Jam Cellar Almanac (Issue 2)
We have a new edition of the JC Almanac, but before we get to it; here's all the important upcoming Jam Cellar info you need.
Tomorrow night's DJ: Luke, the turntable duke.
Big Big Event only three weeks away
Peter, Ramona, Mike, Casey, Chad, Midori, Russ Wilson Orchestra, Boilermaker Jazz band, Solomon Douglas Orchestra, couples strictly, Peabody contest, and possibly Leonardo Dicaprio. www.thebigbigevent.com. Presented in cooperation with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Inc., the National Park Service and Montgomery County, MD.
31 Flavors Continues
A great class for walk-ins. It is well known that most original 1930s dancers only really did five or six moves. But how did they make such moves look so alive, vibrant, and musical? Why, they could do each of those moves fifty different ways. This series is all about changing up the basics in order to create a more beautiful dance. Enjoy! www.thejamcellar.com.
Don't Try This at Home in June
We'll be doing aerials and trick steps in this 4-week series. The first class will be taught by Swedish Lindy Hop champions Kenneth and Helene. The rest will be taught by the Italian Tumbling Squadron of the Jam Cellar Crew. Hut-Hut! www.thejamcellar.com.
New Blood Night (June 17) and The Shim Sham (June 24).
New Blood night means you get in free if it's your first time to The Jam Cellar. It also means that if you're a Jam Cellar regular, and you bring a newbie by, you get in free, too. Then, Shim Sham the next week. Then, New Beginner series starts July 1.
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[Recently, we've brought 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.]
The Jam Cellar Almanac
Vol. 12, Issue 2
In this issue: news briefs, the modern history of swing, a special opinion column by "That Guy."
NEWS BRIEFS
FEATURE STORY: Fox to pilot sitcom 'Lindy Hop 90210.'
Fox television corporation recently announced its upcoming fall show line-up, the highlight of which is 'Lindy Hop 90210,' a show about modern, young Lindy Hoppers.
The show will focus on the lives of the 'cool kid' clique; all the drama involved with their romantic experiences, their learning about drinking and drugs, and occasionally, their dancing.
"We're talking people cheating on each other, diva fights, personal vendettas, ego-crazed jerks, and basically the self-obsessed popularity contest that high school is all about," said Fox spokesperson Carla Jenkins.
Some have pointed out that the main actors involved are obviously too old to be playing the parts. "Yes, we know the people in 'Lindy Hop 90210′ look older than high school years, some even in their thirties," said producer Michael Grossman. "But as long as they act like they're sixteen, it's believable."
The show, Grossman explains, is expected to help people keep track of fashion trends; "You know, what hairdo is in, what swing-outs should look like, and what kind of belt you should be wearing."
Reviewers, however, are skeptical. "I think other people will get tired of the show pretty quickly," said Damion Thorp, a television reviewer for Parade magazine. "I mean, most of these people only care about themselves. Why would anyone watch that?"
Nina Gilkenson actually 87-year-old woman
Dorry Segev, a Johns Hopkins scientist, has recently proven that swing dancer Nina Gilkenson is not actually the young woman in her twenties previously believed, but is in fact an 87-year-old landlady who lives with cats.
"It makes sense," says roommate Stephanie Nolan. "She knits, wears funny glasses, and binges on casino slots."
Her dance partner, Andy Reid, agreed with the findings. "I think it's the reason she's such a natural dancer, you know? She grew up with that music, in the depression."
Gilkenson was not available for comment, as she was out playing bingo. However, her daughter, Lori, gave us a tour of Gilkenson's 1910 row-house, warning us against sitting in any of the antique chairs.
"If one broke, she would, like, totally flip out and I'd be in deep [expletive.]" she said.
Even those closest to Nina were not shocked by the news.
"What can I say, I dig older women," says boyfriend Michael. "Antiquam Feminam Amo."
Two guys totally take jam circle to the next level by dancing together
A jam at this year's Mid-East Lindy Feast was totally taken to the next level when two guys decided to come out into the jam, rather than the expected boy/girl couple.
"Well, you see, Ron and Deb had just done their Pancake Snatch," explained dancer Chris Stevens, who was one of the males who danced together. "And, like, that just can't be topped, you know? But then I saw Ben, and he had that look in his eyes, and I knew it was on. He was wanting to do a shake-the-change."
