The Jam Cellar || Swing Dance and Lindy Hop

Tonight, Seattle's own Glenn Crytzer and His Syncopators! and…Gretta Thorn's last night!

That's right, our very own powerhouse of organization and grace, Gretta Thorn will be leaving in the middle of the night to elope with Remington Stone, forming the perfect names for a Victorian Gothic novel couple. And, in doing so, will be moving to Baltimore, to be neighbors with Nina Gilkenson, another fallen Jam Cellar woman.

We will miss not only the uncanny way she handled the small details and did taxes, but also her welcoming smile, her moves on the dance floor, and her friendly and positive nature. She's been one of the main staples of the teaching staff, as well. Basically, she's volunteered so much of her time and energy into Jam Cellar that when she leaves, she'll probably sleep for weeks and not know why. Gretta, from all of the past, present, and future of Jam Cellar–Thank you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The Big Big Benefit July 9 and 10

***UPDATE: There will be (1) A dance on Friday Night with a performance show of swing dance talent, (2) workshops on Saturday Afternoon with Internationally known award-winning swing dance instructors for all levels (3) A dance Saturday night. MORE INFORMATION COMING***

The Jam Cellar is teaming up with the Glen Echo Park Partnership, Flying Feet Enterprises, Tom Cunningham Orchestra, The Boilermaker Jazz Band, Blue Sky 5 to raise funds for our dear friend (and mother of Jam Cellar original, Nina), Laurie Gilkenson. Laurie recently suffered a brain aneurysm and, as bills have been rising, she could really use our support. All proceeds will be donated to Laurie. Many dancers across the region are coming together to help support and promote this event including GottaSwing and Charm City Swing. Thanks everyone for your help on this great cause! For more info, visit our facebook event page. $15 Admission; Beginner Swing Lesson @ 8PM (Free with admission) Dance From 9PM – 12AM. Glen Echo Park Park Spanish Ballroom 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, Maryland. Presented in cooperation with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Inc., the National Park Service and Montgomery County, MD.

July Int/Adv Series: THE SOLO DANCER!

In July, we'll be focusing on the solo dancer in all of us. Not just solo Charleston (thought there will be some of that), this is a class series that will concentrate on how we all can express ourselves individually, weather alone or in a partnered dance. So, get ready for solo jazz routines, Lindy Hop footwork variations, and some answers on what to do with your damn arms while your dancing. $55. No partner required. 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays in July.

Our next Building Your Basics award-winning 6-week series begins July 13th

Just so you know. Tell your friends.

June Inter/Adv Series: "A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS"

One last class left! Come drop in! 8:30 p.m.

Random Notes from Korea

Kate and I recently taught at a Balboa weekend in Korea, and with our event's host, were able to dive into–uh, cannonball haphazardly into would probably be more accurate–Korean culture a little before we left. Here are a few random notes from our travels. Photos and more text available at www.swungover.com later today.

I have recently taken to reading the Wikipedia articles on the cities we're traveling to, if only to make me more annoying to our host. Here are a few of the random facts I picked up from Wikipedia's articles on South Korea and Seoul:

1. The educational system in Korea is one of the best in the world. By a Worldwide Study of Very Specific Educational Facts, Korean students were first in the world in Problem-Solving, which means, ideally, that they can easily become second in anything else they want.

2. Half the Korean population has "no religious preference." Of the rest, most are Christian or Buddhist.

3. The strategy computer game Starcraft is so popular in South Korea that it is more or less a sport, broadcast on television, with video gamers becoming celebrities and endorsing sport drinks. BTW, Seoul is one of the most "wired" places on earth. And 90% of South Koreans have a cell phone.

4. The greater Seoul capital area has over 24.5 million residents. This isn't surprising once you look out of the North Seoul Tower, which is at the top of the mountain in the middle of the city.

5. Korea is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries–more than 99% of it's population is Korean.

6. South Korea, what with being next door to the DMZ and a rather hostile neighbor, still has mandatory draft for all males. It was strange to look at our class of students and realize ALL of the leaders had been through military service of some sort.

***

The first thing I noticed about Korea is how nice everyone is dressed. Almost everyone I saw, in work or leisure clothes. The women wore well-fitted and often form-fitting garments that were very modest in terms of coverage. If a man had a suit, it looked tailor-made. This is probably because tailors in Korea can make a great suit for $300, which is at least $500 cheaper than a designer Western suit that would look as good. Even those sporting the mismatched hipster USA fashion pull it off with being not much of an eye-sore.

Everyone cared about the way they looked in Korea, and I mean that as a compliment. For me personally, it was oddly refreshing to see that everyone matched, in the way that an OCD person is probably very calm in a BoConcept store. In fact, it sort of gave Korea a movie-like quality–the way people in your basic action or rom/com movies are often pretty inoffensively dressed. Also, I found my brethren in Korean men, who often spent a few minutes in the bathroom making sure their hair was alright–wetting it, restyling it, taming the beast.

There was also the extreme politeness and shyness that almost everyone shows. Everyone was very welcoming, and had an genuine smile and nod when they understood you, and an emergency back-up smile and nod when they didn't. But I quickly picked up the differences, and was able to communicate pretty easily with everyone I met. And, getting to know many of the dancers better, I felt secure in how sincere they were in their politeness.

***

The first day we visited the palace Changdeokgung, one of the few traditional buildings left in Seoul. This is the other strange thing I noticed about Seoul; almost all the buildings were built in post 1960s American styles. This is because, well, Korea had a tough time in the 40s and 50s, and Seoul was rather close to North Korea, where the trouble was coming from. More than 2.5 million people died in the Korean War. After the war, the city had to be rebuilt, and only a few traditional buildings survived (My grandfather flew bombers in the Korean War, making me the second White my family knows of that has ever set foot on Korean soil. Kinda neat feeling, especially since I came in complete peace, to teach swing dancing, something my Grandfather's generation invented.)

The palace made me feel I could be extremely content living in an ancient Korean palace. Wide open spaces, natural surroundings, very calming rooms next to creeks and naturally air conditioned by breezes and so forth. No clutter around, and lots of gazebos next to ponds.

Every time we go to a tourist destination, I hope that, this time, we won't run into an obnoxious American who will make me embarrassed for my country. And almost every damn time it happens. The stereotype is that they're loud, ignorant and entitled, and the loud part is a particularly bad characteristic to have, because it means it only takes one American out of a hundred to call attention to how obnoxious Americans can be. And in an Asian culture of public quietness and politeness, it sticks out like even more of a soar thumb.

For our tour of the palace, we had one American woman who was there with her pregnant daughter and a few other family members, who fit the bill. She had been there before, and apparently they had changed some of the tours since the last time she had come. Long story short, she flipped out in a very loud and passive aggressive way, and it made me long for the days when intruders walking into the secret garden were speared on sight.

In the middle of the secret garden (which was really just a beautiful forest with a few buildings), there was a structure that didn't have any paint on it, which was the sign of a non-royal establishment. This was apparently where the king would go to see what life was like as an aristocrat. I didn't understand exactly what that entailed, but I imagine it was about more than living with unpainted walls.

