Don't Curb Your Enthusiasm

I absolutely love this YouTube grab. Usually I cruise around, looking for dance moves to attempt or tips on things I'm messing up but tonight I just sort of browsed about until I stumbled upon this little gem. It's a group of Japanese kids doing a little improv rockabilly in Yoyogi Park. A++ for effort and for not giving a damn about what anybody might think. Hey, that's what Rockabilly ought to be about, right?

Oh So Easy!

Tomorrow the handyman guy will be at our place to install the new portable dance floor we bought. Supposedly, installing the floor was a quick task for two people (actually the instructions said 'two men' but I'm not sexist). It even went so far as to call the task 'easy'. I've got this funny thing. When something says 'easy installation' I expect the installation to be - well - easy. Unfortunately, I often find that the easy being discussed must be some new, foreign sort of easy. The kind of easy that's really hard. Maybe it's Bizzaro Easy or something.

The floor we ordered is small, a ten by ten, and the plan is to set it up in our living room to help cushion our joints while we practice swing dancing. According to the instruction manual (which, by the way, didn't actually come with the floor but had to be downloaded as a PDF from the company website) to install the floor you simply snap the pieces together and if they don't fit together easily you use a floor tool to help with the process.

What floor tool? Did they mention a floor tool? Is a floor tool included? The answers, in order, are: who knows, no, and nope. Apparently this legendary floor implement, like the Arc of the Covenant and the Yeti is oft spoke of but seldom seen. There are rumors of remote tribes in the Sahara worshiping at the Shrine of the Floor Tool but modern archeology believes this to be here say and myth. To put it simply, I ain't got no stinkin' floor tool.

Improvisation led us to using a claw hammer to lever up the floor so that we could slide it together. This practice kind of works, well - that is until you want to put more than two sections of the floor together. At that point the flooring gets too heavy to lift and when you put one piece in, the others tend to get misaligned. We placed five of the nine floor squares before giving up.

So, tomorrow around 2 PM the guy from Handyman Connection will be by to give it his best shot. I'm sure he'll have a better go at it than I did. At least I hope so! I wouldn't wish my experiences in floor land on my worst dancing nemesis!

Single, Double, Triple...

No, I’m not talking about ice cream. I’m talking about swing. When Gray and I first started dancing we were taught single time ECS, and triple time ECS. These dances, of course, are all built on a 3-6 count beat, the triple ECS being triple step, triple step, back step, and the single ECS being step, step, back step. Then we learned the lindy which is mostly 8 count. After we learned the WCS swing which is 6 or 8 or more, we realized timing is a rather a state of mind; you can throw in different beats as long as you “right yourself” now and then with the basic. At least, that’s the way we like to do it so the dance remains somewhat recognizable.

We were doing all of those, and then started the Rockabilly swing, which is syncopated double time. Rockabilly, because it is double time, would be fabulous for those songs that are a bit clunky with single time, yet too fast for a triple. I say would, because the rockabilly swing with its dairy queen spins and spilt-break turns are HARD, and thus tricky to do really fast. Here’s a fun couple doing rockabilly. It’s deceptively simple looking. But it’s not. Trust me.



Hopefully someday we can do it that fast. In the meantime, we needed something to dance to ‘billy music. Then one day on you tube I discovered double time ECS. Why I had never given this much thought before I don’t know, I mean, if there’s a single and triple swing it makes sense there would be a double.

Well. It works great for really fast rockabilly tunes and rocket speed big band numbers like Brian Setzer. You can also use it to hustle music, or anything with a hard two beat. It’s easier than rockabilly, because we already know the moves and because it’s just not as hard. So finally we have a dance that goes with fast stuff.

Here’s a couple doing double time. They are really good. We don’t do the kicky stuff or throws and we are not even close to their league, but the tap step is basically the same.

Dancing Under the Stars, Inside

Gary and I made a recent trek down to West Baden, Indiana to the West Baden Hotel Tea Dance. The drive down was gorgeous; a little too cold to spend too much time outdoors, but just right for watching the scenery slip by drinking Starbucks. Ahhhhh.

The venue was simply fabulous, a lovely tiled dance floor topped by a domed ceiling worthy of any sultan. It’s enormous; Gary probably has all the facts in his blog post so I won’t, although I would like to comment about the fireplace. It’s huge. The best part is the gnome at the top. Now I ask you, how many fireplaces have you seen that had its own guardian fire elemental? Very cool.

