My Biggest Dance Epiphany or How I Learned the Value of Hard Work

Last year I went to an event and danced with a lead who I’ve known for years. He commented “Wow! How have you improved so much in the last 6 months?”. I was both proud and concerned: was I not very good 6 months ago? I’d like to say I am asked this question often but I’m really not. Perhaps people don’t rate my dancing enough to be interested in how I got to where I am. Or perhaps people already know the answer because they see me working on it. Or perhaps people just aren’t interested enough in improving to ask about it.

This last possibility concerns me. And so, dear Lindy Hoppers, I want to tell you a story about me and my dance journey.

I started Swing dancing for the first time in 2008 when a boyfriend said that they’d done some swing before. I was the worst kind of follow. I thought I was fantastic and proceeded to tell my partner how he was leading everything wrong. The fights that ensued meant that after a couple of months, my flirtation with swing was over for a little while.

In 2011 I tried again. I was a busy, poor uni student so didn’t even make it to classes every week, I never went to socials because I didn’t want to go alone. I mean, I was great, right, so I didn’t think I had to try.

My very first dance exchange. Don’t judge, it was a pyjama party

In October 2011 a magical thing happened. An old school friend that I hadn’t seen in 8 or so years started putting up pictures of her swing dancing on Facebook. So I contacted her, and suggested if/when we ever catch up we should go dancing together. She suggested I go to Sydney for SLX (I had to google it - The Sydney Lindy Exchange). So, quite randomly, I did. That was a magical weekend. I didn’t realise what it was to be in a room packed full of people social dancing Lindy Hop, and in the face of this big event I knew I was a complete noob, I had never really even been social dancing before! My dancing improved 10 fold over the course of 3 days of classes and socials. This is the weekend that I credit for when I decided that I would become good at this thing, and maybe a year later I remember saying it out loud: “I am going to be a great Lindy Hopper, just watch”.

The competition that Dancy-pants Nandasena won

A lot of things stick with me about that weekend, but the thing that, in hindsight, is most striking was meeting a dancer almost as new as me: one Charith Nandasena. Charith asked me how often I went to classes. My response was “Oh, every week!”, thinking that going to my weekly class every week was as often as one could possibly go! Charith’s response was “yeah, I used to only go once a week. Then I thought, ‘it’s going to take me forever to get good at this if i’m only going once a week’, now I go, maybe 3 times a week.” Needless to say, for someone who had been dancing as long as me he was a lot better than me. Less than a year later he rightly whipped my ass in the Marnie Oliver Up and Comers, a competition for lindy hoppers who’ve been dancing for 18 months or less (well, he had just come back from the biggest swing event in the world in Sweden…).

And here is where I get to the crux of my point: like life, you only get out of Lindy Hop what you put into it.

I have been teaching Lindy Hop in Brisbane for more than 3 years now. It’s not that long in the scheme of things but in that time I’ve been lucky enough to watch others on their dance journeys as they move from beginner, to intermediate, and into the advanced class. Those people, the ones who become Good Lindy Hoppers are not (necessarily) the ones that showed the most promise in their beginner classes. They are simply the ones that kept coming back. Sure, it’s going to be easier for the people who already have co-ordination, the people that can feel the groove in music, they have the potential to be great. But often, the people who have to work hard are the people who go further and become better simply because they have got into the habit of working hard.

Now, maybe it’s just that I haven’t noticed it so much before, but I’m increasingly seeing people wanting to be great dancers, or perhaps thinking that they already are, without wanting to put in any effort. At Swing Camp Oz this year one international teacher commented “Everyone is too busy arguing about what level they are in instead of actually working on their dancing, I don’t see any of the people who have complained about their level practising between classes”.

Just last week I had a friend confide in me that they had been having fights about dancing with their less experienced partner. That their partner complained that they weren’t very good but rarely went to classes, and didn’t listen to feedback from their teacher. My friend told me “when I was at that level I was going dancing every night of the week”. They said (and I paraphrase): You don’t get better at dancing just by hanging out with other dancers.

I freely admit that I was once one of those people that thought I didn’t need to work at dancing. But to finish off my story, after my wake-up call from Mister Fancy-dancy-pants Nandasena, I started going to classes multiple times a week and all the socials and workshops in Brisbane as a given. In 2012 I went to workshops at Hullabaloo, and did socials at the first BLX and MLX. In 2013 I moved in 3 other dancers, I went to Hulllabaloo AND Swing Camp Oz, I took a private with Pontus and Isabella, as well as going to social exchanges. In 2014 I went to Herrang and Jazz Bang and Sea of Rhythm for classes, I started taking a dance journal to write down and solidify my knowledge at these events.

Taking notes at Herrang, because I’m that much fun

Still taking notes at Scoz this year

In 2015 I went to still more interstate workshops and exchanges, I took privates with Michael and Evita and Steve and Chanzy - and you know what, I feel like I let my weekly average slip a little last year despite putting a lot of energy into helping start a new dance school. This year, by mid July I will have done no less than 3 week long dance camps, 2 of them international, and I have already done a one-on-one with Ramona Staffield.

