“For all the Jazz Fans, Vernacular Jazz Dancers, and Harlem Renaissance Aficionados out there, I have begun to acquire the rights to Jazz Age artwork with the intention of reproducing them as posters and fine art prints. Research and tracking down the original works is a large part of the process. I have also done a lot of work in finding the best printing methods so that the reproductions of these long forgotten works will have the finest possible colors and detail.”
"Learn to Dance The Big Apple In One Easy Lesson"- Rube Goldberg
An additional plus to purchasing any of these pieces of art (besides the +1 to awesome your house gets) is,
“Additionally, a portion of every purchase benefits The Lindy Hopper’s Fund of America, a nonprofit organization that helps the elder generation of Lindy Hoppers still alive today who danced at the Savoy Ballroom, on stage, and on film.”
So if you are looking for some amazing dance related art to decorate your home or local swing dance venue with and like helping the elder generation of Lindy Hoppers as well, http://www.vintagejazzart.com/ is your destination.
As an attendee of last year’s PittStop, one of the big improvements I was thankful of was the change to the Pittsburgh Opera as the late night venue. Last year it was in a school that due to noise laws, windows had to be sealed. In result, last year’s late night venue became a sweat lodge for those inside. However at the Opera venue this year; there was two large separate rooms for Lindy in one and Blues in the other, nice wood floors, and decent ventilation. One thing that they continued from last year was how ample amounts of food and reasonably priced drinks were provided, so getting food in between the night and late night dances were more of a fun break and less of a desperate necessity.
As usual the Sailors and Soldiers Memorial Hall and Museum was a pleasure to dance in. Dedicated in 1910 its an amazing venue to dance in not just for the breathtaking atmosphere the ballroom provides and but also the ability to during the day tour the museum free is a blast for historical geeks like myself. Particularly fun this weekend was an orchestra was having their rehearsal during the day and a performance at night in the auditorium, nothing like a free concert. Fun fact according to wikipedia, Silence of the Lambs had the hall fill in for the “Memphis Courthouse” scenes, including the escape scene.
This year there were performances as well. Some of the performances were from the local Pittsburgh residents and others invited from Ohio. I was excited to see in person Mark and Ellen’s updated routine, that I wrote about in a post about a few weeks back.
Overall, I had a ton of fun. But talk is cheap, here’s a bunch of videos for you guys to see how the weekend went.
I was listening to the yehoodi talk show today and it featured an interview with Minn Vo, a Lindy Hopper (among other dance styles) from Los Angeles. If you haven’t listened to it, I would catch it on this following link: Yehoodi Talk Show 6×17
During the interview Minn Vo mentions how the Killer Dillers were in town and he invited them what the facebook group of the event describes as a,
“A Rhythm Improv Night. A place of freedom & expression for musicians and dancers”
I could attempt to explain what goes on here, but I think Minn’s interview and the videos below do more justice.
Can’t read my, can’t read my, can’t read my judging face. (I’ve got to judge everybody)
– Song running through my head this Saturday before the Jack and Jill I had to Judge
This past weekend I popped my judging cherry by judging for a local Jack & Jill at my college. It was a low pressure competition, that the rules barred anyone who has placed 1st in a regional Jack & Jill or who has competed at big competitions like Camp Hollywood, ILHC, and et cetera.
How much time do I spend on each person? That person is dancing technically great but looking down and not energetic, do I rate them over an individual who is the exact opposite? That follow is having salsa arms, do I penalize for that? How do I make absolutely sure my previous knowledge of some competitors does not make me positively or negatively biased against them? Oh god, that guy led a drape, do I let the extremely negative connotations of that move completely discount him from the finals? These people have the exact same scores on my prelims sheet, how do I choose which one goes to finals? That person’s number is flapping do I wait until they stop rotating so I can read it, or move on and come back?
Preparation
When I was first starting to compete, one of the important things I wanted to find out was how competitions were judged. Up to the point of this past weekend information I had to work with was:
Two Camp Hollywood: So You Want to Compete Classes. Year 1 by Ben and Sheri Yau, Year 2 by David Frutos & Kim Clever. These were helpful in they went over how they judged competitions and gave tips especially for first time competitors.
Private on Judging/Competing with Nick Williams: Amazing lesson, most of it was fixing technical issues that people are marked off for in competitions. But part of it was he went down the three T’s (Timing, Technique, Teamwork) and really broke down what he looks for in each category, immensely useful in not just competition but judging as well.