OK. So we got there, settled into our seas by the floor, and got some tea goodies. I wasn’t a big fan, the cookies were more like round cakes and most of the food was beast infused, and being a veggie there wasn’t a whole lot for me, but since I knew we were eating dinner afterwards no big deal. They did have coffee. I was happy.

I was looking across the expanse of lobby when I saw what looked like a princess gliding across the carpet. Well. She floated right up to us and asked if she could sit at our table. Her name was Betty, and soon her escort joined her, Bill. They were very good dancers and more than that, wonderful people. They had lots of stories and were fun to be with. They are the queen and king of hearts for the dance club in Indianapolis called the Continentals. We’ve been to a couple of their dances, probably the most welcoming dance club we’ve ever attended. Too bad it meets on Sunday…we have to get up the next day so we don’t often attend Sunday dances, and, the Continentals lean towards ballroom.

The tea dance too was mostly ballroom-eque; Gary and I were dying to do a WCS or jive but the music never was quite right for those, but oh well, we ECSed a lot, even threw in some lindy stuff, we did a rumba or two. It was fun to watch the other dancers, they were all good.

We had a lovely dinner afterwards.

Driving home I thought about how those tea dances started out to be a way for young people to “get those crazy dances” out of their system, and now they seem so formal. Maybe someday we will be doing our hip hop WCS and people watching will say awe, aren’t they cute doing those old time dances.

The Luck of the Draw

This weekend Kelly and I attended a tea dance at the West Baden Springs Resort in West Baden, IN. I've visited the resort before and marveled at its dome and turn of the century décor. In fact I got a chance to visit once before the place was officially opened to the public. The IHLF (Indiana Historical Landmarks Foundation) held a few tours of the property to raise capital for restoration before a buyer could be found. The only thing I got to do was walk the gardens and stand beneath the still-under-reconstruction dome. It was an amazing experience and it's only gotten better.

Today West Baden Springs is an operating hotel and it's been restored to a close proximity of its old glory. The Tea Dance was held in the atrium, that is to say under that 200 foot span of dome I mentioned earlier, to the tune of a big band out of Louisville. The acoustics – well, to be generous they were horrible. Though the hotel hosted dances under its dome it never was designed for the dancers' listening pleasure. The sound echoes and bounces and gets lost in space making it difficult if not impossible to keep track of the beat. Add to that you're dancing on a marble terrazzo floor – murder on the feet.

Still there's something about dancing under a dome that was built in 1907 that makes the poor acoustics and sore feet worth enduring.

We talked to a few people at the dance, most notably a lovely lady from Louisville who was kind enough to compliment our swing. When we mentioned being from Indianapolis she asked about the Indiana Roof Ballroom and we happily told her it was one of our favorite places to dance. She nodded and looked a little wistful, then told us that Louisville doesn't have any of its old ballrooms still in operation.

Sometimes in the hustle and push of day to day life I forget how lucky we really are to be dancing in Indy. It's easy, deadlines bear down and life can take some bad turns. After this weekend I've got one more thing to remember when those bad times come around. We've still got The Roof, Madam Walker, Fountain Square Theatre, and the West Baden Springs Resort. They're three grand old ladies of the past, still doing what they've done for almost a century and doing it with style. There are places where the marquees don't flash any more, where the quirky hardwood floors have been torn up, where the beaux art facades all met the wrecking ball, and where the sound of a mediocre dance band doesn't shake ghosts of Tommy Dorsey and Cab Calloway loose from the rafters. We're lucky not to live in one of those places.

I'll try to remember that the next time I catch my toe on a floorboard that doesn't quite lie flat or when I have to deal with parking that's more of a suggestion than an actuality. When I do, I'll smile and think. "Lady, you got style." And I'll hope the next tune is a lively one because the old girl always did like 'em that way.

Swingin' with the Seniors

Gary and I recently attended a dance event with my parents. Have I said my parents dance? They started at 80. Pretty fabulous. I hope I am them when I reach that age. Anyway, they go often with us to our dance clubs and we thought we would return the favor by attending a 50's dance at their senior center.

As I've said in another post, it's funny to be called "young lady" at the age of 50. But, when everyone else is over seventy I guess I am. We had a blast; the music was good, everyone was dressed to kill, and being with my folks is fun. But what was really cool was seeing all those seventy plus couples jitterbugging and swinging like they'd done it since they were teens which, of course, they had.

