Leveret

There is nothing I enjoy more than when a lead tries a new move out on me.

Either we nail it and end up smiling out of joy at our amazingness or it goes completely, utterly, unbelievably wrong and we end up off balance and unconnected wondering what on earth happened, laughing at our mistake. Either way I constantly have a smile plastered on my face…

So please, if you dance with me, try a move you’re unsure of! :)

Kat

There’s a lot to think about when you’re leading on a crowded dancefloor:

• Where is there space around me?
• Who is nearby and what are they doing?
• What’s the music doing? What’s it about to do?
• What can I do which will fit the next cool thing in the music?
• Is my partner having a good time?
• What’s that cool footwork variation they’re doing?
• Am I giving them enough room to play?
• Am I being a bit boring and repeating the same figures over and over?
• What figures can I pull off to line me up with the right timing to I can hit the break coming up on the right part of the beat?

It’s a wonder anyone ever manages to complete a half decent dance at all!

When you can pull it off it makes you feel like a frickin’ shadow warrior!

…because I love the physicality and connection to the music of dance (not specifically Lindy Hop - even dancing to indie or dubstep at a club) and because the social and travel aspects are also awesome.

And to meet girls, obviously!

Anon

…or at least it MAY be good for the skin.

I met a Canadian guy once who gave me a sound piece of advice:

“If you don’t need a shower afterwards, you’re not doing it right.”*

There’s a lot of talk on the internet about whether or not sweating is good for your skin. I couldn’t find any definitive conclusion on this, but the most reputable article I could find seems to suggest that a bit of sweat can have a positive effect on your skin, as long as your rinse it off soon afterwards.

One thing is certain: healthy or not, getting a bit sweaty is an unavoidable part of dancing Lindy. Embrace the comfortable warm dampness!

Duncan

*of course, he wasn’t talking about dancing…

No matter what life throws at you, there’s nothing a good night of dancing can’t fix. I sweat, I laugh, I drink rum…!

Somehow it makes me feel complete as a person. I am utterly happy when I dance and it’s not just the dancing, it’s also all the great people I’ve met since I started. It is like being part of a family of people who, under normal circumstances, you may have never known or even had much in common with but you are all intrinsically linked through the love of the dance.

If the world was to end in the next five minutes, I’d like to go out dancing… xx

Sarah

Surely Lindy Hop has the best-dressed dancers around?

Ok, so maybe the Rock’n’Rollers are better at getting everyone in the room looking period, but what we lack in completeness we make up for with sartorial elegance: Slacks and waistcoats, braces and cravats, pocket squares, bow ties and two-tone brogues - all nods to a classic age.

And les Filles: tea dresses and playsuits, high-waisted shorts and bobby socks, pencil skirts and victory rolls… Le sigh…

Regarding other partner dance styles, Modern Jive and West Coast Swing are too incoherent to have a distinctive style, Latin and ballroom regularly commit horrendous crimes against aesthetics and Salsa is at best extremely casual and at worst a silk-shirted geometric-patterned monstrosity.

No, it’s the 1930’s all the way for me. 

Duncan

Dancing is a performance, an act.

In some ways this could be viewed as a way in which the performer fills in the expectations of the viewer. I’m a follow, so woman to man, this seems even more likely. Women are always, to an extent, performing within or against the expectations of gender driven society.

However, when I dance, I feel this to be much less true than when I am just walking down a street. Rather, on a day to day basis, I feel the challenge and the implications of the performance of my own identity, a need to resist and to push against boundaries set up for me.

Within the frame of a mans arms, I am free to do what the hell I like. I feel like myself, gloriously alive, attractive, magnetic, in control. I feel all these things independently of any prescription, and although I am being steered and lead, I know that the follow is mine to explore, and the expression is truly of myself, made in my own sense of fun and vitality.

Ellie

Here’s wishing all the swing kids a very Merry Christmas

Duncan

Obviously it’s not the only reason, but any male lead who denies it is probably lying.

When I first moved to London I bought the excellent Time Out guide to London for Londoners. In the opening pages it had an article on the Cabaret revival and a picture of a group of girls at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club in Victory rolls and tea dresses. I wanted to be in that picture*.

Of course when I started dancing I quickly realised what wicked fun it is in its own right, that it’s an end and not a means, and that some of the best dances are to be had with follows old enough to be my mother. Still, the eye candy is an undeniable cherry on the cake.

Does this make me a sleaze? I leave you to compare this post with some of the comments in the video in this article…

Duncan

* Amongst the girls - not in the tea dresses…

I’ve made some really great friends through Lindy.

Lindy dancefloors everywhere seem mostly really friendly, in stark contrast to the Machismo I encountered when I used to dance a bit of Salsa. I think this is down to a number of things: the dance etiquette encouraging dancing with strangers, the fact that value is placed on making the dance entertaining and unexpected over strict and serious adherence to technique (silliness is a virtue), the dressing up element and maybe even the fact that, even in a scene the size of London, you can always be sure of seeing a familiar face.

Lindyhoppers are a varied bunch with a full range of ages and backgrounds, but the dance seems to foster a sense of infectious enthusiasm, which is a lot of fun to be around.

Duncan

I’m not in the band, but when I dance to their music I can maybe tap into something of what they were feeling when they were playing.

Why do people jump up and down - or nod their heads and tap their feet - to Indie Rock bands (for example)? For me it’s a way of interacting with the music, a way of being part of it even though you’re not making it yourself. The music isn’t just in your ears and your head, it’s in your body as well: sometimes you could almost fool yourself that your body is driving the music instead of the other way round.

To move your whole body to the rhythm and texture of a piece of music is to understand and appreciate it on a much deeper level than you could ever access through listening. You can’t help but be aware of the structure, of the changes in texture and tone, of the passion which went into creating those sounds.

That feels pretty awesome. 

Duncan

The buzz when a dance goes well can be pretty intense.

When everything comes together, when unexpected things happen, when we pull off a difficult figure really nicely or hit something in the music really well - the dances which end with a double high-five.

Sometimes I find myself laughing out loud on the dancefloor at how awesome it all is.

This is enough reason on it’s own.

Duncan