AIR pt. 11: Back to School

One was the development of the phrase battle by Janice Wilson for the Hellzapoppin’ competitions at the Harlem Jazz Dance Festival in May of 2002. A phrase battle consists of couples taking a certain number of “8’s” (Two bars, eight beats total) to shine jam style, alternating with other couples.

Until Janice came up with this idea, most social dance contests, usually called “Strictly Lindy” contests[1], consisted of couples taking turns dancing to separate songs. This allowed for a clear boundary to be established between all the contestants, and also has the logistical value of allowing judges time to evaluate each performance.

Random Videos: Lindy on The Rocks 2009

I'm actually working on some more related ILHC posts, but my job seems to be getting in the way. In the mean time I'll go back to an event that happened about a month ago. Lindy on the Rocks is held in Denver, Colorado. I've already posted a video of this performance, but they just put up some super high quality HD videos up and this one blew me away as much as it did the first time I saw it. Amazing what a well placed color adjustment will do for your viewing pleasure.

AIR pt. 10: The Tightey Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers Strike

Naomi Uyama likes to use the phrase “Traveling was the internet” when talking about the ol’ days of Lindy at the turn of the millennium. I think that it could be reasonably be argued that the Lindy Hop community evolved at the rate it that it has in the past 10 years because the available technology greatly facilitated the communication of ideas, and more importantly, helped to foster friendships over great distances; linking small, isolated scenes into a global community. But unlike a lot of online social networks these days, the whole point of ours is to meet in person and dance. There's no replacement for seeing and experiencing dance in person.

Remembering September 11th.

I wrote the following on September 12, 2001. Going through Facebook today reminded me of it. At the time I thought it was important to jot down everything I remembered. I was working as the coordinator for scheduling and event planning atThe Catholic University of America in Washington, DC at the time, so it references people, places, and events on campus on that day.

For some reason I stopped my account at mid-day and never got back to it. In fact, according to the file properties, the last time I touched it was at 10:33 PM on Sept. 12. The writing isn't very good because it's a rough first draft. I'm posting it un-edited to preserve what I felt at the time.

AIR pt. 9: NADC Fallout

2001 was a pivotal year. Sensing the various trends I have outlined, many instructors and dancers were beginning to make serious efforts to actively influence the overall dance style of the community.

Ryan Francois and Jenny Thomas returned to active teaching after their long hiatus from the community for their run on the Broadway musical “Swing!” In the aftermath of the 1999 WLHC debate Ryan talked of forming a “united front” to address the issues that came up in that original debate[1]. Nothing formal ever happened after that, but he was clearly dismayed at the state of dancing when he returned in 2001 and was not shy about making his thoughts known.[2]

ILHC 2009 Odds & Ends

I’ve said it before (maybe not here, but elsewhere I’m sure), but I love competition events. There aren’t many events where dancers can just bring their stuff in front of their peers, and I’m glad that ILHC can be one of those places. I spend a lot of my time busting my ass at events these days more than I do enjoying them, but there are little moments here and there that make all the work worth it. I just wanted to add a couple of quick hits that I missed in my other ILHC posts

ILHC 2009 official results are up

ILHC results are up complete with pdf files of the scores and judges and links to videos and phtotos. Come and get'em while they're hot. ILHC results link

Feel free to comment about them here.

ILHC 2009-Wrappin' It Up

Sorry about the delay. After I posted on Sunday, I didn't have a whole lot of time plus the cold I was trying to fight off finally got to me. The rest of the event itself went incredibly well. Saturday night comps ended with Cabaret which was a great show with lots of different kinds of acts.

I was able to catch my breath once the comps were done, and even got to spend some quality time with Carla Heiney. She was one of my first teachers when she lived in DC many moons ago, so it was great to spend quite a long time catching up with her.

For me, ILHC has a bit of a family reunion vibe to it. DC has been home to so many great dancers over the years, that it takes a big event to get them back together. I think that shared "heritage" helps to take the edge off the competition part of the event.

Housekeeping: ILHC Posts

Just a quick note that I've updated the previous ILHC 2009 posts with videos or links to videos, including my current favorite footage of Skye & Frida's Classic Division routine. I have some time since I got sick during the weekend, so the good news for you is that I'll be able to finish posting my observations from the event in the next day or two.

Official results for ILHC 2009 will be posted online on the ILHC website hopefully within the next week as the staff makes their way home and catches up on the rest of their lives. I'll post an update when that happens.

Dates and a brand new hotel for ILHC 2010 have been locked in, so stay tuned for that information as well.

AIR pt. 8: Competition Concerns

“[I]t is obvious that artists reflect their times and backgrounds and their art works are oftentimes more eloquent than any politician’s speech or sociological study.”[1] Marco Pignataro

Also at the ALHC 2000, Ben Furnas and Lucy Dunne performed one of the competition’s most infamous routines where they lampooned the general state of competitions in both the Lindy Hop and West Coast Swing worlds.