"Yeah, we had practiced doing [the aerial] one afternoon for a few minutes," said, fellow Lindy Hopper Ben Scales. "So I felt good about doing it. We knew it was going to be hilarious."
Witnesses report that after several awkward basic moves, the two males totally busted out the move, which inspired a loud burst of applause. The jam reached an anti-climax, however, when two girls then came out and simply did five swing-outs.
Local teacher teaches class on things he needs to work on
Billy Richardson, a local swing dance teacher in Kahoola, Tennessee, will begin teaching three new series in June, based on the criteria that he needs to work on those aspects of his dancing.
"I took a private, and sort of got some good ideas," Richardson said. "I think by the time June comes around I'll have a good handle on them, and will be ready to spread the love."
The courses, which include speed dancing, solo Charleston, and something called 'connection conversation,' will most likely be attended by the scene's small pool of beginner/intermediate dancers.
"Hell yeah I'm going to take Billy's classed," says Mike Zoudekia, who's been dancing since February 2007. "He's the authority around here, and I've seen what he can do. I saw him dance to 'Lindy Hopper's Delight' once, and that song is blazing."
ESSAY:
The Recent History of Lindy Hop
by Robert White
Author's Note: This article was written and published more than a year ago, and though I've re-edited it, it still might seem dated in some areas. It's a little AV exploration of the swing-trends of the last ten years, focused around the top couples of the time, and how the influence of each trend can still be seen on the modern dance floor.
RYAN AND JENNY
In the late 1990s, the most popular swing dance couples for most people were simply the best local east-coast-dance couples that were on your city's dance floor. For those who did enjoy Lindy Hop, the biggest couples were from DC, California, New York, London and Sweden, especially the British dancers Ryan and Jenny, who had taken what Frankie Manning had taught them and combined it with their tap and jazz training to create a polished and exciting Lindy Hop.
(unfortunately, this is the best example of the sort of dancing they did that inspired everyone in that day. I say "unfortunately" because they were forced to do that song by the producers. They usually dance to classic swing music.)
Why it was popular: This sort of dancing, as you can imagine, made everyone very excited to learn Lindy Hop–here was a living couple doing the sort of dancing all the original dancers did in the clips. High flying aerials, lots of Charlestons… it was like the Gap Commercial, only real.
The moves of the day: Side-by-Side Charleston, Tandem Charleston, cross-over Charleston, hand-to-hand Charleston, and lots of swing-outs with big rock steps. Also pecking, boogying, and mini-dips.
Camp of the Day: Beantown
Side effects When Ryan and Jenny danced, they were good enough to dance "big" but still be contained and have exceptional floor craft and leading/following skills. Most of us, however, in trying to imitate them, bounced a lot, took up a ton of room, and did lots of weird, hardly-lead Charleston variations. A lot of choreographed moves involving breakaways or 'skating' were popular. Oh, and we all wore brightly colored clothing and lots of suspenders and hats. Not a few of us picked up on Ryan's fashion of wearing basketball work-out pants to dance in. Shoe of choice: the Blyers, all around. Then Ryan started wearing jazz sneakers, which some took up.
(For a good idea of what we watched, here's a clip from Can't Top The Lindy Hop, a video put together of Frankie Mannings' 80th birthday dance in 1984. Ryan's in the yellow coat, you only see him for a few phrases. However, his jam with Sing from Singapore from that video tape, which is a good two phrases, was one of the most influential moments of modern dance history. I am not making this up.)
At the time, east coast dancers cursed Lindy Hoppers for taking up so much space and kicking everyone. However, that was soon to pass…
ERIK AND SYLVIA
In California, around 1997, a group of dancers started looking at the old clips of the Hollywood movies where primarily young white kids were dancing. (The person often credited with taking Lindy Hop from the Savoy to California in the 1930s was a man named Dean Collins, and he had taught most of these movie dancers.)
In 1997, these modern kids really liked the look and style of the dancing, so they began working to recreate it. The main couple, Erik and Sylvia, soon started competing and really turning heads with their dancing. They wore complete Hollywood vintage styles, and danced smooth lindy which they coined "Hollywood style," and which some people called "Dean Collins style."
