The Jam Cellar || Swing Dance and Lindy Hop

A few things to note

1.

Tonight's DJ is Mike Marcotte.

2.

Tonight's the final class of Social Moves, a very successful series highlighting fancy social moves. For intermediate and Advanced students.

3.

Next week begins a Solo Charleston series taught by guest instructor Abigail Browning. You won't want to experience July without it.

4.

Usher in July with the Boilermakers! at Jam Cellar next week. Being Boilermakers, we will blame the hot temperature on them.

5.

Important things to do to enjoy Jam Cellar in the summer: Our DJs tend to play slower music in the summer, in order to make it always an enjoyable dancing experience. However, the old salts of the venue know a few tricks to make it even more enjoyable: bring a sweat towel, a few changes of shirts, and a fresh one for the ride home. Pace yourselves on the dance floor, and make a summer night at the Jam Cellar a big social night to talk with good friends or make new ones.

7.

There will be a much more interesting Jam Cellar Email Next week.

We are a horrible, horrible sham.

The upcoming Brooks Teglar concert so lauded in our previous email was given the wrong date. It is this SATURDAY, June 27. 8 p.m. free lesson, 9 p.m. dancing. That is all. I will now go back to hitting my head repeatedly with my mother's journalism award.

The Jam Cellar's arch nemesis,

Allen Kerr, will take over Jam Cellar tonight with his sensuous swing. We will be enslaved to his charms.

Social Moves Tonight

(Week4 of 5) Tonight, we continue our series geared towards incredible lead and follow moves. Ifn' you're an intermediate/advanced dancer, it's for you.

Brooks Teglar goes Gene Krupa all over everyone's asses

This guy bases his drumming on that of legends like Gene Krupa and Chick Webb, so you know it's gonna be tight. Glenn Echo, this Friday. Presented in cooperation with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Inc., the National Park Service and Montgomery County, MD.

Next Month: Solo Charleston Routine

Next month, Jam Cellar guest teacher Abigail Browning will teach a solo Charleston routine for our Inter/adv classes.

Boilermaker Jazz Band July 7

We'll celebrate America's birthday by bringing in the Boilermaker Jazz band for our Tuesday night dance. Happy Birthday, America. We got you a tie.

I apologize,

Loyal readers, but I'm so exhausted from the All Balboa Weekend that I'm just gonna give the facts today. (And, well, a little note)

BOOM. DJ Naomi Uyama,fresh from her incredible singing with the Boilermaker Band in Cleveland.

Social Move Heaven

(Week 3 of 5) Tonight, we continue our series geared towards incredible lead and follow moves. Ifn' you're an intermediate/advanced dancer, it's for you.

Brooks Teglar will drum and your soul will cry

This guy bases his drumming on that of legends like Gene Krupa and Chick Webb, so you know it's gonna be tight. Glenn Echo, June 27. Presented in cooperation with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Inc., the National Park Service and Montgomery County, MD.

A Quick Note on The Balboa

Recently, I've heard a few people in the "Lindy scene" put down the "Balboa scene." There was a lot of this about five years ago, most focusing on this criticism: most Balboa dancers have a stick up a certain part of their body and are too worried about doing moves and patterns and looking like their teachers and never seem to be feeling the music or are even alive. I stopped hearing these criticisms awhile back, but now I'm afraid it is just because people don't say this stuff to my face now that I teach it.

A few years ago, this criticism made sense, and for totally understandable reasons (the scene was still really young, small, and very few people knew how to comfortably play around with the dance to the extent that they could interpret the music and express themselves). But times are changing, and recent events like this year's All Balboa Weekend are proving that Balboa is doing great work towards destroying that criticism. There were plenty examples this weekend of people dancing in the moment, feeling the music, showing off their own style, and making Balboa look damn near electric.

It makes me hope the recent complaints I've heard are merely the ghosts of old grievances-a first impression the dance has yet to shake off. If you haven't already, I hope you will see some Balboa soon that will make you to say "Damn, that was inspiring."

Please don't forget the following…

1. Jam Cellar has a free beginner swing lesson every Tuesday at 9.
2. Our website has really exciting information. www.thejamcellar.com.
3. Every six weeks we begin either a Lindy Hop beginner series, or a building-on-your-basic Lindy Hop series.
4. Everyone is welcome to our dances and we usually have a full dance floor; there is, of course, space for one more…YOU. 5. Jerry Almonte is tonight's designated driver in the DJ booth.

