Here's a fun little memento of 1957. Danny and the Juniors playing what (through the bad video quality of the era) seems to be an outdoor venue though the posted of the video didn't provide any information to confirm that assertion. I find something interesting in this video. Try to make out the dances that are being done and you'll see ECS (hard to tell if it's single or triple) and what seems to be a very relaxed rockabilly swing. What you don't see are the crazy aerials and breakneck pacing that you get nowadays. My father-in-law often bemoans how his beloved ragtime music is treated like the idea was to play it as fast as possible and I think his concern carries over to other genres. The music's got a danceable pace, not insanely fast and not dragging – it's being played at the tempo it was meant to be played at which means over a hundred people can get on the dance floor and they don't kill each other doing moves that take too much room or they're not capable of executing at the right speed. Nearly every modern swing band ought to remember this and maybe learn to read time signatures!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Dance Power
In reference to Gary's post about dance power... there is such a thing! Check this out!!!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Finally...
Finally the Halloween pictures re uploaded and ready for your viewing pleasure (though I have to say, it seems like if they're Halloween pictures they ought to be there for your viewing horror…). One week, two parties, and about 400 miles later Kelly and I have attended both the Indy Dancers costume party at the East Side Moose Club and the Casa Loma Halloween Masquerade party. Both were great and now it's kind of good to settle back and relax into a pre-tryptophan stupor while we rest up for the big three: Thanksgiving, Yule, and New Years.
St. Louis' Casa Loma Ballroom is a fantastic place to dance. The floor's in great condition, the bands are good (if a bit loud), and the crowd is diverse. This year, though, that crowd was a little thinner than in 2008. I don't know if it's due to the economy or the fact that the party fell on Halloween night and parents had to tour their kids around - whatever the case, the balconies stayed empty all night long and the dance floor was noticeably emptier. Most of the time I'm all for a bit of elbow room on the dance floor but not when It makes me worry over a storied ballroom's future. Maybe I'm being alarmist - I hope I am - but only time will tell. I guess I shouldn't bust the post-Halloween sugar high with my concerns. Better to savor the moment for none of us have control over the future.
I always knew that the Electric Slide was the devil's dance. There's something satanic about it - okay, maybe not satanic but you know. I've never been good at following rules so I guess I'll never be any good at doing line dances.
This is either the Macarena or a group of NFL referees practicing the signal for a good fieldgoal attempt. Isn't the Macarena the perfect dance for a mime? All those hand motions? Well, maybe not since this mime doesn't seem to be keeping up with the crowd.
Perpetual motion - if you could bottle this kind of energy we won't need coal gasification, wind turbines, or solar power. The nation could be powered by DANCE POWER! Oh, notice the shiny, oil slick looking to the right? It isn't a party until a guy dressed as a sheik slings MGD all over the dance floor and then has to be led off by his rather embarrassed looking spouse.
My favorite costumes of the night. They didn't take home first place in the costume contest - they lost to the entire cast of Carrie - people just go for a psychotic, psychic chick drenched in pig blood, I guess.
St. Louis' Casa Loma Ballroom is a fantastic place to dance. The floor's in great condition, the bands are good (if a bit loud), and the crowd is diverse. This year, though, that crowd was a little thinner than in 2008. I don't know if it's due to the economy or the fact that the party fell on Halloween night and parents had to tour their kids around - whatever the case, the balconies stayed empty all night long and the dance floor was noticeably emptier. Most of the time I'm all for a bit of elbow room on the dance floor but not when It makes me worry over a storied ballroom's future. Maybe I'm being alarmist - I hope I am - but only time will tell. I guess I shouldn't bust the post-Halloween sugar high with my concerns. Better to savor the moment for none of us have control over the future.
I always knew that the Electric Slide was the devil's dance. There's something satanic about it - okay, maybe not satanic but you know. I've never been good at following rules so I guess I'll never be any good at doing line dances.
This is either the Macarena or a group of NFL referees practicing the signal for a good fieldgoal attempt. Isn't the Macarena the perfect dance for a mime? All those hand motions? Well, maybe not since this mime doesn't seem to be keeping up with the crowd.
