Boston Wrap-up
Well, now I'm at Logan Airport, and I'd be online except for they want $8 for internet access. I mean, I'm only going to be here for like two and a half hours. I've got The Prophet and Anna Karenin to keep me company. That and I need to eat and buy a sleeping mask before too long. Actually, I'm going to go do that now...
Back again. Somehow I managed to find food that wasn't hideously priced, and with sit down friendly service. Come to think of it, that Johnny Rockets might have been cheaper than the one in U village... Oh well. Heh, and the sleeping mask came with earplugs, how nice.
Okay, back to the madcap recap. So, the last of the invitational competitions / demonstrations were just as fun and amazing as the previous ones. One of the things I didn't touch on last time what happens when pro dancers are playing around. As far as I can tell, there are three broad types of swing dancing - social, competitive, and this.
Social dancing is a way to go out and have a great time with people you've never met before. Some of them are very good dancers, and some are just beginning (or perma-newb). At least as a lead, you spend the first few moves of the dance determining what your follow is and is not capable of following, and then you settle in and have a good time. Competitive dancing is much more technical, for the obvious reason that you are being judged. As a result, leads will use the flashiest moves they know will be follow-able, but don't throw in crazy experimental moves or a ridiculous amount of musical styling.
And then there's what I'll call professional playful. When a pro is dancing with other pros, and they're just out there for fun, the crazy stuff comes out. Gigantic arials, sliding the follow between your legs, synchronized moves with other couples, huge sections tailored exactly to the music (especially music with cool breaks or actable lyrics). Basically, when pros have fun, the rest of the room does too. And there was a lot of cool opportunity to enjoy this kind of dancing through the weekend. All of the invitational competitions ended with a couple of non-judged playful dances. I didn't really understand what kind of a treat I was in for until... hehe... So, the first invitational was West Coast Jack and Jill, and there was one more lead than follow. Long story short, the extra lead grabbed the MC (a lindy dancer), and danced with him for a few phrases of "Hot Like Me." The whole ballroom was doubled over laughing.
Again, what a great time.
So, I had been hoping to get to the College A Cappella semi-finals at MIT saturday night (yeah, I would have missed some awesome dancing, but for awesome singing instead), but I couldn't find a ride at all. I wasn't too bummed about this, but after the invitationals Saturday night, I got my wish anyway. A quartet of girls (Sweet Adeline style) were singing in the hallway, a cute little song about Oreos (Creamy, Chocolate, etc). It totally completed my night. Well, that, and dancing until 3 in the morning (after a short nap).
I'm looking forward to taking some intermediate WCS classes this coming quarter. Hehe, the Pete I mentioned in my last post is on my flight back to Seattle, so yes, he is from West Seattle. Here's to hoping he gives lessons.
That last comment comes from the realization that after 13 hours of beginner WCS workshops, I think I have a pretty solid understanding of what the basics of the dance are. Now I need to work on some more theoretical things before I can get to a next level in my dancing. Workshops are great for learning new moves and move variations, but the way they get taught, you're going to forget all the variations because you don't dance them enough in an hour to commit them to muscle memory. And why don't you dance enough in a dance workshop? Because they're being taught to the slowest student, so everything must be explained over and over and over again. Compound that with the fact that there are almost always more follows than leads, and you cut your speed by another half getting everybody to dance each move at least once.
So, from my total inexperience comes the best shot I can make at avoiding the common pitfalls of a mediocre workshop. DO start (and end) on time, an hour is not long enough for what you want to teach, but make sure you at least get that hour without cutting into the next workshop's hour. DO NOT demo a move you are going to teach more than twice, otherwise people will start to freak out and think you expect them to already know the move. DO demo moves in different orientations each time, you are surrounded by people, and some angles are definitely better than others (that, and leads and follows are looking for totally different things). DO teach with a lead/follow team, and have the lead dance with an open follow when practicing the moves (the follow can count off too, really). DO use music as much as possible (and varied music is best). DO NOT teach a move that it would be impossible to lead on a social floor (at least not in a beginner class). ROTATE partners every time you talk. If you are in a crowded workshop, be vigilant about getting the people close to you to sit down.
Blah blah blah.
Anywho, got a ride to the airport from one of Gui and Katie's Lindy friends, and had a good chat with Katie before we went to our respective flights (she was headed to Pittsburgh to check out CMU's grad program and dance scene). I want to write about some of the things we talked about, but this post is too long already, so I'm going to cut it off here and write about it sometime this coming week.
