Jeremy and Laura's performance of Maharaja is my new favourite pro performance. The crowd's energy level and support for them was so intense. Before the performance, there was a bit of a disclaimer because the choreography was so difficult, and the movie's was done in a few cuts, that Jeremy and Laura could screw up. Despite the crazy footwork, they did it flawlessly and the crowd went nuts. Here's the original paired with their performance.
I really enjoy watching Lunou from Montreal dance. She has such a vibrant energy, I was hooked and listening as soon as she started to move. She has a very silly clownish style that she clearly likes and does incorporates it well into her choreographs and social dancing.
1. New Orleans - like I mentioned before, it's the culture, music, dancing, food and architecture! It's infused everywhere
2. Montreal - my hometown still feels like home and the dancers are wonderful (talent wise and personality wise)
3. Seattle - gotta love the fast Charleston stuff paired with the hipster coffee bars.
Grey a-line skirt that flows, white button-down shirt, and suit vest. Sometimes a hat. Vests are neat.
In warmer or more casual situations, it's definitely jeans and a t-shirt. Dresses are nice and such, but I find I can get wrapped up in them or twisted (like in balboa for instance), so I like separate tops and bottoms.
I just fixed up my pink satin Keds from Camp Jitterbug and Stompology but those are my favourite shoes at the moment. I have a simple pair of grey oxfords from Aldo, a pair of the Aris Allen bowler shoes with suede bottoms, and a pair of green suede, leather-bottomed ReMix 1940's vintage shoes. These heels are ridiculously comfortable to dance in, it is crazy.
I also pick up a new pair of heels (ee hee) at the All Balboa Weekend. They're a Remix shoe, grey suede with a yellow leather patent heel. They're quite high but still really comfy, not sure how that works! These would be for balboa by the way.
The double heel click. I remember trying to do that in my first term at swing club and I was so determined but never got it. Thing is, I like my heel clicks, I think I do them rather well.
There are no moves, just movement, haha but yes anywho, I really like the simple moves (like partnered fall off the log) but rhythmed-out to the max. To make it punchy and thoughtful to the phrase being played makes me melt dance-wise.
The more angular, vintagey and sillier the better. So, flexed feet, knees definitely bent, and usually wearing a silly face of sorts to complete the look! For example, check out Jo and Kevin's routine from this year's European Swing Championships, I really like it!
There aren't that many of those! That may be saying something about how my dancing looks. Here's one with Dave Tom at the Toronto Lindy Exchange (TUX) in 2010, not too long after starting.
My inner circle of swing dancing friends are in the UW Swing Club, the Hep Cat Hoppers, the Hammer Hoppers of Hamilton, and Toronto (Bees Knees and UTswing). A lot of the people I stared dancing with have moved on to other things in their life or moved away, so I've been the most consistent friends with John, though we were in a band together so that makes us like super cool too. I've also travelled across the continent with Anna (was at UW Swing Club now at Notre Dame) for Camp Jitterbug recently. I've travelled with my good friend Dean to New Orleans where we met up with John, Anna, and a bunch of the Toronto crowd. In Toronto I have to say my favourite group are the regulars at the Imperial Pub monthly swing and blues nights.
I have to say that travelling to New Orleans, Louisiana for the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown is the best and brightest memory of my swing dancing.
What I enjoyed so much about this trip was the blend of dancing, music, good food, and culture. The weather also merited for lots of time hanging out outside and exploring the French Quarter. Frenchmen's street is by far my favourite with the awesome jazz clubs.
I also happened to have travelled with a great bunch of people and had lots of people from Toronto show up as well. Moreover, I met a whole new set of people since there were dancers from all over the United States, some from Canada, and from around the world (notably France and Korea).
I finally got my degree yesterday morning. Not much to say, the ceremony was nice enough, about 2.5 hours so I was getting pretty hungry by the end (so was everyone else). The speech was given by the chair of the Cambridge Toyota plant with the message of 'if you can think it, you can build it', though I found the speech kinda overly focused on his work on the Lexus. O well! Here are pictures!
