alain’s dance blog

Last night I DJ-ed at Swing and the City and it was a “show your MTLX colours” night (yes, there are two different ways of spelling color (our) and I always forget which one is which).

MTLX stands for Le Montreal Lindy Hop exchange.

A dance exchange is an event that focuses solely on social dancing. You dance in the afternoon, you dance in the evening, and you dance late night until early morning. As opposed to a workshop or a competition, where the focus is on dance classes or competition.

The first Montreal exchange ran in 2005, and this year is the second edition happening the weekend 10-12th of August. There are some amazing out-of-town guest DJs coming in - Tomo Tanaka from New York, Mike Thibault from Rochester, Greg Avakian from Philly, Nathan Shetterley from Quebec/Detroit. It’s going to be awesome.

You can win a free pass to the event by wearing the MTLX colours (blue, green, burgundy, or orange) at a “Show your MTLX colours” sponsored dance. What is so cool about their promotion? Well, it’s an innovative way of getting the hype out. It gets people talking and participating.

If you’re in, you wear the colours. And not just at one dance, but at all of them. In effect, you spread the word to others just by being there.

MTLX in two weeks.

Quick post about dance etiquette.

A fellow dancer, Bernadette, recently posted about an elbowing incident. She had been watching a guy all night long, finally asked him to dance - convincing the guy to abandon his cookie along the way- and then elbowed him on the mouth.

This is the comment I left on her blog:

“I’ve received my share of elbows in the chest/chin/mouth over the years. And my glasses have flown to the ground a few times as well.

However, when something like this happens, the hitter usually feels worse than the person who got hit.

So when I do get hit, I make it a point to keep on dancing with the person if I can.

If I can’t right away (ex: the case where I get hit on the nose and there’s a chance of nosebleed) I make sure I’m okay and then I ask her to dance again.”

It just so happens that last month I received an elbow on the nose during Swing and the City, and honestly, I was more concerned about making the girl feel better than tending to my nose. It was obvious that she felt embarassed. I just didn’t want it to prevent her from enjoying the rest of the evening.

I did feel the nose bleed coming, so I found something cold (towel and cold water), made sure I was okay, and then went to ask her to dance again.

Whoever says chivalry is dead is wrong. And I don’t mean that in a macho kind of way. Lindy Hop, and by extension social dancing, is a great way to tap into your positive energy and to share it with others.

So be kind and generous on the dance floor. We’re all here to have fun.

Some songs don’t make me want to swing out at all. They’re not bad songs, they just inspire my body to move differently than I would if I were dancing to something like Corner Pocket.

The songs that do make me want to swing out, the “swinging” tunes, usually inspire me into syncopated rhythms. In other words, rhythm is essential for good Lindy Hop music.

How to pick a good jazz song to practice/dance to:

1. Look for music that “swings”. More precisely, you want musicians playing to a syncopated beat. The comparison we use in class is the “tri… ple step” syncopation versus the “cha cha cha” even beats.
2. Look for a constant, driving rhythm section. The best example of this is Count Basie’s orchestra. His rhythm section is legendary to Lindy Hoppers, with the Count on piano, Walter Page on bass, Freddie Green on guitar, and Jo Jones on the drums. What made them a great dance band is that they played a constant beat that dancers could hear and follow.
3. Actually.. I think that’s it. If a song “swings” and has a constant, driving rhythm section, it will most likely make you want to swing out.

For a list of good songs to start with, check out these classic/overplayed Lindy Hop songs. If you want to start a swing collection, check out Swing DJs. You can also check out my DJ setlists and go from there.

What makes a good Lindy Hop song to you?

Last weekend, we had a great open practice at Cat’s. A lot of students showed up - it was fun!

Yoann brought his copy of Steven Mitchell’s “Going to Church” DVD, so Marie and Amanda learnt one of his groovy jazz routines.

We also did two Big Apples, and then ended up teaching the abbreviated version (la petite pomme as we call it here in Montreal) to some of the students. It was cool! If you want to see the full version, check out this clip from Keep Punchin’.

When I grew up, I was encouraged to take up basketball. The reason for this was simple. As a sport, it was cheap to start - all you needed were a good pair of shoes.

As the story goes, I didn’t fall in love with basketball. Instead, I was drawn into fencing, and fenced competitively throughout my high school years. Let’s just say I’m glad my parents supported me and paid for all the equipment I needed.

These days, my main passion is dancing, and like basketball, it doesn’t take an expensive FIE-approved sword blade to enjoy. So my question of the day is this -what shoes do you wear for dancing?

My personal preference: my Adidas Rod Laver’s, designed by the 60’s tennis pro, and adopted by footbaggers worldwide today.

The common concern with rubber soles is that they stick to the floor. However, mine are worn down, so the sole isn’t sticky anymore. I like them because they give me some grip when I dance to faster tempos.

For those looking for options, here are some choices:

1. Your everyday shoes (sneakers or dress shoes)
2. Runners with do-it-yourself additions to lessen the traction (duct-tape, suede)
3. Hard leather sole dress shoes (store brand or Aris Allens)

The cheapest solution to prevent knee injuries is to buy a pair of flat soled shoes (at Payless Shoes in McGill metro for example) and to get a cobbler to glue on a leather sole. Here are the fabrics by order of traction: brushed suede, soft leather and hard leather.

Note: suede will become as slippery as soft leather over time. You need a wire brush to revive the nap in suede to bring back the grip.

Read what other dancers have to say about chroming your shoes at yehoodi.com