The Jam Cellar || Swing Dance and Lindy Hop

We have a new special feature here at JC central, but before we get to it; here’s all the important upcoming Jam Cellar info you need.

Tonight's DJ: Frank the Magician. You may not see him, but he’ll be there.

Blue Sky Five this Friday

Surprise! The kicking band will be playing at Glenn Echo park 9 to 12 Friday, and, as always, a free lesson at 8 p.m. Part of the Jam Cellar 2008 Concert Series. $13. Presented in cooperation with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Inc., the National Park Service and Montgomery County, MD.

Roots and Offshoots Week 3

Tonight, Heidi Schultz will do another night of tap dancing. Her class last week was a big success, and this week she'll start over with new material. Bring shoes if you got ‘em. Walk-ins welcome. Next week begins the final section of our series as world-famous hand-dancers Marcus and Deonna teach a 2-week hand dancing class.

The Big Big Event

Don’t forget, registration is now open at early-bird prices for this year’s Big Big Event. We’ve got national-level teachers Peter and Ramona, Mike F. and Casey, and Chad and Midori teaching, and an incredible band line-up involving Russ Wilson, The Boilermakers, and the Soloman Douglas Swingtet. The big music AND the big teachers, that’s what makes it Big Big. www.thebigbigevent.com.

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[In remembering that we have a blog , we've decided to bring back the original 1930s publication The Jam Cellar Almanac, the finest swing dance journal of news and scholarly essays from the era, aside perhaps from The Harlem Shout and The SoCal Swivel. We will have a new almanac every few months. (Don't worry, not every week.)]

The Jam Cellar Almanac

Vol. 12 Issue 1

IN THIS ISSUE: News briefs, an essay on Al Minns, swing definitions, and private lesson advice.

NEWS BRIEFS

Inspirational Old-Timer Dancer actually Dirty Old Man

After a long two-hour conversation with Billy “Legsy” Walters, 89, an original jitterbug in the 1930s, aspiring dancer Jeff McCauley, 24, realized that the inspirational dancer was “not much more than a dirty old man.”

McAuley met Legsy at the Friday night dance at this year’s Western National Lindy Fest, where Legsy was an honorary guest.

“Sure, I expected him to be a little uncouth,” McCauley said. “I mean, he was a sailor in World War II, afterall. But when I asked him what his greatest memory was of dancing back in the day, he just smiled and said it was the time he was shooting a film and got to dance with Rita Hayworth.”

“After the camera moved away," Legsy was reported as saying, "I planted one right on lips her before she had a chance to get away. Boy, I tell you, she had legs up to her neck. I had to take three cold showers after that.”

“I didn’t understand,” McCauley told reporters. “I mean, this guy invented thirty or forty dance steps. He traveled the world and performed for kings and queens. He grew up in the renaissance of Jazz. How could his greatest memory be molesting a celebrity?”

The elderly man showed even more of his tactless personality when Tiffany Jackson, 25, asked Legsy for a dance.

“He asked if we could do Balboa,” Jackson said, “and I agreed. Halfway through the dance he stops and tells me that if I’m going to do bal right, I have to be pushed against him so hard that onlookers should see two bumps pop out of his back.”

“I’m never dancing with an old timer again.” she added.

Once Legsy had rejoined McCauley on the side lines, he reportedly told the young dancer that Jackson “moves pretty good for a big girl.” Tiffany Jackson is 137 pounds.

Witnesses say McCauley finished his conversation with the old-timer by asking Legsy which modern dancer most resembled his style. Legsy quickly named Andy Reid.

“The way he dances, he could be my son. In fact, he is my son, but don’t him that.” Legsy reportedly said. Witnesses say he then slapped McCauleys leg and laughed heartily.

“I think he drinks whiskey for breakfast.” McAuley concluded.

***Anecdotes based on actual quotes from original swing-era dancers.

Peter Strom adopted; discovers black parents

Professional Lindy Hopper Peter Strom recently discovered that not only was he adopted by the Strom family of Minnesota as an infant, but that his parents are actually Tom and Devona James of Minneapolis, an African-American family with strong Nordic ancestry.

“We’re just happy to finally know what happened to little Bomani,” says Tom James, who named his son with the traditional African name, which means 'warrior.' “It is truly a joyous day.”

While an infant, Strom was in the back seat of the James’ car when it was carjacked. Little Peter was randomly left on the Strom family doorstep three days later, along with three prince albums and a purple pacifier.

