Teaching Follows to Swing Dance

Chris and I have had a couple opportunities to teach Balboa and Lindy Hop recently, and we've gotten very gratifying feedback on how well we teach together as a team - especially how much we work with the follows in class. Chris gets as much credit for this as me, because he's very conscientious about making sure the follows have material to work on. I'm just a loudmouth and make sure I get heard in class. :)

Photo courtesy of Dave Welch at Photos With Class

Because of the nice response from our students, I've been thinking lately about our teaching partnership. Of course, we aren't perfect and are always trying to improve on this ourselves, but these are the major points I see as critical in giving the follows an equal education.

1) Stop seeing the follow as the less important member of the team. To teach follows effectively, both the leads and the follows must respect how important their role is in partner dancing. If both teachers model this behavior and outlook, the students will hopefully feel the same way.
Something as simple as the leader-instructor introducing the follows' styling, and showing genuine enthusiasm for spending time on the topic in class, will help balance the roles.

2) Spend enough time preparing - together. The follow-instructor must be clear on the class material in order to participate in actually teaching, not just dancing. I suspect that when the follow-instructor isn't contributing to teaching, it's usually because she doesn't know what the leader-instructor is going to demonstrate next. She's trying to figure it out along with the class.

3) While planning, pay attention to whether the moves are lead-centric or follow-centric. Try to balance the material with different moves or additional styling.

4) Teach the Skills needed when following. This might include where to hold your arms, position your weight, or different footwork that makes a move easier. This is especially important to remember when teaching Advanced classes - teaching the nuances of Following Skills changes an Advanced class from "a bunch of choreography I can never use after I leave class" to "now I'm a better follow!".

5) Sometimes a class will be at a completely different level than the material planned. So go with it! Even though you're teaching off the top of your head, still try to address the reasons why you make certain choices as a follow, not just the mechanics of how to execute the move.

What other techniques do you find helpful for effective teaching of both roles in partner dances? As a student, what do you find helpful, or dislike?

Swing Jam at the Rendezvous - 1938

I recently looked through some of my photo files, and found a cool photo I hadn't shown you!

This photo comes from the 1938 LOOK Magazine spread about the Rendezvous Ballroom (posted here), and it shows a dance jam. Roy Damron is the guy in the middle doing the splits, and a couple of his friends are in the crowd. And do you recognize the couple dancing in the upper right (white jacket, white dress)? That's none other than Hal & Betty Takier! Oh, what I'd give for a little video footage of this jam. :)

Photo from LOOK Magazine - August 30, 1938

Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout 2013

After years of not traveling further than San Francisco, all of a sudden last year Chris and I decided to leave our bubble and start traveling to dance events - I left one job with over 2 weeks of vacation time saved up and realized that not using it was the dumbest thing ever (yes, they paid me out, but it wasn't worth it). We've been invited to teach at several out-of-state events in this last year, and we love teaching, meeting new people and seeing a few sights, so we're trying to take advantage of as many opportunities as we can. And now that we're meeting people who live all over the world, we need to keep traveling so that we can see (and dance!) with them.

Last weekend we went to snowy Denver for Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout. Now, Chris and I were both born and raised in Southern California, and we are NOT built for snow. I went to college in Iowa, but that was 10 years ago now (yikes!) and it was a small town and small campus so I didn't have to deal with a car. So of course the first time we venture out to Denver, the town is hit with the biggest snowstorm of the season!

We were prepared for cold weather, but I forgot how darn WET snow is. I SO did not bring the right shoes - I only had one pair of flats with me. 7-Eleven bags to the rescue!

But that said, we still had a great time! RMBB is a fab event - we always had it on our list of events to go to, sooner or later. The music is great, the venues are pretty, and good/NICE dancers always turn out. We taught two classes (advanced Balboa and LA Lindy Hop) and I was in 2 contests - just the right amount of obligations for a fun weekend away. (Teaching and competing *are* fun, but sometimes you don't want to keep an eye on the clock.)

Here is video footage from the two contests I was in - enjoy!

Open Strictly Balboa - 

Chris & Beth, 1st Place

(For my family members who only want to watch our spotlight, that starts at 9:52 ;)

Invitational Jack & Jill -

randomly paired with Andreas Olsen, from Sweden, whom I met only the previous night!

