Connecting Socially , Dance History , dance videos , inspirational dancing , Lindy Hop , performance dance , same sex dancing , social dancing
I’ve often heard it said that in their dance routines Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did except she did it backwards and in heels. It’s a popular comment, except of course she didn’t lead and she didn’t choreograph the dance. She did, however, dance in heels and had the bleeding feet to […]
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Stealing Dance Moves Creative dance has always been about stealing. Dancers get ideas from each other and make it their own. After you steal the idea, you change it to suit your own style and it no longer belongs to the dancer who inspired you. The First Lindy Hop Air Step Frankie Manning used […]
Continue readingabout LaurieAnn , Dance History , dancing with physical challenges
Continued from previous post: We closed the collective because it was too hard to be politically correct and survive financially at the same time. I started offering workshops to other martial artists on how to teach physically disabled people. I didn’t really think at the time that I could make it as a dance teacher, […]
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Continued from previous post: People started asking us if we were doing some new state of the art disco partner dance and if we were teachers. That was the seed of an idea to start teaching dance. This was the time of a wonderful bay area phenomenon called the free university. Anyone could teach any […]
Continue readingabout LaurieAnn , Dance History , dancing with physical challenges , leading and following
People frequently ask me how I got started in this business. Actually, there is a lot that lead up to it. I folk danced in grade school and square danced in high school, but I really didn’t start to dance socially until I was in college. Singularly unpopular in high school, I never went to […]
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Of all the fusion dances, Bal/Lindy is probably the most natural. Almost everyone who knows both dances has done them together on occasion if not regularly. Pure balboa is done in a close hold that never breaks, but almost everyone does Bal-swing and calls it Balboa. This isn’t fusion, but rather a street dance that […]
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Switching the Lead and Follow in Partner Dance When both partners know how to lead as well as follow, dancers can switch roles during a dance. This is truly the ideal solution for people who are worried about sexism in the roles of lead and follow, but not everyone wants to learn both parts. Yes, […]
Continue readingcutting in , Dance History , dance videos , dancing in the golden years , inspirational dancing , Lindy Hop , social dancing
Back to my theme of older dancers who inspire us with their perpetual youth (I know they’re not the norm, but they sure are fun to read about!) I have to talk about one of my personal favorites, Jean Veloz. Jean was a popular example of the smooth lindy style popularized by dancers like Dean […]
Continue readingConnecting Socially , Dance History , dance videos , leading and following , Lindy Hop , performance dance , social dancing , tap dance
In my last post about fusion dance I wrote about hip hop and swing. A friend of mine just posted a video of a fusion between Swing and Tap, so I wanted to comment on that as well as on the Swango phenomenon that I’ll address in another post. Lindy Hop has its roots in […]
Continue readingcompetitive dance , Dance History , dance videos , dancing in the golden years , dancing with physical challenges , gymnastics , inspirational dancing , performance dance , pole dance
Pole dancing is a popular phenomenon on the exercise dance scene. You can take classes at any fitness level in studios like the one in the photo in the bay area where I live. Formerly a style of dance relegated to sleazy strip joints, it has become a popular fitness dance fad. Aimed […]
Continue readingDance History , dance videos , dancing in the golden years , inspirational dancing , tap dance
I got to thinking about how I write about inspirational aging dancers as I was reading Roberta Teller’s blog post Growing Older is Quite Different from Being Old. It occurred ot me that I never write about the challenges of what most dancers have to give up as they age. I love reading about dancers who […]
Continue readingDance History , dance videos , dancing in the golden years , inspirational dancing
Maya Plisetskaya is one of the most gifted dancers of all time, so if you had to pick one to beat the odds on longevity, you’d be hard pressed to find a better candidate. She has had a huge influence on ballet with her unique style, charisma, and dramatic as well as technical […]
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