Makes me sad in a way that my generation did not, but oh well. If they can swing at seventy, then so can I.

One, two, three o'clock, four o'clock rock
Five, six, seven o'clock, eight o'clock rock
Nine, ten, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock rock
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight.

Slots, Swing, and the Long Road to Memphis

I think I mentioned that we were heading to Memphis TN to attend the Memphis Bop Club's get together at the Gold Strike Casino this past weekend. I don't know if I did or not – I'd like to blame this forgetfulness on getting older but to be honest I've been forgetful pretty much all my life! Regardless, we spent April 3, 4, and 5th attending another club-related get together and taking a few classes to expand our swing vocabulary. Even though this session was thrown by the Memphis Bop Club it was held in Tunica Mississippi in the Gold Strike Casino, part of the gambling complex that pretty much is the city of Tunica. There are a couple of things to know if you live up north (somewhere like Indianapolis) and you're heading down south (say Tunica, MS).

Firstly, the trip to Tunica takes FOREVER. Don't think you're going to get down there, get settled in, and do something – even if you press the speed limits you're still going to need at least 8 hours of travel time. When you arrive you might be up for a little fun, but eight hours in a car doesn't make one ready to dance once they've dumped their luggage and freshened up. Well, maybe if you're nineteen and don't have old, creaky legs like mine but in general you should plan on taking it easy once you arrive. Secondly, don't try to press the speed limits. The good ol' boy cops may not be what they were back in the 60's but they are THICK. It's not worth the risk. Take your time, stay safe, and plan on the trip taking a long time.

We arrived in Tunica sometime around four o'clock on Friday and got into our room for our ritual post travel decompression. The rooms at least at this casino are great. We didn't get a suite or any sort of upgrade – just a room with a king-size bed (being over 6 feet tall makes that a requirement, not a luxury) – but it was wonderful and a perfect place to relax after a class. We made it to the ballroom around six, I think, and we even got in an hour and a half of dancing.

At this point I'd like to put in a note of caution. Casinos have great food. We visited the 'all you can eat lobster and steak buffet' on Friday evening and though it was pricy it wasn't a disappointment. The problem is the temptation to stuff yourself and to forget you're essentially in the casino to participate in an athletic event. A track star wouldn't get to the arena and raid the corn-dog stand before putting their track shoes on but as a social dancer you're tempted to think of your time dancing as recreation instead of athletic. Swing dancing is athletic. Think of it as jogging and act accordingly and you'll be much better off. I didn't live by this little axiom and I got lucky that we were turning in instead of staying out late to dance. If it'd been the other way around I don't think I could have gotten onto the floor.

On Saturday we attended two classes: East Coast Swing and Alternate Timing and Footwork. Both were absolutely fantastic. In the ECS class we learned a move called 'the tunnel'. I've seen dancers practicing the tunnel but, until this get together, I've never seen it performed on the floor during social dancing. It's an odd looking move that, to be honest, is hard to make look graceful. Think about the lead holding their left arm out, elbow bent and fingers pointing toward the floor to kind of make an upside-down 'U'. Now, the follow ducks and backs through that 'U' to step back in front of the lead and back into the regular dance. It's kind of like pushing a cork through the neck of a bottle in most cases. This Saturday, however, I saw some really good dancers make it work on the floor and make it look good! I'm happy to say we got all the footwork and the timing for the tunnel – now the challenge will be making it look good. The Alternate Timing and Footwork class was great because it opened my eyes to something Kelly and I have been doing without knowing it. We've been pursuing Rockabilly Swing lately but until this weekend we didn't realize that it's similar to an ECS style called 'double-time' swing. I don't think I can describe the footwork without coming off like one of those impenetrable footwork diagrams you occasionally see – you have to have someone show you.

Saturday night we went to the 'party' dance. Every gathering like this has one of these – all the club members get together, there's usually some sort of food, and then they dance 'till the wee hours of the morning. We showed up around seven o'clock with a plan to just stay a couple of hours since we were getting up at five in the morning to start the insane drive again. The dinner buffet was great (and this time I controlled myself) and when the DJ started playing, we had a ringside seat. There were some amazing dancers at this conference. I've never seen people do ECS as well as some of these people. They looked funky, they looked like they were having fun, and lord they had moves! There were a couple of people at the conference that I only hope to emulate one day. The only problem was, like many other venues, the dance floor was too small. After an hour and a half and the free-flowing booze that's present at all casinos the floor-craft got…sloppy and people started to ignore the rules of etiquette. Kelly justly made me leave when I started muttering about stomping someone's foot.

