“Improvisation, within the context of performing arts, is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation.” – Wikipedia I have a story to share about a recent experience I had with confronting my fear and having to improvise. While teaching at Lindy Focus XV, Hillary-Marie, a fantastic tap dance teacher, invited a few of …
Swing Dancing vs. Lindy Hop: What’s the Difference? Dancers who are in the the early stages of their educational journey most commonly ask, “what is the difference between Swing dancing and Lindy Hop?” And like many oral traditions, the answers are as much a mixture of factoids as they are mired in lore, often changing …
Read moreSwing Dancing vs. Lindy Hop: What’s the Difference?
I’m sorry for losing my temper. That normally doesn’t happen, but Swing Scene… we need to talk. While teaching at a large Lindy event last month I had to apologize to a class for yelling at them because two different students were filming Evita and me during class. Rather, I chose to apologize because for …
What is the best type of class? Where and when does it happen? What are the ingredients? This would be a fabulous world wide survey for the Lindy Hop community. I would love to see the results. I think good classes can happen anywhere, at anytime depending on the teacher’s intention. Is the intention to entertain, …
When stepping into the classroom, we can experience a myriad of emotions, from excitement to fear, and assuming the role of “student” requires of us to take several actions and choices. There are certain techniques to maximize your retention and enjoy the journey of learning to dance that I’ll offer in five parts. All of …
Read moreHow to be a Student (aka Maximizing Your Learning Potential): Part 1
Hi everybody, It’s official… We are launching our online Swing School, and we thought you should know! Similar to enrolling at a university or joining a gym, we offer students a place to learn and focus on practicing their skills outside of weekend workshops, camps and exchanges. This past January we started offering our first …
Part I: The Audition We recently received an email from Melanie in Fort Collins, CO (a big shout out to Ft. Fun where I first learned Lindy Hop from the Jumpin’ Jive Cats) regarding leveling at events and the frustration of placement. Ah, the leveling question. In truth, leveling at events is the thing I …
In 2006, I had the fortune of being introduced to David Dunbar. David is the Academic Dean and co-founder of CITYterm, a high school alternative semester program that immerses students in an experience based learning environment. Located at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, the program takes students on daily excursions to New York City to research, …
Read moreLeadership is better taught in the context of Swing Dancing.
When was the first time you saw Lindy Hop? Was it a social arena or a theater/entertainment event?