Outside Perspective: Documentary on Swing and Jitterbug
My friend Morgan Day, posted on yehoodi awhile back a link to a documentary by David Wittkower on Swing and Jitterbug which was filmed during Camp Hollywood 2006.
What is interesting though, is David Wittkower when deciding to make this documentary was someone who was from outside of the swing dance community.
When I asked his permission on youtube to use his video for my blog post he gave me the response,
“The back ground was this. I was youtube surfing and came across this clip which I really loved watching:
because I love the music and the dancing. Not really a dancer myself, I used to Cajun dance many years ago and I grew up listening to the big bands because my parents were in WW2.
After watching this video (above) I thought it would be great to make a short film about swing dancing. It hasn’t been in any festivals, I made it a few years ago and now decided to put it up on Youtube, along with some of my other films.
I’ve been making films for over 30 years, mostly documentaries, and constantly looking for projects that I either get hired to make or I make them because the subject interests me.”
What I liked about this documentary is it allowed me to get a great quality view of 23 Skidoo!’s team performance that year, allowed for some interesting perspective from Hilary Alexander the event director, interesting interviews with Jack Carey and international dancers from Italy and Sweden, and last but not least Jean Veloz and Ray Hirsch dancing at the very end.
If you have a spare moment I would recommend checking out this documentary besides some great footage of Camp Hollywood, it also offers some insightful messages as well.
Friendliness of the instructor, its a phrase that comes up constantly when people talk about why they liked a certain instructor or even hired a certain instructor. I am myself am guilty of that. As an organizer for a college club, after the quality of teaching abilities, usually one of the big factor of why I hire instructors is if they are good fit for my demographic a.k.a. college students.
However personally when it comes to instruction for myself, I could care less how friendly an instructor is. Maybe it is because of my grandfather raised me on too many kung fu movies where a good portion of the instructors believed in hard-work, fundamentals and the school of hard knocks.
Jackie Chan practicing Horse Stance.
There is a topic on yehoodi “Meanest things a dance instructor has ever said” that the topic of how mean or nice an instructor should be comes up. Two quotes in this yehoodi topic from Damon Stone really stand out to me, the first one is.
“I’d rather someone be direct and even mean and brutal to drive home the point. I hate being coddled. I’m an adult, if I can’t take your honest opinion I don’t deserve to have you as a teacher and probably shouldn’t be taking lessons.”
I was actually talking to my roommate who teaches violin this past weekend and seeing the overlap in musical and dance instruction. He went into anecdote about when he used to take lessons in his younger years, from an instructor who had him play what he was instructed to practice the previous week at the beginning of each lesson. If he didn’t perform up to his instructor’s standards, his instructor would tell him to get the hell out and stop wasting his time.
I chuckled and responded if I I did that in any of my classes, I would probably get the reputation as the worst swing dance instructor on the East coast. His response to that statement struck a note with me though. He commented that; the weeks he earned his teachers ire, he worked harder then ever to improve.
The second quote by Damon that stuck out to me was,
“I’m not sure I’ll ever quite get why intermediate dancers and above are sensitive about their dancing. I mean beginners are just that they want to learn enough to get out on the floor and have fun. By the time you are intermediate you should know everything you need to do that.
If you are taking lessons after that point I’d assume it is because you really want to improve, you want to be a kick-ass dancer. I can’t imagine going into a jazz or ballet, or contemporary, hell even Hip-Hop class and expect the teacher to be all sunshine and rainbows.”
Now, I think the issue at hand is differing opinions. I have had friends in my international dance performance troupe with backgrounds in ballet, jazz, and et cetera go into horror stories about how strict and demanding their instructors were that would send most people I know reeling.
But those are all instructors who see the material they are teaching as a serious art form and if you use their time, they demand respect for their experience and the material they are teaching. However, I would say for the most part not out of disrespect but being truthful, that the swing dance community as a whole are hobbyists.
In result it is often difficult to offer a class with the same serious framework like ballet or music without potentially touching some nerves or hurting feelings. Even often when I hear people talking about other dancers within the community, its usually a long list of their strengths and they are loathe to point out weaknesses.