(It should be noted that Dean Collins's dancing was not *really* a new idea for modern swing dancers. Sylvia Sykes and her partner Jonathan Bixby learned Lindy from Dean Collins himself, and demonstrated "Dean Collins" style on the 1984 "Can't Top the Lindy Hop" video mentioned above. What it didn't have, however, was two stylish young kids doing it and trying to capture the glamour of the 1940s.)
Here's Eric and Sylvia's winning ALHC routine.
Why it was popular: To dancers at the time, "Hollywood" style seemed smoother with more emphasis on footwork, and had a really cool swing-out called a whip. Dancers really refined their technique and smoothed out their dancing in this time. Also, dancers could indulge their vintage-love by wearing "cooler" clothes than zoot suits. Men wore baggies, sweaters, newsboy caps, striped socks, and girls wore jumpers, wide legged pants, nice skirts, did their hair up with flowers and put on make up. Shoes: white bucks for guys and wedgies for girls. Everyone put suede on their shoes.
The moves of the day: The whip, sugar push, and quick-stop. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Phrase of the day: "Does anyone have any masking tape?"
Camp of the Day: Why, what else? Camp Hollywood.
Side-effects Though Erik and Sylvia had a good pulse and were best friends with "Savoy-style" dancers Ryan and Jenny, people took the new style to an exaggerated degree.
In trying to be smooth, many people lost their "pulse" all together, so a lot of dancers looked bored and unenergetic.
Also, the dancers at that time took the terms "Hollywood style" and "Savoy style" and created a dividing line, making people think the styles were totally different ideas from each other. So people started dancing like they were completely different ideas. Consequently, this created styles of dancing that were a lot more different from each other than the original styles ever were.
Almost all Charlestons were gone. To many, (At least in Atlanta) if you were doing anything other than the (ironically-named) Savoy-kicks Charlestons, you were considered old-fashioned. The whips were pretty and involved tricky leading and following, however, they stifled the amount of stuff follows could do on their swing-outs.
Also, since the original Hollywood dancers only did a few moves in the old clips, people took their vintage-worship to that level and only did a few moves and lots of footwork. Hardly any moves were invented during this time. Until, that is, someone new stepped in…
KEVIN AND CARLA
Kevin and Carla were both greatly-influenced by "Savoy" and "Hollywood Style" before they started working on new moves and doing more "groove" dancing in their Lindy (For instance, Kevin still wears his Hollywood Bucks and Stripey Socks to this day). They also both concentrated a great deal on musicality, showmanship, and competition dancing. The result was a ton of highly-praised and award-winning routines, like this one.
Why it was popular Making up cool turns was back! Flashy moves were back! Tandem Charleston is cool again! Break dancing is allowed! And what's this body-roll thing, that looks neat! And we can be musical! For the guys, the fashion was cargo pants with lots of pockets. For girls, it was wearing pants under their skirts (skants).
The moves of the day: Girls putting their legs out when they turn. Guys putting their legs out when they turned. And squatting to the ground a lot so girls could jump over them. And, of course, the body roll.
The Side-effects: As always, the side effects were merely people taking the goods to an extreme. Many people became, oddly enough, too musical–they had to hit everything in the music all the time with very large hits. "Splanky" was played way too much during this period.
Body rolls were done in great quantity with various degrees of success.
Follows at this time also started doing a ton, which is great, but it was taken to too much of an extreme sometimes, leading to a "she might as well be dancing with a poll" situation on many a dance floor.
Speaking of extremes, it could be said that Kevin and Carla's popularity was itself a sign of an extreme shift from Hollywood style, which people had begun to feel stifled by. And yet, to some dancers, the new style seemed like it was taking Lindy too far away from what turned them onto it in the first place: The original dancers of Harlem. Thus came…
THE "RAW" STYLE
Here, for the first time in many years, it's not just 1 couple that's setting the tone of Lindy Hop. Instead, it's the young dancers who first began dancing in 1998 when Ryan and Jenny's dancing was so popular.
For a good idea of how many good dance couples felt this way, check out this clip:
I'd like to throw out the theory that each trend is started when something is "missing" from the previous trend. In this case, dancers felt that what was missing was the raw emotion of the dance. We had spent so long smoothing things out, calculating how to be musical, and trying to be graceful, that we forgot how and why the original swing dancers did it. They yelled when they swung-out. They loved to kick, throw each other around, and dance fast. They had attitude and the feeling of dancing was more important than trying to look graceful.
