Kelly Gets Her Own Shoe!

Okay, so maybe that's hyperbole. In reality, Argentine Tango Shoes has a new line of dance sneakers named 'Indiana' and since Kelly's purchased (and has a great love of) Argentine Tango's shoes, I'm not opposed to thinking the credit falls to her. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! So, cruise over to Argentine Tango Shoes, and search for the Indiana model and think of Kelly, why don't cha?

Casa Loma, Haloween 2009

Four days until Halloween and our departure for St. Louis, MO and the Casa Loma Ballroom. It's been a year since our last trip and I'm anxious to hit St. Louis' hallowed hardwood again. The thought brings me back to imagining all the dancers who've preceded me and all the nights they spent at the Casa Loma. My mind jumps back to 1927 when the ballroom first opened. The first band playing the Loma was The Bobby Greer Orchestra directed by Ernie Harzy with vocalist Miss Lee Hale. I did a brief Google and it appears the years have nearly erased all evidence of the Greer Orchestra. I'll try to look more, but there's something appealing about the mystery remaining. Maybe the Greer Orchestra was just one of a thousand bands playing one of a thousand venues back in '27. The market was riding high, thoughts of another world war were far away, and on a Saturday in September the musicians warmed up and set the place in motion. Love was found, lost, remembered, forgotten, and dreamed of that evening – and eighty two years later not a soul survives to tell the tale. Nobody can tell you if the dance floor still had the stickiness of fresh wax on sueded shoe souls. Nobody can tell you if the bathrooms smelled like fresh paint. Nobody can even say if the band was on key. All those memories and moments, the ephemera that make up life, have vanished into the ether.

I'll try to remember the past when I get out on the Loma's storied floor. I'll try to be just reverent enough – to appreciate, in spite of all the little irritations that often come with any dance, just how special it is to be able to share a dance floor with over eight decades of history. I'll try to show good courtesy to the ghosts of dancers past and to love the place as they might have when they were young and hopeful. I think the best way to honor all those people who've danced before me would be to do as they did: put on my shoes, take my best girl's hand, and dance until fatigue and time compel us to depart into the chill of an October night.

Here's to you, Greer Orchestra. Time may have forgotten the tune and tempo but the beat goes on in a hundred thousand hearts.

Study in Contrasts

This time both experiences will be good, as opposed to the one fab, one bad, in DC a few months ago. The first: rockabilly night at Mike's Dance Barn in Nashville, In. Wow. I don’t really have the words to describe how wonderful it was…great music, energetic crowd, creative and skilled dancers. Perfect, sigh.

I’ve said before that the rockabilly culture, for the most part, is music first, dancing second. The good part about that is the musicianship is spot on; it’s rare to find a bad rockabilly band. Most times you will hear some of the best played music anywhere. These folks know their instruments, know how to play with each other, know how to interpret the music, and know how to entertain.

The downside to music first is that rockabilly bands are not always concerned with dancers… sometimes the music is just too fast to dance to, other times tempos are switched mid song. Fun to listen to, hard to get your feet to obey. Two of the bands last night were like that. They were very good, but sometimes difficult to dance to.

There are, of course, exceptions, and Terry Lee and his Rockaboogie band is one of those. He and his band are expert musicians and they play with skill and rockabilly abandon. They put on a show that is hard to beat…Terry playing the keyboard is a treat for the eyes as well as the ears. But they ALSO are considerate of people who dance. They play varied paces: slow to fast, country to hard core ‘billy. Gary and I did WCS, ECS (triple and single), and of course our newly learned rockabilly swing. People that knew two step were doing that, and I also spotted a few couples doing night club. That’s pretty rare for a rockabilly band. What Terry Lee and his band receive in return is a very diverse crowd…young and old, listeners and dancers, skilled dancers and free form expression. Gary and I had a wonderful, magical evening. Hat’s off to them. I wish they played closer to Indy more often.

Tonight we’re off for our beloved Starlight ballroom with our favorite club, the Indy Boogie Dancers. The evening will be fun. It’s exciting to attend a wild rambunctious dance like last night, but also nice to go where you know what the first song will be. The same one. Every time. :-) The Boogie dances are at a slower, quieter, pace. We rarely get to dance rockabilly swing there but that’s OK…we need the rest after banging our bodies into submission last night. And, it’s also fun to concentrate on other dances.

And that’s why Gary and I love going to varied venues. You simply can’t get everything in one package. To be really really good at something you have to concentrate on a few things. Not that you can't have a wide variety, but I think you must have only a few specialties if you want to shine. When I go to a rockabilly night I know what I will hear, and I know it will be excellent. I don’t want or need them to play funk! But…neither do I want to only dance to one kind of music all the time. Gary and I love to swing to this kind of music, but we also love Latin, funk, and big band.

But I have to say, I never have as much fun as I do dancing to rockabilly.

Oh you sweet thing…
Do I what?
Will I what?
Oh baby you know what I like.

A Week without Dancing…

Over the past week I've been travelling. I've been on a business trip out East, mucking about airports, stirring around in a hotel room, and generally feeling like a hermit. I enjoy travelling but when I do it along I always start to feel like an antisocial monk: when I'm out and about I want to be left alone and when I'm back in my room I just want to contemplate a little television or read a book. The upshot has been, for the last week I haven’t danced a step, not even practiced. When I got home (about 1AM this past Friday) I would have worried about being ready for a demanding dance event like the Rockin' the Barn if I hadn't been too tired to think about it!

