Sarah Breck and Dax Hock were on the television show "Live to Dance" recently. Unfortunately for them, Dax injured his back before their performance in the semi-final round. However, I think it probably was for the best because it gave the judges something to talk about other than the dance itself.
One of the best line up of swing dance musicians of our generation will be playing at the DC Lindy Exchange this year. I tried thinking of different ways of writing this up without being as hyperbolic, but this is about as plain as I can make it.
Over on Swungover, Bobby ventures once more into the breach of dance analogies by busting them all out. They're all fun, but I thought I'd put this one in context.
The Spotlight On the other side, these are the dances where the leader gets an electric follower setting everything around them on fire. A smart leader just takes a back seat, becomes the dancing equivalent of a hype-man, and lets the magic happen. A few will understand exactly what I mean when I say “Nina Gilkenson Blue Dress Dance.”
He's referring to Nina dancing with Marty Klempner in the Cats' Corner Division (Champions Strictly Lindy Hop) at The 2007 American Lindy Hop Championships. And yes, they won.
I remember riding back down to DC with Naomi Uyama, which is about a 7-8 drive from Stamford, CT. Every once in awhile, no matter where we were in our conversation, we would just suddenly stop and say something like , "Damn, that Blue Dress Dance was amazing." Over and over again, the whole way down.
Analogies seem to be in fashion these days, and Lindy Focus is a good one for the way our scene has been developing for the past few years. What started out as a very small regional event, has now blossomed into one of the biggest in the country. I’ve been to the last three Lindy Focuses (Focii?). The first was Lindy Focus 7 just when the event was expanding by hiring bigger name instructors and bands. Now there aren’t just more attendees, but they’re more diverse in terms of experience level. I wrote a bit about this situation last year, and have been wondering how the community will deal with this dynamic in general and how an event like Lindy Focus can deal with it specifically.
I go up to the counter to pay for my hot chocolate. The cashier asks if I want to buy a bag of coffee grinds. She catches me at a bad moment. Instead of smiling and simply replying, "No, thank you," I dead pan "I hate coffee" deliberately overlooking the irony of our location. She smiles undaunted and replies instantly "Surely you must have some friends that enjoy coffee." Not a question. A statement.
I briefly consider spitting out "I don't have any friends," but I'm not playing a lone gun for hire. Instead I make my stand on privelidge and scorn. "I don't socialize with any of those kinds of people." I draw out the word "those" as if it's 1961 and no one has marched on Selma, Alabama yet.
We lock eyes. She knows no upselling will happen this day, at this transaction, but there's a pause as if she's considering another try just to piss me off. I already have a line at the ready. Something inappropriate involving dead puppies. I'm hoping, daring her to go there because I'm already here.
Then she smiles. The damning truth is evident. She's already won. "That'll be $3.69 please" she smirks. I curse under my breath as I realize that this game was over long before the coffee grinds gambit.
I squeeze my credit card in despair. I consider taking out the twenty in my wallet just to make her break it. But the truth is clear. I'm the one that's broken.
"Would you like a receipt?" she chirps. Her finger on the register ready to produce a physical token of my defeat.
"No." A beat. "Thank you." I gather up what's left of my dignity. I shuffle off to get my drink, wondering where the cute cashier is today.
People come to this dance for all kinds of reasons. A common one is often escapism; dancing as a chance to get away from it all. Modern life can be filled with a lot of superficial interactions both online and in person. Social dance gives you an opportunity to for a kind of real and intimate one on one interaction that you can’t find almost anywhere else-at least not without getting tested before or after.
In the mean time I thought I’d point out the cross blog conflagration over Bobby White’s ill worded analogy about following. (btw, how’s that MFA program working out for you, dude? Just kidding) It triggered a lot of thoughtful and interesting responses. It’s cool to go through them if only to see how well connected the Lindy blogosphere is these days. Go Team!!
Last stop. My top favorites will go up some time next week after I get home. Until then, I wish everyone a Happy New Year!!
A bit of a misnomer since most of these are done in groups, but I trust that you get the idea. You can tell I’ve been doing these all at once because my descriptions are getting shorter, but at least a lot of these performances speak for themselves.
This is a combination of dances that don’t quite fit any of the traditional jazz dances done by Lindy, Balboa, or Blues dancers. They’re either more modern or they are a combination of several influences into something new. I wish there was a term for that . . .