Why it was popular: For the reasons above. Also, for those of us who learned Frankie Manning dancing first, it was a chance for us to get back to the specific reason we started dancing. It also started getting people comfortable with dancing to faster music. For social dancing, many people stopped caring about specific dance clothes–jeans, t-shirts. (This doesn't apply to competition dancing or dances where bands perform, where many people dress up in dresses, suits and sport coats in the old Harlem style.) Shoes: aris allens (mostly white) for the guys, white keds for the girls.
The moves: Wide swivels, stretching, and more of a Charleston influence to the lindy hop overall. All the old moves from Ryan and Jenny years, minus cheesy choreography moves. Faster music.
Camp of the Day:ULHS
The Side-effects: When it first came out, some dancers took all traces of grace out of their dancing, leaving them pretty sloppy. Also, sadly, some people took "raw" to mean "I'm so in the moment I don't have to recognize that I just kicked you in the face."
So, where are we now?
In the neat time span of 10 years, we have sort of come full circle. The "Raw style" has now naturally evolved into many individual dance styles.
It'll be interesting to see what trends come next, if a trend does come next. It'll be hard to take swing back any further in time…there's already a Charelston sub-set. Cake-walk and peabody are probably too small and undocumented for a real revival. Things like Soul and Blues offer a change of pace, but will probably remain a small "basement party" genre. Perhaps there will be small revivals of Hollywood style, or Collegiate Shag, but I would be surprised if it was anything near as big as the "Savoy" and the "Hollywood" trends.
What I think is far more likely is that the modern swing dance scene has now gone through the biggest trends it will. Now, just like an artist or craftsperson who gets the big picture then starts working on details, I believe the swing scene now has all its major ingredients, and is going to play with spices and cooking time (weird analogy).
How they mimic the development of a dancer .What's also interesting is how the development of these trends mirrors a very healthy development for a dancer. First comes the passion and big moves. Then comes smoothing out everything and refining technique, then comes the creative aspect. Basically, once you have technique, the finer things are creating, playing with connection, and working on being musical. Then, once all is said and done, you try to capture the original passion you started with. Obviously, this isn't the only way a dancer can develop. However, it is one way, and it's the way the scene as a whole has done it.
For my part, I think it's important that we realize that despite their "style," all of these couples mentioned above share the same traits– they are all graceful, energetic, creative, and amazing performers and teachers. These things never change, no matter what the trend is.
Those of us who been through each "popular trend" in swing have taken something with us from each to make it part of our own personal style. That includes moves, body-control, and fashion.
COLUMN: Who wants to dance with THIS GUY?!?
By Bob Underchuck
Hello ladies. I see you there, all lined up in a row. Sure, you're waiting to dance with a rockstar-but you're gonna need something to pass the time. So? Who wants to dance with this guy?
I remember you. In the rotation, right? I helped you with that one turn that you kept messing up. Don't worry, a lot of girls messed it up; I had to help them, too.
I just join in the classes to help out a little, especially since they didn't ask me to teach this year. But I do teach weekly in Manchester City.
You see, I'm what you call a natural dancer. I go where the spirit moves me. Change with the times. So, that's why if that kickin' Glenn Miller stuff comes on they play so much these days, I'm just as at home as if I'm dancing back in Manchester to Lou Rawls or Billy Joel. So, you see, a natural dancer. That's why I don't wear deodorant.
But don't think I'm not true to my roots. If I'm feeling it, I just might bust out a 'cuddle', and don't be surprised if I throw you into a pretzel. I don't make it look cheesy, though. I figure if Todd Yanacone can bring back old school moves, why can't I? Tandem Charleston came back into fashion, so I just think that as far as the pretzel goes, I'm ahead of my time. So what do you say? You want to finish this tune? Don't worry about the speed. I just taught a speed dancing course back in Winchester. I'll help you out.
What? You can't right now? Problems with your foot? My cousin could probably help with that. He's a specialist in Frankfurt. Seriously, just give me your number and I'll get him in touch with you. No? You sure? Well, okay.
But save me dance later. We'll catch a fast one. And if you're lucky, I might even take you out into the jam circle.
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 Collin Firth as Mr. Darcy be used as his headshot. To republish in any other capacity, permission must be granted. For suggestions or comments on what YOU would like to see in the almanac, please email huh@thejamcellar.com.