***

"One thing about Americans, they never try to eat any of our food," one Korean dancer told me when I asked what stereotypes they had of Americans. At this point I sank slightly in my seat and tried to draw attention away from my fried chicken stick. Before going to Korea I had heard stories about how strange the food was in Korea, but when I got there, I was more surprised by how the restaurant system worked.

We'd be walking down the street, and our host would say "Do you want chicken, beef, or Tofu for dinner?" And I would think "Well, we can probably order whichever we want when we get to the restaurant, right?" But that's not really the way things work in Korea. Each restaurant specializes in a meat, and many of them, in just a few dishes. For instance, we went to Sushi one night, one that only served Tuna. No other fish. (By the way, it was incredible tuna. Just saying. That's the big plus to having a specialized dish at a restaurant–you can probably be sure they make that dish very well.) Our final meal with the Korean dancers was a place that only served fried chicken in several different sauces, and beer. I strongly approve of this restaurant.

Thinking back on it, this is a perfectly logical way for a big city to work. Since there's no lack of restaurants in a given area, there's no need for each restaurant to have a large menu. In fact, this is totally the way I work. I don't go toChili's so much as I go to my preferred Fajita dish restaurant. I don't go to an Indian restaurant so much as I get a hankering for Chicken Tikka Masala (okay, that's not the best analogy, because I like a whole lot of Indian dishes. But I guess I am usually in the mood for only one at a time).

Kate had done a great job trying many different things, but by the end of the weekend, I had lived off of Bulgogi (Korean BBQ) and had been terrified to find a can of silkworm pupae next to the canned chicken in the grocery store. (It's a well-known snack, they apparently have them on street vendors like New York candied nut carts, though we didn't see any.) When the last meal came, they handed me something flat, rubbery and brown on a plate. Not wanting to offend, I peeled off a piece. Before eating it, I asked what it was, and they said they would tell me afterward, which I decided was probably best for everyone involved, and I put it in my mouth and chewed.

They then told me the words "fish" and put their hands together in a motion that clearly demonstrated the flattening of an object by heavy machinery. And it was pretty good.

***

The Korean dancers are incredible students. They pay attention, they ask good questions, and they pick up things very quickly. They were a joy to work with. On the flip side, they were also a joy to eat chicken and drink beer with. Thanks for a great time, Korea.

Tonight, DJ Luke Albao

NEXT WEEK: June 29th: Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators!

We can't wait for this Seattle band to make their Jam Cellar debut! $10 entry that night.

The Big Big Benefit July 9 and 10

The Jam Cellar is teaming up with the Glen Echo Park Partnership, Flying Feet Enterprises, Tom Cunningham Orchestra, The Boilermaker Jazz Band, Blue Sky 5 to raise funds for our dear friend (and mother of Jam Cellar original, Nina), Laurie Gilkenson. Laurie recently suffered a brain aneurysm and, as bills have been rising, she could really use our support. All proceeds will be donated to Laurie. For more info, visit our facebook event page. $15 Admission; Beginner Swing Lesson @ 8PM (Free with admission)
Dance From 9PM – 12AM. Glen Echo Park Park Spanish Ballroom
7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, Maryland. Presented in cooperation with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Inc., the National Park Service and Montgomery County, MD.

June Inter/Adv Series: "A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS"

During the five Tuesdays in June, some of Jam Cellar's most advanced dancers will teach some of their favorite things ever! Moves, styling, footwork, movement, you name it! (No, seriously, there will be a naming contest). Students should know basic 6-count moves, Swing-outs, basic Charleston patterns like side-by-side and tandem. Students who have taken our Basic Lindy Hop and Building Your Basics Classes should be qualified. $65 (There are Five Tuesdays in June!). 8:30 p.m.

July Series: THE SOLO DANCER!

In July, we'll be focusing on the solo dancer in all of us. Not just solo Charleston (thought there will be plenty of that), this is a class series that will concentrate on how we all can express ourselves individually, weather alone or in a partnered dance. So, get ready for Partner Charleston routines, Lindy Hop footwork variations, and some answers on what to do with your damn arms while your dancing.

The Case of the Dancing Stud: (Part 2 of 4)

I apologize for the absence and lateness, gang–a series of sickness, work and traveling has kept me away from what I always hope to be a regular column. However, I will have a lot of material for the next few months, so please keep coming back weekly for a healthy dose of Swungover. Today is the second part of our ILHC mystery "The Case of the Dancing Stud." In our first installment, famous detective Shackleford Withersbottom was approached by a Ms. Nina Gilkenson–who asked Shackleford to help solve the mysterious disappearance of her lodger. A dancer named Chester Franklin, he was living at her house, working on dangerous top secret new competition material, when he suddenly dissappeared. Shackleford decided to take the case, and flew with his trusted colleague, Wilfred, to Baltimore, the scene of the crime.

Part II: The Scene of the Crime

When we walked into the Baltimore row house, Shackleford wasted no time in inspecting the premises. The house was from 1910, and was decorated with a mixture of strange antique oddities, including a old French Burlesque chandalier and a fully outfitted bronze diving suit. I could tell Shackleford was in heaven. On a table was af ruit bowl that looked slightly strange to me, and I couldn't put my finger on why until Shackelford pointed out that it only had single pieces of fruit in it–there was no two of anything. As we walked up the stairs, we passed a gray cat that suddenly stood up and began rubbing our legs, and finally began using our calves as a scratching post. Shackelford yelped, and I did soon after when the cat did the same to me.

"You'll have to forgive the cat," Ms. Gilkenson said, kicking it. "She always does this to people she meets. She means well, she was just raised on the streets of Baltimore before I took her in, and lives life by those rules."

"Madam, no apology needed." Shackleford said. "Please, show me this Chester Franklin's room, if you will."

The room, which stood on the third floor, was very little more than a bed, a computer, and a dresser that looked like it had exploded with clothes. There was a great space of floor in the middle, covered in worn marks.

"Hmmm" Shackelfrod said, looking at the scuffed floor. "Recently scratched. And these patterns, they're very strange."

"Oh, that? That's nothing." Ms. Gilkenson said. "His dance shoes are from a swing dance manufacturer and have hard leather heels, as most of us dancers know, because we get kicked with them. But they're great for dancing–It's his new top secret Aerial, teh Widowmaker. I think it invovles a heel slide."

"An aerial with a heel slide?" Shackleford said, his eyes penetrating into a distant, specific point of mental focus. "Interesting."

"And it makes sense that there's so many marks. He's been practicing a lot recently."

"And what, pray tell, constitutes a lot, you say?"

"Well, yes, sometimes six or seven hours a day. All he did for the last few weeks was either practice or sleep."

"Yes, very interesting." Shackelford said, though I couldn't have told you why it was so interesting. He then spent several minutes looking around the floor and inspecting the marks.

Next, Ms. Gilkenson showed us the room where Chester's great friend and coach, George Smith lay in a bed, unconscious.

"Dr. Wilfred, if you will please." Shackleford flourished his hand at me to inspect the invalid.

