Swing Crash: The Movie - really interesting to see how the journalist starts falling into the scene as she goes along…
Chrystal Lee is amaaazing
Day 1: What got you started in Lindy Hop
Day 2: Your favorite place to dance
Day 3: A description of your favorite partner (and why they’re your favorite)
Day 4: Your favorite live band
Day 5: Your favorite Lindy Hop variation dance (charleston, balboa, shag)
Day 6: Your favorite group dance (shim sham, tranky doo big apple, etc)
Day 7: Something you really want to learn
Day 8: Your favorite instructor
Day 9: Favorite class taken
Day 10: Favorite workshop weekend (Lindy Focus, Camp Hollywood, etc) or one you’d really like to attend
Day 11: Favorite song(s) to dance to
Day 12: Your swing crushes/favorite pros
Day 13: Favorite dancing memory
Day 14: Your swing group of friends
Day 15: Favorite classic clip
Day 16: Photo of you dancing
Day 17: Styling
Day 18: That move you love
Day 19: That move that eludes you
Day 20: Your swing shoes
Day 21: Favorite outfit to wear dancing
Day 22: Favorite city to dance in
Day 23: A dancer you admire
Day 24: Favorite pro performance
Day 25: Describe the last night you went dancing
Day 26: The level you think you dance at
Day 27: Your goals for the year
Day 28: Events you’re looking forward to
Day 29: A clip you love
Day 30: Why you dance
(Source: theodorafitzgerald)
I have SO much to say about this but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.
LOL. Yeah, I couldn’t read the whole thing. Every other sentence, I was like “Okay, man up, dude.” or “Is it really so hard to understand that other people might be having just as hard a time as you are?”
I am not sure followers understand this. When you dance with a leader not so good you need to smile double, fake it until you make it.Actually, what you’re saying is to “fake it until HE makes it.” You’re asking someone who is likely also having a hard time to prop you up because you can’t deal. Yeesh.
At a certain point in my dancing, I realized that if the woman I was dancing with was smiling and making it fun, it’d help to snap me outta my shit, and I’d start smiling and making it fun too. Y’know what lesson I didn’t take from that? That it’s someone else’s responsibility to snap me outta my shit. No, it’s my responsibility. It’s not her burden.
Remember why you’re there. If it isn’t for the music or the joy, then things aren’t gonna go well. Both of those sentences apply equally to women and men, leaders and followers. Claudio, I know you know these things by now, but these are the lessons that will “grow the lindy hop community”. Not some “women, be better to your men, because they have it hard” bullshit.
I think you’re a bit harsh on him. Even if we say follows and leaders have the eventual same difficulty (which is impossible for me to really take a stance on because I haven’t even found a good way to compare follows’ “skill level” to leads’ “skill level”), almost everyone will agree that it is harder for leads in the beginning.
I can’t get behind that. Not even a little bit. Maybe it’s because of the part I’ve bolded in this next thing you said:
I will also put forward that being a beginner lead requires more confidence than being a beginner follow. This is from my personal experience only.
When I composed my post, I cut two sentences that I thought might be seen as non-sequitur, but I still believe they’re relevant: “Think from other people’s points of view. Encourage others to do the same.” That whole “this is from my personal experience only” was a sentiment that was practically the subtext of each of Claudio’s sentences. It’s the crux of what bothers me.
If you’re in a beginner class as a leader, try not to assume you have it harder than anyone else, least of all “the women”. The point at which you’re straight-up assuming that your role is harder than someone else’s role in a partnership, THAT is the attitude that’ll dissuade followers from sticking with the dance scene. Don’t be that guy. Give credit where it’s due. Following is a hard job, right from day one. You know (hopefully) what’s coming next. She doesn’t. Yet she has to react on a split-second’s notice. Do you follow? I don’t (yet), and every…single…time…someone tries to lead me to demonstrate something, I feel like my entire neural network has completely shut down. It’s not easier to learn, and it’s not easier to do.
Okay, I am not going to be able to say anything about which one, if either, is easier. They are difficult to compare. I don’t mean to imply following is easier.
