In Theory

I participated in a local practice session last night. Towards the end of it we were all sitting around chatting about what, forget, but we got onto the topic of the necessity of compromise between partners on the social dance floor.

A comment was made by one of the members of our group to the effect that connecting with a visiting dancer was extremely difficult because said dancer would not compromise. That of course digressed into a nearly heated argument (cooler heads fortunately prevailed) about whose responsibility it is compromise.

During the course of things an interesting observation was made about theory versus practice and a question was posed: Are you going to let your principle (of bother partners meeting in the middle style/connection-wise) get in the way of dancing?

It reminded me again of something I’ve heard Steven Mitchell say over and over and over and over, both toward a group, and to me specifically, both as an admonishment, and as a “Good Job”… as a leader you have to take care of your follower. You are dancing for her, she is not dancing for you.

I’ve found that when I think this, when I approach a dance and make it about her and her enjoyment I have a lot better dance, I am much more creative, I connect much better, regardless of her level. But when I approach a dance with an expectation that I’m going to get something from the dance, and look to her to connect with me the way I want to, when I expect, or worse, demand that she follow me a specific way, the dance is usually crap; it become wholly unfulfilling.

I expect the reverse holds true to, if I were a follower I would have much better dances if each time I worked to connect with my leader exclusively and regardless of my leaders efforts to connect at my level.

And then the theory holds true, if the leader strives to reach the follower where she is, and the follower reciprocates, but each independent of the other, that’s when there is magic on the floor.

technorati tags:Dancing, Lindy-Hop, Balboa, Blues-Dancing, Swing-Dancing, Leading, Following, Technique, Social-Dancing

My Favorite Events

(this will probably become a permanent page, just FYI)

On the left you will notice a list of links under the heading “My Favorite Events”. Shortly there will be 5, but for the time these are my 4 most favorite event (which I know doesn’t really make symantical sense, but common usuage permits it and since English is a living language… I digress). The sorting is alphabetical only and shouldn’t be interpreted as any more. Nor will I divulge which is my absolute favorite.

All four of them have a common theme, and that is the atmosphere is what stands out the most. For each of them the sense of community holds the biggest attraction for me, over all other events I attend.

All Balboa Weekend

I love the size and and excitement and the energy of this event. It is simply huge in all ways. The crowd is massive with all levels of bal-ability present. It is well run and well organized and so it is an easy event to attend.

Lindy Focus

I’m a huge of fan of Lindy Focus in large part because it is a South East event, which almost inherintly means it is friendly. The atmosphere is very laid-back, folks are there for a good time, and even with the introduction of competitions the focus still feels to be on the friends you make while working on your Lindy Hop. The instructors are mostly regional too, which really helps with the affordability factor.

Swing Out New Hampshire

Summer camp in the woods, on the lake. Mix in Lindy Hop and late-nights and that is SONH. The mixture of relaxed summer camp coupled with incredibly intense lindy hop training is wonderful. The dancers that arrive each year seem to leave their egos at home, everyone dances with everyone and everyone has a permanent smile affixed.

The Private Collecion

I must divulge a bia here, The Private Collection is an event that I produce personally. That said, I think I would love it as much if it wasn’t mine. The atmosphere is very exchange like because everything is so “chill”. While there isn’t as much dancing, as it is a weekend workshop, it just has that feel common to so many exchanges. Classes are all instructor choice, and teachers are only doing a couple of classes each so there is ample time to hang out with them. The price is great and everyone there is super friendly and hungry to learn.

technorati tags:Balboa, Lindy-Hop, SONH, All-Balboa-Weekend, Lindy-Focus, Swing-Out-New-Hampshire, Private-Collection, workshops, swing-events, swing-dancing, best-swing-event, lindy-weekend

All Balboa Weekend

All Bal Weekend is by far, one of my top 5 events (on the left is my list of top 4, I’m having trouble identifying my 5th). Marty and Val have done a tremendous job with this event, the brand, the product, everything. It has an awesome vibe, awesome dancing, the price hasn’t gotten out of control and the size of the weekend reflects it all.