Reading a yehoodi thread on judging and two essays found inside: Unfortunately I was unable to find the yehoodi thread, but these two articles by both nationally recognized and experience judges were useful:
Sylvia Sykes LED Talk at ILHC on Judging: Really informative talk where she went over the ideal situation for judging, dealing with possible biases and just funny things she has seen in competitions.
Watching competitions and judging them, then later seeing how they compared to actual scores: This is something I do once awhile when watching competitions as a game, but its great practice to do it. So when the pressure is on when you actually judge, there are less things you can worry about. You can even do this online with youtube if you want.
Actually Judging the Competition
Prelims
For the prelims we had two heats with 10 leads and follows in heat one, then slightly less then that in heat two. Two of the judges got leads, two of the judges got follows, I was the unlucky one who had to judge both. You know how judges say they only get five seconds to look at you in prelims in Jack and Jills? They are not kidding. What was a bummer as a judge, is I saw some people who normally lead/follow decently at bad moments and had to mark them down. Because I had to go through 30-40 people in the equivalent of 4-5 minutes of music, I literally did not have time to give people a second glance. Sylvia Sykes said during her LED talk something similar to these words, “Part of being a judge is sometimes awarding people you hate 1st place and keeping your best friends out of the finals.” it really came to mind in this situation.
For judging I used the system Kim mentioned in her Camp Hollywood talk in which I awarded pluses or minuses next to numbers and at the end of the heats tallied it up and the individuals with the most points went to finals. First thing I did the second any song started was scanned the room and saw which leads started on time after the intro, any leads who were off instantly got one minus off the bat. Then I looked at each individual one by one and awarded or subtracted points based on different criteria (on time, paying attention to partner, et cetera).
At the end though there were still some ties which required some thought to break. Ultimately what was the tie breaker for me was I chose individuals who I thought would make for an entertaining final. It was looking down or having the “thinking dancer” look that lost some people a chance to get in the finals.
Finals
I thought it would be easier judging finals because there was less people, boy I was wrong. With more time to pick apart a couples dancing, more questions were raised.
For the finals there was just four judges including myself deciding the placement of 5 couples. It was phrase battle style, with a warm-up (not judged) followed by an all-skate. It was a different animal to deal with because I was judging people as a couple and not as individuals. Which was killer because in some cases there was one person doing awesome but their partner was having issues keeping up.
For the finals I went with Camp Hollywood judging criteria of 50% Three T’s and 50% showmanship. I would watch each couple during the spot light and write down notes of positive and negative things I saw. The main question I struggled with was do I award more a couple who danced mostly clean but did not do anything amazing, to a couple who made some technical errors but got the audience cheering. What really made my final decisions were which couples took me along for a ride, made it difficult to not look at them.
Overall
I think it was a great learning experience and as a competitor it will help me be much more understanding in competitions I enter. It has also made me not envious at all of people like Sylvia who have to judge events like ILHC.
This past weekend Rochacha had for their 13th year their event Steven and Virginie in Rochester. As someone who attended the past year, I may be slightly biased when I say it was awesome and I am still wondering why I left (or didn’t hitch a ride to Montreal instead of Pennsylvania).
Classes
The cool thing about the Steven and Virginie in Rochester workshop is the class labeled as “Musicality with Gordon Webster and his Band“. It is an unique opportunity to learn material, then actually practice it to a live band. Especially since this band is fricken Gordon Webster, with Jesse Selengut in the lineup.
While that particular class made the weekend amazing, the other classes taught by Steven and Virginie were nothing to scoff at either. What I liked is each class seemed to offer something to individuals of every level of dancing from the experienced veteran to the green newbie. In particular Virginie was consistently offering styling options to follows, so it didn’t become all about the leads.
The soul dancing class on Friday was also a nice change of pace. I arrived late so I didn’t want to jump in the class, but I watched from the side and picked stuff up. I’m still uncomfortable dancing to Soul music, but it always seems like a big party when its played and everyone has fun.
Dances
The Swing and Soul Party on Friday was a blast. To be honest it felt more like a dance party then a typical swing dance, complete with a soul train. Like I said before the music pushed me out of my comfort zone, but in a positive way. It was a great atmosphere to get acquainted with people at the event.