(Andreas and my spotlight starts at 5:08)

Big thanks to David Bradford for the video footage and for the great dance we had! :)

Cal Bal Classic 2013

The weekend before last was the California Balboa Classic, a new Balboa event in Los Angeles with classes and dances. Originally intended as a small event for locals, word about this one spread like wildfire and the workshops sold out within a week or two, even after an entire extra class track was added! And people even flew in from other states! I'm SO excited about this new event - I've felt for a long time that LA needs a dedicated Balboa event, and I'm so glad that the response was so good.

Like the hams we are, Chris and I entered the Open Balboa and Swing contest - "Balboa" and "Swing" here referring to their 1930s & 40s meanings where Balboa was only closed (chest-to-chest) position, and Swing is anything that separates from your partner.  I had a TON of fun with this contest - there were several rounds where we were told to demonstrate musicality, showmanship, etc. A lot of Balboa contests tend to emphasize one end of the spectrum or the other, but it was nice to have both in this one.  I just hope it didn't go on too long for the audience!

Here are the videos I could find - they're linked from Facebook instead of YouTube, so I hope they work for you.

Open Balboa & Swing Classic Finals - Warm-up

Open Balboa & Swing Classic Finals - Chris & Beth Spotlight

Open Balboa & Swing Classic Finals - Fast Battle

And finally, Chris and I got to take home these GORGEOUS glass trophies! First Place, and the couple featured in the photo are 2 of our dance heroes, Hal and Betty. We stole several of their moves for the Fast Battle, and I will proudly display this in honor of them and all of our old-timers.

Lindy Focus XI - Balboa Comps

We're in our final day at Lindy Focus in Asheville, NC and getting ready for the New Year's Eve party tonight. (I'm trying mobile blogging, so hopefully the formatting isn't all wonky!) Chris and I are having a blast - we've done a couple contests, dancing a bit part in the show tonight, and I took my first burlesque class ever (from Sharon Davis/"Bonnie Fox" (if you look her up on YouTube, please note it's NSFW!!)) I actually took the night off from dancing last night because I was so tired - I know I missed some great music and dancing, but I'm feeling WAY more human today. :)

My dad emailed me last night that he found some YouTube footage up from the weekend already - here's a clip of Chris and me dancing in the Balboa Jack & Jill - in J&J contests you're paired up with a random partner. I'm up first dancing with Marshall, who I've not seen in years, and Chris dances with Lana, a gal from Kiev whom we've never met before this weekend!

We also competed in the Underground Lindy Focus Championships - Balboa Edition (at 2:15 AM!!) and made it to the final four - everyone jumps onto the floor and the judges give out challenges, and they tap out couples until they get down to 6 couples. We had to do Pure Bal (chest-to-chest the whole time), No Basics, Slow Bal, and Lots of Spins - the challenges were actually really fun and a good way to loosen up for the finals! Here are the first 2 rounds of the finals - We're in the second group out on the far side in both videos.

There are a TON more videos already up from the weekend, if you want to see more search for "Lindy Focus XI".

Happy New Year!! Stay safe and don't drink and drive, and I'll see you in 2013!

Bal-Aska 2012

So things are getting all jumbled and out of order because my blogging isn't keeping up with events, but that's a good problem to have - and we just keep pushing on! :) Last weekend Chris and I went up to Anchorage, Alaska to teach at their first ever Balboa event, Bal-aska - and we had a ball! It was a whirlwind trip of only 3 days plus travel time, but we managed to sneak in a little sight-seeing between classes.

No fancy-pant camera on this trip, this time my phone was in charge of recording memories. And DJing for classes, and mapping out the wild streets of Anchorage. Smart phones and jet planes are 2 reasons I'm glad I didn't actually live in 1938. Anyway...

Our trusty rental in The Last Frontier

With the promoters and staff of Bal-aska - Patrick, Roxanne & Binky

Chris got in the spirit of Autumn up there -

 it's painful coming home to 100 degree weather!

Friday night's band - featuring the youngest member of the clarinet section!

Outside of the Saturday venue

This incredible book was one of the weekend's prizes, 

and there was a shriek from every girl in the room when it was announced. :) 

I snapped a photo as a note to buy it, and my own copy is racing to me right now!

Friday afternoon we stopped by the zoo - who let this animal out of the cage?!

Playful Otter

Polar Paws

Chipmunk in the tree was squeeking and teasing the foxes behind the fence.

Black Bear, Black Bear

Overlooking the bears

Little Campbell Lake

Don't fall in!

Hiking on one of the Kincaid cross-country ski trails

And Sunday morning we took a scenic drive along the south coast. Beautiful!!

