Lindybloggers on Twitter - Live Tweets on Swing Dance

Lindybloggers has gone off the deep end of social media and joined up with the Twittersphere.

If a blog post a day or so isn’t enough you can get our feed of favorite video links, dance tweets and more here.

We’ll also be using Twitter to live blog at events starting this weekend with the Boston Tea Party in Danvers, MA.

Follow us on Twitter.

You’ll also notice the new social sharing buttons at the bottom of posts so if you like a post, share it with your friends.

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Why we love Frankie Manning!

Frankie Manning appeals to folks to open up their homes to visitors coming into town for the Frankie Manning 95th Birthday Festival.

Read what our writers think about Frankie. Read more »

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Swinging for the Cause in Denver for The Lindyhopper’s Fund

This past month, swing dance teachers in Denver Colorado teamed up for Swing for the Cause, a special one day workshop at the Denver 1st Presbyterian Church with all proceeds going to The LindyHopper’s Fund.

Participating teachers included Kenny Nelson, Joe DeMers, Nelle Hatley, Heather Ballew, Ford Childs, Delilah Williams, Miranda Longaker, Becky Vigil, Teni Lopez-Cardenas, Andrew Munoz, JJ Weiss, and Davis Thurber.

I asked Danielle Hatley how she came up with the idea:

About 2 months ago, Joe and I were just talking about how we can contribute to the Fund, but we don’t really have any money to donate, so we figured we could donate what we do have: time, energy, knowledge, love of the dance :) and we just went from there. We’re planning on giving all of the money from “the Colorado dancers” at Southwest Lindyfest (Houston, TX) and hopefully this can be something that a lot of scenes will do.

Since I have never been to Denver, I took the opportunity to ask Nelle a few more questions about her and the scene:
Read more »

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Tuesday Dance Trivia: First black jazz band from New Orleans to be recorded

Last week’s answer
March 12 to 22, 2009 has been dubbed Frankie Week. What is Frankie Week?

ANSWER: Frankie Week is intended to allow Frankie Manning fans from all over the world (whether or not they are attending the actual Festival) to celebrate Frankie’s 95th birthday by honoring him in a number of special ways: (1) a Global Shim Sham, (2) a Birthday Card for Frankie, (3) by spreading the Lindy Love, and by (4) fundraising for a birthday greeting. All details can be found on Frankie95.com

And yes Lucy, I agree - it’s also “what you feel when you watch the man dance… his rhythms, syncopations, his grace.” Thank you to you and Jesse for the answer.

This Week’s Tuesday Dance Trivia Question: First recorded black jazz band from New Orleans

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

Know the answer? Let everyone know and comment.

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Song of the Week by DJ Alain Fragman

This song of the week comes from Big Alain in Montreal (Alain Wong being “Small Alain”) or as Mike Faltesek calls them, Caucasalain and Alasian.

Song: Dinah
Album: Pink Elephants
Musicians: Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang

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.

Joe Venuti was born on a ship on the way to the USA from Italy and became, in many circles, THE great jazz violinist. Eddie Lang (who was also known as Blind Willie Dunn) was a boyhood friend of Venuti, and was the first great jazz guitarist.

Inspired by Stefan Durham and Bethany Powell’s routine to Stuff Smith’s My Blue Heaven, I looked for other Swing songs that included a violin and stumbled upon this album. Joe Venuti’s violin is teamed up with Eddie Lang’s guitar playing to create a very original version of Dinah. This song makes me dance as if I was floating on air, yet still maintains the bounce of Swing. You can’t help it but to be really happy after hearing this song.

You can find Dinah by Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang as an mp3 on Amazon.com.

Thanks Alain!

Browse past songs of the week. If you are interested in submitting your own pick, email us at info@lindybloggers.com

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Technical difficulties

We apologize for the weird characters and missing information on the website. We are experiencing technical difficulties and are working on it. In the meantime, happy Frankie Week!

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P-LINDY-X, Week 3: “It hurts to lift my recovery drink.”

P-LINDY-X: Extreme P90X journal
By Bobby “extremely” White

Bobby is currently doing P90X, a popular work-out routine that has become sort of a fad among Lindy Instructors. 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 21

For the first three weeks, the P90X workout is this:
Day 1: Chest and Back, Day 2: Plyometrics (jumping), Day 3: Shoulders and Arms, 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). On Days 1, 3, and 5, there is an additional Ab workout.

