I came across this creative video today. A Hula version of the Shim Sham performed in San Francisco. Choreography by Erin & Julia (video by Cianna).

From the youtube description about bringing the hula & lindy hop together:

Many traditional hula celebrate and pay homage to those who have preserved and promoted the dance and culture. Other hula tell about those who inspire the dancers. The motions of hula are part of a storytelling tradition that is beautiful to watch while it preserves history.

Both hula and swing are living dances, reflecting a range of influences on a base of structured forms. As women who met through Lindy Hop and are now studying hula in the same San Francisco halau, we wanted to pay tribute to one of our main inspirations in swing dancing, Frankie Manning, in a fun, unexpected way. Plus, of course, we are from the Bay Area, and you know that we like to mix things up a little here.

Filed Under: Upcoming Events | by Alain Wong | Comments

Sheet Music; "My Biggest Hit," says Goodman.

One of my favorite tunes to dance to has always been Don’t Be That Way. It’s often associated with Benny Goodman, since he is the one that brought it to the masses. The original, however, was composed by Edgar Sampson and first recorded by Chick Webb in 1934. I think (at least for me) part of the confusion on this tune came from an apocryphal scene in The Benny Goodman Story, a mediocre film from 1956 starring Steve Allen in the title role. At one point late in the movie, someone tells him they need to announce the title of the song they’re about to play. He replies (and I’m paraphrasing here) “Everyone’s always telling me, ‘Benny, don’t be that way,’ so that’s what I’m going to call this new tune.” I haven’t seen the film in years, but I remember thinking the delivery was robotic and I disbelieved the story immediately. What I didn’t realize was that it wasn’t even his tune.

The real story is that Edgar Sampson composed Don’t Be That Way for Rex Stewart’s band in 1933.¹ Unfortunately they did not record the tune, and that same year Sampson left Stewart to join Chick Webb’s band. This was a very prolific time for him; it was the same time period he composed such classics as Stompin’ at the Savoy, Let’s Get Together, and Blue Lou. Only later would Benny Goodman make Sampson’s creations worldwide hits.

Mitchell Parish, who also wrote the lyrics of Sweet Lorraine, Stars Fell on Alabama, and Stardust, put words to the tune a few years later in 1937 . There are relatively few recordings that include the lyrics, perhaps because the melody is somewhat difficult to sing.²

Here are some of my favorite recordings of Don’t Be That Way that showcase its versatility, through a number of styles and tempos. Read more »

Filed Under: Recorded Music Reviews | by Mike Thibault | Comments

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 programs 12 exercises, and gives an update on how it’s going and where it hurts. Read last week’s post here: “F**** G*** D**** Yoga Day AGAIN?!?!?”.

Since I have finished the first month, this week begins the second month, which introduces two new upper body workouts, but otherwise keeps the same schedule as the first three weeks of the program.

Day 1: Shoulders, Chest and Triceps Day 2: Plyometrics, Day 3: Back and Biceps, Day 4: Yoga, Day 5: Legs and Back, Day 6: Kempo (a martial-art type cardio workout), and Day 7: Lying in the fetal position, whimpering (rest day).

DAY 35

In many ways, I think the second month can be the hardest part of P90X because of motivation—you might be seeing your first results, but the novelty of working out is wearing off; and for me, a continuous string of weekend workshopss has made it particularly difficult to balance everything.

The first month is officially over, and my results are good, but not incredible. There are a few reasons I can think of why; First off, perhaps I’m not eating as much protein as I should be, though I do eat every few hours when possible. (And, as I’ll mention more next week, perhaps my eating is just off, period). Another reason is perhaps I am just getting used to the exercises and, though I feel like I’m bringing it now, it will take a while of bringing it to get to the good results. Finally, perhaps I am simply expecting too much too fast. It’s HARD to get into incredible shape, and it takes time. Read more »

Filed Under: Dance Advice | by Robert White | Comments (3)

Last week’s answer
Which modern Lindy Hop team originally performed to “The Last Jump (To End All Jumps)” by Charlie Barnet? Bonus question: which team got people talking by choreographing and performing to the same song a year later?