"Shackleford, it's definiately a concussion brought about by a blow to the head." I said. "He should be awake in a few days, but until then, I'm afraid he won't be able to tell us much."

"My good lady, the facts of how he came to be this way, if you will."

"Well, about a month ago, George came to stay in the house and help Chester prepare for the International Lindy Hop Championships He would have competed himself, mind you, but he had injured his heel a few months ago and so dedicated himself to helping Chester prepare his new aerial. A week ago, I got an email from a Southern California dancer named Travis Roper who wanted to stay the night while he was passing through town. We dancers tend to have an open-door policy, and I told him he could sleep on the couch. He was rather strange–he wore a hat, a strange beard, and a neckerchief scarf, like a Frenchman in old movies. The next morning, I came upstairs to find Chester gone, and George lying next to his bed, unconscious and with a bleeding forehead. But in his hand, he was holding this!"

Miss Gilkenson held out a French-style neckerchief. "It was Travis Roper's scarf. When I looked for Travis, I couldn't find him, he had disappeared as well. And now the strange part–when I asked around about him, no one had ever heard of him! It's as if Travis Roper didn't even exist."

"And so, madam, you saw the evidence before you, and feared that a disguised rival had come into your house and tried to kidnap Chester–but perhaps he was caught in the act by Chester's coach good friend. This kidnapper thus hit him on the head and continued to make off with Chester."

"Those are my fears exactly!"

"Who would have thought Lindy Hop could be so competitive." He mused.

"It's only a few apples who spoil the barrel," Ms. Gilkenson remarked.

"Of course you are right." Shackleford said, patting her hand. "Fear not, Ms. Gilkenson. Though you have used admirable deduction, your fears may yet be unfounded. This case reeks of some greater mystery. Now then, who is the lady staying on the second floor?"

"That's Cora Glass, Chester's partner."

"I shall want a word with her."

Ms. Glass was sitting on her bed, Indian style, working on a laptop computer device when we entered. I noticed her room was orderly and clean.

"A few quick questions," Shackelford said, after introductions were made.

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about the kidnappinng," she said, with a hint of bitterness in her voice. A glance from Shackleford told me he had noticed it, too. "Besides, I'm rather busy at the moment."

"I'm sure, I'm sure, my good lady." He said, sitting onto the bed and folding into Indian style himself, and bringing all of his fingers together in the strange prayer-like way he often does when pensive. "But I won't take more than a moment of your time. I more so wanted to ask you about working with your dance partner, Chester."

A look came on her face that I can only describe as ready to explode.

"He's not my dance partner anymore, and I for one, am glad of it."

"Why?" Shackelford asked.

"The reason I'm so damn busy is because I have to organize everything! Flights, classes, contests, promoters! I'm so tired of his daydreaming–it's cute and likeable at first, but try having him as a business partner."

"But surely he has been working very hard on this upcoming contest?" I said.

"Sure, we've been working hours and hours a day. He'll work on something for hours and hours. Luckily for me it's been dance the last month. One time last year he started juggling and we didn't practice dance for two months. And all because I happened to buy three oranges at the grocery store. I didn't make that mistake again."

Shackelford looked at me and raised an eyebrow, as if to say that finally the case of the single fruit was nicely resolved.

"But when he's done with a practice, he just orders some pizza and falls asleep. I then have to go answer emails. And the problem is, everyone KNOWS I'm the dependable one, so they all come to me with questions for him. I even got a damn call from his doctors office, reminding me of his upcoming appointment."

"So, you called it off?" Shackelford said.

"Well, it's not as easy as that. I currently depend on him for my living, after all, and it's not so easy for a follower to get work by herself. But I'm already doing all the business by myself, so it's not like it will be any more work. Besides, maybe getting himself kidnapped was the best thing that could happen to me. OH, I'm so sorry. I'm sure I sounded like such a bitch just then."

"No, no, you are obviously in distress." Shackelford said. "So, if I may ask, do you think Chester was kidnapped?"

"It sounds like something he would do. As I've mentioned, he has a very impulsive nature." She then began to tear up and soon was hiding her face and sobbing. Shackelford laid a cold hand on her shoulder and said "there, there" mechanically. As brilliant a man as he was, he was not useful in all situations. I moved him away and gave the poor girl a fatherly shoulder to cry on, and then ordered her some Thai food and watched a few episodes of the Muppet
Show with her until she felt better.

We left the house as evening approached. In the cab to our hotel, I mentioned that it seemed there wasn't a lot of solid facts for Shackleford to make deductions based on.

"It is not all deductions, Wilfred. Often times my work is founded on instincts and guess work, and it is only then that deductions can flower. For instance, I guessed that, in many ways, no one knows someone better than their dance partner. Having guessed this, I now see strange possibilities unfolding. Come, Wilfred, we have work to do. For tonight is the weekly dance at the Jump Mansion, and we must go, ready to dance."

Tonight, DJ Kate Hedin

Will show the electric results of DJing while jet lagged.

The Big Big Benefit July 9 and 10

The Jam Cellar is teaming up with the Glen Echo Park Partnership, Flying Feet Enterprises, Tom Cunningham Orchestra, The Boilermaker Jazz Band, Blue Sky 5 to raise funds for our dear friend (and mother of Jam Cellar original, Nina), Laurie Gilkenson. Laurie recently suffered a brain aneurysm and, as bills have been rising, she could really use our support. All proceeds will be donated to Laurie. For more info, visit our facebook event page. $15 Admission; Beginner Swing Lesson @ 8PM (Free with admission)
Dance From 9PM – 12AM. Glen Echo Park Park Spanish Ballroom
7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, Maryland. Presented in cooperation with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Inc., the National Park Service and Montgomery County, MD.

June Inter/Adv Series: "A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS"

During the five Tuesdays in June, some of Jam Cellar's most advanced dancers will teach some of their favorite things ever! Moves, styling, footwork, movement, you name it! (No, seriously, there will be a naming contest). Students should know basic 6-count moves, Swing-outs, basic Charleston patterns like side-by-side and tandem. Students who have taken our Basic Lindy Hop and Building Your Basics Classes should be qualified. $65 (There are Five Tuesdays in June!). 8:30 p.m.

June 29th: Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators!

We can't wait for this Seattle band to make their Jam Cellar debut! $10 entry that night.

THE CASE OF THE DANCING STUD

A Shackelford Withersbottom ILHC mystery

Part I: A Strange Visitor

It had been almost three weeks, and Shackelford hadn't had a case. It always put me in great pains to see him this way, for ever since he had broken his cocaine addiction, he had resorted to another hideous compulsive behavior and spent his idle hours watching daytime television.

He was on the couch, smoking his forth pipe of the day, watching a Nazi homosexual Priest throw a chair at the mother of his love child when suddenly the door bell rang, followed by the familiar sound of Mrs. Harrington answering the door.

A few moments later, there was the sound of footsteps on the stairs, a striking sound of clutter going down the stairs, and then again the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. Finally, a knock at the door.

"A Mrs. Gilkenson, Sir. I'm sorry, but she insists on being seen."

"Please, show the dancer in!" Shackelford's voice, and a flourish of a hand, came from behind the couch.