Rockstar surprised she doesn’t get work when she acts like a rockstar

Jennifer Allens, an advanced dancer and teacher from Utah, recently questioned if she wasn’t getting the teaching gigs she hoped for because of her tendency to make difficult contract demands, appear drunk at dance gigs, and throw televisions out of hotel windows.

“We had her teach [at West-Coast Lindy Jam] last year, but almost every comment card we got said she was terrible. She showed up unprepared to class, she made jokes instead of taught moves, and she turned down dancing with anyone except instructors ‘because of her lower-back problems.’ This was right before she competed in the aerials-only endurance contest.”

Allens first noticed her attitude might be a problem when she questioned one organizer about why he didn’t hire her. “Well, first he said ‘because you ask questions like that’ ” Allens told reporters. “Then he said that if I didn’t know, then I should reevaluate my life. I wondered if he meant my attitude.”

“Nah,” she concluded. “He probably just meant I need to win more competitions.”

Dancer who wants to be Skye 1/25 there

Five-year veteran swing dancer Robert Cowles of Connecticut is now 1/25 on the way to dancing exactly like Skye Humphries after two years of hard work. In August of 2006, Cowles was feeling like he had no identity in his dancing when he saw Skye and Frida compete at ULHS. At that moment Cowles decided he would gear his dancing towards the passionate and unique Humphries, arguably one of the best modern Lindy Hoppers in the world.

“I thought it was pretty sad,” says peer dancer and friend George-Michael Bluth. “Until he beat me at the North East Jam Championships. Then I realized I’m the sad one if a guy dancing badly like Skye is a better dancer than me dancing like me. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

However, many in the scene think that Cowles’ hopes are harmless. “I think George-Michael is just bitter. Robert [Cowles] doesn’t look like Skye at all; he just looks like himself with wiggling.”

ESSAY: Al Minns: A Dancer's Dancer

by Robert White

Todays essay is an introduction to Whitey’s Lindy Hopper Al Minns. The essay also mentions Frankie Manning and Leon James – Al’s friends and fellow dancers. I’d like to reinforce that in no way am I suggesting that Leon James and Frankie Manning aren’t worth studying. They are without a doubt two of the greatest Lindy Hoppers of all time, for different reasons than Al Minns. This essay is simply meant to point out why Al Minns is a name we remember, too, and why it’s completely deserved.

First, a little history; and sadly, that’s all we have about Al Minns—a little.*

He was born Jan. 1 in 1920 and died in 1985. As one of the youngest dancers in the Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, he quickly excelled to the top team, headed by Frankie Manning. He wasn’t, however, one of the four asked to do the famous choreography for the film “Hellzapoppin.” When one of the couples repeatedly blew off practices, Frankie replaced them with Al Minns and Willa Mae Ricker. Let’s watch it: (Al and Willa Mae are the third couple).

At one point, Frankie Manning realized that Al’s unique strength as a dancer was his long legs. He helped Al develop his jam for “Hellzapoppin,” which, as you can see, is completely geared towards showing off Al Minn’s legs and the powerful lines he makes. Even his high-wasted waiter coat is perfect for elongating his lines.

What’s equally impressive is that Al is arguably the best ‘technical’ dancer in “Hellzapoppin.” He and Frankie are obviously the best leaders in the choreography, but whereas Frankie’s movements seem to have a lot of muscle behind them, Al appears to use his body more, making for cleaner and more relaxed dancing. The amount of control he has at 300+ bpm is incredible.

If you’d like to see the Hellzapoppin routine danced a little slower, check out the clip Hot Chocolates (AKA Cottontail,). I couldn’t find a good one on YouTube but it’s pretty easy to find from classic clips collection. (A special note: Check out Al Minns’s head-bob at the beginning. He’s the one with the collar that goes to his abs.)

World War II more or less stopped the professional career of most of the Whitey’s. Dancing still continued at the Savoy, and Al, Leon, Frankie and others were filmed for The Spirit Moves, an independent film that chronicled hours of jazz dance at the Savoy. There’s a lot of great Al Minns dancing in it, including great clips of the Tranky Doo, Al and Leon’s Shim Sham, and some blues jams that are incredible. Here’s a little sample of Al Minn’s Charleston dancing in it:

The next we hear of Al, it’s the 1960s, and he’s teamed up with his good friend and fellow Whitey’s Lindy Hopper Leon James to help historian Marshall Stearns, an extremely white guy with a pretty wicked pencil-mustache who’s researching Jazz dance for a book he’s writing. Being pranksters, they make up a bunch of stories about gangs and fights among the Savoy dancers, which Stearns recorded and published as bible writ, probably thinking that gang warfare could only help sales.