Perpetual motion - if you could bottle this kind of energy we won't need coal gasification, wind turbines, or solar power. The nation could be powered by DANCE POWER! Oh, notice the shiny, oil slick looking to the right? It isn't a party until a guy dressed as a sheik slings MGD all over the dance floor and then has to be led off by his rather embarrassed looking spouse.
My favorite costumes of the night. They didn't take home first place in the costume contest - they lost to the entire cast of Carrie - people just go for a psychotic, psychic chick drenched in pig blood, I guess.
Casa Loma Ballroom Halloween 2009
On the way to St. Louis Gary and I discussed looking to another venue for Halloween 2010. We loved dancing at Casa Loma last year, but St. Louis is a long drive, and, it’s expensive to stay near the ballroom, at least, if you want a neighborhood that’s safe.
But it’s hard to imagine having a better time. Gary and I had a fabulous, magical evening at the fabled ballroom; we danced until I almost collapsed. Literally. My legs stopped working. We had to quit in the middle of a fast medley, but that was OK. To say that I couldn’t possibly do one more dance was the best feeling ever.
The band, That 80’s Band, was, if a bit too loud, very good. They played 80’s music. Naturally. So we got Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Cher, Joan Jett…all the icons of the 80’s. Good dance music for swing and a few rumbas. It was fun, being Halloween and all, dancing to Thriller, Ghost Busters, and Werewolves of London.
The costumes were wonderful, from the sublime (a jellyfish), to the hilarious (the ENTIRE cast of Carrie…they won), to the er, questionable. You know the expression “her headlights were on?” Well, first imagine a woman in a tight top. Her headlights were ON, shining brightly through the thin material. Funny. We were garbed in Star Trek attire; Gary in a red shirt and me in a red dress. We had regulation pins and bags that looked like tricorders. I even found a pair of black stage boots (Sansha brand) that although were not as comfortable as my dance sneakers were fine for one evening after I put a couple of shoe inserts into them.
The crowd was its weird normal self. We saw some truly expert club dancers (hoping to steal some of their moves), free form expression (aka hopping up and down and having a blast), and of course, the annual beer baptism which luckily occurred when we were sitting down.
I feel freer there than anyplace else. I think it’s a combination of Halloween magic, the historic venue, and the costumes. Is that 20’s era flapper woman sitting next to me in reality a ghost from times past? Or is she even a she at all? We sat next to a table of cross dressers. :-)
You just never know on Halloween. And that’s the beauty of the holiday. Sigh. I wish it wasn’t over.
But it’s hard to imagine having a better time. Gary and I had a fabulous, magical evening at the fabled ballroom; we danced until I almost collapsed. Literally. My legs stopped working. We had to quit in the middle of a fast medley, but that was OK. To say that I couldn’t possibly do one more dance was the best feeling ever.
The band, That 80’s Band, was, if a bit too loud, very good. They played 80’s music. Naturally. So we got Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Cher, Joan Jett…all the icons of the 80’s. Good dance music for swing and a few rumbas. It was fun, being Halloween and all, dancing to Thriller, Ghost Busters, and Werewolves of London.
The costumes were wonderful, from the sublime (a jellyfish), to the hilarious (the ENTIRE cast of Carrie…they won), to the er, questionable. You know the expression “her headlights were on?” Well, first imagine a woman in a tight top. Her headlights were ON, shining brightly through the thin material. Funny. We were garbed in Star Trek attire; Gary in a red shirt and me in a red dress. We had regulation pins and bags that looked like tricorders. I even found a pair of black stage boots (Sansha brand) that although were not as comfortable as my dance sneakers were fine for one evening after I put a couple of shoe inserts into them.
The crowd was its weird normal self. We saw some truly expert club dancers (hoping to steal some of their moves), free form expression (aka hopping up and down and having a blast), and of course, the annual beer baptism which luckily occurred when we were sitting down.
I feel freer there than anyplace else. I think it’s a combination of Halloween magic, the historic venue, and the costumes. Is that 20’s era flapper woman sitting next to me in reality a ghost from times past? Or is she even a she at all? We sat next to a table of cross dressers. :-)
You just never know on Halloween. And that’s the beauty of the holiday. Sigh. I wish it wasn’t over.