Well, when I started dressing for yesterday evening the sneaking suspicion I'd be in trouble came over me. Rockabilly swing is demanding stuff and we don't even do the Psychobilly genre. I had visions of my knees giving out, breaking out in a flop-sweat, and spending the greatest part of the night sitting on the sidelines making excuses. I'm one of those doomsayers - you know the half empty glass and all that. When we pulled up in front of Mike's Dance Barn my fears grew - we were looking at the biggest crowed I've ever seen at the barn, the lot was full and we had to pull around behind the building just to find a spot to park on the grass.

The Makeshifts were on stage, tearing it up, when we walked in. They definitely had it going on! Anthony Ray Wright and Chris Girton were in great voice and their tunes weren't too country for those of us with rock n' roll sensibilities. Kell and I found our seats and then found the dance floor almost immediately.

You've heard that old saw about riding a bike? Once you learn you never forget? I'm not so sure about bicycles but dance fits the cliché - at least when the once upon a time involved is the span of a week. I think yesterday was our best night of rockabilly since we learned the dance. We pulled off every trick and move we tried and most went over passably. It's my contention you're never perfect but you can be good enough that nobody notices the flaws and last night nobody noticed any of our minor goofs.

Terry Lee and the Rockaboogie Band followed the Makeshifts performance. Terry and his band of geniuses are, for my money, the hardest working band in Indiana. They rocked the house, of course - nailing Jerry Lee Lewis' tunes in sound and energy. Kell and I danced until we were out of breath and when Terry finished his set we wanted more.

After a break, Art Adams has been laying down hot wax since the 50's and he's the genuine article. If you want to know if you like Rockabilly or not, check out Adams' work, its classic country driven, moonshine fueled rockabilly goodness. Interestingly, of the three bands that played the Barn last night, Art Adams' band played the fastest and the hardest ones to dance rockabilly swing to. Goes to show that your dance skill-set needs to be broad for you to get as much floor time as possible!

If you're in the mood for a hot time, see ANY of these bands. Kelly and I love Terry Lee and (as you know if you've read our blog) we'll see Terry every chance we get. The Makeshifts are young, hot, and real rockabilly with plenty of tunes you can triple or single swing. And Art Adams is one of those unsung national treasures you ought to take advantage of - not because some brainiac tells you to, because it'll do your soul good. We walked out of Mike's Dance Barn last night, beat to the souls of our feet, sweaty, and feeling like we ran a half marathon - and happy as hell for all of it!

Girl Bling

I know, I know, the term is out of date. But to me that expression accurately describes the extra flourishes we women can add to our dancing; those glittery, fancy, sensuous moves that can only be described as bling. There can be guy bling too, but this post is for girls.

The first thing to mention is the concept of lead and follow; for those of you who don’t dance, the man is the leader, the women is the follower. I’ve also heard this described as the man is the choreographer and the woman interprets that creation. Some women may think this means no freedom; that we have no say in what goes on.

No way no how. You did note I said “interpret”?

There are some female official ballroom dance steps that enable women to balk or refuse a step, such as in the tango. This post is not about those. What I’m talking about are free-form steps you can incorporate that are not led by the man.

Of course, you must do this carefully. As one rockabilly instructor said, if you don’t like being led then do line dances. Funny. But he has a point; during dancing we women cannot go off willy-nilly. Well, you could, but then what you are doing would not look like social dancing. So where to place your girl bling? Anytime you can do it without breaking the rhythm of the dance, or mess up the man’s lead.

Let’s take a few dances and explore. In the WCS the obvious place for bling is on the last half of the basic after the man pushes you back; after the “three-ah” you are free! There are all kinds of moves you can do here instead of the back triple or coaster…you can do a jazz front hip roll (called the worm, you can look it up on you tube), you can do a belly dance 360 hip roll, you can do a ronde (you tube), you can flick your feet out and in, or you can simply stand still, put your hand or your hip or behind your head and look sassy. These are just some ideas… play around and make up your own. You can also incorporate bling after a whip; some of the same things work.

The other place I love doing bling in the WCS is during a right side pass. To do this most effectively I had to ask Gary to relinquish control; usually the man leads the woman during this move into spins, arm bars, etc. But…if you can get your partner to allow for this freedom, there are any number of things you can do; skip, moonwalk, cha cha steps, samba steps, hip hop slides, the possibilities are endless.

Another dance example is the salsa. The salsa is often danced separately, which allows you to bling it up. Do a hip roll instead of the basic. Try a sailor step (you tube). You don’t have to exactly match when you are separate. But that doesn’t mean you can't embellish during together moves. For example, try hesitating a bit before you do a turn. As long as you get to where you need to be at the end of a move, you’re good.

“Street” dances such as the salsa and swings are admittedly easier to incorporate girl bling, but even in the smooth and more “fancy” Latin dances such as the rumba you can add your own flourishes.

Of course, the most important part of girl bling is attitude. If you’re going to bling, BLING; toss your head, smile, wiggle your fingers, shake those shoulders. Bling is not shy, hesitant, or half way. Think of Tinkerbell. Can’t you just see her blinging it up? Or Amy Brown’s fairies. Here’s one if you don’t know the artist:

Try some bling. It’s fun! And it can be a sexy little wink at your partner. As long as you don’t get in their way men like it.

Trust me. :-)

Cool Cat Vintage Postcard

In honor of seeing Terry Lee this Friday...woooHOOOOOOOOOO!!

More Dance Pictures From Vintage Postcards