I’m not trying to show off. I know that other people have far more impressive lists of event attendance than mine. Nick Grant STARTED Lindy Hop at Herrang for goodness sake! What I’m trying to say is that I worked really hard, I did as many classes, and extra practise, and as much travel as I could afford. I became an active learner, I took notes, I asked for feedback, I took ownership of my dancing and my development and where I didn't have inspiration, I went out of my way to find it. And I’m pretty proud of how far I’ve come in that time. And this year, I want to do even more because I want to be a better dancer than I currently am. I am still and forever working on my dancing.

Doing some serious learning. No-one says it can't be fun.

I hear a lot of dancers talk about the importance of social dancing with an emphasis on just having fun. I agree, social dancing is super important. The unparalleled joy of social dancing is the whole reason to go to classes and get better at dancing! Also, actively social dancing, dancing with people from different backgrounds and skill levels WILL help you be a better social dancer. And yes, you should enjoy these dances with reckless abandon (or controlled abandon maybe) and not feel pressured to be a better dancer all the time. I am, however, concerned that this emphasis on fun is to the detriment of growth and development. I worry that these dancers are missing out on some of the best things about the dance: the intrinsic value you find when you improve at something; the physical benefits of having good body control; the pleasure of being so closely connected with your partner and the music. I believe that dancing is better, more connected, more musical, more fun, when you are better at it. I believe that the only way to get better at it is by putting in the work, by acknowledging your limits and your downfalls and pushing past them. And just personally, I want my community to be one where learning and growth is valued and where people strive to be better.

Now, I know not everyone wants to be a Great Lindy Hopper. They might have other priorities or be happy to simply be a good Lindy Hopper. That’s totally cool, I don’t want to rain on your parade or make you feel bad about that choice. (As a side note, what you are “putting in” and “getting out” might be focused around supporting the community and that is super valuable to the scene too). I also know that people need to learn at their own pace and sometimes you need to step away if you are getting frustrated by too much information, or by putting too much pressure on yourself. That’s totally cool too, you should never feel bad for taking things at your own pace, you can only go as fast as you can go and these things take time (story of the hare and the tortoise, anyone?).

I just want to put out a disclaimer that if you want to be a better dancer, or you want to be in a higher level, take a long hard look at what you are doing to get there. Can you go to more classes or more socials? Can you go to workshops, and are you valuing your learning? It might be as simple as asking your teachers for feedback in class or meeting up with a partner to practise for an extra hour a week. Take ownership of it because only you can make you a better dancer. And please, PLEASE, travel interstate and overseas and get inspired to work on your dancing from the amazing people you meet there.

If you want to be a Great Lindy Hopper (or Bal dancer, or Blues dancer, or whatever your choice of dance may be) you need to work at it, because you only get out of it what you put in.

Enjoying some well deserved not-so-reckless abandon.

Dressing for Dancing - Part 3: Shoesing the right Choose

Shoes. There are just so many variables: the slickness of the sole, the heel height, the comfort factor, the floor you are dancing on and, of course, how they complete your outfit! Finding the right shoes is no easy task, and you’ll probably want different pairs for different occasions, but here are some tips to get you started.

The Sneaker

If you are to own only one pair of dance shoes, I recommend the sneaker. The sneaker is a staple with beginners and pros alike. You will see plenty of sneakers at the biggest Lindy Hop competitions in the world as well as at your local dance. Why? Because sneakers are comfortable. To tell you the truth, I find that some of the best dance sneakers are the really cheap ones from K-mart or Target – the thin, cheap rubber sole is nice and light on your feet and has a great amount of slip for a range of floor surfaces. Also, you don’t have to worry about changing shoes when you walk into a dance or worry about ruining your good shoes no matter where you walk or dance in them. I also wear Toms (www.toms.com ) for the same effect and if you’re after glitz you can get sparkly ones!

Skye and Frida know how to rock their sneakers

Laura and Jeremy can also rock the sneaker look

You can get different soles for sneakers too. You might want thicker, stickier rubber if you are on a zippy floor, dancing fast or doing aerials, you can purchase these from regular shoe stores. If you want more slick you can purchase suede soled sneakers from http://dancestore.com or get your favourite pair sueded at any good cobbler. If you feel like some DIY you can always suede your own shoes! I have done this myself with leather off cuts from a liquidation warehouse and shoe glue from Kmart (although super glue may work too). Here’s an article on DIY suede-ing: http://www.gottadance.org/DIY_suede_soles.shtml.

While we are talking about suede, suede soled shoes are fairly slick - enough for foot pivots and turns but still not as slippery as leather. The really good thing about suede is that you can change the slickness factor- if you let them get dirty and matted they’ll get extra zippy OR you can buy a suede brush to keep the suede fuzzy and a bit more grippy (a couple of drops of water will do this too). You will need to carry around extra shoes though, anything you walk through will get all up in your suede and you don’t want that!

The Oxford

Stylish, dressy, comfortable. I would assume that most experienced male swing dancers have a good pair of dress shoes for those occasions when sneakers just won’t complete their vintage inspired suit! Ladies can get in on it too. Chose a colour that will work well with your formal attire gents: a nice brown leather will go with a range of brown, grey and blue suits (as well as jeans or chinos) and feels a bit less formal than black. I’m also a fan of burgundy leather… mmmm. If you really want 2 tone black and white wing tips, who am I to stop you – you might just be the person who can rock them, but they can look a bit rock’n’roll / 90’s / “neo-swing” / gangster rather than classy 30’s vintage. Keep that in mind.