Social Moves for Intermediate Advanced dancers

Hey Mr. Flash and Mrs. Trash, how'd you like to learn some incredibly attractive social dance moves? Come by tonight for week 2 of our 5 week series. Taught by all dimensions of the Jam Cellar Crew.

Beginner class begins soon

Jam Cellar's famous 6-week Beginner Lindy Hop series is starting again June 16 (next week!) Get information and tell your friends about it by clicking on the word "plagulagatious"

Brooks Teglar Drums Your Ass Off

There are only a few drummers in the world who drum in that Chick Webb big band style. We'll be having one of the best perform for us June 27 at Glen Echo. Put it on your calendars!

Old Timer Still Thinks it's 1998.

Gilfred "Legsy" McGoo, an original dancer from the Savoy era, apparently still thinks it's 1998. "I don't' like all these kids wearing bright suits and stuff, we didn't wear that to the Savoy. We wore shark skin suits. Dressed nice, Jack." He said at a recent forum.

"No one knows how to dance to the music. Not that I blame them, because the music today is all wrong. We used to dance to Chick Webb, Jack. I don't think anyone here's ever heard of him." When asked about the Zoot suits he apparently saw all over the dance floor, McGoo commented "I'd almost rather see everyone in jeans than dressed like that. No, I take that back. I hope that day never comes."

Up-and-coming follow can't wait for current teachers to get pregnant.

Linda Robinson, an up-and-coming follow from Jasper, Texas, reportedly can't wait for current teachers to get pregnant , "or, you know, quit dancing," so that she will once and for all have the opportunity to be a professional swing dance instructor and general authority on swing dancing.

"I mean, once they have kids, I figure they'll stop dancing professionally. Then it'll be time for the next generation to start teaching. And maybe then I can get a partner out of it, too."

At last count, there were approximately 63 up-and-coming follows in her peer group.

Nick Williams invents new style of swing dancing simply so that he can become world champ ion at another swing dance form

Having been awarded a World Champion in Lindy Hop, Balboa, and Collegiate Shag, Nick Williams has begun inventing a new form of swing dance he can begin competing in. "It's based on a collection of cool looking mistakes I saw people make in vintage clips." Williams told reporters. "Overall, it'll allow me to be a little more musical, I think."

So I'm at Camp Jitterbug…

Where everyone in the city looks like a Lindy Hopper, and I'm talking to this Australian woman. She mentions that her husband was in Baltimore this last weekend. The whole reason he was in Baltimore is apparently because he loves the show The Wire so much, and he wanted to see all the landmarks in the show (BTW, if you haven't seen The Wire, but like detective or cop shows, you'd probably love it. It's amazing). So, he walks around the city, alone and without a map, which is something that only television film crews with lots of bright lights would ever do. He gets to Pratt street and suddenly is in the middle of a group of drug dealers, and seconds after that, is in the middle of a group of flashing police cars. A screaming police officer throws him against the wall, searches him, and asks what the hell he's doing walking around that part of town. "He was so happy." she said. "It was just like The Wire."

For those of you who want a glimpse into the dangerous and squallid lives of those of us who live in B'more, where we live one day at a time, bring a forty and come out to dance to the Baltimore Dixieland band Sac Au Lait. They've still got some community service left on their sentences, so they'll be playing at least two and a half hours. We also got black top, dynamite, WMD, and Wild Pony.

Social Moves for Inter/Adv starts tonight

We're going to spend the next five weeks working on the intricacies of fancy social dance moves and techniques. Drop-ins welcome for $15 (class and dance). For Int/Adv dancers. From 8:30-9:30.

New Beginner Series begins June 16!

The Jam Cellar's world renown 6 week beginner series will begin it's next run June 16. It's the perfect class for any friends of yours who wanted to learn Lindy Hop.

ILHC registration open

Don't forget, ILHC registration is open. You don't want to miss this incredible competition weekend in your won back yard. www.ilhc.com.

NEW YORK vs SEATTLE: Tourism death match

The past two weekends marked the best 11 straight days of Lindy Hop the world has seen in a long time. The first weekend was Frankie's 95, and the second was Camp Jitterbug's 10 year anniversary, which gave up its usual Memorial Day spot to Frankies. Though the events took place in one country, you can't deny that it was two different worlds.

So, how about a pointless death match contest?

