Bobby “Extremely” White is currently in the middle of P90X, a 90-day work-out regimen that’s growing popularity with swing dance instructors. Each week, he reviews one of the program’s 12 exercises, and gives an update on how it’s going and where it hurts.

DAY 70

At the writing of this post, I began the second week of my final month of P90X, which starts off with a First Month workout week, followed by a Second Month work out week, and then repeats that two-week chunk, ending with a final recovery week.

This weekend, one of my closest friends, Andrew Thigpen, came to visit, and jumped in on a few exercise days. Having him present turned on the testosterone-fueled male mindset of me of trying to impress him with how hard I work. The result was the best Plyometrics workout I’ve done yet. I worked so hard I felt like I was going to throw up afterwords…so maybe I worked too hard. But at least I know I can work too hard, you know?

Anyway, as Tony mentions in the videos, having friends around helps a lot in a workout—you give each other support, you have a healthy competition that helps each of you push yourselves, and you share in the post-workout exhaustion of having worked hard and accomplished something. I had that experience with only a few workouts with a friend; I can only imagine what its like with, for instance, people in the armed forces who go through boot camp, and perhaps combat, with each other. Read more »

Filed Under: Dance Advice, Trends | by Robert White | Comments (6)

Event Name: Boston Tea Party
Event Date: March 26th to March 29th
Event Location: Danvers, MA
Event Website: http://teapartyswings.com
Event Hosts: Steve & Rebecca Drzewiczewski and Dan Mez
Event Teachers: Instructors Listed Here.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Music: DJed Music
Class Levels: Beginner, Intermediate/Advanced, Balboa, WCS
Competitions: Strictly Lindy, Strictly Balboa, Jack & Jills
Venue Floors: Portable Ballroom Floors

Tea Party is probably one of the most successful crossover events in the U.S.  It has exceptional competitors from both the Lindy Hop and the West Coast Swing scene, talented DJs and a host of great instructors on site.

This year a large majority of the Lindy Bloggers team was in attendance and we got a few group pictures snapped and some of their highlights and opinions on this years BTP.

Boston Tea Party is organized by Steve and Rebecca (last name unspeakable by normal man) in Danvers, MA.  It kicked off on March 26th and lasted till the 29th (yes this review is quite delayed).

I arrived Friday afternoon and settled into my room.  Having attended BTP for a number of years now I see many familiar faces from all over, it is a social event for many dancers as well as a dance event.  We dine, relax in the hot tubs, work out (P90X it), and party together on top of all the dancing.  Hotel events definitely enable this mingling atmosphere. Read more »

Filed Under: Event Reviews, Lindybloggers | by Carl Nelson | Comments

Dear Casey is a satirical twist on the advice columns found in news media. Send your questions to casey@lindybloggers.com

Dear Casey,

Please give me advice on how to win!
Jaded competitor

Read more »

Filed Under: Competition Advice, Dance Advice, Dear Casey | by Casey Schneider | Comments (11)

Shown at Frankie95, here’s the official global Shim Sham video.

Dancers from around the world dance a Shim Sham as a tribute to Frankie Manning on his 95th birthday. The video was edited by Akemi Kinukawa and was screened during the Frankie95 celebration held in New York City over the 2009 Memorial Day weekend. It features over 5,000 dancers from 22 countries in four and a half minutes of pure joy. Click the HQ button to watch in high quality.

Filed Under: Dance Community, Event Reviews | by Alain Wong | Comments (1)

Our Northern Lights team routine at Frankie95. Choreography by Joshua Welter and Mélanie Huot-Lavoie. The song is (If I Had) Rhythm in my Nursery Rhymes by Wingy Minone.

Thanks Patrick for uploading it! Visit http://frankie95.com for the official DVD and event information.

Filed Under: Event Reviews | by Alain Wong | Comments (3)

Stefan Durham and Bethany Powell perform a wonderful piece to Stuff Smith’s version of “I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music” at Frankie95.

Filed Under: Event Reviews | by Alain Wong | Comments (1)

The life of the professional swing dance instructor isn’t all luxury flights to exotic locals like Cleveland to teach and dance all night. There is also what we call “corporate gigs,” which often involve some passive aggressive PR rep, usually named something like Mercedes, who hires us to entertain large parties. The only reason we take these gigs is because they usually pay well and often involve a free dinner of some meat wrapped in bacon. However, more often than not, they lead to the kind of experiences we had at a recent gig.

***

The casting company needed a greaser and a poodle skirt girl for a Country Club 1950s-themed party, and Jeff Booth was out of town. The gig came to us, and I set aside my t-shirt, blue jeans and loafers. They wanted Kate, however, to send them a picture of her outfit. It was an actual period 50s attire, something you would have seen in the actual 50s, minus a poodle on the skirt. This would not do. They wanted Kate to drive the hour down to DC, pick up a poodle skirt from their poodle skirt warehouse, and drive back. They’d reimburse her $25 for the two and a half hours it would take. She instead went out and bought a poodle to put on her skirt. She showed them the outfit, and, no, they’d really REALLY encourage getting one of their poodle skirts. They would ship it Fed Ex.

She ended up persuading them that her outfit was fine, but it took several emails and a headache to do so. We suspected some form of middle-aged demon was behind this. Read more »

Filed Under: Dance Advice, Dancer Interviews, Event Reviews | by Robert White | Comments (5)

Bobby “Extremely” White is currently in the middle of P90X, a 90-day work-out regimen that’s growing in popularity with swing dance instructors. Each week, he reviews one of the programs 12 exercises, and gives an update on how it’s going and where it hurts.

DAY 63

At the writing of this post, I had begun my final month of P90X, which starts off with a First Month workout week, followed by a Second Month work out week, and then repeats that, ending with a final recovery week.

I started off the third month reaching two big personal goals: I did a complete Ab-Ripper X workout without taking any breaks, and I did a really good, complete Plyo workout without taking any breaks.

For the Ab-Ripper goal, I was afraid that it would be awhile before I could do it all without breaks, because my back could never last through the little Bermuda triangle of Scissors/Hip Raise/Hip Pop, which takes place in the middle of the workout. But I did it, and though my form got a little sloppy towards the end of some of the work outs, and though it hurt a LOT finishing up the Hip Hops, I stuck with it. I never expected to get through it all, but, late one night, tired of taking breaks, I just tried to keep going. It somehow worked. Read more »

Filed Under: Dance Advice, Trends | by Robert White | Comments

Ninjammerz perform “Jitters” on Saturday night at the Frankie Manning 95th birthday celebration in New York city. The dancers are Max Pitruzzella, Annie Trudeau, Dax Hock, Alice Mei, Thomas Blacharz and Claudia Joyal-Laplante. Visit http://frankie95.com for the official DVD and event information.

Filed Under: Event Reviews | by Alain Wong | Comments (1)

Harlem Hot Shots performance on Saturday night at the Frankie Manning 95th birthday celebration in New York City. Visit http://frankie95.com for the official DVD and event information.

Filed Under: Event Reviews | by Alain Wong | Comments