Rabbits and Toasters was founded in 2010 and features manually selected articles from the best dance blogs on the web. The site is updated several times a day, check back often. Do you run a blog you think should be apart of the network? Send us an email.
Dance Articles Archives
ILHC 2011: Hurri-Quake EditionSeptember 18, 2011That he’s a good dancer is apparent. You might have heard that he won first place if you looked it up. I saw him mostly working with the Juniors program, wrangling two dozen kids all weekend. But those aren’t the reasons why I like this guy. In the midst of coming to ILHC for the first time after only Lindy Hopping for about a year, preparing to compete, and helping with all those kids during one of his precious few free moments he asked Tena if there was anything else he could do. |
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Dance Etiquette by Atomic BallroomSeptember 07, 2011I think this is a pretty solid list which I found on the Atomic Ballroom website and figured I’d repost and add a little (remember, I’m a tad sarcastic)! |
Cleveland’s “Junior Jitterbugs” Win Junior Championships in International CompetitionSeptember 05, 2011Last weekend, a group of Cleveland elementary school kids brought home the top prizes in the junior division at the International Lindy Hop Competition held in Washington DC ideastream’s Mhari Saito reports. |
The Etiquette of StealingSeptember 03, 2011I was watching the nifty SWLindyFest 2011 DVD given out at ILHC, and the jam on the DVD shows what in my opinion is a pretty good example of good stealing etiquette (note: this YouTube clip is NOT the camera the DVD uses). Now, it’s not like I think good stealing etiquette is what we dancers should be worrying about at the moment. But I figured, what the hell. |
ILHC from the Outside.August 30, 2011Confession: I didn’t get my ticket to ILHC, and ended up hunkering down with my wife and the kitties while everyone else basked in the dance awesomeness. But like many other dancers, I’ve been soaking in videos, and decompressing with friends about the event. I want to give a shout out to Max Desens who made the finals of the open Jack and Jill. A year and a half ago, the boy couldn’t even do a swing out, and now he’s turned into a rockstar. His work ethic around dancing has been amazing, and its been a joy and a privilege to teach him. |
How to Handle Awkward Situations in Dancing…August 30, 2011We’ve all been there – the awkward, creepy, or uncomfortable social dance. You’ve just met this person and within the first two-counts they’ve shoved their pelvis towards you or clamped themselves around your leg. Okay. Okay. So many of the dances we enjoy – like Blues, Swing, Salsa, Bachata and West Coast Swing – involve slinky closed positions with occasional flirtatious styling. And of course we know from personal experience that it takes some time to become adept at social dance etiquette, so we are lenient with newcomers. Usually, the creepy guy (or gal) is simply misunderstood and/or lacking in social skills to know that they’re being too touchy or making you uncomfortable. |
Social to Dancing.August 18, 2011The very term “Social Dancing” implies two very different types of activities coming together, socializing and dancing. I often find it hard to do both at the same time. I can talk to a partner, but then I can barely dance with her. Or I can dance, but its hard to talk when your partner is whipping through a swingout. There’s also the option to sit a dance out to have a more involved conversation, but that can be a challenge, too, if you’re trying to talk over the music. In the past few weeks, I’ve had two experiences at the opposite end of a spectrum that have gotten me thinking more about the nature of social dancing. |
Interview with Tim Vail, Deaf Lindy HopperAugust 16, 2011Tim Vail is a Lindy Hopper in Rochester New York. At a workshop weekend we taught there, Kate danced with Tim, and only after dancing, when he signed the words “thank you,” did she realize he was deaf. Around this time I myself was thinking of my teaching in terms of its visual impact versus the things I said. My first thought was to interview Tim, who could not only talk a lot about his unique experience as a student, but also possibly open up our minds about how dance can be experienced. |
Level Jumping in Lindy Hop: A Metacognative Deficiency ProblemAugust 10, 2011The definition of “levels” and how dancers place themselves in those “levels” has always been a source of debate in the Lindy Hop community. Many of us have gone to events where they have level auditions in order to make sure dancers in the advanced or masters track is are the level appropriate for the material, Mike “The Girl” Legett actually writes a nice article about this topic. For those of us who have organized workshops, figuring out how to carefully word level descriptions in hopes that people can police themselves is a struggle. |
Funky movement!August 10, 2011I'm taking a quick step out from the recesses of the internet-less world to show you a couple things I'm really diggin' on, lately. I find that I'm really attracted (as always) to neat rhythms, but also to some unique body movement shapes that are popping up here and there in the lindy hop world. |
Reminiscing about SwingAugust 07, 2011One of my favorite swing dance related publications to read of all time is Cameron Seller’s “Reminiscing about Swing: When It was a Subculture“. Cameron gives amazing insight to what it was like to become a member of the swing dance community during the last 90′s in Washington D.C. with all that entailed from finding new venues, meeting new friends, to competition. |
Reflections on SincerityJuly 26, 2011This past weekend I attended Camp Hollywood XIV, while I could talk about what I got out of the classes I took or how awesome the music was, there is a theme from this weekend that still resonates soundly with me. That theme is the idea of sincerity in ones dancing. |
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