End assessment? I'd go back but the drive to Tunica is onerous. I think there are other events of this nature that will have just as good of instruction sections without the big drive. That said we're driving to southern Indiana this coming Saturday to attend a Tea Dance in West Baden and we'll be driving to Kentucky to dance in an open-air venue in May so apparently the drive wasn't that much of a deterrent!

Concrete and More Shoes

In looking at this title you might ask, and what do these two items have in common? On the surface, perhaps, they don't. But I have found these two things crucial in my quest for dancing injury free, one bad, one good. Let's take the bad first and get it over with.

Like many things in dancing, I'd really never given the floor on which I dance much thought. I noticed they were mostly wood, with the occasionally tile and sometimes concrete. I knew that wood was best. I'm not a total dweeb. I'd also heard the terms "floating" floor bandied about and even danced on one. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, I thought I'd actually see it hover or something. Not really. But I did think I'd be able to feel it move but I didn't.

All this time Gary and I had been doing our practice at home. We have a nice wood floor, albeit small. After I started to have some problems with my knees I realized they hurt most after dancing on certain flooring. Tile not so good, concrete...horrible. And surprisingly, our wood floor at home. I asked my dance teacher about various flooring. Wooden dance floors, she said, were either "floating" meaning they had a bunch of cushioning underneath, or had a criss cross wood system underneath. I thought about our floor at home. We live in a condo. Our nice wood floor sits, you guessed it, atop a huge slab o' concrete.

So. I have eliminated all dancing on concrete period. At home we still practice our steps, but we don't dance hard anymore. I also, on the advice of a medical friend, wear shoes or supportive sandals in the house. Think about it, she said, you are walking back and forth all day long (I work at home) with bare feet...on concrete.

The other part of this post is the fun part. Shoes. I have pretty much given up even my thick Cuban heels except when we go to a really fancy dance. It's a sport. So I need sports shoes. I found a cool place in Argentina...they do most of the shoes for Dancing With The Stars. They are not cheap. Mine were around $120, but for happy feet and knees that is so worth it. They are dance sneakers. Not as pretty as sky high heels, but very cute and sparkly. And oh so comfortable. They make them to order, and the support staff are very nice. Here is the web site:

www.argentinatangoshoes.com

In conclusion, I discover every day how much dancing really is a sport. You have to take care of your body if you want to dance a lot. And I do.

Dance isn't for the Faint of Heart

In the couple of years we've been at it I've learned dancing definitely is a sport. It's physically demanding, requires coordination, and teamwork - many of the same qualities you find in baseball, basketball, and football. Up until this past weekend, that's where the similarities ended as far as I was concerned. I mean you're not going to get your block knocked off on the dance floor, right? Right?

Wrong.

This is the story of how my dear wife beat me up and left me with a black eye. It's a cautionary tale for you fellows out there especially when I look back at the incident and think what could have happened if she'd really had it in for me. Take heed, my friends because this could be you.

Saturday night we went to our usual Brickyard Boogie dance at Starlight Ballroom. It was supposed to be an easy evening - we had plans to be at the Indiana Roof on Sunday night so we weren't going to do any heavy lifting. Just a few swing tunes and maybe a fox trot if the DJ felt inclined to play one.

The evening started well enough. The musical selection's a bit predictable but that's part of being a regular and I don't mind knowing that the first tune out of the gates always will be a swingable shag. We've been working on curing a curious habit of pulling to the right anyway so predictable actually was a help.

Through the first hour everything went swell. We were on - not burning the building down but on none the less. Going into the second hour the DJ pulled out a Brian Setzer tune and we got into a fast swing. It probably was a little too fast for triple swing but that's what we do and it was going well. I sent Kell into a double spin and got ready to close and I never saw the elbow coming.

It caught me right below the right eye; the ballroom went a little wonkey, and the next thing I know I'm hobbling off the floor unable to see for the tears in my eyes. Apparently I either short-armed our spin or started to close too early because I'd caught Kelly's elbow full force. All I can say is it hurt like hell and for the next two or three tunes I sat out trying to collect myself.

So, just remember this when you're on the dance floor. If you tick your lady friend off she might lay you low! I'm just glad she didn't hit me like she meant it!