If you’re buying Oxfords, you’re looking for leather soles (rubber soles won’t be nearly as nice to dance in, trust me). Hard leather soles are the slickest sole you can get – they don’t grip like rubber and you can’t brush them like suede. Dancing in slick shoes can be an absolute dream, especially if you’re into Balboa, but if you’re not used to it you might need to practice before letting loose with some leathery Lindy. Dancing in leather soled shoes will force you to control your energy and balance because you can’t rely on your grip to stop you falling over. Controlling your energy and balance will improve your dancing, so do give it a try! (Contrarywise, sticky rubber will force you to clean up your footwork and pick up your feet, so it’s good to practice in both!) You can also wear these shoes pretty much everywhere but I will advise against dancing on bitumen in leathers – bitumen will rip holes in your lovely soles.

You can find leather soled oxfords in regular shoe stores so hit the pavement! You can also find them online. Here are my favourite places to buy both men’s and ladies oxfords!

www.saintsavoy.com
www.dancestore.com
www.shoeembassy.com
www.stacyadams.com

The Mary Jane

Comfy, dressy, flats that won’t fall off? Yes please. This one is for the ladies: if you don’t have the cudspa to wear heels just yet but need something dressier than sneakers to go with your ball dresses, a nice flat mary jane is perfect. Ballet flats will fall off with too much vigour so the strap is extra important. If you’re lucky you can find mary janes in regular shoe stores but most will have rubber soles which isn’t great for most dance surfaces. My favourite and most worn are plain black Charlie Stone’s (www.charliestone.com) with lovely leather soles. I wear them everywhere! Charlie Stone should be releasing more styles and colours soon too.

The Heels or Wedges

They look pretty and go with your fancy dresses, but heels are usually not your most comfortable option. Heels force your weight over the balls of your feet and, like leather soles, will force you to control your balance and energy. It is easier to roll your ankle in heels though so start small and slow if you’ve never danced in heels before. The thicker the sole, the more stable the shoe, so wedges are your most stable option here. DO NOT wear stilettos to a swing dance. I know other styles wear them, but the energy in lindy just makes it impractical and if you accidentally step on your fellow dancers in stilettos you will be nobody’s best friend.

If you are a Balboa dancer, heels will probably be your friend. They look graceful and lend themselves well to the energy.

You can get suede soled wedges from www.dancestore.com, and suede soled heels from www.lightinthebox.com (just search ‘dance shoes’). Many good heels will have leather soles (leather plus heel – not for the faint of heart). Remix Vintage Shoes is based in LA and does vintage styled shoes that are very popular in the swing dance scene (and the leather is oh so soft). The Balboa is possibly the most spotted shoe at most dance events. They are exuberantly priced though, check them out here: www.remixvintageshoes.com. Saint Savoy is growingly popular in swing scenes: www.saintsavoy.com. And Korea Balboa will make your shoes custom (perfect if you have weird requests… or just weird feet): www.koreabalboa.com/shoestore.htm!

Ramona Staffeld know how to rock her Remix Vintage “Balboa’s” - image by Ryan Swift https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanswift/

Of course you can dance in rubber soled heels and shoes from regular shoe stores too. Just try a little swivel or pivot in the store to check out the stickiness and a few foot flicks should tell you if they are in danger of falling off with dancing vigor.

The floor factor

The Shoes you choose are likely to be dependant on the floor you are dancing on. If you know the floor well you can be confident with your shoe choice before you leave the house. If you are dancing in a venue you don’t know it might pay to bring a few shoe choices. Wooden floors are the most common but they can differ significantly. If the floor is lacquered it’s likely to be quite sticky, if it’s waxed or polished it might be very slick. Use your leather-to-rubber scale to adapt.  Tiles will usually be quite slick, polished concrete will usually not be too slick, while bitumen will grip and ruin your soles. Oiled wood is very sticky and don’t even try to counter it by wearing your suedes- it will just get oil in your suedes and make your suede soles sticky too!

A note on floor modifiers

There are ways to change your shoes/floor without actually changing your shoes/floor. For example, if you’re in leathers or suedes a couple of drops of water will increase your friction with the floor and make you slightly ‘stickier’. Likewise, a little talc or floor wax will make the floor zippier, and dancers have been using duct tape on the soles of their rubbers for years to help them get slick. BUT if you are tempted to use these, be mindful of your fellow dancers and the venue! Floor wax may ruin the venue’s floor. Duct tape tends to peel around the edges and leave sticky residue on the floor. Talc is best use sparingly and on your shoes only rather than over the whole floor (the talc from your shoes will already make the floor slicker for everyone and perhaps not everyone will want it slick).

Dressing for Dancing - Part 2: The Vintage Dilemma

Swing dancing is intrinsically linked to the time and circumstances that it came about. Dressing in vintage is by no means a requirement but it will enhance the look and feel of your dancing. Dax Hock has written a great blog on the importance of dressing well, basically stating that being well dressed will not only make your dancing LOOK better but will make you dance better to match your clothes. It also talks about the importance of swing as a social activity. Read it here.