Another Maharaja Costume

Since we're talking Majaraja costumes, I thought I'd share one I made for myself a few years ago. (oh, no, I just checked and it was in 2008...that was a long time ago already!!)

The Friday night theme at Camp Hollywood was Maharaja -- Chris wore a tuxedo (inspired by Hal), and I made a "1940's does Arabian Nights" playsuit - you know, like how all the costumes in period movies of the 30's & 40's look more like contemporary fashions with only a slight nod to the past. That's what I was going for.

Again, this is a rayon fabric for good swish. The skirt is a long panel that's gathered with box pleats into the waistband, and I put butterfly sleeves on the top for ease of movement.

These photos are from the Amateur Balboa contest - we got first place that year. It was also probably the best hair day of my entire life, and I like to think that had a little to do with winning. ;)

Photos by Lisa Johnson

Maharaja Costume

A few months ago, Balboa & Lindy Hop champion Laura Keat contacted me to ask if I would be interested in making a costume for a new routine she was working on. As a rule I don't sew for other people (I don't even hem Chris's pants, he has to take them to the cleaners), but this was a special project that I was very interested in working on.

On Saturday night at All Balboa Weekend, Laura and her dance partner, Jeremy Otth, performed Hal & Betty Takier's "Maharaja", a musical short from 1943. This is one of only a few clips we have of LA Swing from the 30's & 40's, and this one is a wild ride - the energy and enthusiasm combined with their street dance technique has been hugely influential to modern balboa dancers. In honor of Hal's recent passing, Jeremy & Laura wanted to represent this in their recreation.

Inspiration: 40's Playsuit

Inspiration: High-flying skirt!

I worked with Laura to create a 40's playsuit like the one Betty wears in Maharaja - unfortunately most of the footage we have is pretty blown out and details are hard to see, but that gave us some creative license in the design. For the top and the skirt I used a rayon twill, lined with a rayon satin (I've got a bit of a love affair with the drape and flow of rayon - perfect for swishy skirts!)

I draped the top and the skirt, and we decided to put buttons down the skirt so that it can fly open for this routine but be not as...revealing for others. :)

Cute, right? Well, get ready to be wowed - they NAILED the routine! Bummed I couldn't be at the event in person, but so glad I got to be part of it anyway!

Jeremy Otth & Laura Keat perform Hal & Betty Takier's "Maharaja" in tribute at the 2012 All Balboa Weekend

Photo by Shannon Sheldon

Photo by Shannon Sheldon

The Rendezvous Cup

I have a confession to make. I like dancing more than I like blogging. :) At costume events, there's always a lot of time for picture taking (which is at least 50% the reason for going. The other 50% is eating tea and cookies). But at a REALLY FUN dance event, it's hard to remember to take pictures. I get wrapped up in the music and people and just forget. So it's embarrassing that after Balboa Rendezvous, I walked away with zero photos.

BUT! We did come away from the event with The Rendezvous Cup this year! :) We have to give it back next year (unless we win again ;) but it'll have our names and some witty saying added for 2012.

Giant thanks to Joel Plys for putting together the 9th Annual Balboa Rendezvous. As I mentioned in a previous post, Chris and I attended as in-class instructors, and we were in the Level 1 classes all day on Saturday, dancing with and working one-on-one with students. For Level 1 there were 8 in-class instructors, which sounded like a lot at first, but it worked really well - the students got a lot of personal attention, and they learned the material much faster. The main instructors were top-notch, and I recommend putting this event on your list if you're interested in Balboa.

And the MUSIC!! Oh my goodness. We're spoiled here in Los Angeles with our fantastic bands and frequent live music, but Glenn Crytzer and His Syncopators came down from Seattle and -- holy smokes, they're incredible. Every time I walked into the ballroom I thought a (remastered!) vintage recording was playing. The band's balance was just perfect and the rhythm section felt like the Heartbeat of Balboa. Pop over to their website for a free listen!

And ok, here's a contest photo I dug off Facebook. I guess the back of my head's better than nothing?!

Photo by Douglas LeClair

SoCal Balboa Workshops

I'm supposed to be madly working on a Teen's dress for this Sunday's Lanterman Ragtime Tea Dance, but I wanted take a minute to highlight a couple Balboa events I'm involved with this month.

March 17th: Atomic Ballroom in Placentia, CA is hosting an Intermediate/Advanced Balboa Workshop. Augie Freeman is the instructor, and he's asked me to partner with him (cause I look better in heels than he does.) Augie is a classic SoCal Balboa dancer, and a fantastic teacher. Follow the link to get more info.