Personally, I want someone to tell me my dancing is garbage. I want someone to point out my weaknesses and criticize me harshly about them. For me, its not the words of encouragement but these harsh criticisms that drive me more then anything to work harder on my dancing. I want knowledge, not a self-esteem boost.
Slightly Related Clip (For those of you just using my blog to procrastinate):
So I was stumbling around on youtube looking for videos on Jack Carey and came upon this clip uploaded by Doug Silton. If you don’t know, Jack Carey’s claim to fame is being the person who designed the Jack & Jill format for contests which are still used today.
Normally, I wait a few days after a post before I put up another one. However this was too hilarious to pass up. This features legendary dancers Annie Hirsch and Jack Carey talking about a vegetable they found at what appears to be Newport Beach, California. In the clip 1:07 is where the real hilarity starts.
A jazz step I like because of its kooky name and look is known as a “Tabby the Cat”. I was casually chatting about it with my friend Annabel the other day and she mentioned its rather popular in the swing dance community these days, apparently due to Sharron Davis. I do not know the exact origins of this move (besides it coming from the song “Tabby the Cat” Edit: See Peter Loggins comment below for details.), however I do have a feeling it has something to do with Dean Collins.
They are still working on getting the move down.
Dean Collins: The Cat’s Meow
First reason is Dean seen doing the move with fellow dancers Johnny Duncan, Jenny Duncan, Jack Arkin, and Irene Thomas in a 1945[1] soundie Tabby the Cat, which also featured comedian/pianist Eppy Pearson.
The move is first shown at 0:36, then Dean strolls in and does it with the gang at 1:05
Second is it is a featured move in his shim sham, the Dean Collin’s Shim Sham. You can him do it himself below in a 1983 impromptu performance at about 1:25.
A more modern demo of the Dean Collin’s Shim Sham is below with our friends at the London Swing Dance Society. They do the move at about 1:28.
Modern Uses:
The move Tabby the Cat is great for partnered, solo dancing and a necessity if you want to learn Dean Collin’s Shim Sham. One of my favorite examples of it used in partnered dancing is below by Juan Villafane with Carla Heiney at this past year’s Lindy Focus. He hits it perfectly at 0:33, BAM.
Sharon Davis seems to have adapted it for the blues ascetic.
How to Learn It?
A skim notes version for you fast learners, check out this video from the Houston Swing Dance society.
Footnotes:
[1] The interesting thing about the Tabby the Cat soundie when I was attempting to do research for it was IMDb has 1945 as the year of the clip and only lists the pianist and vocalist. Whereas whoswhoinswingdance.com lists the full cast of dancers but has the year listed at 1939??. I chose IMDb’s date, because the song is listed in wikipedia coming out 1944 {Tabby The Cat (Arr. Dave Matthews) Broadcasat Hollywood Paladium, Hollywood, Ca.}
For a college workshop weekend, SparX delivered three tracks (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced), two bands (Baby Soda & Gene’s Jazz Hot), and two competitions (Jack & Jill and Solo Jazz).
Most college events where one is lucky if there is more than one track or live band. Case Western pulled off an impressive feat by having an event this big and well run.
Classes
After probably the roughest audition I have ever encountered (about 30-40 minutes of straight social dancing, one song after the other), I got placed in the Intermediate track. Generally I thought most of the classes were a good balance of technique & moves to keep everybody interested.
However what stuck out to my was Mike Faltesek and Casey Schneider’s classes. I have taken several of their classes, multiple times in the past. What I really enjoy about their classes is, no matter how many times I have taken a class they have offered before, I always get something new out of it.
Competitions:
The finals were to live music provided by Baby Soda, the results were..