Now that the Week 2 energy boost has left as quickly as it came, my body is suddenly realizing what I’m putting it through. Almost every day a body part is sore, and if I don’t get eight hours of sleep, I feel beyond terrible. The five regiments of protein a day, though obviously making my performance better, are also having adverse side effects, and my girlfriend, having a sensitive nose, cannot stand to be around me for an hour or two after eating a protein bar.

It’s a tough line to walk well—you have to work hard to get the maximum results from the workout, but if you work too hard, you can’t walk the next day or you get injured and have to stop the regimen. My left arm got tweaked in a concentrated curl, and it hurt to swing-out for a week. I injured a toe (It wasn’t started by P90X, but the workout didn’t help it) and so that’s currently making life difficult. It is, coincidentally, the perfect time for a recovery week, which is happening next week. Maybe it’s planned that way?

Workout breakdown: SHOULDERS AND ARMS

P90X Shoulders and ArmsMid-week brings a welcome change of pace from the first two workouts, which give the entire body a rough beating. Shoulders and arms concentrates on the smaller muscles (guess which ones), which means the workout is less of a chore and less soreness the next day. The workout goes through five sets of exercises that target, in order, shoulders, biceps, and triceps. So there’s a ton of curls, chair dips, and exercises that work well with the fitness bands.

As Tony Horton repeats several times in the DVD, the arms start at the shoulders. “Of course, Tony,” I said. “Dur.” But when I thought about it more, and did the workout, I had a hit my-head-moment. In thinking of getting in shape for throwing women around, I envisioned in my head strong thighs and biceps; but that’s wrong. The real answer is strong thighs and shoulders. And biceps. And calves. And back. Everything, really. Anyway, ever since that realization, I look forward to this workout in getting to my goals.

Workout Song: “Outsiders” by Franz Ferdinand. This song helps me out in every workout, but is especially helpful when I do moves I dislike, like Chair dips. Read more »

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Tuesday Dance Trivia: What is Frankie Week

Last week’s answer
This photograph was taken in 1937. What type of dance event does it portray?

ANSWER: two couples remaining after a 5-month dance marathon. Photo by Bernard Hoffman

Congrats Ann for getting the answer.

This Week’s Tuesday Dance Trivia Question: Frankie Week

March 12 to 22, 2009 has been dubbed Frankie Week. What is Frankie Week?

Know the answer? Let everyone know and comment.

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Song of the Week by dance historian Peter Loggins

This week’s song comes courtesy of Peter Loggins. Look out for our upcoming interview with him on Lindybloggers. You can find the Korean translation of this week’s article below.

The SONG of the week comes from a band I would love to share with everyone: Alphonso Trent and his Orchestra.

I’ll spare you the long history of the Alphonso Trent which you can google for, But to keep it short the band was primarily out of Texas and was the toughest band to battle in the territories.

During the late 1920’s they toured the North east to record for the Gennett label in Indiana and on one of these tours played the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem.

Although they have numerous songs that are great I selected St. James Infirmary, Recorded March 5, 1930.

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Read more »

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Dear Casey: When is it appropriate to ask instructors and professional dancers for advice

Casey Schneider lindy hop dancerDear Casey is a satirical twist on the advice columns found in news media. Here’s a recent question answered on WhiteHeat. Send your questions to casey@lindybloggers.com

Hey Casey,

I have a question under the general topic of “Dance Floor Etiquette” (which really deserves it’s own thread, methinks!).

A friend of mine who works in IT support was recently complaining about how many of his friends/family ask him to “just take a quick look” at their computer issues when he’s on his off-time. It got me to thinking about people who make their living teaching Lindy Hop/Swing dancing and how there are no distinct lines between what kind of feedback/help it’s appropriate to solicit on the social floor (after a class, when you have not paid for it) versus when you should think of getting a private lesson. It seems many lindy hop instructors are friendly folks and are happy to answer questions, but I’ve also seen some being “cornered” at dances by people asking lots of detailed questions that turn into a little mini-private lesson, which usually might cost something like $75/hour from the best instructors. It’s such a unique situation because what many dancers choose to do in their free time is, of course, dance, so the line between what is done for a living and for free time is not as distinct as, say, an IT professional who works at an office and then does other stuff in free time. What are your thoughts on this, as someone who makes a portion of her income through your teaching/dancing expertise?

Read more »

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