Teaching Tool: Using Routines As Class Material

Recently I have been finding that using famous routines on youtube is a great way to teach my students Lindy Hop technique and vocabulary, in addition to inspiring them about the dance.

Anatomy of a Choreography: “Chimes at the Meeting”

Over the last year, I’ve been performing a solo jazz cane routine at various camps and shows. Following its performance, I often get asked questions about how I came up with the idea, or how I worked on it, my inspirations, etc. Since I had such a fun time working on that piece, I thought it’d also be fun to write about making it.

Dax Hock’s triple step drill sequence

Lots of people have blogged about this and you can find other people’s posts here and here. So for my benefit…

Jammin’ the blues – Marie Bryant’s exit from a Russian kick into swivels

Ok so it’s not exactly a variation but I can’t stop watching this clip, Jammin’ the blues:

Kate Hedin demos a rock step substitution

Kate Hedin and Jason Niesz demonstrate various simple variations in a Jam Cellar Building Your Basics Swing series. A nice, simple rock step substitution is shown in the second half of the video.

The “Ready” Position

Are you ready to be moved as a follow? If you… …are leaning back from your shoulders (instead of keeping you chest over the balls of you feet) you are going to feel off balance, and be hard to move.

Savoy kicks swing out variation – Jean Ma and Bromley Palamountain

Jean Ma and Bromley Palamountain demo a Savoy kicks swing out variation in a 9:20 Special class.

Drill, Daddy, Drill

In addition to being a great song by Dorothy Ellis, “Drill, Daddy, Drill” is a useful motto for any dancer. Most swing dance instruction focuses on moves, styling and technique. It’s not often that you see swing dancers practice turns across the floor like ballet dancers. I’m not saying that it never happens. We include it in our classes occasionally. But as an instructor getting people started with social dancing, many who have little to no dance experience, there are often other priorities like having fun and getting some sort of rhythmic pulse into the body.

MMM! Sweet Spots in Dancing

Patrick and Natasha demo kick, kick, ball change, ball change swing out variation

Patrick Szmidt and Natasha Ouimet demo a kick, kick, ball change, ball change swing out variation in a 9:20 Special extensions class.

Swivels to suit your body shape?

Jo Hoffberg has pulled together a large collection of photos of followers swivelling to analyse their lines. I think these are just photos showing the styles Jo likes but even so the range of body positions is considerable.

Tips & Tricks Thursday: The Hard Stuff with Nick Williams…

This one’s interesting. The lead-in for both of the moves taught in this video are deceptively simple. The trick is in finding new things to do once you’re in a certain position after the initial lead in.