The problem with this is that good vintage clothing is a) rare; b) expensive; and c) delicate. And doing physical activity in rare, expensive, delicate clothing is not the greatest idea. By all means, buy vintage. But be aware of the strain your movements may put on the garment and the damage sweat can do on delicate fabrics – remember, it’s not just YOUR sweat that will get on your garments! It might be best to save your best vintage threads for special occasions or nights when you aren’t planning on dancing too much. If you are interested in finding vintage in Brisbane check out the Woolloongabba Antique Centre  for gems like Atomic Martini Vintage, the Paddington Antique Centre, SWOP in West End, Box Vintage (also in WestEnd), Retro Metro, and Ra-Ra Superstar. There are also quite often vintage fairs, markets and exhibitions to keep an eye out for!

The author doing some important "research"

Luckily, there are more and more places to get vintage reproduction so you can dress in your vintage best without the worry of destroying your 70 year old, one of a kind clothing. For the ladies: Evelyn Wood is a Brisbane dancer that hand makes vintage reproduction! Check out her great clothing here: www.evelynwood.com.au/. Kitten D’Amour is another Brisbane based company that makes fun vintage inspired clothing (www.kittendamour.com/), as is Trash Monkey (www.trashmonkey.com.au/ ). Atomic Cherry also has their warehouse in Brisbane (www.atomiccherry.com.au/). Retropec’d is based in Sydney and makes both men’s and ladies (www.retrospecd.com/). There are also countless other online stores to get your vintage fix such as:

 Unique Vintage (www.uniquevintage.com)
Trashy Diva (www.trashydiva.com/ )
Stop Staring (www.stopstaringclothing.com/ )
Bettie Page (www.bettiepage.com/)
Bitter Root Vintage (www.bitterrootvintage.com/ )
Modcloth (www.modcloth.com/ ),and of course,
Dangerfield (www.shop.dangerfield.com.au/  - you can also find it in the Myer Centre in Brisbane’s CBD).
Laura Bakker (www.laurabakker-fashion.com/shop)
The House of Foxy (www.thehouseoffoxy.com/en)
Collectif (www.collectif.co.uk)
Jitter Buggin (www.jitterbuggin.com/shop)
Loco Lindy (www.loco-lindo.3dcartstores.com/Vintage-Inspired-Dresses)
La Vie En Swing (www.lavieenswing.com)
Lindy Bop (www.lindybop.com) 

The delightful Evelyn Wood in her vintage reproduction clothing. 

It’s a bit harder to find repro vintage for the Gents but there are a few things around. I think a good pair of vintage style pants (note a higher waist and a more loose fitting than their modern equivalent) is a great investment for the gents: dress them down with a nice t-shirt for a casual vintage look or dress them up with a button up shirt and waistcoat or go the full suit. You haven’t been initiated as a swing dancer until you own something from Anton’s in Melbourne (https://www.facebook.com/Antons-Melbourne-141363892629417/timeline/), even if it is only some fancy button suspenders. Do note that Anton’s is quite ridiculously expensive! Retropec’d also have a small selection of men’s vintage trousers and Hawaiian shirts (www.retrospecd.com ). Chloe Hong can also does tailor made (http://www.fromchloehong.com/products/FROMMen/42/#none).

FROM Chole Hong

Here are some other places you might like to look for vintage style men’s clothing, but do note that men’s reproduction suiting is usually quite expensive:

The Prohibition Clothing company (http://www.prohibitionclothing.com/)
Revamp Vintage (www.revampvintage.com)
Magnoli Clothiers (http://www.magnoliclothiers.com/)
Cheetabee has suits for lindy Hoppers (http://cheetabee.com/)
 Rocacha (http://www.rocacha.com/about_us.htm)

A lovely tailored jacket from Prohibition Clothing

Revamp Vintage lets you search by era!

As a lady, I find the best way to increase my vintage glamour is with some red lipstick and some vintage inspired hair styling – it’s amazing how styling can transform even a modern outfit so don’t underestimate this power! There are plenty of tutorials on youtube if you need to up your hair/makeup game. Remember, practise makes perfect with these things.

Sharon Davis knows how to play up her vintage styling

This isn’t even getting started on shoes…. That’s a whole topic of its own! If you want more information on vintage or vintage reproduction clothing for swing dancing, check out http://lindyshopper.com/ or http://www.swingfashionista.com .

Dressing for Dancing - Part 1: Comfort vs Style

Okay, so here’s the thing: dancing is a physical activity, and you want to be comfortable when doing physical activities. You want clothes that will breathe, that won’t restrict you or rub in the wrong places and that will support you in the right places. But here’s the other thing: swing dancing is a social activity. Not only that, but it comes from a time when people got dressed up to do social activities. So we can’t get so carried away with comfort that style looses out!

Obviously you’ll need to strike a balance between the comfort factor and the style factor. Gone are the days when I wear floor length gowns I can barely breathe in to a ball. If I’m going to a dance I want to be able to actually dance without tripping on my dress or passing out from lack of oxygen. No lead wants to have to worry about splitting their pants and almost every lead has done it at some point. This means you’ll have to perform some tests on your chosen outfit when you are about to go dancing (and every time you buy new clothes for the rest of your life). The Squat test (lunges and high kicks too, if that’s your style). The Spin test for skirts or dresses – and not just the spin test but the stopping spinning test because the continued momentum of the skirt usually has worse consequences. And my favourite: the Arm Lift Test, because if my sleeves are too restrictive I’m going to have trouble with turns and pass-bys.

