Dear Casey is a satirical twist on the advice columns found in news media. During the past months, we introduced her column through archived articles from WhiteHeat. It’s now time to send in your questions - please do so at casey@lindybloggers.com
Dear Casey,
Lately, I’ve been reading about dancers moving to greener pastures for dancing. Specifically, there have been two threads on Yehoodi with people chiming in about “Pick up and move for dancing” and the “Next big dance scene“.
Many people say that Seattle is the top destination to move to. Since you live in Seattle, I thought I’d ask you for your opinion. What do you think about this discussion, and would you recommend that dancers move to a better dance scene in order to improve?
I rarely cuss outside of airports, so you know I mean it. But whether I can help it or not, this is the phrase I’ll say, in my head at least, every day for 90 days. When I’ve done 80 push-ups in an hour and it’s time to do 10 more with one arm, I’ll say it. After I have touched the floor in a squat and exploded into the air for the fifteenth time out of thirty in a 30-second-timed exercise, I’ll yell it. And when I’ve finished the final lunge exercise and can’t stand up in the shower, I’ll mention it to the cat.
Who is this Tony Horton? Aside from being a tight, bumpy pile of dyed-hair and tank tops, an ageless 50-year-old who takes being prickishly annoying to such an extreme that it often reaches a rare flavor of charismatic, he’s a professional trainer who’s developed several popular work out series. Most of them are the kind they have infomercials for at 3 in the morning in hotel rooms. His masterpiece, however, is a 12-disk set of sand-kicking sadomasochism called P90X. It is the Moby Dick of workouts.
I first learned about P90X when I noticed that my friend, professional swing dancer Nick Williams, had transformed from your generic out-of-shape American guy into a ripped Clydesdale horse over a period of six months. (more…)
Last week’s answer Name the jazz standard that is also the name of a dance. Bonus: name the creators of this dance. Super bonus: name the team that performed to this jazz tune at the American Lindy Hop Championships.
ANSWER: The jazz standard is Carioca. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performed a choreographed dance to the song in the movie Flying Down to Rio (1933), which was the first time the two were paired together for a movie. The Carioca was essentially a stylized ballroom version of the Samba, mixed with Maxixe, Foxtrot, Rumba and Tap. There has been debate as to whether this was a new dance at all, but following the success of the movie, people wanted to learn it, and so dance instructors started teaching “The Carioca”. The distinctive feature of the dance, as seen in the clip, is the partners’ touching of foreheads.
Connexion Crew performed a team choreography to Artie Shaw’s recording of Carioca at ALHC 2007. There were 17 couples in that choreography - I think it’s probably the modern day record, surpassing both Mad Dog and this past year’s Team Canada in sheer numbers!
Thank you Martynas, Sam, Freddie, David and Srikanth for commenting. Charleston, Truckin’ and Ballin’ the Jack are all dances that are also the names of songs. Srikanth, thank you for your thorough list of guesses - all excellent ones!
I myself did not know that Ballin’ the Jack was a dance, so for those of you out there who likewise had never heard of the dance, watch a clip of Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Polly Bergen singing and dancing in the movie That’s My Boy (1951). Here’s how Peter Loggins learned Ballin’ the Jack: “Ladies and Gents we’d like to do just one or two more steps for you. You step back, ball the jack, shimmy shimmy , chicken scratch, fall off the log, and turn around, do a little break and then you Truck on down…” (you can find the thread on DanceHistory.org, including a clip of Hal Takier showing the Ray Rand Swingers’ version of Ballin’ the Jack)
This Week’s Tuesday Dance Trivia Question: Quote from Malcolm X
Quote from civil rights leader Malcolm X, “All the other dancers would form a big ‘U’ with the band at the open end. The girls (…) would slip over to the sidelines and change from high heels into low white
sneakers” (from The Autobiography of Malcolm X). What is Malcolm “X” Little referring to?
Artiste: Boots and his Buddies Titre de l’album: Boots and His Buddies 1937-1938 Titre de la chanson: The Raggle Taggle Genre: Swing
I love this song because I can Hear the Badass “Boom Cha-Ka”, hein Dax?!!
Max is indeed a man of few words - he usually lets his dancing do the talking. This song can be found on the Chronological Classics Boots and His Buddies 1937-1938. You can find Ninja Max DJ’ing regularly in Montreal.
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For non-Canadians, Quebec can refer to the province of Quebec, Canada’s only pre-dominantly French-speaking population, or the city of Quebec, which is the capital of the province of Quebec. It was established in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain as the colonial outpost for the colony of New France. It’s also the land of poutine (gravy, French fries and cheese curds).
The Québec Swing Rendez-Vous has been a fixture in the Quebec scene for the past four years. Attracting the majority of dancers in the region, as well as out-of-towners, the event grew in size every year since 2006. This year was announced as the last one, as the organizers decided to focus their energy on demanding non-dance careers.
Here’s my look back at four years of swing at the Québec Swing Rendez-Vous.
QSRV 2006
My first time dancing in La Grande Capitale happened at the inaugural Quebec Swing Rendez-Vous. The main venue was the talk of the event - we danced inside La Citadelle de Quebec, a fortified battlement also known as the Gibraltar of America. In addition to being an official Residence for the Governor General of Canada since 1872, it houses an active military garrison. Shaped as a fortified maze with armed guards at the entrance, I had the impression that we were entering a top-secret military complex where scientist experimented with new biochemical weapons on swing dancers!