"You know this Ms. Gilkenson?" I asked, as a young woman of pleasant complection and radiant eyes entered the room.

"I do not." Said Shackelford, turning off the television and walking over the couch.

"Then how do you know she is a dancer?" I asked.

"Simple deduction, my friend." He said, then turned to the woman. "Ms. Gilkenson, I presume. Forgive me, allow me to explain to my dear friend here how I know you are a dancer."

"How did you know I was a dancer?" she said.

"I did not hear a car or carriage proceed her entrance, so I can only assume she used the subway or walked. If you are going to see a detective, one imagines it is more likely than not an urgent matter. We can single out her walking out of exercise. It all points towards a low-paying profession. But the muffled bits of her accent I could make out through the floor when she introduced herself to Mrs. Harrington lead me to believe she is well-educated-I deduce she would have chosen a low-paying profession. A lilt in her voice, a spirit in her inflection made me think of the arts. But I must confess, it was the way she walked up the stairs that was the dead giveaway."

"But I fell down the stairs," she said, a goofy look on her face.

"Yes," a wry smile came across Shakleford's face. "But you did so with a strong rhythm and downward pulse. You also did so without hurting yourself, leading me to believe you have done it often. An acrobatic dancer. Not proof, but an educated guess, perhaps?""

"I'm a swing dancer!" she said. "And I can see I've come to the right place."

Once again, Shakleford had proven his powers of deduction. I don't know why I asked, really. You'd have thought I would have learned after doing so a hundred times.

"A case. Yes. Give me the details."

"But you must know first I can't pay anything–"

"Please, please, madam. Have you ever watched Springer so much you've seen the reruns?"

"Yes."

"Then you must understand my need for work. Please, tell me the facts."

"Well, I am an organizer for the International Lindy Hop Championships. And I also happen to have a few dancers that lives in my house in Baltimore. One of them is Chester Franklin. He and his partner have been practicing like dogs on some new material. They are almost a shoe-in for the 2010 champions. But he's suddenly come up missing!"

"Missing?" I said.

"And we are almost certain he was kidnapped! And the championships are only a few weeks away!"

"Please, please, have a seat and try to remain calm." Shakelford said. "What leads you to believe he has been kidnapped?"

"Over the last few weeks, there have been a lot of dancers staying at my house. One of them is George Smith, Chester's best friend. They've been training together. He was found unconscious at the scene with a terrible bruise on his head. I personally think a dancer named Travis Roper has something to do with it. He's someone I had never met before, from Southern California. He came to stay a week ago and left the day after the incident, and we haven't seen him since. We think it has something to do with Chester's new aerial."

"A new aerial?"

"The Widowmaker. I haven't seen it, but apparently it's going to steal the show. They keep going through helmets and knee pads."

"A missing dancer, a gaggle of suspects, and a crime scene. It sounds like a case to me." Shackelford said. "Wilfred, pack your bags. We're going to America."

An Interview with Valerie Salstrom, Mastermind of the All Balboa Weekend

Valerie Salstrom, a professional swing dancer, founded the very first All Balboa weekend with Joel Plys in 2001, and developed the event with Marty Klempner for many years before taking it all over alone. As the event turns towards its 10th year, she talks to us about working with Maxie Dorf, reflects on the growth of Balboa, and reminds us that often times, when about to do something great, it's only natural to feel you are possibly doing something stupid.

So, how exactly did All Bal start to be an idea, a possibility?

I saw bal at Swing Camp Catalina back in "the day" and fell in love…and from then on was forever trying to get someone to hug me for three minutes straight. In 1998 when Joel and I teamed up to teach swing dance full time in Cleveland I knew that bal could have a chance. Joel seemed pretty much game for anything. Sylvia was the person who I was referred to when I was looking to learn bal. I wanted to bring she and Jonathan to Cleveland to teach. The first time we had them out we had them teach practically every style of dance they knew…including bal. They must have hated us.

We got a really good response from people at the workshop that weekend. The Clevelanders seemed pretty taken with bal….in part due to the fact that Joel and I made an effort to dance it EVERY time we went out. Which back then was literally every single night of the week. More and more out of towners seemed to take a shine to bal too.

The next time Joel and I talked about bringing in Sylvia and Jonathan we discussed the option of focusing only on balboa. We went back and forth about whether it was really a good idea or not. We eventually decided to just go for it in 2001.

How was the response to that camp/idea?

I think we had about 80 people sign up and it went over really well. To be honest, we were kinda nervous that we had done something pretty stupid. But we also had a very loyal group of students in Cleveland and the surrounding area who we knew would pretty much come to anything we organized.

How did the teacher's respond to the request for an all bal weekend?

They were actually pretty excited. Especially Sylvia. She had made a commitment to Maxie to carry on "his bal" for him….and now she would really have the perfect vehicle for it.

Speaking of Maxie, did you worked with him at some point, or am I crazy?

Yep. Joel and I had to send an "audition" tape to him before he would even agree to meet us in person. I am pretty sure he wasn't all that impressed by our dancing because one time when we tried to mention a move we did on the tape he kind of just changed the subject and mentioned that he recorded a TV program over the tape we sent him.

I don't know why, but he eventually decided to let us bring a group out to Las Vegas to work with him. Sylvia must have put in a good word for us.

What can you remember about Maxie? What was it like working with him?

He liked to eat pie and drink coffee, and Joel could always count on him to not finish his meals. Joel would always plan his meals around what Maxie was ordering…knowing he would get half of what Maxie got.

Maxie INSISTED that all of the gals wear heels and either skirts or dressed EVERY TIME we met with him. He was super sweet to us and we eventually became really great friends with him. He would call the studio at least once a week and we gab with him for at least an hour or so every time.

It was funny and a little confusing to work with Maxie. Some days we got blasted for doing too many basics. The next day he would ask us, "What's wrong?" "You don't like the basic anymore?"

We finally decided that we needed a translator and that we needed to have Sylvia involved in our meetings with him. We flew Maxie to Santa Barbara so that she could run interference for him.

Sometimes he would say stuff to us and we would have absolutely NO clue what the heck he was talking about. He would say do it like this not like this. –and both thises would look identical to us. Sylvia would be behind him mouthing the words "Don't worry about it. I will explain later."

The best part about working with Maxie is that both Joel and I got to dance with him. He is the most dreamy 3 minute hug I have ever had.

He didn't just dance to the music; he was IN the music. He made me hear and feel things in the music that were only revealed when I danced with him. He had such finesse. It was really incredible.

What do you think he would think of Balboa today? All Bal, and how big it's gotten?

I think he would be really happy. He might have to pretend to be annoyed or something, but I think he would give Sylvia a really big hug and tell her "thank you." Then he would probably ask if the Denny's across the street had good pie and coffee.

So, All Bal this year, tenth anniversary. I'm going to ask you the incredibly lame sports commentator question: How does it feel?

Is there a standard lame answer I am allowed to give?

Touche.

