Spring Cleaning Email
Tonight, DJ Glenn Scales
covered in pollen.
Tonight: Roots and Offshoots begins!
We're bringing back one of the most popular classes we've done in the history of Jam Cellar, complete with the original staff: a celebration of dances that inspired Lindy Hop, and dances Lindy Hop inspired. We've got two weeks of Hand Dancing with Markus and Trendlyon (April 6, 13), a week of Tap with Heidi Schultz(April 20), and a week of African Dance with Chanda Lupunga Phillips (April 27). $55 for entire series; $15 drop-ins.
Did we mention we need volunteers?
The Jam Cellar LLC (A Subsidiary of Swing Cat Daddy-O Productions) currently seeks several Close-Down Volunteer Coordinators. Duties include orchestrating crew of volunteers to move speakers, pick up debris, and other duties.* Coordinators will be trained and only expected to close down one or two Tuesdays a month. We are also on the lookout for other volunteer slots as well, all of which involve some form of compensation. Contact huh @ thejamcellarDOTcom
*"And other duties." This is where companies get you.
May Inter/Adv Series: What You Need
Sometimes what you want is what you need. Sometimes, it's the opposite. Sometimes what you need is to not want. But we're not philosophers. We're just dance teachers. Teachers who plan on giving you what you need: a month-long series devoted to making our intermediate/adv dancers the best damned inter/advanced dancers in the world. Both leaders and followers will go through a boot-camp style fix of their weaknesses, and a hard-core Tony-Horton-inspired workout of their strengths. $55 for entire series; $15 drop-ins.
Special Balboa mini-workshop Type-thing with Bobby and Kate, May 8
Bobby and Kate will be drug-dealing Balboa to those who need a fix: May 8 at noonwe'll be doing an Intermediate Balboa Class and at 1 p.m. we'll be doing an Advanced Balboa Class, each with different material so people can do both. Each class is only $10. Cookies will be given to both leaders and Followers. It happens at DC Dance Collective, 4908 Wisconsin Ave. NW, a few blocks down from Chevy Chase Ballroom. (I know, I know, we love Chevy Chase, too. Especially in Fletch.)
Special Inter/Adv Lindy Hop workshop-type thing with Bobby and Kate, May 22
Bobby and Kate will hold two special classes from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. May 22. The first, is their patented Musicality in Lindy Hop class, at 2 p.m., centered on both leader and follower musicality. Then, at 3 p.m. is Fancy Footwork in the Rhythmic Style a class that has footwork cookies for both Leaders and Followers, that will wonderfully compliment your new musicality skills. Each class is $10. It happens at DC Dance Collective, 4908 Wisconsin Ave. NW, a few blocks down from Chevy Chase Ballroom. (I know, I know, we love Chevy Chase, too. Especially in Fletch 2.)
The Old Timer (Conclusion: Making Noise)
This is the final part of an essay where I discuss the world of the original swing-era dancer; a person that, in many ways, was probably not like you and me. You can find the other entries at SwungoverDOTcom. Part 1: A Classless Dance ; Part 2: A Release of Energy ; Part 3: Inside and Outside the Box ; Part 4: "The Only Count I Know is Basie."
Conclusion: Making Noise
Most of us feel something very powerful when we listen to a great swing song, or watch Hellzapoppin. And we try to capture that feeling–the feeling Frankie Manning had plastered on his face every time he danced. I think it's particularly easy for modern (especially young) dancers to fall into the trap that, if you know the moves, and try to emulate the way someone else does them, then you'll be able express that same feeling–but that's like looking at a map and a picture of a place and thinking you've been there.
When I look back at the dance floors of the last ten years, I see a lot of things (A lot of which I saw in myself, as well). A shot of the late 1990s shows me that most people thought swing dancing was a Gap ad: nothing but turns, kicks and aerials. A shot of the early 2000s show me that a lot of people thought swing was perfectly recreating Hollywood movie dancers, or trying to be as musical as possible with a groove style. A look at the late-2000s dance floor shows me that a lot of people think a Charleston pulse should be danced to all swing music regardless of how smooth it is. All of which point to calculating our dancing based on what we see others do versus what we feel like doing when we ourselves listen to the music.
Perhaps the spirit of the original jitterbugs is as simple as that: All they knew about swing was what they heard when they stepped onto the dance floor.
It's beautifully simple and honest, and shows why certain aspects of the modern scene in the last ten years look different than the original dancers. A great original dancer might only know five basic moves, but they could do those moves all night long, and happily, because they could dance the shit out of those five moves. And those five moves would all be done with a personal, individual style. If it wasn't swing music, then you weren't going to do swing to it. And if you felt like making noise, you screamed or yelled or whooped or giggled.
As ideal as that sounds, I think I would be doing a disservice to ourselves and the original dancers if we treat them only with nostalgia: pretending times were automatically better then, and everything they did was better than now. Certainly this is not the case. As a whole, our technique, our understanding of dance mechanics, and micro musicality is a lot better than the original dancers, and many of them have stated as much. But I do think, like we all too often do in the modern times, we have adopted and progressed something without paying close attention to where it came from.
Though classes, counts, and moves can make us really great dancers, the spirit of the original jitterbug doesn't originate there. It wasn't what they did; it was the way they did it.
——————————————————————————————————–