Here’s a video of Ella Fitzgerald performing one of her favorites. The band she’s singing with, Chick Webb and his Orchestra, gave Ella her start…at the Casa Loma Ballroom. Enjoy.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Skate!
Sometimes I feel sorry for my dear wife – putting up with my sense of humor can't be easy, especially when dumb luck conspires to set up a perfect situation. Just yesterday evening, during dance practice, she showed me a new WCS move she's working on called 'the skater turn'. It, as you probably can guess, looks like you're skating, complete with hands folded behind the back. Since I don't skate all this was okay but she could have been showing me the 'falling from an airplane without a parachute' because I would have had just as much basis for comparison. Anyway, during my usual web trawling for old ads and sheet music covers I happened to come upon this little gem.Apparently, back in the forsaken part of the 60's when Madison Avenue was desperately trying to pet the Mod market, Career Club (manufacturer of Nerd-ware) decided they wanted to get hip to the frug. Of course, since this ad comes from 1967, they'd pretty much missed the entire psychedelic/mod thing and were stumbling blindly into the Disco Era. Ah, the days before Madison Avenue defined youth culture…weren't they grand?
To be honest the steps of this 'dance' read like a vision summoned from some dank church basement after passing around the wafer box one too many times. Note that boy and girl never touch. To me this smacks of the covert moral cops of the 1950's trying to control the misguided youth they begot. Funny that a generation which grew up on songs like Cab Calloway's Reefer Man and danced jive and bop would be so intent on the whole 'no touchie' thing.
As for the fashion – the blog from which I filched this ad made the point that all fashion is relative and I agree to an extent. It's impossible and unwise to attempt to judge what was stylish back in '67 with the sensibilities of the new millennium. I will say this guy's belt makes it look like his plaid undershirt has come un-tucked and it looks like dorkopotamus stole his hair from one of the members of Devo. I also find it interesting that the pose our hip young couple is styling in the ad doesn't match any of the described steps of the dance. I guess you can't capture true dweebdom on film – it's like a UFO or vampire or something.
Oh, and I should mention, Kelly's skater manuver looks nothing like the WASPercising shown in the ad. It's just unlucky enough to share the name!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Peas, Icing, and Travel
Admit it. I had you at “peas”.
If you’ve read my earlier posts you’ve heard me praise the wonders of ice to reduce swelling. You also remember that I discovered frozen peas work best; they are flexible and mold to the exact contours of, in my case, knees. I tried the expensive kind with faux ice, but when those freeze they freeze hard, and, they are rectangle. Knees are round. I don’t know how those things would work with any body part, as none that I know of are square.
Anyway. The peas work great. Except for travel. I’ve learned that icing works best pretty quickly after exercise. We mostly dance close to home so this is no problem; I come home, pour myself a glass of wine, and throw the peas on both knees while watching TV with my dance partner. However, the times when we travel father way can be troublesome. Even with a cooler, frozen peas start to smell, um, rather vegetable-like after awhile.
We are about ready for a trip to St. Louis and I really didn’t want to bring my peas. Then Gary discovered something cool (so to speak): disposable ice gel packs. They are not something you’d want to use all the time because at three bucks a pair you’d soon build up a hefty bill if you use them often. But for once in awhile they are fab.
What I have right now are Medline’s “instant cold” packs, but I used another brand last weekend. They all seem the same so look for a good price. What they all have in common is interesting directions. Squeeze the pack until you hear a “pop” the box says. OK. So last Friday after the rockabilly dance I took one out and pressed gingerly. I didn’t want an explosion of blue goo. Nothing happened. So I twisted harder. Still nothing. I gave it to Gary who squeezed with all his manly might…still intact.
Finally he threw it on the floor and stomped it. That worked. So. You don’t have to worry you’ll accidentally ignite them. And understand you'll need lots of pressure to break the inside seal.