The reason I think it requires more confidence to be a beginner lead is that it is much clearer (as a beginner) when you (a leader) mess up.
Whether justified or not, some beginners put the responsibility for a “good dance” on the leader, which puts them under a lot of pressure. As a beginning follow, I dance with beginner leads, then occasionally less-beginner ones and the dances are so much “better”! So then I conclude that the leader is pretty much responsible for how good the dance was. If a lot of people have this view, beginning leaders are under lots of pressure.
Comparatively fewer beginners think that a bad dance is the follow’s fault. I think follows sort of go around experiencing leaders during the first phase of their dancing.
Only as we get better does the same become true of follows. I start to see that the same leader I just danced with can have an amazing dance later with a pro follow. But as a beginner it looks like the leader is solely responsible.
I am on my phone so I may have missed some points you made because I haven’t referred back to what you wrote as I composed this. I am sure at the very least we agree there is something wrong with his attitude.
I’ve bolded the parts that I can agree with: people DO think these things. And to think such things DOES put more expectation on the leaders. But those assumptions themselves are incorrect. So the solution isn’t to double-down on the incorrect assumption, it’s to dispel the myth. Beginning leaders aren’t responsible for bad dances, any more than advanced leaders are responsible for good dances. Or, to look at it from another angle, I’ll rewrite one of your assertions from my own point of view, and it’ll still be true:
As a beginning leader, I danced with beginner followers, then occasionally less-beginner ones and the dances were so much “better”! So then I concluded that the follower is pretty much responsible for how good the dance was. If a lot of people have this view, beginning followers are under lots of pressure.The fallacy comes from the fact that you’re only considering your own experience, and I’m only considering mine (Granted, only the first sentence was true for me. The conclusions I drew from it were different, but they did put less pressure on me as a leader). My point is, when you consider everyone’s experience — whether by asking friends about theirs, or by observing in some other way — you get a much clearer picture of the balance.
Let’s look at it from a whole other angle: when I was a beginning lead, and I danced with advanced followers, I noticed pretty quickly that my experience could be all over the map, depending on WHY the follower in question is considered “good”. The ones who sought the joy in the dance, regardless of how green I was, they always made me feel like I was a king (with my total of three moves). But the ones who stood there like a deer in the headlights because they weren’t getting much out of my leading…they were the ones who made me feel like I was rubbish at this stuff.
The lesson I took from all of that was this (and again I think it’s equally applicable to leads and follows): meet your partner where he or she is, and have fun in that space. When you’re both beginners, that just means relax and have fun, the both of you. When you’re advanced and dancing with beginner leads, that means “make like you can’t get enough of underarm turns and pass-bys, and forget about finding the 1.” When you’re dancing with beginner follows, that means “keep smiling when she immediately pulls herself back in, or twirls herself clockwise when you very clearly led her to go counterclock”.
Both jobs are just as hard, and just as hard to learn. They’re just way different. That’s my 2¢.
Look, I don’t disagree with anything you said. I have a lot of fun dancing and I try to make sure my partner does too. And I also think that is the best way.
I swear to god I am not backtracking here— I _am_ talking about what I have observed in others. Pecifically beginners. In my own experience only: only what I have thought to note over the years. I admit my own bias. Most of my friends are follows.
I think you have succintly defined the problem: not considering others’ points of view.
What I want to say is that Claudio’s frustrations are understandable. I still believe this to be true.
I think I did say (not sure; still on phone) that his statements would be less cringe-worthy if he did applied them to everyone, not just followers.
You are right; some follows feel the same way about leads. Even though I know far fewer, it doesn’t discount their experience. And the problem is (according to you as well I think?) that Claudio doesn’t consider the other side. I do not disagree with this. Ideally, everyone approaches the dance with less judgement/more fun.
I apologize for this entire conversation. Let’s have some fun dancing and forget. See you on the dance floor!
no need to apologise - it’s not like you were calling each other names or anything!
Debates are good!
Frankie Manning: May 26th 1914 - April 27th 2009
Remembering The Legend And Inspiration To Many Swing Dancers Out There This Week…
(Source: deforest)
I have SO much to say about this but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.
