Rennes, France – Thomas Blacharz & Alice Mei (2010)So…

So update from the last post. I made finals at the Yehoodi Strictly Lindy! Hell. Yes. Dan Repsch and Jenny Sowden went on to win, and a big congratulations to a well deserved effort on their part. Also, I was able to dance with the magnificent Nelle Cherry in Philly this weekend and took a few hours of balboa lessons with her and a small, intimate class of varying levels, which really opened up my eyes about the possibilities in the dance.

True Improvement

Everyone has these waves where sometimes we feel amazing about our dancing and every night we go out we have an awesome time. But is this when we are truely getting better as dancers?

Shopping Locally for Swing: The Triangle, NC

The Triangle Swing Dance Society has requested a post about where to shop locally for vintage or vintage-inspired swing dance clothing in the Triangle area of North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). In the spirit of shopping locally, there are a few places I would recommend to find garments, but keep in mind that this is never a sure thing – vintage shops have one of a kind items and you may have to visit a shop several times before finding anything; similarly for retailers, things that may be in stock one season will not be carried for another season. I’ll list some of the more consistent producers and some general ideas about where to look for these things.

All-Balboa Weekend – Open ACBC – Bernard Cavasa & Ann-Helene…

Balboa takes a lot of flak sometimes in the Lindy community, all in good fun of course. But this video’s a prime example of just how cool it can look. The footwork variations get me every time, not to mention the way they play with the music and hit all the breaks. This is what a bal spotlight should look like, and this is the second place performance.

Step from foot to foot, tread and progress with the same foot

This video had me in a fit of giggles, it’s so British and old fashioned, “Step from foot to foot, tread and progress with the same foot…”

How to tie a Scarf

I just got to Europe and burrrrr it’s cold! Luckily I have big winter coat on me for this trip, but the true wardrobe hero for me is my trusty scarf. If my neck is covered, I am one happy camper. But you know what makes me even happier than having a scarf? Well, I’m glad you asked! It’s knowing how to tie one “all pretty and shit.”

Sant Andreu Jazz Band

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaang! What beauuuuuuuuuutiful music this is. Not only does Andrea Motis, the lovely miss in front, have a gorgeous voice, but she is a very good saxophonist. And let’s not forget about the trumpet player! Ricard Gili’s playing is warm and vibrant and his voice reminds me of a dirty martini (can’t explain that one….just go with it). Uuuuhhh, he’s amazing!

Unique & Rare Vintage Swing Dance Clips

Discover something new.  Fall in love with something once forgotten.  And get inspired by some of these rare vintage swing and lindy hop clips.

9:20 Special Open House – Michael Terkowski, Manu Smith, &…

Here’s a neat jazz performance with three wonderful dancers. As I think I’ve stated previously, I’ve started a new job so longer and more frequent updates may be trailing off for a little. But enjoy the awesome nonetheless :D

UPDATE: New Discoveries on the Waist-Down Dancing Clip

Before we begin, a brief reminder on where we stood last week: (1) I stumbled upon some SoCal 1930s and 1940s swing dancing footage I and five or six of the hard core clip geeks I talked to had never seen before. (2) Among the clips was a mysterious couple of minutes waist-down footage that looked like it was leftover from a film shoot. No specific movie stuck out to us, but we began searching for what it was from. (3) In the clips, most interestingly, was a dancer that reminded myself and several of the world’s leading Willie Desatoff studiers of Willie Desatoff’s styling so much that we agreed it *could* be the man himself. (4) This is incredibly tantalizing, as Willie himself claimed he wasn’t in films. If it is Willie, did he forget? Was he mistaken? Or did something make him omit telling anyone about this? If it isn’t Willie, who the hell is it? And now a few of, but not all, the answers…

Less Talk, More Rokk (Rock)

A topic I have been encountering in real life and on the internet on a fairly consistent basis is anxiety related to swing dancing, usually its one of the following: “I am afraid to…”

• compete because I won’t do well/people might look down on me/I won’t make finals/people will see me dancing badly/I am not a good dancer and shouldn’t even be in this division/everyone in this division is at a skill level way higher then mine
• dance with (insert person here) because they are a really good dancer/i’m below their skill level/they are in high demand and other dancers will get upset/they are attractive.
• dance to this song because it is too fast/its too slow.

The Mobtown Ballroom Grand Opening: A Baltimore Homecoming

At the end of her second encore of the night, after playing for five hours, an exhausted Meschiya Lake motioned for everyone to kneel as she drew out her final chorus.  She then joined them on the ground, genuflecting to them as much as they were to her, and drew out a final breathless coda that brought everyone back to their feet, arms outstretched, and thanking her for helping them open this new house of a different kind of worship.