Stylish yet dancable. That’s how you do it! Photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eric00000007/10391380096

The nature of the event will dictate just where you should land on the comfort to style scale. Many weekend events will have a ball night with a dress code where you want to be up the style end of the spectrum, but most people change into something more comfortable before the late night parties. Workshops are on the other end of the spectrum – if you’re spending a big day or a weekend dancing make sure you are comfortable and have lots of changes of shirts for when you sweat through them. This is when you’re allowed to get out your yoga pants or basket ball shorts. You don’t need to dress up for regular classes or socials (unless you want to) but remember that you are attending a social activity where you are not only meeting new people but you are asking them to touch you: it’s nice to be clean and presentable.

Casual and comfortable for class

We can't all sweat love like Nicholas Grant

Speaking of people touching you, you should also consider the comfort of those you are going to dance with.  We all sweat –and it doesn’t take long for newer dancers to notice that the more experienced guys bring multiple shirts and small sweat towels EVERYWHERE: classes, socials, workshops. Wearing an undershirt under your dress shirt also helps to soak up some extra liquids. Lots of bare sweaty skin isn’t so nice either – it becomes slippery with nothing to soak it up. I don’t particularly like putting my hand on a sweaty bicep if my lead has chosen to wear a singlet, and I wouldn’t wear anything backless for the same reason. When it comes to dresses – I find that anything strapless will end up facing the wrong way. I also find full skirts or petticoats too fussy and just get in the way (they are also not era accurate for swing- petticoats are really a 50s thing, but I digress).

Swing dancers are a pretty non-judgemental group of people on the whole: we still embrace the guy who shows up to every ball in board shorts and when we do costumes, we go all out. It’s easy to feel comfortable enough to leave your pants at home (but don’t)! Just remember that a little effort goes a long way, so embrace the idea of “going out” to a dance.

Balboa on the River - Australian Balboa Championship 2015

The 2015 Australian Balboa Championships were held on the 26th of September in Brisbane as part of Balboa on the River.

The final placings were:
1st - Robert Edwards & Emma Hadfield
2nd - Max & Catherine Pogonowski
3rd - Steve Murphy & Leigh Davis.

1st All Skate

1st Spotlight - Andrew Amotte & Christina Branton

1st Spotlight - Jason Henderson-Boys & Karolina Windloch

1st Spotlight - Luke Serrano & Nicki Jackson

1st Spotlight - Robert Edwards & Emma Hadfield

1st Spotlight - Shaun Strong & Emma Wainright

1st Spotlight - Steve Murphy & Leigh Davis

1st Spotlight - Max & Catherine Pogonowski

2nd Spotlight - Andrew Amott & Christina Branton

2nd Spotlight - Jason Henderson-Boys & Karolina Windloch

2nd Spotlight - Luke Serrano & Nicki Jackson

2nd Spotlight - Robert Edwards & Emma Hadfield

2nd Spotlight - Shaun Strong & Emma Wainright

2nd Spotlight - Steve Murphy & Leigh Davis

2nd Spotlight - Max & Catherine Pogonowski

2nd All Skate

The Gangsters Ball: Sequins, Suspenders and Nipple Tassels

The Gangsters Ball is an annual vintage themed night of entertainment complete with its own vaudeville show, gambling den, and live swing band. The event has been running for eight years and aims to recreate a 1930s speakeasy club in style and atmosphere. The event runs in Sydney and Melbourne as well as at the Tivoli Theatre in Brisbane and I just happened to be there last Saturday night.

Crowded dancefloor at the Gangster's Ball

Part of the fun of the Gangsters Ball is being part of the show: the event relies on the attendees dressing up, interacting with the settings, gambling and dancing to create the atmosphere. The dress code is 20s to 50s and everyone goes all out with their costumes. There has been a tendency in the past for women to wear nothing more than corsets and fishnets, but it was nice to see costumes were a bit classier this year with some fabulous sequined dresses and 30s silk gowns. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the gambling is fake, and most of the night the dance floor is full of girls dancing around handbags and covered in spilled alcoholic beverages- 2 parts slick, 1 part sticky. Of course, that doesn’t stop any self respecting swing dancer when the music swings- we even escaped the dance floor during the second band set to dance on far less crowded and consistently floored carpet next to the side bar. There’s no stopping us.

Acrobatica and their amazing skills

The cabaret part of evening is… a mixed bag. The best act by far was Acrobatica: a team of 3 men competing to show us the most impressive feats of acrobatic strength. The Redheaded Pocket Rocket was also fantastically entertaining with her insane hula hooping skills and her glitter platforms. Now, I don’t mind a bit of burlesque but the burlesque acts failed to impress the crowd. I’ve seen some wonderfully unique, funny burlesque around the swing scene but the three ladies from Saturday night, while great performers, were all kind of samey with nothing more to entertain the crowd but some sexy moves and their nudity. The women weren’t that impressed by the nudity and the men felt awkward cheering for naked women. The best of the Burlesque was Sina King, aka Miss Burlesque Australia 2011, who had sparkly red lips and shot ‘Sina King’ money out of a money gun to great applause. There was also some mildly amusing so-bad-they’re-funny magicians to fill out the line-up. The star of the show was the presenter: Aurora Kurth aka Chanteuse - an hilarious, eccentric, character with a terrible fake french accent but a surprisingly fantastic singing voice. She actually made the night.