WEATHER

Camp Jitterbug had some of the best weather any event has ever had ever. The entire city was room temperature with air conditioning. The days were long and there wasn't one drop of rain. Apparently this changes from June to April. New York, however, was what you'd expect from the city in summer; warm and a little muggy. The fact that Seattle wins this category is merely an anomaly. Seattle got lucky. Winner: Seattle

HOMELESS

Seattle's homeless looked alarmingly like hipster grad school students. I couldn't help but fear that my money would be used towards vinyl. One difficulty might be that it's impossible to get oneself dirty by wallowing around on Seattle streets. There's no contest here. For the good old hopped-up, apathetic, torn-up overcoat wearing schitzophrenic who smells like urine and vinegar, New York can't be beat. Winner: New York.

HOT DOGS

A New York street vendor Kosher hot dog is a cultural icon. At $3.50, a dog with everything on it and a flat coke is THE poor man's (Lindy Instructor's) s New York lunch. Since icon's have a social sacredness to them, it's not really a contest. It'd be like trying to have a contest between an elderly Norma Miller and a young champion dancer. That said, however, Seattle has answered the challenge with a black-light-lit, disco hot dog truck with 8 different super Hot Dogs, including 4 vegan choices.

Friends of ours from California took us to this joint after one of the dances, and we found it by following the techno music. The menu showed videos of pictures of the hotdogs. That sentence, though not my best, is correct. Every picture of a hot dog soon faded out and back into the exact same picture of a hot dog. I had the Texas, which was a large, juicy frank topped with pulled pork, BBQ sauce, and onions. It was delicious, but also twice as much as a New York hot dog.

While we were there, a group of girls who all shopped in the same corner of the Gap came up and asked us about the hot dogs and about ourselves. "Where are you from?" they asked.

"California and D.C." we replied.
"Oh, wow. Two of my favorite cities." No Winner. (see above.) Though it should be noted New York people would not talk to you while you're trying to eat a hot dog. And they'd probably never say California is a city. Of course, they'd never say any place is one of their favorite cities. New Yorkers live in their favorite city.

POSSIBILITY OF GETTING HIT BY A CAR

Being from Baltimore, I've gotten used to jay walking slowly across streets and staring down honest law-abiding drivers. In New York, this is a sure way to get a Taxi in the lower back. However, in Seattle, all cars in a surrounding block begin to slow down and stop, and without the slightest protest from a horn. For the most part, people in Seattle respect walkers to a noticeable degree. You have a much bigger chance of being judged by your bike choice, however. Winner: Seattle.

RANDOM TOURISM SPOTS

Considering the material New York has to work with, it's hard to imagine Seattle could even come close to beating the Metropolis in this category. Seattle seems much more a city that people live in, not a city people visit, whereas Manhattan seems like the opposite for most. While we were there, our incredible host Blake took us around to some of the city's unique wonders. First was a statue of an emo troll crushing a Volkswagon that was under a bridge. The second was a park made from an old gas work factory, and the final spot was a marsh walking trail along the shore of the sound. There is, apparently, a cool underground part of the city. But what could seriously beat the top of Rockafeller Center or a Broadway show? Winner: New York.

THAI FOOD

So, this section is really just an opportunity to tell people that if they're ever in Seattle, they must go to Thai Toms, a Thai restaurant near the university. And go during an off-hour, because the entire restaurant only seats 8. You'll be sitting next to the oven and I hope you like the smell of garlic. You'll see the chef throw fresh ingredients into four different woks and ably juggle a continuous line of orders without flinching. If the sopping-wet chef drips sweat into your bowl, don't interrupt him; it's the ingredient of love. And, it's absolutely incredible Thai food. Winner: Seattle.

Tonight's DJ missing, presumed dead.

I'm a little swungover from the Frankie's weekend, are you? How about a little hair-of-the-dog? Come dance at the Jam Cellar.

Last Aerials class tonight!

Andy and Gretta will show you how to fly one last time before shoving you off a tree branch. It'll be fun!

Next Week: Social Moves series of June begins.

After a month of high folutten' partnered dance moves, we're going to concentrate on the magic of social dancing with this series on incredible ways to lead and follow. And, to waht extant is a Lead himself a follow? Discuss.

Next Week: Sac Au Lait performs!

The Baltimore Dixieland Sensation performs to kick off the summer.

Tonight, DJ Kate Hedin

I had a cookie at Cosi the other day and had an emergency need for a tissue, only to find that the only object around was a rolled up ball of cling wrap from the cookie. I grabbed it and sneezed. In case you were ever thinking of doing the same thing, take this week's email as a stern warning for you at home.

Tonight, Aerials continues!

Grab your partner and a helmet for tonight's Aerials! class. It'll be grand.

June 2 — SAC AU LAIT performs at Jam Cellar

The Baltimore gangland Dixieland jazz band comes back to us after last year's highly praised concert. Save the date on your calendar.