The Saturday dance with Gordon Webster and Friends was a splendid affair. They played a variety of tempos that kept the nimble-footed Balboa dancer to the sensual Blues dancer happy. Unfortunately Steven Mitchell was sick this year, so he didn’t step in for a few songs. But Brianna Thomas, the featured vocalist of the night did a superb job. Her and Gordon closed the house with an encore performance of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.
Lindy Compound
Probably one of, if not the most infamous late night venues in the United States is the Lindy Compound. The walls are all decorated with references from the jazz era or in one case a framed photo from a recent Lone Star Championship moment.
After most Rochester event’s dance, everyone stops by the nearby Wegmans (similar to Whole Foods if you are unfamiliar with it) and picks up some kind of food or drink for the event before showing up to the late night venue. To the right of the doorway there is a kitchen/dinning room where there is a large variety of food ranging from various types of humus, fruits, cheeses to marshmallows. In the center of the house is a room with danceable floor. On the left side of the house is a lounging area with this custom video game setup that has I think 2000+ games on it ranging from pac-man to street fighter.
Sorry if the description was long but I wanted to try to accurately portray how awesome this late night venue is. To reinforce it, here is an informative list:
Things I Have Witnessed at the Lindy Compound:
Two women jousting, outside in the snow, riding piggy-back on two very tall men.
Mad Libs, dancer version in which nouns like Wayne Gretsky were used.
Canadian women making me feel ashamed of my abilities to consume alcohol.
A rap performance.
Here is a video if you still aren’t convinced.
I could go keep going on about this place, but what is special and I think adds immensely to Rochester events is this venue allows people to genuinely socialize and get to know each other well. I would care to bet more so, then most events I attend. It is probably due to this place that half the time I can’t understand my facebook feed due to my poor French abilities.
Overall
Rochacha, once again I had a blast. Even though I will be based out in California next year (instead of a four hour drive away), I am going to fight to make it to my third Steven and Virginie in Rochester.
To quote Don Draper from the television series Mad Men,
Nostalgia – it’s delicate, but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek, “nostalgia” literally means “the pain from an old wound.” It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone.
There are songs that to individuals, that once they are played, bring back strong emotions and memories. T’aint What You Do by Jimmy Lunceford and Love Meor Leave Me by Nina Simone are examples of that in our swing dance community.
Today I am going to share a song that has that effect on me.
The Carioca
Introduction:
To quote wikipedia, the Carioca is a word that refers to inhabitants of Rio De Janerio. It was originally made popular in a recording featuring by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Edward Eliscu and Gus Kahn.
Flying Down to Rio (1933):
Our first stop down memory lane is a 1933 musical film known as Flying Down to Rio. Even though this is not their best dancing, this film is noted for being the first on screen dance of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The Carioca is also the name of the dance Fred and Ginger performed in the film, which was a combination of Samba, Maxixe, Foxtrot and Rumba. It was supposed to be promoted as a ballroom dance, that did not have much success.
When I hear any versions of the song the Carioca, I can’t help but be reminded of the superb technicality and the finesse possessed in Astaire’s dancing.
Artie Shaw and His Orchestra (1939) & Buddy Rich (1982):
I won’t be shy about it, music by Artie Shaw is some of my favorite music to dance to. But this is especially true when Shaw had Buddy Rich on board, as a drummer, for his orchestra. For those of you who do not know swing era drummers, Rich is a beast. Check out this 1982 performance of him at the Montreal Jazz Festival:
One of the myriad of reasons I like Jonathan Stout and His Campus Five is the fact that they really kill Shaw’s charts. A big factor in that is Josh Callazo who is an amazing drummer himself and captures Rich’s spirit when he plays. Check out Man From Mars from Jonathan Stout Orchestra’s performance at Lincoln Center (2006).
The Carioca reminds me of what past and present, it really means to have a band that ‘swings’ and that doesn’t just play swing dance music.
NADC (2003) [Kevin and Carla]:
In 2003 at the North Atlantic Dance Championships, Kevin St. Laurent and Carla Heiney competed with this routine to two songs. ‘Deacon’s Hop’ by Big Jay McNeely and to an edited version of The Carioca by Artie Shaw.
What strikes me is just the flow and musicality of the routine, while still maintaining the high energy of the song. I am reminded when I hear it of how some can rise to the occasion of interpreting music through motion.
Camp Hollywood Underground Jitterbug Championship (2009)
Camp Hollywood 2009 was my first ‘big’ Lindy Hop event and was a drastic change from usual cozy and smaller workshops/exchanges I was used to back East. I was confused when I saw posters all over the walls Saturday night with cryptic messages suggesting something was going on at the blues room of all places at 2:00 AM in the morning. Then this happened….
