Now I get it!
A few weeks ago, thanks to kilinrax I decided to try Lindy hopping again after a 3+ year hiatus. The first day left me scratching my head. The style was very different than what I was used to in Chicago, even thought it looked very similar. The lessons at the beginning just confused the heck out of me, as it felt like a different dance... Plus when I did something differently I got vigorously corrected, which is something I'm not used to, usually people just go with the flow if you do it a bit differently. I'm more comfortable now, but I feel like it is all muscle memory and I'm still feeling like there is something off... Especially with the 8-count lindy. It feels forced and regimented and I felt like I wasn't doing it quite right. I thought this was me not remembering properly.
Sooo... I wasted most of this morning looking up lindy styles and now I *know* its not just me being rusty and mis-remembering, even though there is a lot of that too. I believe based on the descriptions and videos that I learned is Savoy style. Apparently what they do at the place we've been going is Hollywood smooth style. Savoy style seems a bit more circular, gritty and less structured than Hollywood style. The Savoy style is what came out of Harlem evolving from Charleston and danced mostly by African Americans. Then a white guy called Dean Collins cleaned it up, smoothed it out and made it more linear and vertical and took to Hollywood and the movies. I'm no authority on this, its all guess work, and I *think* these are differences based on what I found on the internets.
This article explains the main differences between the two styles.
I believe this is very much Hollywood style: It is very smooth and clean.
I think is Savoy style. Very down and dirty.
I like them both but I'm partial to Savoy style as it seems more free and open and that's the style I know better. I am going to try a couple other places for dancing just for the sake of comparison.
Edit: *bahhh* I still can't tell... apparently what is "authentic" and the real lindy hop, and what the different names are are all kinds of debatable and controversial according to the internets...
Sooo... I wasted most of this morning looking up lindy styles and now I *know* its not just me being rusty and mis-remembering, even though there is a lot of that too. I believe based on the descriptions and videos that I learned is Savoy style. Apparently what they do at the place we've been going is Hollywood smooth style. Savoy style seems a bit more circular, gritty and less structured than Hollywood style. The Savoy style is what came out of Harlem evolving from Charleston and danced mostly by African Americans. Then a white guy called Dean Collins cleaned it up, smoothed it out and made it more linear and vertical and took to Hollywood and the movies. I'm no authority on this, its all guess work, and I *think* these are differences based on what I found on the internets.
This article explains the main differences between the two styles.
I believe this is very much Hollywood style: It is very smooth and clean.
I think is Savoy style. Very down and dirty.
I like them both but I'm partial to Savoy style as it seems more free and open and that's the style I know better. I am going to try a couple other places for dancing just for the sake of comparison.
Edit: *bahhh* I still can't tell... apparently what is "authentic" and the real lindy hop, and what the different names are are all kinds of debatable and controversial according to the internets...