Shauna's Swing Journey - Mar 11, 2012
My Lindy Hop journey so far has been many things, but I can still honestly say nothing brings me more happiness than swing dancing. After adding Lindy Hop to my life in 1995/1996 in Sacramento, CA, I have watched it grow, morph, shrink, rebirth, and change its look multiple times.
My favorite memory of my beginnings is dancing at the Marquis with Damon Stone to Will Smith’s “The Wild Wild West.” Frankie Manning was 2 feet away from us just off the floor, laughing and encouraging our funky Lindy Hop-ish dance. As a high school kid, I was even skinnier than I am now, and Frankie afterward gave me a very tight squeeze, and remarked how he could probably hug around me twice. He often visited the clubs in Sacramento and San Francisco where I danced, so I was fortunate to have many conversations and dances with him throughout my life.
I still have a pair of Bleyers shoes. They were the original Aris Allen’s… and I added my own flare to mine by replacing the laces with bright neon green ones (hey… it was the 90’s). I asked Frankie to sign my shoe one day out dancing. He laughed at me. “Why would you want me to sign your shoe?” The idea confused him, because we regularly talked, laughed, and danced together, and he didn’t feel like he was a celebrity, even though all of us thought of him that way.
And now it’s 2012. Mark & I travel at least once a month, usually twice, to events around the US. I see Lindy Hoppers I knew in the 90’s (Kelli Wilkerson from Sacramento), and lots and lots of new dancers.
Sometimes I don’t know what to think about the swing scene; the popular trends, the popular people, how... - Full article
Lindy Hop Event Overviews - Mar 08, 2012
We’ve been to so many events over the past three years. Wanna hear what we think? This was a quick “first-thoughts” for each. No offense intended for anyone! Invite us back to any of these and we will gladly come.
Midwest
Heartland Swing Festival/Collegiate Jitterbug Championships - Des Moines, IA
This is our favorite event, 2 years running. Everyone is nice. Everyone smiles. We are happy every second we are at Heartland. We were so excited to make it to the instructor line-up this year, but even if we hadn’t, this would still be our favorite. Mikey and Eve do a great job planning, and the event runs smoothly. Because it’s an Amateur event, I believe a lot of the “snobby” factor goes away since everyone is on the same playing field. And that’s how it should be. 8 thumbs up for Heartland.
Nevermore Jazz Ball/St. Louis Swing Festival - St. Louis, MO
St. Louis was not our favorite city to visit, however, Christian and Jenny are great people, and had the best line-up of live music we have seen anywhere. We were both a bit under the weather, but just sitting and enjoying the music was an exceptionally good time. The venue was old and housed Ella Fitzgerald and several famous big bands, so had a unique feeling to it.
Hawkeye Swing Festival - Iowa City, IA
What we enjoyed at Hawkeye was that it isn’t too large of an event. We could have a good time, compete hard, but it wasn’t too crowded so we could really swing-out. The college-town feel is always fun for us, too. We love and highly encourage the college towns to get people dancing.
The Rhythm is Jumpin’ - Kansas City, MO
Oscar’s event had a unique Invitational... - Full article