How did they work? Beautifully. They stayed cold about twenty minutes. Prefect. And I arrived home with my clothes not smelling of peas. :-)
If you’ve read my earlier posts you’ve heard me praise the wonders of ice to reduce swelling. You also remember that I discovered frozen peas work best; they are flexible and mold to the exact contours of, in my case, knees. I tried the expensive kind with faux ice, but when those freeze they freeze hard, and, they are rectangle. Knees are round. I don’t know how those things would work with any body part, as none that I know of are square.
Anyway. The peas work great. Except for travel. I’ve learned that icing works best pretty quickly after exercise. We mostly dance close to home so this is no problem; I come home, pour myself a glass of wine, and throw the peas on both knees while watching TV with my dance partner. However, the times when we travel father way can be troublesome. Even with a cooler, frozen peas start to smell, um, rather vegetable-like after awhile.
We are about ready for a trip to St. Louis and I really didn’t want to bring my peas. Then Gary discovered something cool (so to speak): disposable ice gel packs. They are not something you’d want to use all the time because at three bucks a pair you’d soon build up a hefty bill if you use them often. But for once in awhile they are fab.
What I have right now are Medline’s “instant cold” packs, but I used another brand last weekend. They all seem the same so look for a good price. What they all have in common is interesting directions. Squeeze the pack until you hear a “pop” the box says. OK. So last Friday after the rockabilly dance I took one out and pressed gingerly. I didn’t want an explosion of blue goo. Nothing happened. So I twisted harder. Still nothing. I gave it to Gary who squeezed with all his manly might…still intact.
Finally he threw it on the floor and stomped it. That worked. So. You don’t have to worry you’ll accidentally ignite them. And understand you'll need lots of pressure to break the inside seal.
How did they work? Beautifully. They stayed cold about twenty minutes. Prefect. And I arrived home with my clothes not smelling of peas. :-)
A Signal from Mars
This might be my favorite cover art from any piece of sheet music! A Signal from Mars published way back in 1901 and composed by Raymond Taylor and arranged by Edward Taylor Paull. It's a ragtime march – not sure if that's particularly Martian – and the tune has a lovely simplicity about it that the cover's complex, sci-fi look doesn't reflect in the least.Edward Taylor Paull grew up in pre-Civil War Virginia and worked selling organs (instruments, not kidneys). Mr. Paull and I have a strange, Kevin Bacon-esque connection – recently I've been travelling to VA on business, specifically a placed called Middletown which is near Strasburg, VA. The snippet from The Music Critic and Trade Show (February 20, 1882) shows the our connection:
"MARTINSBURG, W. VA., February 9, 1882
I have nothing special to report to you from this section of the country, as far as musical entertainments are concerned.
The demand for musical instruments here and throughout the valley of Virginia is becoming much better than it was heretofore. I do a good business with the Estey organ and Weber and Fischer pianos. I flatter myself that I sold the last piano that was sold in the year 1881. I sold it and closed the bargain just one hour and a half before New Year's day, or half past ten o'clock at night. The piano I sold was a J. & C. Fischer square, the purchaser being Mr. Phillip Rodes, of Strasburg, Va. There may have been a piano sold later in 1881, but I doubt it.
Yours, very respectfully, EDW. T. PAULL."
I'm going to try to look up the Mr. Phillip Rodes of Strasburg, VA mentioned in the letter in a census to see if I can find where he lived and then correlate Mr. Paull's account with some pictures of the address as it stands today. Wish me luck, as I know from being a fan of Lilkes work on his home town of Minneapolis, the present has a way of utterly obliterating the past! Another bizarre connection is that E.T. Paull's first piece was The Chariot Race or Ben Hur March which was based (of course) on the Lew Wallace novel Ben Hur – a Tale of the Christ. The connection with me? Here in Indianapolis, I attended IPS 107 Lew Wallace grade school. E.T. Paull was a very successful composer and his (extensive) biography is available on Perfessor Bill Edward's website.
Oddly enough, Raymond Taylor, the composer of A Signal from Mars, seems to have completely vanished into history. Maybe this was a one-off composition or maybe he composed later under another name. Whatever the case I find no evidence of him on the net (not that the net is the end-all-be-all of information sources – it's just the one I have available to me at the present moment). Hopefully, I'll turn up more information Mr. Taylor soon.
