Recently Owen wrote on his blog Stomp Off a post entitled The Reset Button. That post struck a chord with me because it made me mull on the idea of having some event happen that forces myself to reframe how I see myself as a dancer and realize what it will take to move forward.

Those events can be quite the unpleasant experiences, you can trust me when I say that I have been there. However upsetting as they can be these experiences serve an important function as crossroads for progress. I’ve mentioned this in my blog before but one of my most poignant experiences that served a reality check was taking my first intermediate level Lindy Hop class in California and hands down being the worst person in the class. Coming from central Pennsylvania I just lacked the context to understand that “levels” were a subjective term that varied from scene to scene. However, as embarrassing as that class was it served as a catalyst for me to start dancing 3-6 nights a week and by the end of that summer I could confidently say I was an “intermediate” level dancer in California.

Idea of Rebirth

Owen makes the valid point of addressing the idea of finding out what is obscuring your talents or as I prefer to say, “What you bring to the table.” I would say the majority of dancers, including newbies have something special they can bring to a dance. For example one of my favorite follows here in Boston can be silly in the best ways possible and that always manages to get me smile (if not completely break out in laughter) during a dance. However, if there are things such as excess tension, bad floor craft, and et cetera… they can serve as distractions from the positive things a person can bring to a dance.

What can be the worst though is when the thing you do bring to the table ironically ends up being your weakness. Awhile back an instructor I respected gave me some advice to the effect of that I attempted to say or do too much in my dancing. Hearing that after the usual compliments I would get from follows were along the lines of “You have great musicality” or “You have a crazy vocabulary of moves” was not an easy pill to swallow. I remember having apprehensions changing my dancing because of being afraid that follows would now find me boring. In spite of those fears, I went through a period that I would attempt to only dance clean basics and maybe do only one to three variations a dance.

I won’t lie, those were frustrating weeks because I realized I used a lot of my variations as a crutch to make up for sloppy footwork or poor body mechanics. In result though I cleaned up some technical issues that were holding me back, by dancing simpler it allowed me to pay a lot more attention to my follow, and lastly when I did do something musical it actually meant something. Essentially I had to remove and rebuild a large part of my dancing in order to move forward.

An interesting point I want to bring up is the last few weeks I have been talking with dancers of various skill levels is when the concept of getting better or progression is the topic of conversation, the word “fun” tends to pop up. This is something to note because many of those dancers state the reason why they don’t want to do things that theoretically could make them a better dancer is it comes at the expense of their idea of “fun”. This is perfectly acceptable opinion to have because often while trying to work on these things that are holding one back it can be quite frustrating and emotionally taxing as those of you who have heard of the dreaded “pleateau” can probably relate to.

Anyways what I want to leave you with are these words:

• The path to improvement involves having the humility to find flaws with oneself and being open to change.
• At times this can involve changing things that are the core of your dancing or what you identify as your “strengths” as a dancer.
• It can be frustrating, emotionally taxing, and cause you to have days that you just feel horrid as a dancer to accept and work on some of these things. However if improvement is a serious goal of yours then the end result will likely be worth it.

As the new year approaches I can’t help but reflect upon common themes of what has consisted my experiences of being a member of the swing dance community in years past. One I want to touch on in particular is the concept of paying it forward.

To quote wikipedia, paying it forward is defined as:

The concept of asking that a good turn be repaid by having it done to others instead.

When I first started dancing Southern California I went to a venue called Rock Harbor, which was a free venue that the instructors were local dancers who generously donated their time. One day I noticed two of the instructors there dancing Collegiate Shag, a dance I had seen previously and was intrigued by. Alas, my struggle though was like many people who want to learn Balboa, I had difficulty finding lessons. Those two instructors Alan and Amantha were nice enough to change the lesson the next week to teach Shag so I could learn the basic step and set me on the path to delving into the dance.

Last night when I was out dancing and I noticed a girl off on the side trying to figure out a Shag double rhythm basic and struggling with it. I offered to help and a few minutes later she was doing okay enough to follow a basic in open and closed position and seemed thrilled.  It was only maybe five to ten minutes tops of my time at most.

Raldoph Waldo Emerson once wrote,

 “In the order of nature we cannot render benefits to those from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefit we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent, to somebody.”

For myself my best way of repaying the gift that Amantha and Alan gave me is to render the same gift they gave to me onto others. I encourage those of you who have experience in the dance community to do the same. It is a simple act that fosters growth in our community and invaluable to the individuals that it assists.

This past weekend I attended Camp Hollywood XIV, while I could talk about what I got out of the classes I took or how awesome the music was, there is a theme from this weekend that still resonates soundly with me. That theme is the idea of sincerity in ones dancing.

Oscar Wilde wrote in De Profundus,

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

I have not just seen this in Camp Hollywood, but in competitions across the United States cliches such as; pointing at the judges, non musical or worse badly executed aerials for the sake of flash, and using other people’s material in a non-homage sense.

Can this sadly sometimes pay off and get people awards? Yes. However if all one wants out of dancing is some golden plastic and an ego boost, I can’t help but feel pity for them. Because in a few years no one remembers (or probably cares) who got X place, in Y comp. They remember those moments that took them on a journey and evoked an emotional response.