ANSWER: Silver Shadows performed to the song “The Last Jump (To End All Jumps)” by Charlie Barnet at the American Lindy Hop Championships in Stamford, CT in 2006. They also performed it at the US OPEN that year in Anaheim, CA. Ninjammerz performed a choreography mixing the slower Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra’s “Happy Go Lucky Local” and the faster “The Last Jump” during the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown in St. Paul, MN in 2007.

Congrats to Breanna for guessing the right answer. Andrew and Alain, I totally agree with both of you - that performance was magical. At the end of the routine in the video, you can see Carl and I rise up to our feet (we are slightly to the right of the center)… I remember us both being so energized and inspired by the moment. It still gives me giddy shivers when I think about it.

This Week’s Tuesday Dance Trivia Question: Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation?

Complete the last sentence. In August 1921, the widely read (about 6 million subscribers) and highly influential Ladies’ Home Journal published an article by music professor Anne Shaw Faulkner titled “Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation.”

“Jazz disorganizes all regular laws and order… it is harmful and dangerous, and its influence is wholly bad… Jazz originally was the accompaniement of the voodoo dancer, stimulating the half-crazed barbarians to the vilest deeds. The weird chant, accompanied by the syncopated rhythm of the voodoo invokers, has also been employed by other barbaric people to stimulate brutality and sensuality. That it has a demoralizing effect upon human brain has been demonstrated by many scientists… the effect of jazz on the normal brain produces an atrophied condition on the brain cells of conception, until very frequently those under the demoralizing influence of the persistent use of syncopation combined with inharmonic partial tones are actually incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, right and wrong.

Such music has become __________________.

Know the answer? Let everyone know and comment.

Filed Under: Dance Trivia | by Alain Wong | Comments (4)

Today our Song of the Week DJ is Kate Hedin, partner to our resident “extreme” writer Bobby White, balboa expert, professional violist and all around lovely lady.

Artist: Benny Goodman
Song: Caprice Xxiv Paganini
Year: 1941
Album: 1941, Vol. 3

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Why I like it:

In a time in our lindy hopping lives when early jazz and “chunk-ca-chunk” music is so popular, I find my self drawn more and more to the old classic sound of big bands. Benny Goodman was definitely the first band that really grabbed me when I started dancing, so I guess his sound holds a special place in my heart.

I remember very specifically when I heard this piece (Caprice Xxiv Paganini) for the first time. While dancing at the Boston Tea Party in ‘05 or ’06, I heard this song blast through the speakers, and I can still see myself running up to the DJ booth after that dance, desperate to see what recording had just played. For me, the theme of that piece is something so familiar and so distinctive that I would recognize it anywhere. The main melody of Benny Goodman’s piece comes from a very famous classical work for solo violin by Niccolo Paganini. (Included below) Many of you may know that my “other life” is one of classical music. I have been playing the viola for over 20 years now, and received both my bachelors and masters degrees in viola performance. (www.katehedin.com) I still get a thrill when my two passions cross paths. This song by Benny Goodman is a brilliant example.

Piece: Caprice No. 24, for solo violin
Composer: Niccolo Paganini
Artist: Itzhak Perlman

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) was both a pillar of violin virtuosity and composer who wrote pieces that showed off the technical mastery of which he was capable. His 24th caprice is probably his most famous work, and its theme has been used by over 35 other composers, including Benny Goodman, as a spring board for their own theme-and-variation compositions.

In the Goodman song, the full band plays the opening chorus: an energetic swung version of Paganini’s theme. Then Benny comes in with his solo, his own chilled variation of this theme. Each soloist thereafter variates the melody in their own way, leading a slow-driving crescendo to the final culmination: a recapitulation of the original theme in the final chorus with full band. For me, the fact that Benny Goodman not only wrote a piece that was a intellectual throw-back to one of the milestones of classical music, but also managed to make it swing so hard with that driving sound he does so well – well, it just baffles and amazes me.

