Hop Intermission
Karen mentioned ULHS 2005, but she's a little too modest to mention her own accomplishments, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a few more videos from that event featuring our illustrious guest blogger. She won the Jack & Jill division that year along with then DC-ite Luke Albao.
She also made the semi-finals of the solo charleston contest that year. This video still ranks as one of my favorite contests because of all the cool interactions between the dancers which I talked about in an earlier post.
Finally, I uploaded a video of her performing with other Minnesota dancers in what was one of the first notable all female charleston performances in the modern era, or at least they were one of the first ones before everyone and their mother started doing them. (I didn't take this video. It was downloaded from a source that I can't remember.)
And just so he doesn't feel left out, here's what Andrew Thigpen was doing around the same time.
Guest Post: The Evolution of The Evolution of Lindy Hop Pt. 6
After Basie Ball in 2004, I started to officially travel like a crazy person for dancing. I went to the Rhythmic Arts Festival (San Diego), Swinger’s Ball (Chicago), DCLX, Midwest Lindyfest, Camp Jitterbug, Herrang, and the San Francisco Exchange. I was thus primed for ULHS 2005, the first year it was in the amazing Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. In my opinion this event represents a marked change in the consistency of good lindy hop. There were so many epic moments this year, and I think a lot of that is due to Todd Yannaconne and Naomi Uyama teaming up, along with the Silver Shadows making their debut with Frida and Todd in the mix. Todd and Naomi brought everyone to their feet in the fast division, then the premier fast competition, by doing really intricate footwork and Charleston variations to the Wolverine’s ridiculously fast “White Heat”—and they even danced on the beat.
Billie Holiday Inspiration
Social networking. It works bitches. Especially when you’re friends with people who really know their stuff. Case in point, Rob Moreland, a Lindy DJ from North Carolina, posted one of my favorite Billie Holiday songs, "No Regrets" on his Facebook profile. Rob said he heard it from Michael Gamble, a fellow southern DJ. I first heard it played by Mike Marcotte here at a dance in DC.