What inspired me this weekend was in a lot of the competitions this year at Camp Hollywood there were people who carried this spirit of being themselves and sincerity in their dancing. In many cases I was happy to see they were rewarded for it.

While there were many moments that made me smile and inspired me this past weekend, I want to talk about two performances in particular, both from the showcase division.

Camp Hollywood 2011 NJC – Morgan Day & Emily Wigger – Showcase

Even before I get to the routine I just want to add that these two handled pressure with grace. They had not one, but two technical difficulties with their performance. First the contest staff on stage could not get the music to run for around five minutes before the routine. After that first problem the DJ mistook a pause in music as the end of the routine, in result he stopped the music prematurely. The DJ then had to rewind the music to slightly before the pause and they had to start again mid-routine. In spite of those setbacks they both performed admirably.

Morgan and Emily’s routine was not extremely technically difficult nor had mind blowing musicality/moves. What made it special and a moment never to be forgotten in Camp Hollywood history was it was two people who had an original creative idea and sold it on the performance floor.

When the performance was over they received a standing ovation by the entire crowd. In addition when they received 4th place at the award ceremony the crowd booed and started chanting first place. However I think everyones’ indignation was satiated when Morgan and Emily earned the well deserved Golden Budgie award.

The Golden Bugie: An award which is given out by Hilary Alexander, who runs the National Jitterbug Championships and Camp Hollywood, awards to the person or persons who best exemplified the spirit of Jitterbug for the entire National Jitterbug Championships/Camp Hollywood.

Camp Hollywood 2011 NJC – Alice Pye & Peter Kertzner – Showcase

What I loved about this routine is the entire time I was smiling, giggling, or laughing. They took the idea of the older mentor and young newbie and let their personalities shine in those roles. I saw the routine in person, but even re watching the video online I can say with confidence the second they got out on the floor they owned that routine by not showing a second of indecision or nervousness.

On a personal note as someone who used to dance to electronica music at raves “electronic musical recitals” it made me reflect on my own journey changing from the electronic music subculture to the subculture of swing dancing. I think many other people who when they were younger and used to be involved with other subcultures, but fell into the world of swing dance can relate on a personal level to this theme.

Sincerity

In not just the two showcases I mentioned above but from also different competitors that inspired me this weekend, what stuck out was a sincerity in their dancing. They were not out there for validation from others, but the joy of dance. I think that stands the test of time more then any placement or plastic drinking mug trophy can provide.

Footnote:

I would like to thank Patrick Szmidt & Natasha Ouimet for putting up the videos for Camp Hollywood and other previous events they have attended so quickly. They do a great service for the community posting high quality videos of competitions at events for no charge and after hearing them talk briefly in a group discussion I am assured they are good people as well. Even if its only a few dollars, consider throwing them a donation at: buildingthecommunity.patrickandnatasha.com

So last Wednesday I received what the doctor told me was a mild acromioclavicular joint separation injury, or commonly known more by its street name as “Shoulder Separation“‘.

Luckily when I made an appointment at Penn State’s student medical center they had a doctor who specialized in sports injuries and had handled dancers before. The bad news was I had to keep my left arm in a sling for 1-3 weeks to rest my shoulder. The good news is as long as I kept it in moderation and carefully monitored my shoulder I could still dance!

Dancing With Only One Arm

After coming to the realization that I would dancing one armed for 1-3 weeks, I couldn’t help but think of Jimmy Valentine. If you don’t know his story, Peter Loggins writes a great article about him on his blog the Jassdancer. Jimmy was an amazing one-legged swing dancer who threw down in competitions like the Harvest Moon Ball and in jam circles, a legendary dancer in spite of his injury.

So feeling inspired the last week I have been dancing only using my right arm as a lead. Only having my right hand means all my swingouts have to either start from closed, cross-hand, or right hand to right hand. All visual cues that I could possibly give my left hand were now non-existent. I have had to rely on the free-spin version of many turns such as the tuck-turn or inside-turn.

One of the big things I have learned from being able to only lead swingouts right handed is many follows often use the letting go of the left hand as a signal for a free spin on a swingout.  In result I have been leading a lot of forward swingouts. When not the forward swingouts, I have been having to lead crystal clear swingouts to not be misinterpreted. What is also interesting to see is how follows handle the left hand not being there, sometimes when I am going for her left hand my follow will present the right hand or vice versa. Lastly I have been dealing with the struggle of tensing up because I still mentally out of habit am trying to use the left hand for things before I stop myself.

It’s been a good learning experience. For myself I have learned what moves I know for my cross-hand and right-to-right hand repertoire. I’ve learned for teaching and for social dance what visual/physical cues some follows rely on from the left hand for certain moves. Lastly its a limitation that forces me to be creative with my dancing, I have noticed I have been focusing more on footwork lately since the number of moves I can lead consistently have been cut down.

In about a week or two I can start using my left arm again to dance, but for now I am enjoying the unintended benefits I am getting from the situation.