Tiffany Wine & Kenny Nelson versus Dax Hock & Max Pittrezella. It was raw, vicious, and amazing to watch. As someone who was starting to see what the national scene was like it was an amazing first impression.
What this added to the song for me was how the intensity of the song could be visually represented and the whole idea of “laying it all out on the floor”.
The Fly Rights: Camp Hollywood Showcase Division (2010)
To quote the poster who uploaded the following video on youtube,
What you are about to witness is a video whose sheer magnitude of awesome will shatter your eye sockets. This is the beginning of the end of an epic saga of a lone choreographer and a ragtag gang of misfits whose only goal was to perform at Camp Hollywood’s 2010 Team Division competition.
I could probably write a separate blog post about this performance, how awesome they all are, and how I don’t still have my Fly Rights flag from Camp Hollywood decorating my room.
But what this added to the song for me, is the idea of how hard work and dedication truly pays off.
In Conclusion
The Carioca is such song loaded with nostalgia for me because ultimately it reminds me what it means to be a dancer and a “swing” dancer. They are two questions I struggle to answer everyday, but feel I get slightly closer to the more experience I get.
The two videos below are two separate performances by Mark Muthersbaugh and Ellen Huffman in the showcase division first at ILHC in August, then later at Rocktober in October. If you have not had the privilege of meeting Mark on the east coast, besides being awesome and friendly, he is quite the ham and his personality shines through in these showcase performances. (Note: Ellen seems awesome as well, unfortunately I have not got to somewhat know her like I have with Mark [1]).
Clip 1: ILHC 2010
Clip 2: Rocktober 2010
Highlights of Both Showcases:
At 0:22 in clip 1 and 0:14 in clip 2, the mess around after the flip. Very beginning of the routine Mark and Ellen sets the tone for how this is going down.
At 1:54 in clip 1 and 1:46 in clip 2, the call and response bit into the (Frankie/Lamppost/Lindy Flip) aerial.
At 2:25 in clip 1 and 2:24 in clip 2 , the scratches contrast perfectly after that nice line beforehand.
At 2:44 in clip 1 and 2:37 in clip 2, slow motion into one of the most creative endings in a showcase I have ever seen.
Changes
Overall in the Rocktober performance it seemed there was a lot less loss of energy between some of the transitions and both of them looked much more confident, especially in the solo movement. I believe though its probably a combination of being in their home-state it being a less intimidating crowd then ILHC, in addition to having more time to perform/perfect the routine.
At 0:27 in clip 1 and 0:21 in clip 2, Ellen changes to a back up motion instead of a to side motion which adds more energy to her solo bit. After Mark answers with that additional energy by changing from swooping gaze movement to a full on body roll.
At 1:12 in clip 1 and 1:05 in clip 2, originally they had these slightly twisty back walks. However they create these great lines and add more energy to the routine by switching them out for cakewalk kicks for the Rocktober performance.
At 1:19 in clip 1 and 1:13 in clip 2, there is a slight change that on the third stomp off Ellen switches it out for a swivel and accents the change in the piano in the song. Small detail, but adds greatly to the musicality of the routine.
At 1:22 in clip 1 and 1:17 in clip 2, there is this spin and then a walk back. For the rocktober performance they add in a spin for Ellen, while Mark walks sideways, followed by two small call and response hops. Like many of the changes before adds some additional energy to routine, and hits the musicality better then the previous choreography.
At 1:27 in clip 1 and 1:19 in clip 2, they switch from Ellen shimmying to Mark and a flip for Ellen.
At 1:33 in clip 1 and 1:26 in clip 2, Mark changes his hand placement to reinforce the tone he set for the showcase after that first mess around.
At 2:04 in clip 1 and 1:57 in clip 2, they change from a standard swingout to a cute modified swingout that adds to the energy and tone set for the performance.
At 2:24 in clip 1 and 2:26 in clip 2, in the ILHC performance they play a game of Pat-a-cake. They change this to Mark continuing his Charleston sidekicks while doing a fake slap on the rear, which still has the humor factor they are going for while maintaining the energy of the previous moves/flow the choreography.