You can find Benny Goodman’s rendition of Caprice Xxiv Paganini on Amazon.com.

Filed Under: Dance Community, Song of the Week | by Carl Nelson | Comments (4)

This is the Shim Sham compilation from Montreal for Frankie Week, compiled by Marie N’Diaye. Remember to click HQ (high quality) if you have high speed internet. Enjoy!

And here’s a group picture at Cat’s Corner (taken by Emmanuelle Girard).

Filed Under: Upcoming Events | by Alain Wong | Comments

Bobby “Extremely” White is currently doing P90X, a popular 13-week work-out routine. Each week, he’ll give an update on how the workout is going, explain one of the 12 exercises, and review the best and worst foods he’s eating for the protein regimen.

DAY 28

Since I have finished the first three weeks, this week is a “recovery week,” which, if you remember, is only called a recovery week to trick you into actually pushing play on the Core Synergistics workout. We’ll talk about that workout in Week 8.

Day 1: Core Synergistics , Day 2: Yoga, Day 3: Stretch, Day 4: Yoga, Day 5: Core Synergistics, Day 6: Kempo (a martial-art type cardio workout), and Day 7: Lying in the fetal position, whimpering (rest day).

As a swing dancer, one of the hardest things to do is keep up the P90X workout schedule during a workshop weekend. When was the last time you had an hour and a half a day at an event to workout, let alone felt like doing so, between the eight hours of classes and five hours of dancing a day?

When it finally is time to workout, you usually have to pass up meals or invitations with friends—friends you never get to spend a lot of quality time with because you spend most workshop weekends either in class or at a dance. Or, you have to wake up early, which means you either have no sleep or you have to miss a bunch of a dance in order to get sleep, neither of which is good if you’re a hired teacher hoping to impress.

That said, one of the things I’m proudest of in P90X is how I’ve kept with it at long work weekends. This means that the second I arrive, I have to find time and a six by six piece of floor. My luggage now is quickly filled with a yoga mat, fitness bands, push-up bars, and sneakers.  (One weekend I forgot to pack sneakers, and so I had to do my workout in the living room of a crowded house wearing old man socks and loafers. You have to quickly not get embarrassed about working out in front of your friends or strangers).

Workout breakdown: YOGA-X

After twenty Downward Dogs (with push ups) into the Yoga-X workout, you start to wonder if your workout is going to be nothing but an hour and a half of discomfort. But, the Downward dogs, triangle poses, warrior threes, and twisting prayer poses only last for about 50 minutes of the workout. The rest are balance exercises, which are fun as hell (for me, anyway), stretching, and, of course, a Tony Horton Ab Yoga workout.

The romantic in me imagined that Yoga would be a peaceful, calming experience where I could mediatate and loose stress, but in reality, I have a few leftover traces of my 12-year-old ADD, and the sheer length of this program makes it really hard for me to enjoy it.  When I really work hard in this workout, I have to take breaks three or four times, which push the already long experience into almost 2 hours of time. And most of that two hours is holding a tricky position for many seconds and breathing. Read more »

Filed Under: Dance Advice | by Robert White | Comments (4)

Last week’s answer
During the Roaring 20’s, which black jazz band originating from New Orleans was the first to make recordings?

ANSWER: Kid Ory recorded the first two titles by a Black New Orleans jazz band (”Ory’s Creole Trombone” and “Society Blues”) under the band title of Spike’s Seven Pods of Pepper Orchestra - also known as Kid Ory’s Original Creole Jazz Band.

Thank you Freddie for this source. Congrats to Amy, James and Freddie for all guessing the right answer. Thanks also to James for naming the first band to make a jazz recording (without regard to race) in New Orleans, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (in 1917).

This Week’s Tuesday Dance Trivia Question: Modern Lindy Hop dance teams and performance groups

Which modern Lindy Hop team originally performed to “The Last Jump (To End All Jumps)” by Charlie Barnet? Bonus question: which team got people talking by choreographing and performing to the same song a year later?

