Blog
Jig Walks Lindy Hop Lesson
Hello Happy Swing Dancers, We hope you enjoyed our detailed video description of the Pop Turn last week, and we want to let you know that we’ve uploaded yet another great lesson to YouTube this week: Jig Walks are a classic Lindy figure that everyone should learn early in their dance education. We’ve broken down …
6-count Pop Turn Video
Hi Everybody, This is a detailed explanation of how Michael and Evita execute a 6-count Pop Turn in Lindy Hop. Please remember to Subscribe to our YouTube channel, if you haven’t already. And if you want to start your FREE course now, then click on our “Michael and Evita” logo in the upper left-hand corner! …
5 Ways to Help You Improvise
Improvising is one of the great skills of Jazz. Frequently students request help with improvising and ask for suggestions on how to confront their fear. It’s difficult to explain this and it takes time and experience. You need a collection of skills to make improvising easier. Here are 5 suggestions from Evita: Vocabulary to pull …
What Is The “Ideal” Beginner Swing Class?
One of our members, BJ, posed a great question the other day in our Member’s Forum asking what content would be “appropriate to teach in a half-hour beginner lesson before a social dance?” In his scene, the lesson consists of only 6-count patterns, including the basic plus some variations, and the teaching staff rotates, so …
7 Tips for Taking Class Like A Professional
I read an interesting article the other day in Backstage, a print and online publication dedicated to giving performers advice, tips and insight about the professional industries of acting, singing and dancing, entitled, 7 Things Not to Do in A Professional NYC Dance Class, authored by Kathryn Mowat Murphy. This is a topic that Evita …
Lindy Hop Swivel Exercise
This is a special announcement for anyone interested in improving their swivels. The swivel is an iconic movement made by the Follow while in open position. Most often the swivel is taught on counts 1 and 2 of the swingout. There are many stylistic approaches to doing swivels. I’d like to offer you this powerful …
Shoes for Dancing: Which ones should I wear?
Great questions about dance shoes came in from a student in the UK. Basically the question was, is it better to learn in slick shoes or sticky shoes and further, does this mean you dance differently? I thought I would share my response as a blog post because I think others might find this interesting. And …
No More Secrets – A Case for Leading the Swivel
The concept of leading swivels is topic that comes up time and again as Evita and I teach at events around the globe. It always raises a few eyebrows (if not worse) when we describe how and why I lead swivels for my partner. I am a firm believer that swivels can be lead, and …
“Alive and Kicking” : The Swing Documentary
The new Swing Documentary, “Alive and Kicking”, has officially been released to the public. Facebook news feeds for Swing dancers exploded with shares and comments about the movie. Over all, it’s been a positive reaction. I have seen the film 4 times, first in Austin, Texas at it’s premiere at SXSW, and in New York …