Only a few of the many reasons to sign up for ILHC

1. The trophies can be used effectively on burglars.

2. With the number of contests, you have a twenty percent chance of winning one by sheer odds alone.

3. Washington D.C. already has a great social dance scene-now just imagine throwing in the other greatest dancers in the world…that gives you four nights of incredible dancing.

4. Now's your chance to see some of those so-called "historical monuments" you don't remember visiting in 6th grade.

www.ilhc.com

Dance community really excited to spend five days in New York trying not to cry.

This weekend marks the event where dancers from around the world will come together in New York to celebrate the life of the incredible Frankie Manning, see many presentations and hear personal stories, and ultimately, try not to cry for five solid days.

"There's going to be some of the greatest swing bands in the world, some of the greatest dancers on the dance floor, and some of the most important contests out there, and probably giant banners of Frankie Manning looking at us, all happy and peaceful. I mean, I just realized yesterday that the whole thing was taking place over Memorial Day weekend all along," said one dancer from Illinois. "Damnit, there I go again." He said, wiping a sleeve over an eye.

Swing scene can't wait to get to college.

After four years of high school experiences, the swing scene officially can't wait for college. The Swing scene, who has gone through an awkward phase of spending way too much energy on what fashions are popular and exclusive cliques of shallow people, says its ready for the next step.

"I can't wait to get to a place where I can be myself, have a great time with all sorts of people, and basically relax and not be as intense for a few years." It said.
Unfortunately, the heavy drinking, promiscuous sexual relations, and lack of studying shows that the scene is already in college and a member of a frat.

Impoverished Lindy Instructor Untouched by Recession

Scott Michaels, a professional Lindy Instructor who makes over 12,000 a year, has recently realized he's untouched by the recession, much like many of the country's impoverished.

"I was at the grocery store and realized that my cereal is still $2 a bag. The same goes for pop tarts, Stoffers microwave meals, and beer, which are technically the only things I really spend money on." Michaels said. The amount of gigs he's got lined up for the year, however, are growing. Assuming he doesn't get sick, his lack of health insurance won't even be a problem.

"I'm just glad I never invested my money," Michael's said.

Due to the recession,

this email will be a third as short and one forth as funny as previous emails. And Andy Reid DJs tonight.

AIRSTEPS!

This week continues our month-long aerial series. Since we don't want you petering out on an airstep, we've brought in Peter Strom to show you how to throw the women you love. (I think all credit for that pun technically goes to Andy).

I to the L to the H to the C

As a rule, we don't push non Jam-Cellar events in our mailing list, because you get enough event spam on Facebook. But, we make exceptions for two events; (1) Events honoring the memory of the greatest Lindy Hoppers of all time and people we think of as our grandfather (see last week) and (4) D.C.'s own International Lindy Hop Championships. The reasons why we make exceptions for this are because, (6) It's an incredible event with a great spirit and some of the greatest instructors, judges, and organizers in swing behind it, and (b) it's hosted in part by Nina Gilkenson, who many of you know as a charming, witty gypsy enchantress, but whom I know of as the person who decides whether my shower works or not. There are of course many reasons to sign up for this event, the third one being the incredible contest opportunities you will have to dance (There is every contest imaginable for every level imaginable, except senior citizens collegiate shag) (which they are working on), and, finally (one could say, penultimately,) Marty Klempner is not allowed to wear body grease while doing push-ups on the dance floor this year, which was officially the only thing from last year's event doctors qualified as psychologically damaging. The grease spot was also damaging to Luke and Bobby's famous Flying Fetochini Brothers Routine, where a slipped step brought their score from Best Routine In The History Of The World down to 5th place. Seriously, you don't want to miss this event. Sign up now at www.ilhc.com.

Tonight, DJ Abigail Browning!

We're back to our regularly scheduled program tonight.

Thank you for Last Week!

Last week, The Jam Cellar had a small Frankie Manning tribute night, and we wanted to thank everyone who came by to show their support. If you enjoyed our small tribute, and were thinking that you'd love to go to an even bigger tribute, say, a four-day one in New York City, then you now have the chance. The Frankie's 95th Birthday celebration is opening up registration again.

Tonight Air-Steps! (aerials)

This year, we're doing an entire MONTH of air-steps. Partner IS required. Last week we said partner recommended, but that is a dirty, dirty lie. Partners are required.

