"Lindy Hop" on Dancing with the Stars

reetpleat · Apr 1, 2009

Lau Mo said:
I don't know anything about Lindy Hop, so this thread is really informative. I love Dancing with the Stars, but it is disappointing that they were inaccurate. It was still entertaining in my opinion though.

I am not a big fan of most modern dancing, ballroom dancing as it is now done, as well as this type of rework of older dances. mainly because it becomes very upright, prancy, jazz dancy, and broadway showy. I much prefer to watch traditional cha cha cha, for example, as opposed to the big glitzy dance style it has become. But that is to be expected. You can't take experienced broadway and ballroom dancers and expect them to change everything they know about dance, posture, etc and capture a dance taht was done by people with an entirely different vocabulary of posture and movement.

On the other hand, my friend Min, in LA did dancing with the stars years ago. I am not sure in what capacity. he is one of the best contemporary, traditional style lindy and balboa dancers around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYsW7vsXEX8

Paisley · Apr 1, 2009

reetpleat said:
...very upright, prancy, jazz dancy, and broadway showy...

That pretty much describes what was billed as lindy hop on DWTS. Most of the people on the show--judges included--didn't know the lindy hop from the turkey trot.

Kim and David visited a lindy hop club and ended up doing a lot of Charleston with some aerials. That should have been the assignment.

Chelsea and Ty, I thought, made a good effort at a proper lindy. When I heard her say "step, step, triple step," I knew they were on the right track.

Tony and Melissa were doing what looked like jive (foot flicks, I think they're called).

Everyone else pretty much did their own thing.

Typical newbie mistakes--oversized movements, wiggling, arm flailing--were all there.

maggiethespy · Apr 1, 2009

reetpleat said:
On the other hand, my friend Min, in LA did dancing with the stars years ago. I am not sure in what capacity. he is one of the best contemporary, traditional style lindy and balboa dancers around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYsW7vsXEX8

I LOVE MINN! I took a workshop that he taught at this February-- He's a wonderful dancer and he's SO MUCH FUN!

Paisley · Apr 2, 2009

cherry lips said:
Thanks for posting that, just_me.
Here's a video with mixed clips of lindy hoppers from the 50s (I love those full skirts!). If anyone has some recommendations of other 50s lindy hop clips, please let me know. I love that decade and lindy, so it's great when I can have both!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yry980XFdw

I would call this lindy at 1:23 and at 2:00. There are also some solo dancers doing some old jazz moves in a routine we now call the Big Apple at 1:12 and 1:38. I think I even saw the twist in there at 1:18. The rest of it looks like East Coast (jitterbug).

I could be wrong, but I don't think there was much lindy going on in the 50s. Like swing music, it was on its way out. Frankie Manning hung up his dance career in 1955 and took a job at the post office.

Speaking of Frankie Manning, I think the following is generally regarded as the best lindy hop routine ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0BHxhUnokU

Paisley · Apr 2, 2009

Foofoogal said:
here is the Lindy Hop being done at...rl]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQJGantR2DA

The first half (the group dance) is the Big Apple; the rest looks like lindy.

Paisley · Apr 2, 2009

cherry lips said:
Guttersnipe and reetpleat, thanks for posting! I'm not sure if this is lindy, jive, or perhaps bop (?), but I sure like it 1956:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrhGtXCGn6M

I'm not an expert on it, but it looks like a transition from lindy to East Coast. The main dancers are doing lindy; the dancers in the background look more like they're doing East Coast. Most of the dancers are upright and some of them look like they lack enough tension in the connection to do a good lindy, but enough for jitterbug.

Viola · Apr 2, 2009

It's possible they were thinking of what I was thinking of before I found this board: bits from Grease. Not exactly the best source, I guess? lol

I've learned some lurking around FL as long as I have but I've found this thread educational as far as what's integral to lindy and what's extras.

db5zx · Apr 2, 2009

I live in Germany and have yet to see more than David and Kim's performance. (I watched that since one of my dancing friends in LA was featured in the Jam Circle at Lindy Groove that David and Kim visited.)

Now, being a lindy dancer myself and having taught a couple of beginner classes myself, I think what David and Kim did on DWTS was on a technical side very good (the pancake and a couple of aerials were well-performed), but the dance had - except for the occasional 8 beats here and there - nothing to do with the way I see the Lindy Hop. Including the music. It's a fun tune, but from the 50's! They should have used some uptempo Goodman, Miller or Kyser instead of the theme to "American Bandstand."

The good thing is that 1) people who don't care about the Lindy Hop wouldn't see or care about the mistakes they made on the show... 2) people who know the Lindy see all the mistakes and notice them right away and 3) people who liked what they saw and use that as a reason to go learn some proper Lindy will soon find out that they were way off on the show and that the real deal is waaaay more fun and exciting than what was featured on the show.