March 29th-April 1st: Balboa Rendezvous in San Diego and Balboa Peninsula - I believe this is the longest running Balboa event in Southern California (probably on the West Coast?). The weekend full of workshops, live music and contests features some of the great international instructors who call California home. Chris and I are part of this year's in-class teaching staff, so we'll be attending the classes, dancing with and giving feedback to the students (we'll be really nice, I promise!). In addition, this event brings together many of the great old-timers who danced in the SoCal ballrooms in the 30's and 40's - it's a real treat to listen to them reminisce about the dance. Registration is still open for a few more days, so head over to the website to check it out - if you have trouble with the website, post a message on the FB page and I'm sure someone will help you out.

"I'm Just A Jitterbug"

I've fallen off posting about dancing much in the last couple months, but a recent Facebook conversation reminded me that I've been meaning to post this article originally published in a 1939 Look Magazine. It shows some "behind the scenes" shots of LA swing dancers who were filmed as inspiration for the Walter Lantz cartoon short "I'm Just a Jitterbug".

The footage of dancing was rotoscoped for the cartoon (basically traced), which seems to be looked down on by animators, but it's fun for us dancers, because it's so true to life. Only 2 couples are shown in the Look article, but from watching the footage we know that Ray Hirsch and Patti Lacey were part of this project too, because we see their signature moves in it!

As was unfortunately common in this era, there are racist and derogatory images included in the article and cartoon. I have included them in this entry because I feel strongly that it is inappropriate to cut them and not recognize the bigotry present.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Human Jitterbugs Are Models...

For Dancing Insects In an Animated Cartoon

Nobody ever knows what a jitterbug will do next. Even those masters of miracles, the Hollywood animated cartoonists, who cam make pigs dance and ducks talk, couldn't figure out the jitterbugs.

"When the jitterbug craze hit the country," says Cartoon Producer Walter Lantz, "we started out to make a jitterbug cartoon. But after making many hundreds of drawings, we realized it was impossible to follow the intricate steps conceived by these dizzy dancers unless we could work from actual jitterbugs in action."

So Lantz rounded up jitterbug teams, turned them loose in front of a camera, then had animators study them on the movie screen. Even then, the timing problem was too difficult. Finally, each frame of action was projected and a tracing was made of it. Animators then drew the cartoon bugs over the tracings of the dancing teams.

Some of the human models and the cartoon scenes they inspired for "I'm Just a Jitterbug" are shown here. The cartoon required 12,000 individual drawings, but it takes only seven minutes to show it on the screen.

Grandpa and Grandma Bug act as silly as human beings.

(Dancers are Roy Damron and Snookie Bishop)

The Bugs Get a Lesson in swing from Mary Herron and Jack Conlogue.

"Snookie" Bishop and Roy Damron demonstrate for the bug cartoonists.

This is the Way the bugs do it after Roy and "Snookie" have shown them how.

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And here's the final version of the cartoon! 

Funny thing is, I don't see any of the images from the magazine in the cartoon.

"I'm Just a Jitterbug" (1939)

Because I like to see the unedited version myself, I've included the complete magazine pages below.

Hal's Roll

Last Saturday night we went out to Pasadena Ballroom Dance Association's annual Harvest Moon Swingout. Due to other conflicts we only made it to the Saturday night dance, but we had a blast! It was packed. And sweaty. ;) Stompy Jones from San Francisco played, and they always draw a crowd.

I nabbed this photo of us during a jam from Facebook (thanks Steve Hwan!). Right here we're doing the move we call "Hal's Roll" - named for its inventor, the amazing Hal Takier. Hal doesn't call it "Hal's Roll" of course. :) He just calls it the "Roll".
 

(I'm spinning when Chris jumps, so I'm always impressed
when I see later how much height he gets!)

What makes this move really exciting and stand out compared to most LA swing/bal-swing movements is the "pop" of energy on beat 2 (captured beautifully in Steve's photo above) - most bal-swing turns happen on beats three and four, but the Roll pushes it forward and the lead pushes the follow to reverse the direction of her turn on beat 2. This unique timing requires practice (and it helps if the follow is familiar with the move), but it's a real crowd-pleaser.

I don't think anyone's found footage of Hal doing the Roll in the 30's or 40's, but there is 70's footage of it. Maybe he didn't invent it until later? But even in his earlier days, Hal frequently used beat 2 to jump into his flashy moves, and that's part of why he looks so much more energetic than other dancers.

There's no sound in this clip unfortunately, but you can see Hal and Marge do the Roll, starting at 1:22.