Random Notes from the 1950s

The life of the professional swing dance instructor isn't all luxury flights to exotic locals like Cleveland to teach and dance all night. There is also what we call "corporate gigs," which often involve some passive aggressive PR rep, usually named something like Mercedes, who hires us to entertain large parties. The only reason we take these gigs is because they usually pay well and often involve a free dinner of some meat wrapped in bacon. However, more often than not, they lead to the kind of experiences we had at a recent gig.

***

The casting company needed a greaser and a poodle skirt girl for a Country Club 1950s-themed party, and Jeff Booth was out of town. The gig came to us, and I set aside my t-shirt, blue jeans and loafers. They wanted Kate, however, to send them a picture of her outfit. It was an actual period 50s attire, something you would have seen in the actual 50s, minus a poodle on the skirt. This would not do. They wanted Kate to drive the hour down to DC, pick up a poodle skirt from their poodle skirt warehouse, and drive back. They'd reimburse her $25 for the two and a half hours it would take. She instead went out and bought a poodle to put on her skirt. She showed them the outfit, and, no, they'd really REALLY encourage getting one of their poodle skirts. They would ship it Fed Ex.

She ended up persuading them that her outfit was fine, but it took several emails and a headache to do so. We suspected some form of middle-aged demon was behind this.

***

There's a certain kind of melancholy surrounding the DJs at corporate gigs. The one at this night had the air of someone who thought he could be the wacky morning DJ of a popular radio station, if he could only have a few more years of practice. He sung along to the music over the microphone. He kept telling people who were trying to eat to get up on the hard rubber-tile dance floor and tear out their kneecaps with "the twist." He wore a leather weave belt.

Near the end of our hour-long gig, he came over and apologized for the music. He said he was being micromanaged, and pointed to a baby-boomer lady who had been micromanaging us all night. He mentioned how she wanted him to get people dancing when they were still drinking, and how she demanded only 50s music. Overhead, the Chicken Song played.

***

An average dance Bobby leads when doing a demo to a 1950s song:

Basic

Swing-Out

Side pass

Barrel Roll

Boogie with Elvis Legs

Sugar push

Tuck Turn

Aerial

Aerial

Drop

Guy Drop

Basic

Basic

Tuck Turn

(All moves done with Kick-Ball-Changes)
***

For our final demo, the DJ played a song which I instantly recognized as Jail House Rock by Elvis. In preparation for the breaks, I was going to do something insane and enjoyable for the crowd. Imagine my surprise when the song suddenly turned into a different Elvis song, before the break came. A phrase later, it was yet another Elvis song. This continued. Even though this meant I never got a handle on a song long enough to be very musical, it was all fine and good until the Elvis medley got into later Elvis, and Kate and I, in the middle of swinging-out, were suddenly expected to dance to "Suspicious Minds," for everyone. I will stop the description now, your imagination will suffice to provide the rest.

***

At one point during the night, "You make me wanna SHOUT!" came on and all the baby-boomers went out to the floor. Their limbs moved with the same slight stiffness, they tuckered out halfway through the song, and at the part where everyone is supposed to get low ("a little bit softer now…"), only two of them even tried to squat. They looked like the 1980s clips of the original swing dancers, and it dawned on me–the baby boomers are officially getting old. It was strange that it struck me so much.

***

The middle-aged lady demon who micromanaged everything is common in the world of corporate gigs. She out-dressed everyone in her outfit straight from Grease, and it was probably her idea to have a 1950s theme in the first place. She insisted the DJ keep the music 1950s, even though most of the people in the room had probably spent most of their youth making out to motown music of the 60s, which is the only music they wanted to hear. And, I could tell that people noticed Kate and I weren't exactly 1950s dancers ourselves.

On the whole, it's important to realize that, even if you have the job of your dreams, there are still going to be times when you don't want to go to work. Dancing for an hour and a half to the music of the 1950s is not inspiring to me, personally. The clothing does not make me feel comfortable, nor does putting on a "background" show for a room full of people, only ten or so of which seem to be really interested in what we're doing.

It didn't help that, for the night, I decided to go all out and put enough grease pomade in my hair to run a small block Chevy engine. This had a great look, but unfortunately I couldn't get my hands to feel clean again, and Kate spent the night with this disgusted look on her face and our hands literally kept slipping while dancing, no matter how much I tried to towel them off and clean them. Also, the smell from the classic brylcreem was so bad that both of us became nauseous on the car ride home. (I should note here the chemical company that made Brylcreem was also known for their abrasive kitchen cleaners. I'm not making that up.)

We got home, a few hundred dollars richer, but needing a long, long shower to feel clean again.