It is pretty cool to think back on it all. To remember how different each year was. First at the Lakewood Masonic Temple. Then the Bohemian National Hall, Then Quaker Square. And now at the Holiday Inn in Independence. How we have sooooo many teachers now, and how the comps have grown too. Am? Pro? What? I would have never thought we would have been able to eventually have so many divisions. I am excited, and nervous. (I guess I will always be nervous.)

And the birth of the Balboa Showcase division!

We will have people from Japan, Sweden, Canada, the US and more competing in that. And to think that there was a time when people said that balboa was used for when you got too tired to dance lindy. HA!

Well, I think that's a great note to end on. Was there anything else you wanted to say to all the admiring fans out there?

Long live Balboa! (And ABW!)

Register for the All Balboa Weekend here.

Special Night: New DJ Night!

Tonight we'll be handing the reigns over to some new Jam Cellar DJs–several of them! Enjoy the show and tell us what you think!

Tonight: The last What You Need class

This month: both leaders and followers will go through a boot-camp style fix of their weaknesses, and a hard-core workout of their strengths. Personal attention and private-lesson like setting. $55 for entire series; $15 drop-ins.

June Inter/Adv Series: "A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS"

During the five Tuesdays in June, some of Jam Cellar's most advanced dancers will teach some of their favorite things ever! Moves, styling, footwork, movement, you name it! (No, seriously, there will be a naming contest). Students should know basic 6-count moves, Swing-outs, basic Charleston patterns like side-by-side and Tandem. Students who have taken our Basic Lindy Hop and Building Your Basics Classes should be qualified. $65 (There are Five Tuesdays in June!).

Beginner Lindy Hop series starts June 1!

Our patented, famous six-week Beginner Lindy Hop series begins again on June 1st. Tell your friends.

Save the date: July 9th, and 10th: THE BIG BIG BENEFIT!

If ever the Jam Cellar had a team mom, it's Laurie Gilkeson. She has volunteered countless hours not just for our little venue, but for the Swing dance scene in DC as a whole. To help her and her family through a recent medical crisis, we are having a weekend full of dancing. Stay tuned for more info.

Swing Memories: Frankie's 85th

A few months after I fell in love with swing dancing, I went to a college on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee. There were only 1200 other people there. I had made the decision to go there before I realized how little swing dancing there would be. (It's alright, I loved my college experience and wouldn't switch it for any I can think of. Except for one where I was less awkward, but that's not the world's fault.)

My only ties to the Lindy Hop I was trying so hard to learn was a complete set of Frankie Manning and Erin Stevens video tapes, and a well-worn copy of the Can't Top the Lindy Hop video set, which had some dancing that was so bad-ass it actually made me want to buy a bright yellow coat.

Can't Top The Lindy Hop was a Lindy Hop workshop and dance weekend put on to celebrate Frankie Manning's 80th birthday party in 1994. I already knew Frankie Manning was possibly the coolest and most loveable person that had ever lived, just from the videos and the 1999 Southwest Lindy Fest I had attended, where he gave one of his talks. (It was one of the ones where he told stories he had told fifty times before as if they had only happened that morning, and he was so full of life and youth that it still makes me smile just thinking about the way he told his stories. For this reason, I highly recommend checking out "Swinging at the Savoy," a Living Legends video cassette that has him telling a bunch of stories.)

(I also had the internet, where, not being able to see any Lindy Hop, I finally broke down and asked a guy who ran a Lindy Hop website about it. I believe I wrote him something to the effect that I had been trying to figure out dance steps by watching "Swingers" and "Swing Kids."

That last sentence is not a mistake. The reply I got back was "Don't watch swingers and swing kids. Watch Frankie Manning and Hellzapoppin. That's when I looked into the Frankie tapes, I seem to recall, and had them shipped to my dorm room. I also found a documentary on dance in our library that had an interview with Frankie and Norma and about half of Hellzapoppin. That half of Hellzapoppin officially sold me. I knew before I died, I wanted to express my joy by the art of swinging out and throwing women.)

A few months later, I was finishing up my first year of college when I found out his 85th birthday party was going to be another event and it was selling tickets. Without a second thought, I almost emptied out my already impressively small checking account for tickets to New York.

During the trip, I stayed with some college theater friends of mine who were spending a semester studying acting at a New York school. They lived in an village apartment the size of a modern SUV, where the kitchen and the shower were one in the same, and where there was always the smell of marijuana being smoked four feet away, even though I never saw anyone four feet away from me. For the week I was there, I remember I lived pretty much off of street hot dogs and the cheapest New York things to do, like staying in the apartment and staring out the window. I remember distinctly one of my friends had night terrors, and one night he shot up in his bed and started yelling at me until I apologized so loudly he woke up, wondered what had happened, and went back to sleep.

When the actual event came around, there weren't any workshops, just one big dance at the Roseland ballroom, one of the famous NY ballrooms of the jazz era, and, more poignantly, one of the white-only ballrooms Frankie Manning was not allowed into in his youth. The thing I remember most about the general atmosphere of the dance was the wall of follows around the dance floor running six feet thick (they didn't sell specifically leader/follow tickets).

I was dressed, if I recall correctly, in my dark maroon zoot suit. That last sentence is not a mistake. And, I was on the lookout for what I was lead to believe were a group of incredible followers all my own age: the DC girls. I found them easily enough, and can at least recall dancing with Naomi Uyama and Gretta Thorn, the latter who told me we should dance collegiate shag when the song got too fast for my (very rough) Lindy. I told her I didn't know how to shag. I remember being blown away at how good the girls were, and how well dressed–complete vintage, including hair styles. Oddly enough, I didn't fall in love with them on site, which was a common problem for me in college. The reason, looking back, is not because they weren't beautiful, charming and my age; they were. It was because my mind was nowhere near that at the time, for several reasons. One of the most important being that I was there to meet Lindy Hop. I had heard all about it, knew we'd hit it off, and now I was standing in a room with it.

I heard murmurs throughout the crowd of who was there: Rhythm Hot Shots, Marcus and Barbl, Sylvia Sykes. Someone mentioned Eric and Sylvia were dancing off in the distance, names I had only heard of a few months previously as the new up-and-coming couple, and I tried to see who they were. But it was impossible to see anyone through the packed dance floor. Though I was having a great time, it disappointed me that things weren't like Can't Top the Lindy Hop, where all the greatest dancers performed and the dance floor footage was all well-lit incredible dancers dancing on the sidelines where everyone could see them.

Nearing the end of the night, I had seen Frankie's smiling face, did the shim sham and saw a jam from WAY outside the crowd of people. There had been a few performances, Frankie danced with all the ladies, and they brought out hundreds of sweet potato pies.

But on the whole, I had spent most of the night doing my twelve basics five hundred times in a crowded, dark corner. Granted, this was probably exactly what I needed at that time in my dancing career, and I don't recall being disappointed by how things turned out. But at the time, though I wouldn't have admitted it, I hadn't seen anything as special or inspiring to me as the video tapes of his 80th birthday promised.

I left the dance early that night–stopping on my way out to look at Frankie Manning's dance shoes, which were hung their in his honor. The shoes, I remember, were so thin and worn they were floppy.