CH 2011 - "A Day at the Races" Outfit

I only made one new outfit for Camp Hollywood this year, for Friday night. The theme was A Day at the Races but it was also the night of the Balboa contest finals, so I didn't want to be too "theme-y". I decided to wear some 30's daywear but was still undecided as to exactly WHAT -  until Kate posted some Summer Inspiration from 1938. The Sunback Dress (4th picture down, #7754) caught my eye and I knew that was the way to go.

I have a similar sundress pattern that I've made several times, so I grabbed that and headed to Jo-Ann's - and actually found some cream rayon herringbone there! Miracles do happen. The striped fabric was hiding in the upholstery section, but it softened up after washing.

Sundress
Hollywood Pattern #1788 - c. 1939

Bolero
Simplicity #2762 -  c. 1938

And here's an action shot - the belt kept spinning around all night - I think I need a well-placed snap.
Doesn't rayon just move the best though? :)

Photo by Alex Vasallo

And last but not least, here's a video of the Balboa contest finals. Can't leave that out, I guess!

Camp Hollywood 2011 - Balboa Finals

Video by Sandra Carranza

Camp Hollywood 2011 - Balboa

This past weekend was the 14th annual Camp Hollywood, and as usual we packed up the car and drove 20 minutes to the LAX Marriott hotel for our "big" summer getaway. Hey, a couple days off work? I'll take it.

Out of all the swing dance weekend camps, Camp Hollywood is particularly dear to me. Not only is it the biggest swing event in the region, and is kind of a "family reunion" with longtime friends whom we don't get to see much, but it's also the camp where I first learned sugar pushes and swivels, took my first Balboa lesson, and saw Groovie Movie and Buck Privates for the first time. Way back in 1998, when I was a senior in high school. Without a doubt, that weekend changed my life.

This year Chris and I competed in Balboa, and won 2nd place (congrats to Jacob and Valerie for beating us again! ;) We were watching footage this morning at 4am when we got home, and I was particularly excited about how we danced in the prelims - I couldn't remember much about this dance after it happened, so I was surprised at how much I like it! 

Camp Hollywood 2011 Balboa Prelims

(I'm unfortunately blanking on the name of the guy who filmed and was awesome enough to pass us a copy)

And for those who are wondering, I'm wearing the trousers I made from Wearing History 30's Trousers pattern (blogged about here). I got so many compliments on them that I must make more soon! 

Roy Damron & Mitzi Mayfair

Do you remember Roy Damron from my post about the Rendezvous Ballroom? I came across a photo of him from The Milwaukee Journal, March 10, 1944. (Google News Archive is my new toy! :) 

Roy Damron with Mitzi Mayfair, one of the stars of Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)

I haven't seen Four Jills in a Jeep in several years (our copy is VHS, and we don't have a player anymore!), but I checked on YouTube and there's a clip of them dancing together! So far as I know, no one has attributed this clip to Roy previously -- it's not on his IMDB profile. Does anyone know how to add it?

Enjoy!

6 A.M. Swing Party - Rendezvous Ballroom

In honor of last week's post about the Balboa Rendezvous, I thought I'd share a 1938 Look Magazine article with you about some of the incredible dancing that used to take place there! The Rendezvous Ballroom was huge, roughly 1 city block wide and 1 city block long - but I think 5,000 kids in there would still have been crowded! No wonder they could only dance chest to chest. :)

5,000 Young Californians Rise at Dawn for a... 

6 A.M. SWING PARTY

On June 18 in Balboa, Cal., the amazing swing music fad in the U.S. hit a new high. On that day some 5,000 "cats" and "alligators" rose at dawn to "cut rugs" and "kick out" at 6 o'clock in the morning. The occasion was a "jam session" or "swingaree" staged by radio station KEHE to celebrate the end of the school year.

The night before the party, "ickies" and "jitterbugs" started arriving. Many came in parties composed of members of local swing clubs. Most of them came by car, some by foot. One young man drove 396 miles from Tonopah, Nev. One came on crutches.

From 6 to 8 in the morning, the ballroom of the Balboa Rendezvous shook with their dancing of the Big Apple, the Varsity, the Suzie-Q while the orchestra and a phonograph "gave out" with "licks" and "solid senders."

Those shirts! Those ties! So terrible, and so AWESOME!

Dancing in a hat and gloves...but no stockings. Those wild jitterbugs!

This photo has been one of my personal favorites since I was 16 years old - 

I wanted to be her SO badly.

Still do. :)