MC Chanteuse

But what about the dancing? Well, while the Gangsters Ball seems to have a bit more of a focus on swing dancing and even has swing performers in Sydney and Melbourne, they don’t seem to emphasise the dancing up here in little ol’ Brisbane. It has been a couple of years since they had Brisbane dancers perform, we get the feeling they didn’t like cleaning the floor of spilled drinks and broken glass for them. The band, The Lucky Seven Orchestra, played some good dance numbers, but they also played some crooner songs as well as a lot of neo swing. It is also curious that while the Gangsters Ball used local bands in Sydney and Melbourne, they felt the need to fly an Adelaide band up for the Brisbane gig.

[As a side note, we luckily got a head start on our dancing fix at the Jubilee Hotel before the Gangsters Ball - a small band played in-the-pocket swing for a couple of hours and oh boy, were they good! They call themselves Dan's Hot 5, they play there every Thursday from 4-6pm and some of them also play with the Rhythm Society Dance Orchestra. So check them out when you can!]

So…. Gangsters Ball: to go or not to go? It is definitely a fun night out. It is not the best place to go if you are itching to dance BUT you do get to dress up in your vintage finery and have a dance (which is still fun). If you’re going to do it make sure you bring a group of dance friends along (BYO partners is pretty much required at this gig, you can’t rely on other dancers attending unless you’ve talked to them) and feel free to bring along your non-dancing friends to show them how awesome vintage style and entertainment is!

What is swing music?

The first thing to say in an article like this is that there is more contradiction and disagreement about the word “swing” than perhaps any other word in the English language. You may get a glimpse of that from reading the quotations at the end. I have compiled this information as my own take on this vexing question and I hope that it will help shed some light on the topic for other curious swing kids.

Swing is a type of jazz that evolved from the original Dixieland jazz that first appeared in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th century. Big band swing became the most popular music in the United States from 1935 to 1946 and so that period became known as the Swing Era (also frequently referred to as the Big Band Era). During that time the most popular evening activity for young people was going to dance halls to have fun socialising and strutting their stuff. The dance halls were big and options for amplification were limited, so in order to be audible the bands grew in size (15-20 musicians) and contained loud acoustic instruments such as trumpets, saxophones, trombones, clarinets, and drums.

Since the music was aimed at keeping the dancers out on the floor pumping their feet, rhythm was the most critical element of any good dance orchestra. A rhythm section usually consisted of a drummer, a guitarist, and a double base. They kept the band moving ahead like a juggernaut on rails, with “four heavy beats to a bar and no cheating”, as Count Basie would say. Rather than a hard hit, a swing beat had more of a strong pulsing flow. Usually there was little or none of the back-beat that would later become one of the main characteristics of rock and roll music.

The rest of the band would usually "swing" the melody. That is to say they would play it with a triplet subdivision of the beat into crotchets and quavers (quarter notes and eighth notes), which some dancers interpreted by incorporating a triple-step in two beats. The rhythm of a *swung* triple-step goes long-short-long, which sounds and feels quite different to a *straight* triple-step of short-short-short or cha-cha-cha, as done in one particular Latin dance. A couple of other examples of swung footwork in swing dancing are the Stomp-off and the Kick-ball-change. 

You can examine a comparison of swung vs straight melody by listening to Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw’s versions of Stardust. Both men played the clarinet and led their respective bands, but Benny swung the melody and Artie played it straight.

"The distance between me and Benny, was that I was trying to play a musical thing, and Benny was trying to swing. Benny had great fingers; I'd never deny that. But listen to our two versions of 'Star Dust.' I was playing; he was swinging." - Artie Shaw

Sometimes the melody section would also hang back slightly behind the rhythm section. This would create the feeling of a loose, easy, relaxed style that appealed to the hep young things of the day. An illusion this technique may have created can be gleaned from a quote by Duke Ellington, “Swing music is when it sounds like the music is getting faster, but it isn't”. Most modern music, by contrast, is modelled more on a Latin music trend, which is to advance the melody slightly ahead of the rhythm to give it a more energetic feel.

Although most swing songs featured musicians taking solos and often incorporated call and response between different elements of the band, the singers and soloists were generally not highlighted in such a way as to distract from the driving rhythm. Singers were just another instrument in the band and tended to blend in, rather than stand out. However, all of that started to change after the second world war.

In the late 40s and early 50s many big band musicians became dissatisfied playing for dancers and wanted to show off their unique technical ability and creativity to an audience of delighted listeners. Woody Herman was quoted as saying "Jitterbuggers would dance to windshield wipers if nothing else was available" (As a jitterbug of the new millennia, I disagree with Woody). Soloists became the focus of a performance and “more interesting” musical stylings were developed that could not be followed reliably by dancers. Hence, Bebop was born and it spelled the decline of wonderfully complex social dance styles such as Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and the Lindy Hop.