Even in those few days I was in Waterloo between going to Rochester and Cleveland and the week that has followed since Cleveland, I have not had the motivation to post about the second part of my trip. In all fairness, the camping and road tripping out to Seattle is flashier and has more writing potential, but the dance workshops were a great learning experience for me personally (less interesting for others I should think). Lots of fun stuff went on during those weeks still.
The last I left it was that I was going to leave Des Moines (Anna's parent's place) to fly to Rochester. Fortunately, the flight was uneventful and I was able to finish reading David Copperfield. I got some compliments on the hat I bought in Seattle since the best way to carry it around was to wear it on the plane. Landing in Rochester, my hostess, Eileen, was ready to pick me up, which was fantastic. This was above and beyond what she was to do as a hostess for Stompology attendees but no one else was in town yet. It was great talking to her, meeting her two lovely kitties and even sharing dinner with her that she cooked. She had the most amazing house. Like many of the houses in downtown Rochester, hers was from the late 1800's (1860's she estimates), but hers retains the original wood flooring in the kitchen/dining room with new berber carpet in the bedrooms and living room. New bathroom and kitchen, oh I was impressed.
Off we headed to the Friday night dance where the introductory lesson was an advanced solo jazz choreography by Sharon and Juan, very neat. Like many things during this weekend, it's given me lots of new ideas to blend in anywhere to lindy hop or solo dancing. That night was music by the Careless Lovers, which I only seen a few days before in Seattle. During the teacher demos, I notice that Stefan (from Oregon), and Laura were there, which I thought was neat. So to some people it was like 'Oh, hello again!', which was fun. At the dance we met Turlough, Joyce, Amanda, Julie-Anne (though the last two were staying elsewhere), and the other people being hosted by Eileen for the weekend.
The weekend's lessons were great! Ranging from Stefan and Juan doing flash moves, advanced tap with Andrew, improvisation techniques with Sharon, classic jazz with Juan, and Doin' the Jive with choreographer/musician/singer Falty. I have the say the neatest class was being able to get into the critique class where 25 people got the chance to do some solo dancing to two songs (medium and fast), where Sharon and Falty would give some constructive criticism afterwards. Though the comments for other people are still great to remember, I was told that I'm too nice by Falty and that I have to be more a bitch by Sharon. Essentially, contrast the smooth moves with sharp dynamic ones (more emphasis). Though I have done this in the past, well, nerves or the music and such just didn't happen.
Amanda, Julie-Anne, myself, and Turlough at Stompology
Anyways, I got a ride home with Julie-Anne and Amanda on the Sunday night, having a fun car ride home just talking about fun stuff. For the next two days, I basically spent it helping with laundry, organizing my things, and packing for Cleveland's All Balboa Weekend. I was still able to make it out to Monday night's dance, which was funny because it felt mid-trip for me yet I was in Waterloo doing my regular thing. Also somehow I ended up on campus most days between Monday and Wednesday, funny. Thursday midday I was off to meet Mimi and Amanda on campus to take off for ABW.
All Balboa Weekend was certainly a different experience. Having the event in the hotel in which you are staying is super handy, though you feel you don't see the outside much unless you're going to find food. Seeming to start a new tradition, Amanda, Dave, Mimi and I picked up Steak and Shake when we were an hour or two outside of Cleveland (Steak and Shake being the first thing after Anna picked me up in Chicago). The first night I met Dave's friends Nico, Sandrine (two dancers who lived in Waterloo when I started dancing but I didn't really know who they were), and their friends Florence and Vanessa all from Toulouse, France. Apparently I need to check out Toulouse, they have a giant swing/balboa scene.
