Sunday we caught a good show at the Sterrett Center on the east side of Indianapolis. The West End Jazz Band is an outfit out of Chicago and they focus on the music of the Jazz Age (20's and 30's). They were in good form too, tearing it up with up-tempo music of the era. Unfortunately a lot of 20's music is too fast for swing dancing - triple-steps become shuffles and the singles become…well…just wild. Dances like the Charleston were meant to be wild - exuberant, an outlet for the pent up energy of the day's youth and the new-found affluence of the middle-classes. All that pre-depression joy welling up and spilling out in music, booze, and women rouging their knees. I highly recommend F. Scott Fitzgerald for anyone who gives a hoot about the 20's - The Great Gatsby is a personal favorite but if you're in the mood for a short story try Bernice Bobs her Hair or maybe Diamond Big as the Ritz (mind you, that one shows the racial bigotry of the time).
I want to learn the Charleston. We've been picking up a few odds and ends in association with learning the Lindy Hop but those steps are really watered down from the original dance. I've tried to look a few of the foot patterns online - Mixed Pickles has a little information and even some verbal descriptions of the dances…which have led me to believe that no human being can learn to dance by reading instructions! I guess I should be satisfied with the fact that the Foxtrot and Waltz are dances which remained popular throughout the 20's - either that or buckle down and get someone who can teach me to Toddle!
Then again, I'm not so sure my personal outlook lends itself to the dances of the 20's. Like I said, they were wild and exuberant - they were meant to be fun: fling off the shackles of every-day life along with all those repressive social mores (shocking was the fact a woman would show her ankles let alone her knees…and no sleeves? You might as well be nude!) have a few drinks, catch some hot jazz, and get on the dance floor. I'm all for abandoning social mores - it's the giggling and goofing that sometimes escapes me. I'm more comfortable with a bit of the depression era seriousness and soberness to play off - it makes me a lot more fun.
Anyway, back to the West End Jazz Band. The crowd at the Sterrett Center always pleases me. They're almost all seniors and most of them very senior, seniors but they're out there having a good time even if it is at half tempo. Plus there's the added pleasure of the comments - yes, I'll admit it, I like to get compliments on my dancing…is it a crime to want to hear that you're doing well? The Sterrett Center is special though - we've attended two dances there and both times I've had some elderly person toddle up to me to ask if Kelly and I are professional dancers or if we teach dance. Damn that feels good! It makes all those days where I'm not sure I can hit the floor with my feet a lot easier to bear!
The one thing I couldn't figure out, though, was the tickets for the Sterrett Center dance…
I want to learn the Charleston. We've been picking up a few odds and ends in association with learning the Lindy Hop but those steps are really watered down from the original dance. I've tried to look a few of the foot patterns online - Mixed Pickles has a little information and even some verbal descriptions of the dances…which have led me to believe that no human being can learn to dance by reading instructions! I guess I should be satisfied with the fact that the Foxtrot and Waltz are dances which remained popular throughout the 20's - either that or buckle down and get someone who can teach me to Toddle!
Then again, I'm not so sure my personal outlook lends itself to the dances of the 20's. Like I said, they were wild and exuberant - they were meant to be fun: fling off the shackles of every-day life along with all those repressive social mores (shocking was the fact a woman would show her ankles let alone her knees…and no sleeves? You might as well be nude!) have a few drinks, catch some hot jazz, and get on the dance floor. I'm all for abandoning social mores - it's the giggling and goofing that sometimes escapes me. I'm more comfortable with a bit of the depression era seriousness and soberness to play off - it makes me a lot more fun.
Anyway, back to the West End Jazz Band. The crowd at the Sterrett Center always pleases me. They're almost all seniors and most of them very senior, seniors but they're out there having a good time even if it is at half tempo. Plus there's the added pleasure of the comments - yes, I'll admit it, I like to get compliments on my dancing…is it a crime to want to hear that you're doing well? The Sterrett Center is special though - we've attended two dances there and both times I've had some elderly person toddle up to me to ask if Kelly and I are professional dancers or if we teach dance. Damn that feels good! It makes all those days where I'm not sure I can hit the floor with my feet a lot easier to bear!
The one thing I couldn't figure out, though, was the tickets for the Sterrett Center dance…
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