Back again. Somehow I managed to find food that wasn't hideously priced, and with sit down friendly service. Come to think of it, that Johnny Rockets might have been cheaper than the one in U village... Oh well. Heh, and the sleeping mask came with earplugs, how nice.
Okay, back to the madcap recap. So, the last of the invitational competitions / demonstrations were just as fun and amazing as the previous ones. One of the things I didn't touch on last time what happens when pro dancers are playing around. As far as I can tell, there are three broad types of swing dancing - social, competitive, and this.
Social dancing is a way to go out and have a great time with people you've never met before. Some of them are very good dancers, and some are just beginning (or perma-newb). At least as a lead, you spend the first few moves of the dance determining what your follow is and is not capable of following, and then you settle in and have a good time. Competitive dancing is much more technical, for the obvious reason that you are being judged. As a result, leads will use the flashiest moves they know will be follow-able, but don't throw in crazy experimental moves or a ridiculous amount of musical styling.
And then there's what I'll call professional playful. When a pro is dancing with other pros, and they're just out there for fun, the crazy stuff comes out. Gigantic arials, sliding the follow between your legs, synchronized moves with other couples, huge sections tailored exactly to the music (especially music with cool breaks or actable lyrics). Basically, when pros have fun, the rest of the room does too. And there was a lot of cool opportunity to enjoy this kind of dancing through the weekend. All of the invitational competitions ended with a couple of non-judged playful dances. I didn't really understand what kind of a treat I was in for until... hehe... So, the first invitational was West Coast Jack and Jill, and there was one more lead than follow. Long story short, the extra lead grabbed the MC (a lindy dancer), and danced with him for a few phrases of "Hot Like Me." The whole ballroom was doubled over laughing.
Again, what a great time.
So, I had been hoping to get to the College A Cappella semi-finals at MIT saturday night (yeah, I would have missed some awesome dancing, but for awesome singing instead), but I couldn't find a ride at all. I wasn't too bummed about this, but after the invitationals Saturday night, I got my wish anyway. A quartet of girls (Sweet Adeline style) were singing in the hallway, a cute little song about Oreos (Creamy, Chocolate, etc). It totally completed my night. Well, that, and dancing until 3 in the morning (after a short nap).
I'm looking forward to taking some intermediate WCS classes this coming quarter. Hehe, the Pete I mentioned in my last post is on my flight back to Seattle, so yes, he is from West Seattle. Here's to hoping he gives lessons.
That last comment comes from the realization that after 13 hours of beginner WCS workshops, I think I have a pretty solid understanding of what the basics of the dance are. Now I need to work on some more theoretical things before I can get to a next level in my dancing. Workshops are great for learning new moves and move variations, but the way they get taught, you're going to forget all the variations because you don't dance them enough in an hour to commit them to muscle memory. And why don't you dance enough in a dance workshop? Because they're being taught to the slowest student, so everything must be explained over and over and over again. Compound that with the fact that there are almost always more follows than leads, and you cut your speed by another half getting everybody to dance each move at least once.
So, from my total inexperience comes the best shot I can make at avoiding the common pitfalls of a mediocre workshop. DO start (and end) on time, an hour is not long enough for what you want to teach, but make sure you at least get that hour without cutting into the next workshop's hour. DO NOT demo a move you are going to teach more than twice, otherwise people will start to freak out and think you expect them to already know the move. DO demo moves in different orientations each time, you are surrounded by people, and some angles are definitely better than others (that, and leads and follows are looking for totally different things). DO teach with a lead/follow team, and have the lead dance with an open follow when practicing the moves (the follow can count off too, really). DO use music as much as possible (and varied music is best). DO NOT teach a move that it would be impossible to lead on a social floor (at least not in a beginner class). ROTATE partners every time you talk. If you are in a crowded workshop, be vigilant about getting the people close to you to sit down.
Blah blah blah.
Anywho, got a ride to the airport from one of Gui and Katie's Lindy friends, and had a good chat with Katie before we went to our respective flights (she was headed to Pittsburgh to check out CMU's grad program and dance scene). I want to write about some of the things we talked about, but this post is too long already, so I'm going to cut it off here and write about it sometime this coming week.