Little did Al and Leon know that Stearns’s book would become the definitive word on jazz dance history, and would be almost impossible to correct. To this day, Frankie Manning and others have written passionate letters to the book’s publisher to have these facts corrected for future printings, to no effect. (It should also be noted that in Stearns’s book, Al and Leon took credit for a lot of the deeds that most sources attribute to Frankie Manning—including the invention of the first air steps. However, in reading the passages, it is my opinion that it was not done out of malice to Frankie, but simply a different memory of events.)

Anyway, Al and Leon went on tours with Marshall Stearns — did the daytime talk show route, as it were — and we’re lucky enough to have several of their demonstrations on film. The most popular example is from a failed television talk show produced by Playboy—which was basically all the articles of Playboy with none of the focus on gynecology (I wonder why it failed).

In a sea of comically 60’s pipe-smoking crusty-whiteness and bunny cocktail waitresses, the two out-of-place men from Harlem perform some of the finest solo jazz dancing on film as they take viewers on a tour of jazz dance history from the Charleston to the Bee-bop era:

(In tracking down the clip on you tube, I found only this over-dubbed project from Peter Loggins, which is meant to demonstrate how little has changed about the spirit of African-American-based dance since the 30s. So that’s why the music is modern.)

What makes this so incredible? The original Lindy Hoppers in their younger years tended to pull off energy really well, and in their older years, subtlety. At this stage in their dancing, Al and Leon are middle-aged and seem to have the best of both worlds; they are clearly energetic and silly, but every motion is full of years of experience and refinement. When you watch them dance, Leon is easy to pin right away. The attention-grabbing hands, the exaggerated facial expression, the lazy movements. Al Minns, however, has nothing that sticks out more than anything else—he’s a full-body dancer who covers all the bases. Just as a really-solid, good swing-out is a work of dance art, so is almost every step that Al Minns does in this presentation.

Almost every Lindy Hopper today knows that Frankie Manning was “rediscovered” in the 80s after years of retirement and started teaching Lindy again. What most dancers don’t know is that Al Minns was rediscovered around the same time as Frankie Manning, and in 1984 was teaching the Swedish Lindy Hop scene everything he remembered about performance and social Lindy Hop. Until that point, the Swedes only had a few clips to break down. He’s part of the reason the Swedish dancers became so good at Whitey’s-styled performances. (For a look at a modern dancer inspired by Al Minns style, check out Swedish dancer David Dalmo in the Rhythym Hot Shots “Can’t Top The Lindy Hop” performance. He’s in the black pants, puffy shirt and baggy hat.)

To conclude this essay, there’s nothing better than listening to the man himself. Here’s an interview Al did for Swedish television around that time:

And another…

And, yet another interview, including footage from the Spirit Moves:

There are many clips of Al Minns dancing, most of which are from the Marshall Stearns television show tours or The Spirit Moves (He’s on the left side in the Tranky Doo Spirit oves clip). Also, there are clips of him dancing and teaching the Swedes in the 1980s, in one of which he wears a shirt that says “Americans like beer.” These are probably easily gotten from your local swing clip collector, assuming they are dead and it can be pried from their rigamortised hands.

Al Minns. Enjoy some today.

Some Helpful Swing Terms and Definitions

Jamticipation: (noun) (1)The feeling of standing in a circle with twenty other people clapping and yelling when no one looks like they'll be going out into the jam circle any time soon. Not as prevalent these days as a few years back. A new definition is therefore offered: (2) The act of waiting to go into the circle while Slick McCharleston and partner eat up two choruses of music for their a-musical aerial choreography.

Passive e-Gression: Term used in forum posting. Relates to the use of emotocons to make statements seem like innocent jokes that are really malicious stabs at people.

Blinders Referring to the act of blindfolding horses to lead them through fire, Blinders is the act of walking through a crowd of dancers swiftly with steady gaze and with the sort of serious intent commonly associated with brain surgeons, so as not to get asked to dance.

Floorgasmic: (adj) Pleasure risen by the perfect feel of a good dance floor. This definition by Nima Farsinajad of Atlanta.

Clock: (noun) A beginner follow that, no matter how hard a leader tries, only turns one way.

INTERMEDIATE’S CORNER: Getting the most out of your privates

Here are a few tips for taking private lessons to help you get the most out of them.

