Love to Lindy

[fletch]

I have done some fab Lindy just recently.

with Lucky sckillen, Mike Ellard and Barry 'the refuser'

[Miguel]

Originally Posted by jinski

Got hooked on Lindy at BB and was recommended a class in Balham, however my friend says the best place to go is somewhere near Marble Arche???

Does anyone know anything about either as we have decided to give it a try - to complicate matters he lives Richmond direction and I live Streatham direction!

Any and all help much appreciated

Jitterbugs ....and to complicate matters even more it clashes with West Coast Wednesday .

[fletch]

Originally Posted by Miguel

Jitterbugs ....and to complicate matters even more it clashes with West Coast Wednesday .

does it why

[Minnie M]

Originally Posted by fletch

I have done some fab Lindy just recently.

with Lucky sckillen, Mike Ellard and Barry 'the refuser'

Mike & Barry do 40/50's dancing not Lindy - if you came to Rhythm Riot and you will see both styles Mind you they are very good at it

[cms]

doing some workshops with henric and joanna this wknd in edinburgh courtesy of ESDS - cannot wait!!!!

C x

[NZ Monkey]

Yay! An old poll!

I have run against the grain here once again. I ticked the “I hate Lindy” box.

It isn’t that I think it’s all bouncy and kicky, which I hate the look of. It isn’t that I think it’s wild or overly frantic, which it sometimes seems to be. It isn’t that the dancers seem permanently hunched, even when their backs actually are straight. It isn’t that it seems to emphasize the legs in a way that makes them look all akimbo. It isn’t that I think the technique is poor and unpolished, which I know not to the case despite the above comments. It isn’t that I can’t appreciate just how good these top people are to be able to do some of the amazing things they can. It isn’t a lack of musical interpretation, as that clearly isn’t the case either.

Instead, it’s some combination of small amounts of all the above points that has made me dislike it, to the point where most of the time I find it just plain ugly.

Even the clips I’ve seen of the great Lindy dancers on you-tube have only managed to take me as far as wishing I was *capable* of performing such feats. None have made me wish I could actually dance that way myself though. None have inspired me the way others (even closely related other dances) have.

I appreciate Lindy, but it doesn’t sing to me. Sometimes it goes as far as making me want to appreciate from a distance.

[Minnie M]

Originally Posted by NZ Monkey

..........I have run against the grain here once again. I ticked the “I hate Lindy” box.

It isn’t that I think it’s all bouncy and kicky, which I hate the look of. It isn’t that I think it’s wild or overly frantic, which it sometimes seems to be. It isn’t that the dancers seem permanently hunched, even when their backs actually are straight. It isn’t that it seems to emphasize the legs in a way that makes them look all akimbo. It isn’t that I think the technique is poor and unpolished, which I know not to the case despite the above comments. It isn’t that I can’t appreciate just how good these top people are to be able to do some of the amazing things they can. It isn’t a lack of musical interpretation, as that clearly isn’t the case either.

Instead, it’s some combination of small amounts of all the above points that has made me dislike it, to the point where most of the time I find it just plain ugly...........

Such a shame you have this opinion, which is unfortunately the opinion of lots of "I hate lindy" dancers

Social lindy by the good dances is nothing like that - it is very smooth and virtually no kicks - in fact Dean Collins style (Hollywood) is very similar to WCS (it is where is came from)

What the average MJ dancer sees is performance stuff, and it is made to make people wow (well they think it should) - shame as it also puts a lot of people off too

[fletch]

Originally Posted by Minnie M

Mike & Barry do 40/50's dancing not Lindy - if you came to Rhythm Riot and you will see both styles Mind you they are very good at it

its the nerest thing I get to it normally

they were fab dances

Originally Posted by Minnie M

Social lindy by the good dances is nothing like that - it is very smooth and virtually no kicks - in fact Dean Collins style (Hollywood) is very similar to WCS (it is where is came from)

:

I dances with a fab guy at BB, he was a black guy from NY living in Manchester his name was Mark, he was soooo smooth

[straycat]

Originally Posted by fletch

I dances with a fab guy at BB, he was a black guy from NY living in Manchester his name was Mark, he was soooo smooth

Are you sure it was Mark? Not Keith?

[Gav]

I can't find a separate "learning Lindy" thread, so I'll do it here .

I booked in for my first "proper" lesson last night (as opposed to weekender lessons) with Joseph & Trisha in Welwyn.
Apparently they're well known great dancers .

The staff were very helpful and know how to look after beginners and Joseph & Trisha are very friendly. Teaching-wise, I found Joseph very funny and engaging and the pace was just about right (dead-slow for thickies like me).

Anyway, a beginners lesson to learn the basic 8 count (including having to sing it as you do it ), followed by a bit of coaching by 1 of their "taxis" while the clever g1ts were learning the flashy stuff and I felt like I was getting somewhere!
Then the dreaded freestyle! 1 of, if not the best dancer in the room asked me to dance and it all went horribly wrong. I forgot everything. Luckily she knew I was a beginner and she got me to remember it all.
Joseph insisted that we all stay to have at least 7 dances before leaving and I'm glad he did. I'm not sure if I'll remember it all next week, but I definitely wouldn't without that.

and so the journey starts again...