I had heard there was a dance club still open that night called Swing 46. I walked there, found a vacant booth I could sit at, that happened to have a view of the dance floor. My feet were very tired, and, I remember, exhausted emotionally, though I couldn't explain why. Perhaps it was because I was alone and had no one to share my emotions of excitement with. I sat in my booth and just wanted to watch the Lindy Hoppers dance, to see what a lead and follower could do on the dance floor to a song, something they don't show you in instructional tapes.

After five or ten minutes, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"This seat taken?"

I said "no" out of habit, then looked up at who it was. It was Frankie Manning. While I had spaced out watching Lindy Hop, I didn't realize I was soon holding down the only empty booth in the entire place. He sat down with a clone, and I questioned which one was actually Frankie. But Chaz Young, Frankie's son, soon cleared that up when he started talking to me all about his father, who just sat beside him either smiling large or frowning in tiredness. We were soon joined by a depressed looking Asian woman in a cast, who introduced herself as SING LIM! The girl who danced with Ryan Francoise in the gorgeous Can't Top The Lindy Hop jam! She was depressed because she had a cast on her leg, but she was nice enough to talk to me for hours too, even though I was, remember, a freshman in college and could probably only say the words "Woah, that's awesome" or "Woah, that sucks."

Frankie learned that I was from Atlanta, and he had a grand daughter who was going to school there, so we talked about that for awhile. I talked with Frankie and his friends for three hours that night, listening to stories, seeing every dancer I had ever heard of come up and give him birthday wishes. I realized many of them were probably wondering who this young, very white kid in a fine looking zoot suit was, who was close enough to Frankie to sit with him and Chaz in a booth, and I tried to appear cool and natural to encourage that image.

Around three in the morning, the 85 year-old-Frankie was finally tired and ready to call it a night. They all said goodbye, and I continued to wait in the booth until four, just staring in shock at what had just happened.

In case you ever had any doubts, that's the kind of guy Frankie Manning was. He didn't mind spending three hours of his birthday having an innocent lover of Lindy Hop he'd never met before stay in his booth, and he treated him like a friend.

Surprise! Tonight, the Solomon Douglas Swingtet!

You don't want to miss a night of live music at the Jam Cellar. Solomon Douglas's 8 piece big band will swing your socks off tonight, so bring extra socks. $10 entry fee.

May Inter/Adv Series: What You Need

This month: both leaders and followers will go through a boot-camp style fix of their weaknesses, and a hard-core workout of their strengths. Personal attention and private-lesson like setting. $55 for entire series; $15 drop-ins.

MUSICALITY and RHYTHMIC FOOTWORK Special Inter/Adv Lindy Hop workshop 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.)

June Inter/Adv Series: "A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS"

During the five Tuesdays in June, some of Jam Cellar's most advanced dancers will teach some of their favorite things ever! Moves, styling, footwork, movement, you name it! (No, seriously, there will be a naming contest). Students should know basic 6-count moves, Swing-outs, basic Charleston patterns like side-by-side and Tandem. Students who have taken our Basic Lindy Hop and Building Your Basics Classes should be qualified. $65 (There are Five Tuesdays in June!).

Beginner Lindy Hop series starts June 1

Our patented, famous six-week Beginner Lindy Hop series begins again on June 1st. Tell your friends.

A Way-too-Brief History of Balboa

Introduction, Preface, Apology, Rant

Everytime I write about the history of Balboa, I get a little anxious; I'm still learning more and more all the time, and know what it's like to cringe at something I once wrote. (A poem I wrote in High School called "A Nation of Puritan Farmers" comes to mind.) And being an instructor, I know a flippant word or joke I say could suddenly put on many more pounds than I expected it to. It doesn't help that several of my close friends and team mates are considered Balboa historians, and have put a lot of work into researching the dance and keeping misinformation from being spread, so, well, yeah.

This was an essay written several years ago for the All Balboa Weekend. It has since been used for other events, such as the Balboa Rendezvous and Munich Balboa Weekend. The original task was to write an entertaining page-long history of Balboa–hence, I tried to just fit in the basic facts and a few jokes.

I also, at the time, wanted to remind people that just because one Balboa old timer says something, doesn't mean it's a good idea, or even true for the dance as a whole. (This was a common problem at the time).

The Old Timer's never had a set-in-stone dance vocabulary, an important fact every new dancer should know. For instance, the question "Does Balboa have a pulse?" could mean something totally different to five different old timers, and another ten wouldn't know what on earth you were talking about.

But I did want to stress the importance of paying attention to them, listening to them, watching them dance, dancing with them, and forming one's own opinions about the dance based on that evidence–not forgetting them. If we forgot them, we'll probably never reach true Balboa, (Pure Balboa, Bal-Swing, or SoCal Swing, etc).

Speaking of dance vocabulary, know that the term "Balboa" in this essay, as it does to most modern dancers, is short for "Dances including the original (now called "Pure") Balboa, Bal-Swing, and any dances such as So-Cal Swing that are historically linked but are not Lindy Hop."

Also, the original essay is combined with various sections of the NEW essay I wrote for the upcoming All Balboa Weekend 10th anniversary. I was displeased with the original for several reasons–the main two being that (1) it made it seem like we don't know what Balboa is really about, but we understand a great deal about Balboa, even if we don't have concrete facts about its history, and (2) it didn't mention the importance of people like Sylvia Sykes, Jonathan Bixby, and Dwight Lupardus, who's influence on the dance today is inestimable.

Hopefully I have corrected these errors in the new draft. Still, please know that it is, as titled, a way too brief history of Balboa.

A Way-Too-Brief History of Balboa

Two for one Special Edition
by Robert White

The history of Balboa begins with a man who was fond of hiding in barrels with dogs, which I think you will find is evident in several of the classic dance steps.

In 1509, Vasco Núñez de Balboa stowedaway with his dog on a ship to hide from his debtors; he then went on to become one of the greatest Spanish conquistadors in history, discovering the Pacific Ocean (hard to miss, right?), naming dozens of cities, and ruling people under the classic method of government by raping and pillaging. In 1519, he was framed by his father-in-law, and beheaded, reminding us all that in-laws can be trusted only so far.

Many years later, a posh sea-side town in Southern California was named Balboa in his honor, and, with the advent of jazz music, a dance step called the Balboa became popular at this seaside town.

There is an interesting point here, and it is this: we know what day a specific man in the 1500s hid in a barrel with his dog; but we can't tell you anything absolutely definitive about the creation of the 90-year-old dance called Balboa.

Balboa began around 80 to 90 years ago in Southern California, when, we are almost positive, the Charleston evolved into the chest-to-chest partner dance we now call "Pure" Balboa.

At some point in the 30s, also in southern California, there sprang up a dance with turns, kicks, and other steps, which they simply called "swing." It was not Lindy Hop, but a different, open-position partnered swing dance. Today, it is sometimes referred to as So-Cal Swing, LA Swing, or Ray Rand Swing (After the popular Ray Rand swingers, which included Maxie Dorf).

And at some other point we're not quite sure of, the dances were combined and evolved into what we now call Bal-Swing.

We're not quite sure of the finer details, you see.