Actually take privates. We all have problems in our dancing that random classes won’t ever cover. You need personal attention to highlight your own issues within the dance.

At workshop weekends, book your private when you get your ticket to the workshop. Contact the teacher you want to take a private from as soon as possible.

Local instructors can be a great source. On the one hand, not every local teacher knows what they’re talking about. On the other hand, if they’re a significantly better dancer than you and they teach, they probably know why.

Have questions prepared before hand. Don’t make instructor’s confront the existential question of “How can we fix my dancing?” They probably just woke-up at 9 a.m. to teach a class and haven’t had their morning cigarettes and beer yet and are going to be so out-of-it that they’ll simply choose the closest problem at hand and talk about it for thirty minutes. Have specific questions. If you’re going to only have one private for the next six months, try to cover as many important bases as you can, comfortably. Have them prioritized and start with the first on your list (But, at the same time, allow your instructor to offer different priorities for your dancing). If you’re going to do regular weekly privates, allow yourself to concentrate on just one or two bases and spend time really refining them. And, it’s usually great to start off with having them clean up your basics, assuming you like the way they do theirs.

Take notes. Here’s the real trick: take the time to take GOOD notes. Don’t just scribble “bigger on 5” and hop back into your lesson. A week later, you’ll wonder what the hell you were talking about. If something clicks enough for you to write it down, make sure you describe what move it is you’re talking about, what other keywords the instructor uses (i.e. “smaller” “guys right hand holds girl’s left” “smooth, not bouncy” “You know, like the smell of baby lotion.”) and counts.

Know how to steer your teacher. Most of us swing dance teachers are like cats —a lot of us like to wonder and stray, keep talking and repeat ourselves, and like to hide behind refrigerators. First, make sure we’re not repeating ourselves because you keep doing it wrong. Then, keep a track of your time and move on if things get too redundant. Some teachers try very hard to keep track of your private—we watch the time, we tell you when it’s a good time to move on, we don’t talk for twenty minutes when two will do. But not all of us. It’s your private, and you don’t want to waste money on wasted time.

Videotape the teachers doing what they’re talking about. And, if you get something right, videotape yourself doing it. You now have a reference when you go back and practice.

Dear God, practice. After a private, set aside time as soon as possible in the next few days to practice the private material over and over and over. The goal is to get it in your muscle memory so you don’t have to think about it when you dance. Also, a private will probably take a few weeks, or easily months, to digest. It’s like southern cooking that way.

If you can afford it, weekly privates are excellent. It’s “personal trainer” style. If you like the way your local instructors teach, discuss doing weekly privates. They will probably give you deals, and help you map out some goals.

And now for a few Don’ts.

Don’t take a private right before a competition. For a competition, you need to be confident, have fun, and know what your body’s doing. A private lesson, if it’s done right, will take you out of your comfort zone and leave you concentrating on things to work on. You will then cease to be confident and know what your body’s doing, and quite possibly will cease to have fun. Plus, it will just make you more nervous when the person you just took a private from is judging you.

Don’t take a bunch of privates in a row from a bunch of different instructors. Unless you want to be confused and broke. Think of your swing instructors like doctors that charge more by the hour. If you’re sick, you usually go to one doctor, try out the medicine they prescribe, and if it doesn’t work, go to another doctor for a different opinion. If you just went to 12 doctors at once, you’d come away with five different prescriptions and twelve different health ailments. The important thing here is that medicine sometimes takes awhile to work, and body’s rarely react well to a ton of different medicine all at once.

Don’t say “Hey, Nick Williams does this move, can you show it to me?”
What this says, whether intended or not, is “I wanted to have a private with Nick Williams, but instead I got you.” If you’re looking for feedback on a move you learned from another teacher, just show them the move and get feedback. A lot of instructors have seen each other’s signature moves dozens of times, and if they haven’t, it’s easy to say “it’s something Nick Williams taught, but I’m not getting something right. For instance, I seem to keep breaking her arm on 5.” If you know your instructor knows how to do a move other instructors teach, then just ask them generally—“I’ve seen some dancers do this move that looks something like this. Can you show me how to do it?” You might get something new you never saw or thought of before.

About the Jam Cellar Almanac

The Jam Cellar Almanac and its contents are written and copyright 2008 by Robert White. As long as the writings are attributed to him, they may be republished on forums. Robert White also strongly recommends images of Johnny Depp be used as his headshot. To republish in any other capacity, permission must be granted. For suggestions or comments, please email huh@thejamcellar.com.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 9:04 am and is filed under This Week In Jam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.