People still wanted dance music, of course, and thanks to new amplified guitars, small bands playing simple blues rhythms with an accentuated backbeat could keep them rocking and rolling all night long. But, as dance music lost some of its layers and subtlety, so too did the dance, and kids have been jumping up and down obtusely ever since (get off my lawn!). Although I have to admit, modern Hip Hop dancing is pretty cool ;)

It must be mentioned here that swing is not just a noun used to refer to a type of music. Many people think of swing as an adjective or a verb used to describe a cohesive rhythmic "feel" in a jazz context. It has also been referred to as an elusive quality that some people use to describe music they like, e.g., “That really swings!”

If you are looking for some great old swing music here are some names to get you started: Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Charlie Barnett, Chick Web, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Artie Shaw, Slim Gaillard, Django Reinhardt, Fats Waller, Erskine Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, Lionel Hampton, and Jimmie Lunceford.

If you are looking for some great recent recordings, performed for modern swing dancers, in an authentic swing-era style then check out Jonathan Stout, Glenn Crytzer, Naomi and her Hansom Devils, Gordon Webster, The Mint Juilip Jazz Band, Falty & the Defects, The Careless Lovers, The boilermaker Jazz Band, and the Blue 4 Trio. You can find many of their swing albums available to buy from their websites or the friendly people at www.cdbaby.com and you could also try www.bandcamp.com.

For those looking for a great live dance band in Australia, keep your eyes out for this fantastic group in Brisbane, Andrew Garton and his Pantheon of Swing 

Quotes from musicians who were a part of the swing era:

“If you play a tune and a person don't tap their feet, don't play the tune." - Count Basie

"I, of course, wanted to play real jazz. When we played pop tunes, and naturally we had to, I wanted those pops to kick! Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch." - Count Basie

“You get that right tickin' rhythm, man, and it's ON!" - Fats Waller

"This is so nice, it must be illegal." - Fats Waller

"I think at one time every drummer wanted to play like Krupa or wanted to win a Gene Krupa drum contest. This is the big inspiration for drummers and naturally it has to be the same way for me." - Buddy Rich

"I play a percussion instrument, not a musical saw; it needs no amplification. Where it's needed, they put a microphone in front of the bass drum. But, I don't think it's necessary to play that way every night." - Buddy Rich

"But primarily, the drummer's supposed to sit back there and swing the band." - Buddy Rich

"I never had much interest in the piano until I realized that every time I played, a girl would appear on the piano bench to my left and another to my right."  - Duke Ellington

"Playing 'Bop' is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing." - Duke Ellington

"Don't push it. Just let it fall." - Duke Ellington

"Man, if you have to ask what it is, you’ll never know." - Louis Armstrong

There is two kinds of music, the good, and the bad. I play the good kind. - Louis Armstrong

"[Bebop is] Chinese music." - Louis Armstrong

"By giving the public a rich and full melody, distinctly arranged and well played, all the time creating new tone colors and patterns, I feel we have a better chance of being successful. I want a kick to my band, but I don't want the rhythm to hog the spotlight." - Glenn Miller

Note: Personally I feel this is why Miller's later work veered away from dance audiences to become more for a listening crowd. Some of his most famous numbers, such as In The Mood, are avoided by modern swing-dance DJs for this reason. However, some of his lesser known dance numbers are among the hardest driving swings songs ever recorded.

"Black and white players hadn't appeared together in public before Teddy Wilson and I began working with Benny Goodman." - Lionel Hampton

Note: I've included this quote to briefly touch on the fact that swing music played an important role in progressing the world towards a brighter future.

It's the same old syncopation, ... Once again it sweeps the nation, ... Rhythm had its seasons, Summer, Fall and Spring. And they started dancing, now they call it Swing. -- Billie Holiday, 1937

"Swing is an adjective or a verb, not a noun. All jazz musicians should swing. There is no such thing as a swing band in music." - Artie Shaw

"Somebody asked me once, ‘Do you think that swing will ever come back?’ And I said, ‘Do you think the 1938 Form will ever come back?’" - Artie Shaw

"It's just swinging. If we don't swing, it isn't jazz. That's all. That's all we've got is swinging. How are you going to swing if you don't swing hard? How can you swing easy? Even if you play soft, you have to swing hard. Jazz is going to sell itself; it doesn't need any names like 'hard bop.'" --Art Blakey

“Some folks say that Swing won't stay, and it's dying out. But I can prove it's in the groove, and they don't know what they're talking about.” -- from the song Wham! composed by Eddie Durham

Music to get you started!

One of the most common things we get asked in our beginner classes is "Where do I find music to practice to at home?" When I started dancing the best way to find swing dancing music was to trawl through CDs at second hand sales or music stores.  Luckily we now live in a time when music can be accessed instantly in so many new ways!  It doesn’t matter if you like using the iTunes store, eMusic, Google Music, Spotify, Bandcamp or Amazon, they all have great music for dancing!  This post is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but just a guide to where to start looking for the music you love.  There will be many more posts in the future about specific artists and music styles.

There is a whole lot of music that falls into the umbrella of swing, but not all of it is terrific for dancing and some music that is great for dancing wouldn't traditionally be classified as swing.  I think the best place to start collecting music for swing dancing is in some terrific compilation albums that have been released over the years. 

Image: http://www.frankiemanning.com/

The first is Really Swingin’ – Frankie Manning’s Favorites.  Frankie Manning was an amazing man and a talented dancer who danced not only back in the swing era, but also during the recent swing dancing revival that started in the 1990’s.  This collection of Frankie’s favourite songs is a great place to find a bunch of different beginner friendly tunes.