Overall
Mark and Ellen continued performances/practices of their routine have made it so they have made some serious steps to owning it. What separates amazing performances for me from just fun or okay ones, is when people have made a routine their own. What I mean by that, is when it is performed it looks almost as natural as breathing to them and it is difficult to not want to come along on the journey the performers are trying to take you on.
Footnotes
[1] I originally met Mark at the Oberlin Jazz dance festival 08′. It is amazing to see how much he has improved since then.
Something that I have always appreciated is when people in the swing dance community take performances/routines from the past and attempt to recreate it. This new series I am starting is focused on online clips of those who have chosen to take the route of bringing the past to the present and posting their performance next to the original performance. Personally I see their endeavors as a great service to the community because it reminds us of our roots as swing dancers.
For this first installment I am going to focus on the recreation of two classic clips by the troupe admired by many Lindy Hoppers, Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers.
Hellzapoppin (1941)
For the plot of the movie you can check this wikipedia link. However the significance for us is the performance by Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers in probably one of, if not the most iconic Lindy Hop scene of all time. At Frankie 95 a recreation of the original Hellzapoppin clip was performed to pay homage to Frankie Manning the Ambassador of Swing in celebration of his 95th birthday. Tragically he passed away before the celebration, but I think he would have been proud. The level of detail the dancers put into the recreation of this original choreography is amazing, this can be especially seen in the mash-up clip below which shows both the original clip and the Frankie 95 performance side by side.
Original Clip:
Frankie 95 Performance:
Mashup-Clip Showing Both Performances Side By Side:
Original Dancers: (Provided by hellzapoppin.net) + Counterparts in Frankie 95
William Downes (overalls) – Dax Hock
& Frances “Mickey” Jones (maid) – Alice Mei
Billy Ricker (chef’s hat) – Davis Thurber
& Norma Miller – Claudia Joyal-Laplante
Al Minns (white coat, black pants) – Max Pitruzzella
& Willa Mae Ricker – Annie Trudeau
Frankie Manning (overalls) – Ryan Francois
& Ann Johnson (maid) – Lana Williams
Keep Punching (1938)
A movie about a boxer nicknamed Kid Dynamite which the plot can be found at this IMBD link. However again for us swing dancers, it is the nightclub scene which features a performance which is known as “The Big Apple” by Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers which is significant. This same performance was later recreated by the Houston Hep Cats at ALHC 2002. More detailed information about this can be found in Jerry Almonte’s “Artistry in Rhythm” series on his blog Wandering and Pondering, found at this link.
The Big Apple today is taught all over the world as a swing dance routine, shoot you can even learn it online from Patrick and Natasha if you want. However the comment by a user named sbbbjm from the ALHC youtube clip shows the original work the Houston Hep Cat folks had to do when breaking down this routine,
yeah, the cool thing is we didn’t just take a class to learn it all bc the jazzline wasn’t being taught by anyone at the time.
fritz broke down every part and taught it to us after watching the scratchy video clip (no youtube at the time) – even with the original audio not lining up with the video.
thats why this was so awesome at the time . . . we practiced this just as much as you would practice any other team routine to make sure our spacing and styling was authentic to the clip.
I wrote in an older blog post, that eventually I would get around to writing about Andrew Thigpen’s talk Thrifty Hopping at ILHC this past August. If you would like to see the whole presentation he used, you can click on this link.
Below are the three main points I got out of the talk, for those who only want a quick summary. The TL;DR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) version will be for the rest of you after that.
Three Points I Got From the Talk
If you procrastinate on making preparations for attending an event, you pay for it.
Learn how to wisely spend money at events/in general.
Know what you want, so you can get the most out of your money.
TL;DR Breakdown
1. If you procrastinate on making preparations for attending an event, you pay for it.
Many people get indecisive about events, especially when they are on the same weekend. A perfect example of this out East is Jammin On the James and Hi-De-Hon (Baltimore Lindy Exchange) happening next week. I know several people who are still deciding which event to go to. However lets say they decide to attend Jammin On the James. Housing filled up a week ago, so because they decided late most likely they will have to pay for a hotel room, which can be easily be 100+ dollars for the weekend.
To make this sink in, lets say I want to go to the Lone Star Championships. We will do a comparison of how much it would cost me if I prepared as early as possible to the situation if I wait until the last minute.
Type of Expense
Early as Possible
Last Minute
Registration
99
149
Flight
311
493
Food
120
180
Total
$530
$822
For the flights I did a comparison of booking a flight for this weekend to Austin, compared to the date of the actual event. For food I did a comparison of eating out every meal (average of $15 per meal) compared to $30 a day, assuming one went to a local supermarket to stock up on food and only occasionally eat out a few times the weekend.
