Here in the Valley of Dust, there is an active and thriving dance organization known as "Swing Kids." This is a common name used by many swing teams across the US after the great swing revival 10 years ago when Swingers was all the rage, we were all 'so money' and, of course, Christian Bale played a member of the Nazi Youth in the actual film Swing Kids.Funny thing about the local Swing Kids, though-- it's a ballroom organization. Now, there's been West Coast woven into some of the dance routines, and even a spot or two of some "Lindy Hops," but observation says its foundation is ballroom. Don't get me wrong, I love ballroom as much as-- probably more than-- the next guy. But I find this odd. Shouldn't swing kids...swing?
Well, that's happening. The Swing Kids are made up of several teams from the Kids' Team up through the Competition Team at the local high school. Also at the high school level, you have the Performance Team. When their coach was torn away to another state, they were at a crossroads. Since I happened to be around and LOVE swing, I had a chat with her and was welcomed with open arms to the coach's club.
In the swing dancing world, you have two groups: Lindy Hop and everything else. That everything else includes West Coast and East Coast swing. I developed an appreciation for West Coast when I finally saw how it was meant to be done at the Boston Tea Party. However, it's too calm for my taste. As one woman put it, "West Coast is that dance where you get to wear your hair all puffed up, and lots of makeup and big earrings. In Lindy, forget it. Your face will melt off."
So here I am, up early in the morning twice a week, coaching a group of teenagers willing to spend a couple hours before school learning to dance. I gotta hand it to them for that. When we first started, I gave them the rundown: the Performance Team gets a whole new focus this year: Lindy Hop. I spent the majority of my time in college dancing at local social dances in Boston, attending workshops, camps, exchanges, you name it. My entire social network consisted primarily of dancers, and I loved it. Lindy is near and dear to my heart and I'm stoked to teach it to my team.
Since Lindy grew out of Charleston, we started there, then moved up into partnering and lead/follow and all that good stuff. So far, I'm entirely impressed. My first Lindy experience was a six week course, and it took me that long to learn the basic movement, called a swing out. My kids nailed the swing out in a couple of days. And rather than teaching the boys to lead once everyone knew their footwork, I'm trying to weave it in from the start. And you know what? It works! Just a few weeks into practice, and I could dance with these guys with my eyes closed (a helpful thing to do when you're learning to follow). Truly amazed.
On top of that, since we are a performance team, and I want them to have something to whip out instantly when a local opportunity pops up, we went through Shim-Sham. I figure it can double as a back-up performance routine as well as the warm-up it was originally choreographed to be in the 1930s. This was a challenge for brand new Lindy Hoppers, but once more I stand amazed. They have the steps, we're still cleaning it up, but they're nailing it time and again.
So now it stands to refine and expand their Lindy, for two purposes. 1. Shim-Sham lets loose into Lindy about three quarters into the music. I want them to have a number of moves to pick from, and have some fun with it. 2. We can start building routines and work up into aerials. The idea of teaching these team members how to throw each other around does make me a bit nervous-- I should probably get some parent signatures promising not to hold me responsible for any injuries :-\
All in good time. I know this team has the ability to blow the minds of the entire valley-- their only obstacle is their leader!
Well, that's happening. The Swing Kids are made up of several teams from the Kids' Team up through the Competition Team at the local high school. Also at the high school level, you have the Performance Team. When their coach was torn away to another state, they were at a crossroads. Since I happened to be around and LOVE swing, I had a chat with her and was welcomed with open arms to the coach's club.
In the swing dancing world, you have two groups: Lindy Hop and everything else. That everything else includes West Coast and East Coast swing. I developed an appreciation for West Coast when I finally saw how it was meant to be done at the Boston Tea Party. However, it's too calm for my taste. As one woman put it, "West Coast is that dance where you get to wear your hair all puffed up, and lots of makeup and big earrings. In Lindy, forget it. Your face will melt off."
So here I am, up early in the morning twice a week, coaching a group of teenagers willing to spend a couple hours before school learning to dance. I gotta hand it to them for that. When we first started, I gave them the rundown: the Performance Team gets a whole new focus this year: Lindy Hop. I spent the majority of my time in college dancing at local social dances in Boston, attending workshops, camps, exchanges, you name it. My entire social network consisted primarily of dancers, and I loved it. Lindy is near and dear to my heart and I'm stoked to teach it to my team.
Since Lindy grew out of Charleston, we started there, then moved up into partnering and lead/follow and all that good stuff. So far, I'm entirely impressed. My first Lindy experience was a six week course, and it took me that long to learn the basic movement, called a swing out. My kids nailed the swing out in a couple of days. And rather than teaching the boys to lead once everyone knew their footwork, I'm trying to weave it in from the start. And you know what? It works! Just a few weeks into practice, and I could dance with these guys with my eyes closed (a helpful thing to do when you're learning to follow). Truly amazed.
On top of that, since we are a performance team, and I want them to have something to whip out instantly when a local opportunity pops up, we went through Shim-Sham. I figure it can double as a back-up performance routine as well as the warm-up it was originally choreographed to be in the 1930s. This was a challenge for brand new Lindy Hoppers, but once more I stand amazed. They have the steps, we're still cleaning it up, but they're nailing it time and again.
So now it stands to refine and expand their Lindy, for two purposes. 1. Shim-Sham lets loose into Lindy about three quarters into the music. I want them to have a number of moves to pick from, and have some fun with it. 2. We can start building routines and work up into aerials. The idea of teaching these team members how to throw each other around does make me a bit nervous-- I should probably get some parent signatures promising not to hold me responsible for any injuries :-\
All in good time. I know this team has the ability to blow the minds of the entire valley-- their only obstacle is their leader!
Comments
Post a Comment