The sheet music artwork is absolutely striking. Glittering stars float on a blue-black background while in the foreground sits blood-red Mars. Two Martians (I suppose – actually they look like Greeks or maybe Bedouins) stare at a distant (and oddly longitudenized) globe, onto which they project their 'signal'. Apparently in 1901 folks figured we'd get our first evidence of extraterrestrial life via semaphore or Morse code flashed over navy-style signal lamps. Seems a little inefficient to me, what with all that distance and those atmospheres in the way and all, but then I'm no Mars expert. I think it's interesting that the Martian light illuminates the Americas while Asia and Europe languish in the dark.
The lettering on this piece makes me think of the great art nouveau posters by Mucha, where the message becomes a part of the aesthetic. The lettering would be art on its own but teamed with the graphic element they form a poetic rhyme. They belong together.
It's sad that this kind of aesthetic doesn't exist today. Advertizing is totally throwaway any more – 6o second sound and video bites that titillate or amuse can't really last. Nobody will be paging through the 22nd Century version of the Internet, listening to commercials for Walmart or Survivor because those commercials are so bland, banal, and empty of style their nearly forgotten while they're still on the air. The Signal from Mars march may not have stood the test of time or the Billboard charts, but the graphics and the genius that went into the creation are eternal.
The demand for musical instruments here and throughout the valley of Virginia is becoming much better than it was heretofore. I do a good business with the Estey organ and Weber and Fischer pianos. I flatter myself that I sold the last piano that was sold in the year 1881. I sold it and closed the bargain just one hour and a half before New Year's day, or half past ten o'clock at night. The piano I sold was a J. & C. Fischer square, the purchaser being Mr. Phillip Rodes, of Strasburg, Va. There may have been a piano sold later in 1881, but I doubt it.
Yours, very respectfully, EDW. T. PAULL."
I'm going to try to look up the Mr. Phillip Rodes of Strasburg, VA mentioned in the letter in a census to see if I can find where he lived and then correlate Mr. Paull's account with some pictures of the address as it stands today. Wish me luck, as I know from being a fan of Lilkes work on his home town of Minneapolis, the present has a way of utterly obliterating the past! Another bizarre connection is that E.T. Paull's first piece was The Chariot Race or Ben Hur March which was based (of course) on the Lew Wallace novel Ben Hur – a Tale of the Christ. The connection with me? Here in Indianapolis, I attended IPS 107 Lew Wallace grade school. E.T. Paull was a very successful composer and his (extensive) biography is available on Perfessor Bill Edward's website.Oddly enough, Raymond Taylor, the composer of A Signal from Mars, seems to have completely vanished into history. Maybe this was a one-off composition or maybe he composed later under another name. Whatever the case I find no evidence of him on the net (not that the net is the end-all-be-all of information sources – it's just the one I have available to me at the present moment). Hopefully, I'll turn up more information Mr. Taylor soon.
The sheet music artwork is absolutely striking. Glittering stars float on a blue-black background while in the foreground sits blood-red Mars. Two Martians (I suppose – actually they look like Greeks or maybe Bedouins) stare at a distant (and oddly longitudenized) globe, onto which they project their 'signal'. Apparently in 1901 folks figured we'd get our first evidence of extraterrestrial life via semaphore or Morse code flashed over navy-style signal lamps. Seems a little inefficient to me, what with all that distance and those atmospheres in the way and all, but then I'm no Mars expert. I think it's interesting that the Martian light illuminates the Americas while Asia and Europe languish in the dark.
The lettering on this piece makes me think of the great art nouveau posters by Mucha, where the message becomes a part of the aesthetic. The lettering would be art on its own but teamed with the graphic element they form a poetic rhyme. They belong together.
It's sad that this kind of aesthetic doesn't exist today. Advertizing is totally throwaway any more – 6o second sound and video bites that titillate or amuse can't really last. Nobody will be paging through the 22nd Century version of the Internet, listening to commercials for Walmart or Survivor because those commercials are so bland, banal, and empty of style their nearly forgotten while they're still on the air. The Signal from Mars march may not have stood the test of time or the Billboard charts, but the graphics and the genius that went into the creation are eternal.
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