I was not able to make it this past year for the first time since I first attended in 2002. Swingout New Hampshire is the only other event I’ve attended as religiously.

So the other day, when Marty’s announcement about registration being open for ABW showed up in my email I was filled with excitement, for obvious reasons. I haven’t registered yet, though I probably will shortly, since I need to get the cash in hand and need to know if Sarah will again have to skip due to singing in Europe over the summer (yeah, she’s that good – but this blog is not about her).

I’m hoping, praying, saving, and planning to be there again this summer. I just don’t know that I could handle missing it two years in a row. So look for me this June in Cleveland Akron, and please reserve a dance or two for me.

technorati tags:ABW, All-Bal-Weekend, Swing-Dancing, All-Bal, workshop, dance-class, balboa, Get-Hep-Swing, All-Balboa-Weekend, All-Balboa

Workshopping as an Advanced Dancer

The longer I’ve been dancing and taking workshops the more I’ve thought about the art of taking workshops as an advanced dancer, especially taking workshops that are not aimed specifically at advanced dancers.

Taking a workshop as an advanced danceroften feels like a chore, especially when few others in class are advanced ; having to frequently nurse partners through the material, unable to really work on the “feel” of something, slow pace to class, etc. I think often times though, those negative reactions to a workshop are actually the result of a bit more pride than is warrented.

In the summer of 2002, I was part of the team that put on Lindy U. (sadly there is no site anymore as the domain name has since been snarfed), a camp the first, and to some extent the last, of its kind (not even SONH, of which I’m a huge fan, really compares – in part because this was probably my first camp). I wanted to think I was much more advanced than I was in those days, and the main organizer for the camp recommended that I take classes at a level lower than I thought my dancing warrented.

When I voiced my objection to him he gave an answer that has stuck with me ever since, and is often the source for the answers I give to similar objections. In a nutshell he said that if a class seemed below me… to mimic to perfection how the instructors moved through the moves, copy their exact style, and understand why they were teaching it that way.

That is pretty darn hard to do. Occasionally (though more frequently now than before) I feel like I’ve trully mastered someone else’s technique for a particular move, and each time I do it makes me a much better dancer. For that reason I don’t often find myself wishing a particular was over (I do on occasion) but I’m often absorbed in what’s going on, analyzing the why, how, and what of the material and instructor.

I encourage everyone to do the same. If you’re taking an advanced class, a class for your specific level, you probably are more focused on getting the what, which is important, but there is so much value in focusing on the why and how after you know the what. Class and workshops that are “below” you will demand that from you if you’re willing to face the challenge.

technorati tags:Blues, Lindy-hop, Swing-Dancing, dancing, workshop, dance-class, balboa, advanced-dancing, technique

Coordinating Volunteers

I do a lot of volunteering at events I travel to. Partly because while I’m not broke I don’t exactly make enough to support my travel habits un subsidized, but more so because as an organizer myself I like to see how others run their events. I often pick up new ideas and learn a thing or two.

I mentioned in my review of Lindy Focus V how well things seemed to be organized. Well I’ve gained an inside perspective to help explain that. They had teams of volunteers coordinated by other organizers acting as managers, rather than just a mass of volunteers coordinated by one individual.

I’ve often thought about such a format, but never implemented one largely because I never thought much about how to do it.

There are two very important aspects to make an event run smoothly from the persective of the staff, especially a large event.

1. Supplementing the number of organizers during the weekend to help prevent burn out, hence organizer managers/coordinators/team leaders – what-have-you.
2. More than selecting coordinators who are friends, or locals, etc. pick people who have run their own events before! They can tell what is and is not a crisis and have some experience to draw from in dealing with a crisis should a legitimate one emerge.

All this helps make things stress free for your attendees, and possibly more importantly, easy and fun for your volunteers so they’ll want to help again next time.

technorati tags:lindy-hop, lindy, swing-dance, lindy-hop-workshop, workshop, volunteer, event-organizing, swing-dance-workshop, weekend-workshop, dance-camp