ANSWER: Here’s a quote from an original master of the dance, Willie Desatoff, taken from BalboaNation: “Question—Why highheels? I’ll try to keep the answer on a simple plane—several reasons why heels were worn —among which is basically the kind of shoes worn by Balboa dancers—the heels gave the lady a natural (with knees straight and good posture) forward lean to the balls of the feet. Flats and tennies just do not show the real Balboa!!! High heels were the fashion of the day and still worn by dancers. Many’s the time that I said exactly the same thing that my good friend Maxie did—Bless him!!” Willie Desatoff (1921-2005)
Lila completed his answer with, “Also Willie has told me VERY OFTEN, that the high heels accentuate the calves, and make them look sexier. I’ve been there when Willie has not only complained about the gals not wearing high heels, but also the length of the skirt is supposed to come to the middle of the knee, so you can see the “knee-action” that is an intrinsic part of the Balboa. He even has “yelled” at the guys for wearing “baggy pants” for the same reason. You can’t see the footwork or knee action if you’re wearing a tent!”
This Week’s Tuesday Trivia Question: A jazz standard that is also the name of a dance
Name the jazz standard that is also the name of a dance. Bonus: name the creators of this dance. Super bonus: name the team that performed to this jazz tune at the American Lindy Hop Championships.
This Song of the Week is brought to you by Carl Nelson, contributor, editor and vagabond for Lindybloggers.
Song: See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil Artist: Don Redman All Stars Album: Star Dreams
I stumbled across this tune on eMusic a couple months ago and have been listening to it constantly since.
Don Redman was one of the first great arrangers in jazz working with Fletcher Henderson and then McKinney’s Cotton Pickers. Notable arrangements included Sugarfoot Stomp, The Stampede, Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You. He played clarinet, alto saxophone, and oboe while occasionally singing vocals including the first recording of a scat vocal piece, My Papa Doesn’t Two Time.
This mid-tempo song is really laid back in its groove with an ominous mood given by the horns, this song doesn’t make me want to throwdown but to chill out and jazz it up. The prominent back-and-forth between the horns gives layers to play between while the wire brush shuffle on the snare keeps the whole song rolling.
It features some excellent sidemen including Coleman Hawkins, Jo Jones and Hank Jones.
This is definitely my latest jam. You can find it as a single track on Amazon.com downloads.
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Dear Casey is a satirical twist on the advice columns found in news media. During the past months, we introduced her column through archived articles from WhiteHeat. It’s now time to send in your questions - please do so at casey@lindybloggers.com
Dear Casey,
Coming from a different continent I have encountered many cultural shocks while living in North America. There is one particular thing that I still don’t quite understand in the context of social dancing which is the “hugging system”. In my country we don’t hug, we kiss cheeks to greet or say goodbye to people. So how exactly does it work and what is a “half hug”? If I dare to throw in a second question when is it ok to ask for a second dance? Since again europeans and americans seem to diverge on this too.
After seeing last year’s videos from Lone Star Championships down in Austin, Texas and hearing about the great time people had, I decided it was time to visit.
Austin is the center of live music and technology in Texas with events like SXSW bringing it international recognition. Recent winners of the ULHS Showcase division Mike Roberts and Laura Glaess, and Stephen Jean, winner of the Advanced Jack & Jill at ILHC, reside there. The scene is strong with a large contingent of high school students (the future of the scene) active both socially and as part of a dance troupe.
Lone Star has given Austin a new level of Lindy Hop acclaim. The organizers, Scott Angelius, Tena Morales, and Don West, bring together an immense amount of experience putting on great events. Lone Star Championships was no exception. (more…)
Filed Under:Event Reviews | Thursday, February 12th, 2009
Last week’s answer Who topped the Billboard magazine top ten dance bands for 1940? As a bonus, name the top 3.
ANSWER: 1. Glenn Miller 2. Kay Kyser 3. Tommy Dorsey 4. Benny Goodman
5. Orrin Tucker 6. Jan Savitt 7. Guy Lombardo 8. Sammy Kaye 9. Hal
Kemp 10. Jimmy Dorsey
Freddie, you were so close. Three out of the top four. Thank you for the educated guess! Kudos to Sarah as well for getting two of the top three.
This Week’s Tuesday Trivia Question: Balboa dancers and high heels
Balboa is a dance originating from Southern California in the 1920’s. It was contemporaneous with Lindy Hop - both were danced to swing music. This week’s question: why do Balboa followers wear high heels?
Although we use the title “Lindybloggers”, we definitely appreciate the support of Balboa dancers who read our blog. This should be an easy one for those of you who bal, and maybe not as easy for the Lindy Hoppers out there who haven’t tried it yet. For those of you who haven’t, I definitely recommend learning this dance, as it will open up your dancing to a whole new world. For more information, check out Bobby White’s interview with Balboa Mastermind Nick Williams and read BalboaNation.com
We would like to thank the organizers and volunteers of Frankie95 for putting on an exceptional tribute to the life of Frankie Manning, who will forever be with us.
Can't stop the Lindy Hop.
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Dear Casey is a satirical twist on the advice columns found in news media. During the past months, we introduced her column through archived articles from WhiteHeat. It’s now time to send in your questions - please do so at casey@lindybloggers.com
PROLOGUE
at ALHC 2007. There were 17 couples in that choreography - I think it’s probably the modern day record, surpassing both Mad Dog and this past year’s Team Canada in sheer numbers!
After seeing last year’s videos from Lone Star Championships down in Austin, Texas and hearing about the great time people had, I decided it was time to visit.