Savings = $292
So in short the longer you wait to make arrangements for events, the more likely you are to not be able to afford to go to other ones.
2. Learn how to wisely spend money at events/in general.
In his talk, Thigpen mentions eliminating “shadow” expenses. Basically the random unnecessary purchases you make on based impulse decisions. While frequently small, they can quickly add up and cost you potential swing dance events in the long run. Perfect example is this hand-puppet I have been wanting to get. Do I need it? No. Do I want it? Hell yes.
A way mentioned in the talk to save money at an event is limiting or eliminating eating out. If you are at a hotel event and eat out in the hotel every day, it is going to get expensive fast. But if you go to a nearby grocery store and get some food, you save a considerable amount of money. This effect multiplies when you apply it to your everyday life. There are other ways to cut corners as well mentioned in Thigpen’s slides such as volunteering, not competing when it is expensive and et cetera. One way I have gotten into two events for free as a college student was finding events that gave scholarships/had raffles for free passes for college students and applying for them.
Also remember everything has an opportunity cost. Say you get a brand new television for the Superbowl that runs you about $600 dollars. In result you are now unable to attend several swing dance events because you used that cash. However it doesn’t just apply to money, often it can come to a situation of attending an event that has a great band versus an event that has competitions and long time friends you haven’t seen where there is an emotional opportunity cost. So when choosing to spend your money, pick things that will give you the most return for your buck which leads to the last point.
3. Know what you want, so you can get the most out of your money.
Do you ever have days that you think, “Man, I really want to spend money on something I don’t really want”. I’m going to guess no, yet oddly a lot of people will attend events not just in general but in the swing dance world based on just because its convenient or a friend is going even though it does not align up with their interests at all.
Like in Thigpen’s talk, listing out what you want is a great idea. I’ve done this like in the slides below:
Apache’s Event Preferences:
Has Lindy Hop, Balboa and/or Collegiate Shag
Party Atmosphere and/or Serious Learning Atmosphere
Has Some Form of Competitions
Has Either High Level of Dancers and/or Dancers I Know
Events I Have Attended Recently:
Camp Hollywood, ILHC, Lindustrial Revolution
In addition to knowing what you want, one thing definitely to do is research what people who have attended it think so you know the event fits what you are looking for. Ask friends you know who have attended the event, search on yehoodi or post a topic about it, look for event videos on youtube, just do whatever it takes so you don’t blindly make a decision.
Collegiate Shag is a dance that I am more than happy to dance. However the issue I have when I am living in the East Coast, is finding someone to dance it with. [1]
Often I will find people all over the East Coast that say the line, “Well it looks fun and I would love to learn Shag, but I have no one to teach it in my area”. Well with the list of learning resources below, you are out of excuses!
Collegiate Shag Learning Videos
Arthur Murray
This 1937 clip was the video I used when I attempted to teach myself shag in Pennsylvania. Although not the clearest video, it does give you the basic double shag rhythm and a few technical pointers.
Johnny Lee and Rebecca Williams
These three videos feature Johnny Lee and Rebecca Williams from The 9:20 Special down in San Francisco. What I like is how the videos are progressive. This way you can work on basics and once you get more comfortable with them try more difficult material.
David & Chelsea Lee
These two videos feature David & Chelsea Lee from the Jam Cellar down in Washington D.C. The first video is particularly helpful for users for two reasons. First because it zooms in on the feet. [2] Lastly it also covers what to do if you mess up, which is frequent if you are new to the dance.
Ryan Martin and Tracy Owen
These last two videos feature Ryan Martin and Tracy Owen from Austin, Texas. They are particularly useful because they cover technique, which is invaluable. [3]
So, if you’ve reached the end of this post. Stop reading, grab a friend and learn some Collegiate Shag!
Footnotes:
[1] For the most part I usually have to drive 3-4 hours (Philly/Washington D.C./New York) to find other Shag dancers out of my local scene.
[2] My biggest pet peeve for online videos are the ones that are teaching footwork variations and they are fully zoomed out.
[3] I’m actually somewhat jealous these last two videos were not online when I started learning Collegiate Shag. They would have saved me a lot of headaches and not looking like a flailing monkey in Virginia.
It's The Way That You Do It 