A Piece of My Internet

28 May 2012
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swishyswingskirts:

theswingdaily:

Can’t Top the Lindy Hop!is a 90-minute celebration of Lindy Hop original Frankie Manning’s 90th birthday celebration in New York City in 1994. (length 90 mins.)

Frankieeeeeeee
(I’m so sad I’m not twenty years older. I might have met him then. Not that I’d have dared to ask him for a dance, but, I might have seen him. In person. That would have been great!)

theswingdaily:

Can’t Top the Lindy Hop!
is a 90-minute celebration of Lindy Hop original Frankie Manning’s 90th birthday celebration in New York City in 1994. (length 90 mins.)

Frankieeeeeeee

(I’m so sad I’m not twenty years older. I might have met him then. Not that I’d have dared to ask him for a dance, but, I might have seen him. In person. That would have been great!)

24 May 2012
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Now THIS is my ideal man—ridiculous, crazy dancer, and in a suit. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Can somebody please tell me the name of the Japanese drama this video is made from?

20 May 2012
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4 notes

[Flash 10 is required to watch video]

shannypuffs:

This was my first performance with the team and it was at Uptown Whittier at the Antique Fair <3 :D I had a blast!

This is ADORABLE. And the choreography is really well done. I love how it’s circular so people can see the routine from all sides.

13 May 2012
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13 notes

Tips on swivels?

sarahsellaphix:

saribear:

swingitout:

I’m currently working on improving my swivels and I really want to make them look and feel good while. Any advice?

Okay, I have an additional question, because a lot of answers are saying get lower and knees bent. That’s something I’ve been working on a bit with my swivels, but I always feel like I’m going to pull my lead over. Am I just giving too much counterbalance when I do that, or is it not my fault?

Oh swivels! The strange holy grail of followhood!

You have to adjust to your lead, no matter what. You can ask for more counterbalance, but if the lead doesn’t give it, stand on your own feet more. Maybe you will prefer leads who can give you more, but the essence of social dancing is working to rock it no matter who your partner is and how they dance. :) Know what you can do with your swivels if you have lots of connection, or if you have to be completely autonomous on your own feet.

Here’s what I think about:

Shift your weight from foot to foot. It’s the ‘step step’ and so they should still be steps.

Prepare for them. If you want to swivel, what you do on 5-6-7-8 matters.

Contrast. Experiment with changing your levels, bending one leg and straightening the other.

Keep your upper body mostly still and mostly facing your partner. Let your core and hips be the home of the action.

Try different parts of your feet.

Awesome advice!!! <3

I’m getting tips about having a bounce but also keeping the upper body still… Is it possible to do both?

(Source: )

9 May 2012
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1,821 notes

thedailywhat:

Wedding Dance of the Day: Ryan and Frankie van Horn kick off their wedding reception with a perfectly classy — and perfectly sassy — swing dance performance to Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing.”

[vimeo]

Ok another part of me is going “FUUUU this video’ll perpetuate people’s impression that swing dancing is mostly about throwing your partner around and people will go into the dance thinking HELL YEAH I’M HERE TO LEARN HOW TO FLIP ABOUT/THROW GIRLS”

At the same time I’m like “Awww they’re cute and they’re having so much fun and people think swing dancing is cool yaaaay.”

9 May 2012
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1,821 notes

thedailywhat:

Wedding Dance of the Day: Ryan and Frankie van Horn kick off their wedding reception with a perfectly classy — and perfectly sassy — swing dance performance to Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing.”

[vimeo]

Very cute! You can tell they’re having fun and the bride was especially LOVING it.

This makes me wonder what the weddings are like for couples who are big time into dancing or are already professional dancers (Rob and Diane van Haaren comes to mind). What was their wedding like? What was their first dance like? Were there wedding guests who are also amazing dancers?

I’d like to imagine that my wedding will be a huge swing dance party with some other dances thrown in to please the guests ~~(BUT PSHAWWW WHO CARES LET’S MAKE IT ALL LINDYYYY)~~ . My future husband’s better be willing to at least try swing dancing with me, because many reasons.

20 Apr 2012
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3 notes

Yoga For Your Belly!

prettytoughdancesport:

A lot of people struggle with strengthening and toning their abs. Here’s some sound advice on exercise and nutrition from a yogi to help out. A strong core is not only lovely to look at, it assists with better movement in any sport and in daily life.

via yogisonia:

Strengthening core! Definitely something needed for dancing.

17 Apr 2012
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122 notes

(Source: brutal21)

17 Apr 2012
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34 notes

Great Wall Swing Out 2012

Lindy Hop on the Great Wall of China! We danced on a concrete platform next to the wall (SUPER terrible for feet and ankles but worth iiit). Some tourists even joined in on the fun!

We did the shim sham on the Wall itself. The weather was perfect: sunny, blue skies, and white flowers were blooming all over the hills. It was a FANTASTIC 4 hours of fun!

If you ever want to go to Beijing and is a lindy hopper, choose to go in April. The weather will be perfect, and the Great Wall Swing Out will be happening!

16 Apr 2012
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274 notes

inothernews:

GOT THE MOVES LIKE CLINTON Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hits the dance floor at Cafe Havana in Cartagena, Colombia. (Photo: AFP-Getty via the New York Post)

16 Apr 2012
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19 notes

swingitout:

baldmuffin:

It’s not often that lindy hoppers on Tumblr post videos of themselves… but I want to get some tips if people are willing to offer them.

This is a routine I performed 2 days ago. My first lindy performance!!!

