|
 |
Dance Controversy
There are few human emotions as warm, comforting, and enveloping as self-pity. And nothing is more corrosive and destructive. There is only one answer; turn away from it and move on.
-- Dr Megan Reik
Monday, October 11, 1999
One year ago: Indigo Swing
There's a big controversy going on right now in the Lindy Hop world; a world championship is being set up under the aegis of a dance organization with ties to the Olympics and so on. Most lindy hoppers do not want to see the dance turned into something like figure skating! So it's a coincidence that it was just a year ago that I saw a final round in a competition that really showed how meaningless these judging things are: "Because the judges couldn't make up their minds, there was a dance-off: Hallie and Loviça, and Keith and Jody. They huddled in a group hug, during which there must have been some quick discussion. When they started dancing, suddenly they started to switch partners! They had every possible combination, since all four can both lead and follow very well. The crowd was ecstatic, yelling, stamping and screaming. I think they ended up splitting the prize money four ways, which is the right way for it to go."
* * * * * * * *
Another on-going debate topic on dance email lists and discussion forums is the clique issue, or how to break in to an existing dance scene. This is a special case of the more general problem of getting to know people and navigating a social circle, but it's more concentrated than any office politics or high school social anxiety, because of the number of interactions you do every time you are out dancing.
I've dealt with this myself (and I'm such a shy thing, you know!) and it does take work. I remember when I didn't feel comfortable with walking over to certain corners of the Century Ballroom and asking people to dance. I made progress by taking class over the last few years (because it's always ok to ask a classmate to dance), going to Friday practices of the Savoy Swing Club (the Savoy leads didn't know me, because I hadn't taken class there, so I had to make myself a familiar partner for them) and just being relentless about asking people to dance.
There still are a few people who never ask me to dance. I do get the hint after a while, and stop asking them if it's never reciprocated! But it stings a bit. All the more reason to be appreciative of those who do ask me!
* * * * * * * *
So I did have a grand time at the Century tonight. The crowd was light at first, but filled up nicely. I saw some dance buddies that I hadn't seen recently (because last week I didn't go out once!) and one, Anne Walkky, that I haven't seen for months. She stopped going out dancing very often when Hyper Dan lost interest in Lindy (that weasel! I miss him.) but was back last night.
One thing I encountered last night was an example of what can only be called "cargo cult" dancing. I asked an older man to dance (well, he was about ten years older than me, I suppose) whom I hadn't seen around before. I had seen him dancing with someone earlier, I think, and I knew he was a beginner. But I soon realized that he didn't know how to dance at all! He was mimicking movements that he saw others doing, but he hadn't picked up on the pattern underneath it all, or how to lead a partner to turn or move a certain way. This made dancing with him quite a challenge! Then, after the dance, he asked me to dance again. I excused myself and said I was going to sit that one out, which I did. I think part of the problem was that there's no pre-dance lesson on Monday nights, as there is on Wednesdays.
There was a video crew on the scene tonight, recording some footage to be used as filler or background in an instructional dance video that Hallie is doing. That will be interesting to see! I don't think I'll be very visible in any of it. Hallie said that the tape covers East Coast Swing, but not many people were doing that on the dance floor.
 |