This is mainly because the only people who would know are what can only be described as in their 90s. Even when they were in their 50s through 70s and younger dancers began searching for answers, the old timers all had different opinions, none of which completely matched, but most of which were "absolutely the way it was," proving once again that one might as well argue with bacon as with a senior citizen.

And since Balboa was a "street dance," developed without any rules or regulations, every original dancer can have a slightly different idea about what it specifically is.

It doesn't help that we never see Old Timers dance anymore. They more often sit in chairs and smile at people, until you ask them for feedback, at which point they say "That's not Balboa!" and "You're doing it wrong!" (That's not very fair–many of them actually had plenty of advice. They would say things like "Keep it casual" and "You're chopping the sh#% out of it", that sort of thing.)

So, what IS Balboa, and where did it come from? What we do know–the cold, hard facts, are these:

1) Balboa ("Pure Balboa" or "Strict Balboa") probably evolved from the Charleston, but we have no DNA proof, just the obvious family resemblance.

2) Balboa was danced chest-to-chest, probably because of ballroom restrictions on open-dancing.

3) The term "bal-swing" was not in the vocabulary of the original dancers in their youth. There were two separate dances called Balboa (what we now call "Pure Balboa") and "Swing" (what we now term "So Cal Swing,").

4) All the original footage of Balboa and So-Cal Swing that we have would take up the first third of a Friends episode. There are 230 episodes of Friends. This means you are 700 times more likely to see Ross than you ever will of original Balboa. Think about that.

But, what in dancing is about cold, hard facts?

The original scene sounds like it was a pretty fun time. Dance competitions and live bands all over the place, and dance styles so regionalized that you could supposedly tell which high school or college kids went to based on how they did their basic.

Then World War II happened, the only thing in the world with the power to stop a good swing dancing scene. America suddenly "grew up." The "feel happy" jazz of the depression turned into the manic, tense bee-bop, and most people the dancer's ages lost their youth to the war. Swing dances were not near as popular as swing music had changed and all the dancers were old enough to start families and get careers.

Many of the original Bal and swing dancers danced every-now-and-then, but not regularly. Then, in the 1980s, Marge Talkier got together many of the original dancers at the So-Cal family restaurant Bobby McGees, which is sort of like a Shoney's on acid. Twice a month they'd get together to dance, drink, and wear mu-mus. They met until the chain closed in 2009.

There, the once-energetic-and-crazy swing dancers showed a different, more mature side of the dance, as years of refinement, relaxation, and bad joints had created a smooth hybrid of swing dances that most people now would probably call "Bal-Swing."

The invention of the camcorder is probably the most important thing to happen to Balboa. Years of taping at Bobby McGees have been instrumental in breaking down the dance as we know it.

Thankfully, there were a few people who refused to let the dance die an unknown death in California in the 1980s. The dancers Sylvia Sykes, Jonathan Bixby, and historian Dwight Lupardus, among a few others, took it upon themselves to save Balboa. Because of them, people like Joel Plys and Valerie Salstrom learned Balboa, and decided to possibly go bankrupt holding a weekend that had only Balboa classes and dances. In 2001, they held the very first All Balboa Weekend.

Today, Balboa and Bal-Swing are thriving dance forms, sucking more and more people out of Lindy Hop, Tango and Slavic Folk dancing, to learn this beautiful, subtle partner dance. And, I think am unbiased in saying the event that first had complete faith in Balboa's power was the very first All Balboa Weekend.

So, sadly, that is your rough history of Balboa. Words can attempt to describe the essence of Balboa, but are clumsy at doing so, and often give no better explanation than a demonstration by a clumsy dancer who keeps tripping and bumping into things.

I can say "we classify Bal-Swing as a swing dance that mainly uses the "out and in", rotational torque, or floppy hair to accomplish its moves and figures", but that's not the same as seeing the "Start Cheering" or Venice Beach Clip.

We could be more abstract, of course ("Balboa is a poem, you see? Say, what are you doing tonight? Would like to come to my room and look at some etchings?") but that is only helpful to those who already know what you're talking about.

So, perhaps the best history of Balboa is found in its dancers; the old ones are passing away at an alarming rate, the new ones are evolving the dance, and many of them without ever having had the chance to talk to an Old Timer.

In this case, if you want to know the real history of Balboa, Swing, and Bal-Swing, then learn to say these phrases: "Hi, you're an original dancer, aren't you? Would you mind talking about it?" and "Would you like to dance?" If you keep at it, there might be a time when you yourself will be qualified to sit in a chair all night, smile and say "That's not Balboa!"

This Week DJ Aba Browning

Will be aba-solutley amazing.

May Inter/Adv Series: What You Need

This month: both leaders and followers will go through a boot-camp style fix of their weaknesses, and a hard-core workout of their strengths. Personal attention and private-lesson like setting. $55 for entire series; $15 drop-ins.

MUSICALITY and RHYTHMIC FOOTWORK Special Inter/Adv Lindy Hop workshop 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.)

A Year of Clips: Start Cheering

This year marks the tenth year anniversary of the All Balboa Weekend. It was the first Balboa-focused dance camp in existence, and marked the beginning of the resurgence of Balboa and Bal-Swing. To celebrate, we'll be discussing Balboa a lot this month, over here at Jam Cellar and over at Swungover.com.

Many people can picture Frankie Manning swinging out in Hellzapoppin. But can you picture an original Balboa dancer doing a Toss-out or Lolly Kicks?

Try not to blink during this clip, or you might miss one of the most important moments in Balboa/So Cal Swing history. It's from the enormously long and strange dance sequence in the film "Start Cheering."

On the left of the screen is Lollie Wise and his partner, Lil (Lilly?) And on the right, Maxie Dorf and his partner, Mary.

The choreography in this clip is simple–merely a bunch of what we call Lollie Kicks and Behind-the-Back Toss-outs. But it's the way they look doing those moves that fascinates us modern Balboa dancers.

A few historical notes: We call them Lollie kicks specifically because Lollie, in this clip, was a badass as doing them. He happens to be a tall, lanky, kicky kind of guy.

This is also the only footage we have of a young Maxie Dorf doing the sort of swing dancing he probably would have done socially. We have another clip of him dancing young, but the director obviously gave him the direction to act crazy and zany, and thus we can't tell how much of that would have been like he actually would have danced.

The reason this is important is because, by almost all peer accounts, Maxie Dorf was one of the greatest swing dancers of the era. And by "swing" we mean, specifically, So-Cal Swing, the dance that combined with Balboa to make the modern Bal-Swing.

Why this clip is so important to us, along with the Venice Beach Clip, is that they are the two best representations of what the original Bal-Swingers looked like when they were young, energetic, and inventing the dance.

What is also shocking to us is that none of us look or move quite like them. Even if you were to, say, get 24 of the most advanced Balboa students to imitate it, they still wouldn't get close. There's something about the way they styled, their pulse, posture, and movement through the figures that we have yet to master.

Is it something worth mastering? Well, I think myself, and most of my fellow teachers, are not just artist, but explorers at heart. And there's something in the style of the Start Cheering dancing that not only looks cool and swings hard, but taps into swing in a way we haven't quite gotten yet with modern Bal-Swing, and a lot of us are excited to try to tap into that.