The next morning were the auditions for the advanced, advanced+ and masters classes. I had decided to sign up for advanced when I registered ages ago, thinking why not. So did Amanda, and we went to the space on the floor meant for intermediate-advanced trying out for advanced, which sounded correct. When the judges weren't around for long and no one was bumped up (everyone given an intermediate-advanced bracelet), some people were confused and upset. I figured, hey whatever I tried, plus I'd be in classes with Anna, Jo, and Lisa. Though after the first day where I have gone over these concepts quite a few times with John and Dominique, I approached Valerie (the first instructor on the second day), asking if it's not too much trouble for her to watch me and see if I could be moved up. After class she was like oh ya go go, which was cool. However I hung around the track I was in one more lesson otherwise I would have missed all the classes by Peter and Mia for the weekend, and seeing them was important to me.
Every night of ABW was spectacular, but the performance by Jeremy and Laura of Maharaja from 1943 was absolutely intense. With a warning that this is a very tough routine and that the dancers in the movie were allowed a few takes, Jeremy and Laura were dancing it live, so no second takes. People were obviously supporting them regardless but they nailed it flawlessly. It was so great to watch! For reference, here is their performance compared to the original. Hal and Betty Takier were known for lightning quick steps and making new steps of their own.
Surprisingly, most of the girls wore their heels for classes and for the dance (which I only expected it for the dance). Though my feet were a little tired by the 4th day, most people were dying, yay comfy ReMix shoes!
After classes on Sunday, we stuck around a bit so that Amanda and Mimi could go to part of Peter Strom's soul party, which just allows you to do something other than balboa for a bit. Earlier that day Anna was begging me to send her on a swing out just because it's a very intense weekend on what is considered a fringe swing dance. We unfortunately missed the showcase and the competition results, but the reality sets in that there's work the next day. I have not heard word yet of the results, though I'm sure if a Toronto dancer got something, I would have gotten word via Facebook.
Overall, those 3.5 weeks were absolutely fantastic! Chicago, Des Moines, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Rochester, and Cleveland <3<3<3
Ok, favourite pros! I have to say my dances with Peter Strom at the Rhythm City Mess Around in Vancouver and Juan at Stompology in Rochester were really enjoyable and they were both great to chat with. I liked chatting with Stefan and Bethany from Portland, OR this summer. Nina and Jo are also really fun to learn from and definitely empower the follows, which rocks. Also, just because he posted on Facebook waiting for this day of the challenge, I love David Trinh :P
Day 10: Favourite workshop weekend (Lindy Focus, Camp Hollywood, etc) or one you'd really like to attend
It's really hard to decide between the last three that I went to: Camp Jitterbug in Seattle. Stompology in Rochester, and All Balboa Weekend in Cleveland. I learned a ton and I got challenged in different 'subjects' of dancing. I'm still practicing the little routines that got dished out from Jitterbug and Stompology or the really neat tricks on movement.
I found as the size of the event grew, the organization complexity was exponential. The people running Camp Jitterbug and All Balboa Weekend had to really be on the ball and were always super busy because of the sheer volume of people, competitions, class levels, and instructors involved. That being said, I was quite impressed by how well they pulled everything together, since I understand how difficult coordination and the background work to events really can be.
My first one at Caesar Martini's with Martin and Angie, because I wouldn't be doing this shit today if it had scared me away. Let's hear a collective 'aww' for being sentimental.
Oh jeepers, that's tough. I really liked Peter Loggins for the down-to-Earthiness and historical aspects of his lessons. I think that's why I'm also a fan of Falty's lessons, and he's got more of the sarcasm and humour in there. I being a muscian too, definitely enjoy his associations to music in his lessons. I have to say Jo is my favourite female instructor because she inspires you to release your inner badass bitch and attitude in your dancing, and she's really fun to listen teach.
Boogie woogie, this is new as of two weeks ago. I think it looks like a blast to dance, but it doesn't really look like there are any Boogie Woogiers in North America and less likely in Canada. If anyone can prove me otherwise, let me know!
Day 6: Your Favourite group dance (shim sham, tranky doo, big apple, etc)
Tranky doo by far.I feel it's the underdog, is that why I like it? No idea, but I enjoy it. It plays off of the different levels that you can dance at (low down, upright and really up) moreso than the Big Apple. I like it when group dances are more out of the blue, the percentage of dances I've gone to where the tranky doo gets busted out is so low compared to the Big Apple and definitely the shim sham.