[clevedonboy]

Originally Posted by Gav

I can't find a separate "learning Lindy" thread, so I'll do it here .

I booked in for my first "proper" lesson last night (as opposed to weekender lessons) with Joseph & Trisha in Welwyn.
Apparently they're well known great dancers .

The staff were very helpful and know how to look after beginners and Joseph & Trisha are very friendly. Teaching-wise, I found Joseph very funny and engaging and the pace was just about right (dead-slow for thickies like me).

Anyway, a beginners lesson to learn the basic 8 count (including having to sing it as you do it ), followed by a bit of coaching by 1 of their "taxis" while the clever g1ts were learning the flashy stuff and I felt like I was getting somewhere!
Then the dreaded freestyle! 1 of, if not the best dancer in the room asked me to dance and it all went horribly wrong. I forgot everything. Luckily she knew I was a beginner and she got me to remember it all.
Joseph insisted that we all stay to have at least 7 dances before leaving and I'm glad he did. I'm not sure if I'll remember it all next week, but I definitely wouldn't without that.

and so the journey starts again...

I Like Joseph & Tricia, they're really good fun and stylish dancers. The first period of learning any dance is tough but Lindy does seem to be even harder than most (particularly for men).

A useful tip is to practice the footwork when you're doing something else (washing up is a good one I found). That way it becomes second nature while you are thinking about doing something else (leading complex shapes in the case of Lindy, not dropping a plate whwn washing up)

Good Luck on your new journey

[jiveknight]

Originally Posted by NZ Monkey

Yay! An old poll!

I have run against the grain here once again. I ticked the “I hate Lindy” box.

It isn’t that I think it’s all bouncy and kicky, which I hate the look of. It isn’t that I think it’s wild or overly frantic, which it sometimes seems to be. It isn’t that the dancers seem permanently hunched, even when their backs actually are straight. It isn’t that it seems to emphasize the legs in a way that makes them look all akimbo. It isn’t that I think the technique is poor and unpolished, which I know not to the case despite the above comments. It isn’t that I can’t appreciate just how good these top people are to be able to do some of the amazing things they can. It isn’t a lack of musical interpretation, as that clearly isn’t the case either.

Instead, it’s some combination of small amounts of all the above points that has made me dislike it, to the point where most of the time I find it just plain ugly.

I know what you mean. But, if you ever see real Hollywood Lindy, especially actualy in Hollywood, it is soooo smooth the girls look like they are gliding. the the posture is so good, (sometimes even too good - they can almost look like they're walking a poodle on a sunday). But really its very aesthetic and not jerky at all.

[Jivejunkie]

I've wanted to learn the lindy hop (or Jitterbug) for years before I'd ever heard of ceroc. The only place that does lessons is Kings Heath Cricket Club (Jazz, jive Swing) on a thursday, trouble is I can't go because it starts at 7.00. BUt have you tried East Coast Swing, its a simpler version of Lindy, I went with Genevieve to a 40's and 50's dance in COventry a few weeks ago where they did it, no lessons though, but it was great. You do need a partner who can read your mind and a love for 50's swing though!

[fletch]

Originally Posted by Jivejunkie

You do need a partner who can read your mind

i'v been looking for one of thoses for years

[straycat]

Originally Posted by fletch

i'v been looking for one of thoses for years

... but they always see you coming?

[straycat]

Originally Posted by Gav

and so the journey starts again...

Congrats on starting something new. It can be tough to get out of your comfort zone again, and start a new dance as a beginner... but also it can be so rewarding. Hope you get on well with it. And as Clevedonboy said - Joseph and Trisha are great teachers - wonderful people to be learning from.

[Jivejunkie]

[quote=Spin dryer;362284]I did lindy for a few years. It's a great dance and I just love the lindy turn and the charleston moves.[quote]

Ultimately, I stopped doing lindy because many of the people on the scene are a little too eccentric for my liking. Many of them started as cerocers, yet rather than being grateful that MJ introduced them to dancing, they sneer at it and have a deluded sense of their own abilities.


Hold on! Most of them started as cerocers? Strange! - Lindy Hop is about 70 years old and it was in the film 'Rock around The Clock' in 1955 - and I'm sure I went to Cerocs 25th Birthday at Prestatyn last year

[straycat]

Originally Posted by Jivejunkie

Hold on! Most of them started as cerocers? Strange! - Lindy Hop is about 70 years old and it was in the film 'Rock around The Clock' in 1955 - and I'm sure I went to Cerocs 25th Birthday at Prestatyn last year

I'm not completely sure what the problem with that is (although I'd be surprised to see proper Lindy in Rock Around the Clock - Lindy & RnR don't mix that well IMO)
I'm one of many that started with Ceroc and moved on to Lindy.

Yes - Lindy is around eighty years old, but it had all but died out by the sixties. It was revived around the same time that Ceroc started up (and a big thank you to Terry and Warren from the JLH for bringing it back in this country - it really is all down to them).

Given that MJ is generally taught in a much more accessible way than Lindy, and that MJ organisations have approached things in a far more business-like manner (in general) - the reason Lindy folk will generally have started with MJ is because comparatively few non-dancers have even heard of Lindy. So a common enough route is: go to MJ, get hooked, become aware of what else is available, start to broaden horizons (with something like Lindy, WCS, Tango etc).

[clevedonboy]