1st ~ John Holmstrom & Annabel Truesdell
2nd ~ Daniel Repsch & Corinne Shafer
3rd ~ Mark Muthersbaugh & Beth Hartzel
4th ~ Yosseff Mendlesohn & Jesse Hanus
5th ~ Sam Copeland & Ellie Hanus
Some highlights from the J&J were:
1:56 Daniel Repsch & Corrine Shafer throwing down some peckin’
2:18 Mark Mauthersburgh backing it up with Beth Hartzel in tow.
4:25 Jesse Hanus showing some serious sass.
5:48 Annabel Truesdell shimmying it up.
5:56 Yosseff Mendlesohn & Jesse Hanus hamming it up.
The PSU Peanut Gallery
Slight Back story to the Jack & Jill: Some of you might wonder why some of the competitors entering the spotlights got extra loud cheering then the others. People actually at SparX were probably wondering who all the crazy people with blue and white pom-poms were. Well one of the Penn State students, (not going to say names) happened to be a season football ticket holder his Sophomore year and saved pom-poms from every game, thought it would be a fun idea to bring the student section to cheer on any Penn State students or alumni competing at SparX. Needless to say, it was a blast for all parties involved.
00:52: Mark’s grand entrance. I am not sure what made the outfit more, the longhorn bull belt buckle or the blue sequin jacket.
9:53: As commented on youtube, Ross Hopkins fall hits a cymbal crash perfectly. Coincidence or crazy musicality? I’ll let you guys decide.
10:20: It’s a shame there isn’t a video from another angle. Jessie Hanus does an amazing Josephine Baker impression here and sells it with her facial expressions.
Room For Improvement?
The only negative things I can say about this event would be to trouble shoot the sound equipment with the Friday band a little more and perhaps more food for the late nights. But they were things that paled in comparison to how much ridiculous fun I have been hearing other people claim they had and the marvelous time I had myself.
One of the biggest problem I had when I taught my first larger classes (like 50ish people) was at times getting all of their attention so they could hear what my partner and myself had to say and demonstrate.
Over the last few years, I have witnessed some instructors creatively deal with this problem in their classes which I will list below.
Teaching Tricks to get Students to Pay Attention
Shave and a Haircut: Described on the wikipedia page as a “7-note musical couplet popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comic effect.”
The way to use it is teach it at the beginning of the class, then you clap out the rhythm whenever you want the students attention and they respond with either a stomp-off or clapping back the “two bits” (Ba-Ba) part. Repeat as necessary.
One, Two, Three, All Eyes on Me: Many of you may be familiar with this from grade school, where teachers sometimes employ this. It is a simple rhyme that grabs attention. The way to use it is at the beginning of class go over the rhyme, then during class employ it as necessary. I remember my grade-school teacher would just say the part and have us students reply “All Eyes on Me”.
Side By Side: I actually witnessed this for the first time when taking a class from Erik Robison in California. He explains at the beginning of class when he says the phrase “Side By Side” he wants follows to get to the right of their leads and for everyone to remain quiet and watch whatever he is demonstrating. Its great because the phrase initiates movement, so people who might be zoning out catches on they should pay attention and it gets people in a position to immediately start dancing afterward.
Observation Goggles: I got this from watching part of one of Mike Faltesek and Casey Schneider’s classes at Jammin’ on the James last year. At the beginning of their classes they explain the importance of paying attention to the body movement (they or other people you are trying to learn from)and translating it to yourself, they refer to it as putting your observation goggles on and demonstrate what they mean. I can only explain what this looks like with this picture:
Observation Goggles
Its goofy but it works like a charm, especially among a younger crowd.
What I Do Personally
Well I have liked everything, so I combine a little of it all. At the beginning of classes that it is students I am unfamiliar with, I explain I have this thing called “Side By Side”. When I say that phrase to make it easier on both parts for myself teaching and students learning I ask them to:
Follows stand to the right of the lead.
Please remain quiet so other students can hear what I am saying.
Put on your “Observation Goggles” and not just pay attention to what my footwork is doing, but my full body movement.
I’ve found combining both of them works extremely well, at least for myself.
If you have any tricks you use in your classes or noticed other instructors using that works well, please feel free to comment about them.
It's The Way That You Do It 