Day 5: Your Favourite Lindy Hop variation dance (charleston, balboa, shag)
Hmm, I've been really interested in learning balboa (seeing as that I am currently in Cleveland for the All Balboa Weekend). I like the fact that it is subtle and elegant but that it still has the swing dancing lines (the bent leg, twists in the hips, or foot flicks) unlike ballroom. Called the 'dancer's dance' it's the dance I find myself smiling the most in because I read his lead and we stylized a really nice move. On the solo dance front, I'm a huge fan of solo Charleston. I love the empowerment of being able to say 'darn right, this song is killer and I don't need no silly lead so that I can dance', and just claim some dance space for myself. I actually did that on the Sunday night of Camp Jitterbug this year for the last song that the Careless Lovers played (naturally 'Black Coffee') and it was a blast.
Meschiya Lake and her Little Big Horns! They are fabulous musicians, what else is there to say? I really enjoy New Orleans jazz and I like the quality and feeling of Meschiya's voice paired with the musicians. I could just listen to their CD when I'm too tired to dance.
Day 3: A description of your Favourite partner (and why they're your Favourite)
Do they have to exist? It depends on my mood really. I want to have a lead smile and get inspired if I play off the musicality of the song or I copy a move he did earlier. If I want something technically good, under control but will still pull out the fun stuff on occasion to throw you for a loop, my current teaching partner is great for that. When I'm feeling creative, I appreciate a lead that will leave me room to play (at any count of a swing out, not just the 'out').
Overall, I really enjoy dancing in New Orleans, the mix of music, dancing, food, and culture is like none other. I had a fabulous time at ULHS 2011 and I hope for a repeat performance. The streets lined with excellent jazz bars makes you miss it so much once you get back home. In Waterloo, I have to say I'm reminiscent of Caesar Martini's, perhaps it is because it is where I learned to dance, but also it had a a great lounge/club feeling that was quickly made comfortable.
As posted by SwingDynamite of Ottawa and reposted by the Hep Cat Hoppers of Waterloo, the challenge to fellow swing dancers is write a post each day on the topics below. I've tossed these all on my blog so it doesn't clog up Facebook or Twitter. Here I go!
Day 1: What got you started in Lindy Hop Day 2: Your favorite place to dance Day 3: A description of your favorite partner (and why they’re your favorite) Day 4: Your favorite live band Day 5: Your favorite Lindy Hop variation dance (charleston, balboa, shag) Day 6: Your favorite group dance (shim sham, tranky doo, big apple, etc) Day 7: Something you really want to learn Day 8: Your favorite instructor Day 9: Favorite class taken Day 10: Favorite workshop weekend (Lindy Focus, Camp Hollywood, etc) or one you’d really like to attend Day 11: Favorite song(s) to dance to Day 12: Your swing crushes/favorite pros Day 13: Favorite dancing memory Day 14: Your swing group of friends Day 15: Favorite classic clip Day 16: Photo of you dancing Day 17: Favorite Styling Day 18: That move you love Day 19: That move that eludes you Day 20: Your swing shoes Day 21: Favorite outfit to wear dancing Day 22: Favorite city to dance in Day 23: A dancer you admire Day 24: Favorite pro performance Day 25: Describe the last night you went dancing Day 26: The level you think you dance at Day 27: Your goals for the year Day 28: Events you’re looking forward to Day 29: A clip you love Day 30: Why you dance
Day 1 I started Lindy Hop when Martha (Mike's housemate) was really excited about it and told me I should try it out at Caesar Martini's in the fall of 2009. I told her I don't dance (meaning club dancing). I've had 7 years of ballet as a kid and 8 years of figure skating so I was used to routines, specific moves and a certain amount of grace and athleticism in my dancing. So after chickening out one or two times, I finally go and with the help of John, I had a really great time. I had been looking for a dance that was a bit more structured and not so pelvis-y as the club stuff, so yes, gotta love that swing dancing! Started with the UW Swing Club at winter term and I've been with them ever since!