That much from me...

...Jens

Paisley · Apr 6, 2009

I talked to my aunt in California, the one who called lindy "the dance of our parents" from the perspective of a young person in the 1950s.

Aunt Helen saw the show and agreed there wasn't much lindy. She didn't like the gym clothes on Shawn and Mark, either. (I didn't break her heart by telling her that a lot of the lindy crowd dresses more for a track meet than a dance.) She liked the striped outfits on Julianne and her partner, though.

She said the dances she and my uncle did during the 50s were jitterbug and slow dances, mostly. They also waltzed and did the tango. They didn't do aerials at all, and she didn't sound very impressed by them.

cherry lips · Apr 6, 2009

Paisley said:
She said the dances she and my uncle did during the 50s were jitterbug and slow dances, mostly. They also waltzed and did the tango. They didn't do aerials at all, and she didn't sound very impressed by them.

Thanks Paisley! This is a little embarrassing to ask, but what are the main differences between the lindy hop and the jitterbug? Aren't they both swing dances?

Paisley · Apr 6, 2009

Check out this thread:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?p=761732

Inky · Apr 6, 2009

Paisley said:
I talked to my aunt in California, the one who called lindy "the dance of our parents" from the perspective of a young person in the 1950s.

Aunt Helen saw the show and agreed there wasn't much lindy. She didn't like the gym clothes on Shawn and Mark, either. (I didn't break her heart by telling her that a lot of the lindy crowd dresses more for a track meet than a dance.) She liked the striped outfits on Julianne and her partner, though.

She said the dances she and my uncle did during the 50s were jitterbug and slow dances, mostly. They also waltzed and did the tango. They didn't do aerials at all, and she didn't sound very impressed by them.

It's wonderful to get your Aunt's perspective! Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Paisley!

Paisley · Apr 6, 2009

This makes her sound kind of negative, but she's really a jolly person--probably the happiest person I know. Sadly, her joints don't allow her to dance anymore.

Inky, Aunt Helen lives in Cambria. Do you know if there are any dances around there? She might like to hear the music and watch the dancers.

Inky · Apr 6, 2009

Paisley said:
This makes her sound kind of negative, but she's really a jolly person--probably the happiest person I know. Sadly, her joints don't allow her to dance anymore.

Inky, Aunt Helen lives in Cambria. Do you know if there are any dances around there? She might like to hear the music and watch the dancers.

Paisley, tell Aunt Helen to come down to the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo on a Monday night to watch the Cal Poly kids dance, or Saturday night there is a live band that plays a very nice mix of music for all types of dancing from about 8 p.m to 11 p.m. or so. We were just there last Saturday and though we can only East Coast swing, we had a wonderful time. The crowd was primarily older folks (over 55 definitely), and VERY enjoyable to watch.

I love Cambria very much, Aunt Helen is fortunate to live there!

Inky

Paisley · Apr 6, 2009

Thanks! I'll tell her about this.

Mary · Apr 18, 2009

Love the articles and pictures. Have you got any of balboa dancers?

You see I have to decide what to wear tonight at a balboa dance. Is it a short or long dress? High heels is a must, I know. Are therer other things I should consider?

Paisley · Apr 18, 2009

If you do a search for "dance" in the thead titles, you'll find some threads on what to wear. Sorry, I can't think of anything special to consider for a balboa dance. In any case, I'd leave the high heels at home.

If they dress there as they do here, most folks will be in jeans and t-shirts.

resortes805 · Apr 20, 2009

Mary said:
Love the articles and pictures. Have you got any of balboa dancers?

You see I have to decide what to wear tonight at a balboa dance. Is it a short or long dress? High heels is a must, I know. Are therer other things I should consider?

If you were something similar to what you have in your avatar you will be fine. Bal dancers tend to dress nicer anyway. Yes, bal follows traditionally wear heels, but you might want to tuck a pair of flats or low heeled wedges just in case.

Herr Hitman · Apr 29, 2009

They should do an all lindy version of the show with real lindy instructors.

While im at it swing should be popular, repro vintage cheap and abundant and every town should have a vibrant retro/swing scene.

maggiethespy · Apr 29, 2009

Herr Hitman said:
They should do an all lindy version of the show with real lindy instructors.

While im at it swing should be popular, repro vintage cheap and abundant and every town should have a vibrant retro/swing scene.

That wasn't at all facetious, right?

fftopic: How is Denton's swing scene? I'm transfering to school at TWU in the fall, and I hear there is Swing/Blues dancing around UNT some nights. I stick to Fort Worth, mainly, but I'm interested in branching out.

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