Know the answer? Let everyone know and comment.

Filed Under: Dance Trivia | by Alain Wong | Comments (4)

Here are the results for the Lindy & Balboa competitions at Boston Tea Party.

Stay tuned for the full review and a picture of the Lindyblogger crew live from Tea Party.

Balboa Jack & Jill

1       Paul Salter & Abigail Browning
2       Jason Platt & Natasha Ouimet
3       Patrick Wall & Nikki Marvin

Novice Lindy Hop Jack & Jill

1       Nathaniel Allen & Ellen Murray
2       Mortimer Gerdon & Alicia Wagner
3       Brian Zimmer & Stephanie Bourque

Intermediate Lindy Hop Jack & Jill

1       Mark Muthersbaugh & Lisa Casper
2       Douglas Van Sant & Amanda Fong
3       William Ewanick & Vicki Grenier

Advanced Lindy Hop Jack & Jill

1       Alain Fragman & Crista Seipp
2       Andrew Thigpen & Natasha Ouimet
3       Carl Nelson & Caroline Rossi

Strictly Balboa

1       Jason Herron & Andree-Anne Tremblay
2       Patrick Szmidt & Natasha Ouimet
3       Davis Thurber & Valerie Salstrom

Strictly Lindy Hop

1       Michael Pedroza & Nikki Marvin
2       Joshua Welter & Melanie Huot-Lavoie
3       Andrew Thigpen & Karen Turman

For full listings of the competition results go to here.

Pardon for the initial error in the Intermediate J&J results.  I blame the lack of sleep that Tea Party brought upon.

Filed Under: Event Reviews | by Carl Nelson | Comments (2)
Tags: balboa, boston tea party, competition, lindy hop, results, swing dance

Song: St. Louis Gal
Album: Maiden Voyage
Artist: Titanic Jazz Band
http://titanicjazzband.com/

A bit about the Titanic Jazz Band.  These guys are a local Dixieland band here in Los Angeles.   These guys are really talented at what they do and have gained quite a loyal following here in the local Dixieland scene.  None of them are what I would call “famous”, not even in the Lindy scene as most Lindy Hoppers that I know of (me included) wouldn’t want to dance to Dixieland the whole night and so these guys don’t get booked for Lindy events. However,  it is fun to dance to a few Dixie tunes every night, when we DJ we usually will pull at least one or two songs from the Titanic CDs to play.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

We first “discovered” them when Ben went shopping at Canterbury’s in Pasadena prowling around for more music.  He saw  Titanic’s “Mostly Jelly” CD in the used bin and took a listen to it.  And he loved it!  He bought it specifically for their version of “Shimmy Like My Sister Kate” (Ben’s favorite version of that song).  Soon after, we purchased their other CD “Maiden Voyage”.  We then found out they were local and attended a few of their performances and even booked them for one of our dances.  These guys are definitely a talented group of musicians!

The song we chose, St Louis Gal,  is our favorite song of theirs.  From a listening and dancing experience, this song builds and ebbs subtly giving the listener (and dancer) quite a fulfilling experience.   Not to mention that St Louis Gal is a very versatile song to dance to.   We find there are so many feels of this song: a bit showy, a bit bluesy, a bit groovy, and a bit Dixie/Ragtime.   Depending on what kind of dancing mood you’re in, you can let the song take you in so many different directions.   And Titanic accomplishes this with just piano and percussion!!  Amazing!  A lot of the time when there are only one or two instruments it seems that the musicians overcompensate and tend to unnecessarily fill up space with notes resulting in a rushed or hectic feeling.  It’s good to see two musicians (Ragtime pianist Robbie Rhodes and percussionist Lloyd Byassee) so secure in their talent and their musical relationship together that they are able to let the music just flow.

We hope you all enjoy our pick.

Thanks Ben and Sheri! Check out their One2Swing’s California Rolls team routine at ALHC last year.

Filed Under: Song of the Week | by Carl Nelson | Comments