Another good swing dancing compilation is For Dancers Only: A Lindy Hop Compilation.  This collection covers a wide variety of swing styles and artists and is all dance friendly.

Once you have sampled these compilations you can start further exploring artists that you like and enjoy dancing to.  Some artists that I would recommend from the Big Band Era would be Count Basie (link includes our namesake song) , Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford and Ella Fitzgerald.  Modern Bands producing great swing music now include Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five, Gordon Webster, Glenn Crytzer and Casey MacGill.  Closer to home in Brisbane we are lucky to have the Rhythm Society Dance Orchestra and the Caxton St Jazz Band playing in our home town.  

My personal dancing favourite: Count Basie

These are some links and names that should help you to start finding music for dancing, but there is one very important thing to remember: swing dancing is about expressing yourself and the joy you feel when listening to the music.  Swing dancing is always better when the music you are dancing to makes you want to dance, so find that music.  It doesn't matter if it wasn't recorded in the 1930's, it doesn't matter who it is by and it doesn't matter what other people think about it.  If the music makes you (and your partner) want to dance, if the music brings out that joy in you, then that is the perfect music for you to dance to.

Barbara Morrison sang with many of the swing greats back in the day and is still performing today. http://barbaramorrison.com/

What is your favourite song / album / artist to dance to?  Comment below, I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Learn to Swing Dance with Corner Pocket Swing

So, you want to learn to dance but have no idea where to start? You have come to the right place! At Corner Pocket we have beginners starting their dancing journey every single week.

Swing dance includes a range of vintage dances from the 1920s-40s including Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, Blues and Shag, all danced to swing music. Sometimes danced with a partner and sometimes alone, it’s hard to wipe the smile off your face when you’re swing dancing.

Beginner Lindy Hop classes are held at 6:30pm on a Tuesday night at the Normanby Hotel on Musgrave Rd in Red Hill and at 6:30pm on a Thursday night at the Danish Club in Newstead. Every class is aimed at beginners so you can start any week!

We also teach beginner Balboa at 7:15pm on a Monday night at the Danish club 36 Austin Street Newmarket. Balboa is a close-connected partner dance with lead and follow roles, and a really beautiful dance.

Whilst it’s always fun to come with a friend, we will rotate partners throughout the class, so a partner is not necessary. People often ask us what to wear to a class, and the answer is whatever you feel comfortable in! Many of our dancers wear casual clothes or come straight from work, others prefer to dress up in vintage fashion. Flat comfy shoes are a good idea too, if you can swivel and move about on the floor easily, even better.

If you have any questions, check out our website or ask us below! We look forward to seeing you in a class!

Postmodern Jukebox: Old School Cool

Image from http://www.motherjones.com/files/postmodern-jukebox.jpg

Scott Bradlee has come a long way in the past couple of years – from recording in his tiny basement apartment in NYC with a couple of friends to touring internationally with sell-out shows across Australia’s biggest cities. It seems that Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, which has rapidly risen to fame through the power of YouTube, is a force to be reckoned with.

This is fantastic news for us swing dancers! We can now swing-out to our favourite (and least-favourite) modern pop songs and classic rock songs thanks to Bradlee’s vintage style covers of artists from The White Stripes to Britney Spears and everything in between.

I was lucky enough to see Postmodern Jukebox live in their first ever Brisbane show on their first ever Australian tour last Saturday.  Let me say: WOW. Apparently Scott Bradlee just collects the best singers in the world and tours with them now. The talent on stage was phenomenal. And it wasn’t just the singers – their percussion session included world renowned tap dancer Sarah Reich who tore the house down with her sweet rhythms. We exchanged chit chat with her after the show about Swedish swing dance camp Herrang (which Sarah agreed is the “happiest place on earth”) and the cross overs between the tap and swing worlds.

Our image from the Brisbane performance

All the musicians were flawless and the MCs charismatic but when all but one musician left the stage it was clear to see just how talented Scott Bradlee the man actually is. He gave us a taste of his old party trick – collecting 5 names of artists or songs and mashing them together on the spot in an improvised piano solo. It’s amazing how well Bohemian Rhapsody goes with a little Justin Bieber, Mama Mia, Uptown Girl and the Ghostbusters theme song!

The band played favourites Creep, No Diggity, Oops I Did It Again, All About that Bass and the stunning Hozier song Take Me To Church. Sadly they left out Macklemore’s Thrift Shop - “Grandpa Style” - the song that seemed to start all the interest back in February 2013, and the hot jazz version of Stacy’s Mom. Not all the songs were *swing*-danceable, but others you couldn’t help but swing out to, and even though the floor was dark, fairly crowded and carpeted we still danced to more than half the set.

Corner Pocket Swing dancers with Maiya Sykes.

If you haven’t jumped on the PMJ bandwagon yet it’s time to get on board. It’s refreshing to hear great songs covered with a twist, and there's something satisfying in hearing a Justin Bieber cover that’s so much better than Justin Bieber. With 100 videos on YouTube and around 7 albums released you’re sure to find your favourite song turned into your new/old favourite song!

Not only that, but PMJ’s style of turning new into old (and thus into new again) is raising the profile of Motown, soul and SWING music. And if interest in swing music converts a few more dancers for us to dance with, well, all the better!