It was nerve wracking and you can tell my stiffness. We’ve practiced a total of 4 or 5 times… and the whole routine didn’t come into being until the 4th practice. My partner is much more relaxed and is a more experienced dancer, and it shows. I think this performance was too sloppy, but with enough practice I think it’ll look better.

The #1 thing I learned is that choreography is HARD. It’s insanely difficult trying to come up with moves that will flow with each other AND match the music AND are do-able (and won’t kill us by the end of the song).

#2: it is VERY helpful to know some solo Charleston routines or line dances. I pretty much made up all the solo parts with moves from either line dances or solo charleston stuff on Youtube (when I could still access it) like videos from Jam Cellar.

#3: A good way to learn the music well is to break it down into the jazz AABA format. Many swing songs have four 8 counts that can count as one unit (kinda confusing). And breaking the music down REALLY helps identifying where the breaks are and where the guitar solo/drum breaks are, etc..

#4: It would’ve been great if we had recorded us doing the routine before the actual performance. Video REALLY helps with knowing what you should work on and what looks good.

Well if anyone has anything to say about the routine… let me know! Now just putting in a question mark so people can answer this?

Cute routine! You guys did a great job and it looked like you had loads of fun!

Okay, now onto some tips.

1. Keep those kicks more controlled and underneath you. I know the kicks are probably supposed to be bigger for the sake of the routine, but try to keep them more controlled.

2. On those swingouts, keep your momentum going until led otherwise. Think about swiveling backwards. Also, when in closed, your momentum is always going away from your partner’s, creating a constant sense of counterbalance.

The routine was really cute and I really liked it! You guys are both great dancers.

Thank yooou!!! <3

You’re talking about the kicking swing outs, right? As well as the charleston kicks? I knew I had a hard time keeping them controlled and still look really big.

I know I’ll be always be working on my swing outs no matter how much I dance haha. Thanks so much for the tips!!! I’ll definitely keep them in mind when I dance again. :D

15 Apr 2012
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19 notes

It’s not often that lindy hoppers on Tumblr post videos of themselves… but I want to get some tips if people are willing to offer them.

This is a routine I performed 2 days ago. My first lindy performance!!!

It was nerve wracking and you can tell my stiffness. We’ve practiced a total of 4 or 5 times… and the whole routine didn’t come into being until the 4th practice. My partner is much more relaxed and is a more experienced dancer, and it shows. I think this performance was too sloppy, but with enough practice I think it’ll look better.

The #1 thing I learned is that choreography is HARD. It’s insanely difficult trying to come up with moves that will flow with each other AND match the music AND are do-able (and won’t kill us by the end of the song).

#2: it is VERY helpful to know some solo Charleston routines or line dances. I pretty much made up all the solo parts with moves from either line dances or solo charleston stuff on Youtube (when I could still access it) like videos from Jam Cellar.

#3: A good way to learn the music well is to break it down into the jazz AABA format. Many swing songs have four 8 counts that can count as one unit (kinda confusing). And breaking the music down REALLY helps identifying where the breaks are and where the guitar solo/drum breaks are, etc..

#4: It would’ve been great if we had recorded us doing the routine before the actual performance. Video REALLY helps with knowing what you should work on and what looks good.

Well if anyone has anything to say about the routine… let me know! Now just putting in a question mark so people can answer this?

15 Apr 2012
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11 notes

Swingsation: Peter Flahiff

skidmoves:

So I just finished the most awesome workshop with Peter Flahiff. Like for legit’s the MOST AWESOME, and it wasn’t because he has all these crazy badass moves (I’m sure he does but that wasn’t why this was awesome), it was because he really focused on making the moves clear, clean, and efficient.

The last part of our workshop he just talked for an hour or so and he imparted his worldly wisdom: Leads - I know you are concerned about having new moves. New moves all the time. DON’T. All the follow cares about on the social floor is that you’re taking care of her, that you lead a few basic steps so she can show off all she work’s on (the styling) and that your connection is good. If you pay attention to her and only use 8 moves you’ll be fine. Trust me. The follows won’t even remember that you lead them in 6 swing outs as long as you did it well and you’re giving her the attention she needs to fool around a bit herself. That being said, DO NOT put her on the spot all the time. Yes call and response is okay as long as you’re still moving but don’t just stop and expect her to do something. That isn’t what the social floor is for. The social floor is also not for throwing a technical new move at someone who isn’t ready for it.

Follows - Smile. Even if your lead is not that great just smile. It makes them feel better, makes them want to come back, and that alone will make them a better dancer. Now DO NOT ignore the direction he is giving you. If you don’t know then resistance is understandable but if you can tell what he’s leading you in just go with it. The fact that you won’t go with it makes you look less awesome and the dance feel horrid. Yes, we know all you’re focused on is the moment, the very moment, of the song and what you can do right then but realize that the leads are thinking of not only the move before this one but the move after this one. Give him your full attention! DO NOT dismiss connection and just go with the flow without any mind, relax yes, but don’t be inattentive.

Also, follows tend to work their whole lives at becoming a bitchin’ follow so when they suddenly become badass and the leads won’t ask them to dance because they are worried that their 8 (or 16 or 3) moves aren’t good enough IT SUCKS. Grow a pair leads. They have worked so hard to get to this point because they want to be good not because they don’t want to dance anymore. Yes they could come ask you but by this point they deserve to be asked by you.

And that is what I have picked up. Give each other attention, don’t over complicate things, make it small, and just smile.