Doing so should give us further insight into the world of Bal-swing leading/following, etc, and inspire new moves and ideas that should, at heart, look more Bal-Swing than some of the material we do today, which can look either too Lindy-ish, too West Coast-ish, or just not quite right.

We may not get there, but instead come up with something similar and new. We already have come up with a lot of really neat, subtle, pretty dancing inspired by the Start Cheering clip, and I'm excited about the future.

This week, DJ Jerry Almonte

And his famous orchestra (by which we mean laptop).

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.

THIS WEEKEND: Special Balboa mini-workshop 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.)

MUSICALITY and RHYTHMIC FOOTWORK Special Inter/Adv Lindy Hop workshop 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.)

Swing Memories–My First Lesson

Early 1998, Atlanta

The first time I remember seeing swing dancing was in the movie Swing Kids, though at the time I recognized it as swing dancing, so I it must have known it existed somehow before, probably in a random box in the cluttered garage of my subconscious, next to the skis.

Swing Kids came out in 1993 (when I was 13), and I didn't see it until my sister, who had a crush on fifteen of the sixteen boys involved in the film, rented it from Blockbuster. I remember wanting to dance, dress like them, and basically lead their lives without the Nazi Germany part (which is probably what they would have wanted, too.) I put swing dancing on a list of things I was going to do, after becoming a rock star at 17.*

(*–When I was 7 or 8, my band's name was "The L.A. Cobras." I was on lead tennis racket and singing, naturally. I used a pom-pom under a cowboy hat to get the Guns N Roses hair. I had a hat collection. By the time I was 14, I think it was called "The Blue M and Ms" and I had moved up to real guitar, but had no amp and when I actually got my friends together for a practice, my best friend tried to take over the band and literally, the band broke up at the end of a one hour rehearsal. We never decided on a name, but I distinctly remember our drummer wanting to call us "Butt Zits." She now has two kids.)

Swing Kids was oddly very meaningful for me at this time: First off, it was a movie about youth rebelling Nazi Germany, which meant it automatically was awesome, despite a rather lackluster ending. Second of all, it had, as its heroes, intellectual and passionate youth–which was NOT the case in any high school in the world ever. I immediately rooted for the heroes and gained some much needed self esteem.

After seeing it, I remember going to my next hair cut appointment, and trying to describe a Swing Kids haircut. (I have done this for the last fifteen years, and still haven't gotten the result I want. But I won't give up trying. And besides, my new barber is getting close.)

A few months after I saw Swing Kids, a girl I probably had a crush on (I had a crush on 83% of the girls in my high school), and I talked about the movie, and she said she loved the soundtrack. She brought me a cassette tape of it and I listened to it non-stop for months. I realized how much I loved the swing music.

Cut to early 1998ish. I remember I saw "The Gap commercial" when it aired after the Seinfeld final episode, which millions of people had watched. I heard about a movie called "Swingers" about young guys in the L.A. cocktail scene. For some reason, swing was in the air.

At this point, I was 18(ish), not a rockstar, but instead was one of the lead actors in my high school theater, which I take a great pride in, because our public school department was good enough to win regional and state competitions with straight shows and existential comedies instead of blockbuster private-school musicals, which was unheard of in Georgia. At this point, a group of girls in our theater wanted to take swing lessons, and asked a group of us guys to be their partners. When they said the words "you know, like Swing Kids," I was there.

"There", in this instance, was a small dance studio run out of our teacher's house. Our teacher, who shall remain nameless, was a middle-aged woman we soon found out was recently divorced, and quite bitter about it. So bitter, she apparently drove off every other guy in our class until only i was left; but I credit my obliviousness more than anything else at keeping me around. Plus, I obviously thought the dance was fun as hell.

From the very beginning, I took Swing Kids as my guide. I made my rock steps HUGE, I bent over, I asked about "the kicky footwork" which I later discovered was Charleston, and wondered why we only danced to Smashmouth in class.

She told me to take tiny rock-steps, stand up straight, said she didn't know Charleston, and occasionally would play "String of Pearls" for us to dance to when we begged her for some swing music.

One time when her dance partner just happened to show up to our Saturday morning class– in hindsight, I imagine he was perhaps just leaving the house *cough*– they did a demo for us to a country western song, and the dancing looked almost nothing like anything we had been doing. They were actually dancing–we, however, had just been going rock-step triple-step-triple step.

I remember being slightly annoyed–they didn't teach us any of that, but now I of course realize it's because they had been dancing for years and years, and I was trying to concentrate on not falling over during a triple step.

After the six weeks, me and a few of my friends all decided to go out swing dancing at the Masquerade, an Atlanta club which had had swing dancing on Sunday Nights. I remember walking into the club and seeing a ton of people all doing pretzels and wearing martinis shirts and NOT LOOKING ANYTHING AT ALL LIKE WHAT I HAD BEEN TAUGHT. If there was a triple step in that room, it had been taken out back and shot. I was puzzled, because it also didn't look like the movie Swing Kids, either.

But, I had my friends with me. I asked them to dance, and one-by-one, danced with them until I felt confident enough to ask a stranger to dance–confidence I built by making sure she was a whole lot worse than me. This is how the next few months at the Masquerade went.

The best times for me were when they stopped playing Brian Setzer and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy long enough to play a song from the Swing Kids soundtrack, which, let's face it, are some pretty kick ass arrangements. I would go out there, and just move my body to the music, with my five moves, my friends, and my furious, galloping triple steps.

At this time in my life, I was 6 foot tall, skinny and awkward, with terrible posture. My dancing those first few months must have looked like a broken umbrella caught in a hurricane. But can you imagine a more exhilarating feeling for a broken umbrella?

I'd like to give a shout-out to my Druid Hills Drama friends who invited me to those first lessons and months of dancing, especially Rachel Lambert, Jenny Pittam, and Rachel Mewbron. It was a great idea.

Hear ye, hear ye! Get thee to our dance this Saturday!

Come see Drew Nugent & the Midnight Society make their DC debut in the Bumper Car Pavilion! This band comes HIGHLY recommended by Philly dancers for their authentic hot jazz, dancer-friendly sets, and awesome energy. Drew has been into jazz and ragtime music since he was "knee high to a duck", started writing his own music at age 12, and has been working tirelessly ever since to bring this music to more people. Join us for a beautiful (we hope!) early May evening at Glen Echo. The lesson begins at 8 and is free with admission. Dance runs 9- midnight.

DETAILS:

Saturday, May 1st

admission: $15

dance: 9 – midnight

lesson: 8-9 (free with admission)

Sorry for the extra email this week. We thought maybe this would be nice to let people know about

Presented in cooperation with the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts & Culture, Inc., the National Park Service and Montgomery County, MD.

Tonight, Luke Albao

Next week gets back to our normal email zaniness. Until then, here are the updates.

Tonight: Roots and Offshoots!AFRICAN!

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 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

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 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.)

Mike Marcotte

And, a very too-the-point, not many frills email:

Tonight: Roots and Offshoots! TAP DANCING

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 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

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 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.)