By Admin on Sunday, July 16, 2000 - 05:04 pm: EditCharlie and Tertia!
The hosts of the evening.
| By Admin on Sunday, July 16, 2000 - 05:04 pm: Edit |
Charlie and Tertia! The hosts of the evening. |
| By Admin on Sunday, July 16, 2000 - 05:08 pm: Edit |
   Marcus!  |
| By Admin on Sunday, July 16, 2000 - 05:12 pm: Edit |
    |
| By Admin on Sunday, July 16, 2000 - 05:15 pm: Edit |
Cool effect  Tertia & Sister (who mentioned there is a Swango event in SF)  |
| By Admin on Sunday, July 16, 2000 - 05:19 pm: Edit |
All in all, it was fun, BUT I thought they needed to switch between musical styles more quickly. Perhaps one or two of each so that dancers have favorites roll around more often. It was fun to see so many new faces (not that the OLD faces are a problem!) - perhaps we can steal some for swing events here in SD. So there they are, 70 photos (about 30 weren't good enough for posting, and that's saying quite a bit). Hope you like them... -Shawn |
| By Jeff (Jeff) on Monday, July 17, 2000 - 09:08 am: Edit |
Thanks, Shawn! It was a very fun night. I was surprised that I enjoyed the Tango class so much. I went early just to support Mike Hamilton as my friend and discovered the class was packed! I had a great time. "Must..learn...Tango!" Actually, the Swango thing made me appreciate the variety of all the "ballroom" dances. I agree that the styles should be rotated more quickly. I felt that 3 or 4 tango songs in a row was too much. In my opinion, it will work better if 1 or 2 songs of each style are played so we don't have to wait so long for swing to come back. Although I did enjoy practicing what I had learned in Mike's class. Jeff |
| By Carla on Monday, July 17, 2000 - 09:11 am: Edit |
Cool pics!!! |
| By Oopapadoo on Monday, July 17, 2000 - 02:42 pm: Edit |
What fun. It was wonderful to see so many new faces and dancing styles in one place. I don't know how much mixing there was between the ballroom and swing crowds, but I took the opportunity to dance with a couple of non-swing dancers. Unfortunately, Tango is still way beyond me. I just couldn't keep a straight face during those serious music numbers. Perhaps that's why you always see women with roses in their teeth...to keep them from giggling at their partners. |
| By tangokaren on Monday, July 17, 2000 - 05:53 pm: Edit |
Great fun! Yes, would love to see the choices of music switched around a little more frequently, so that I don't have to wait so long for another tango piece! |
| By shawn on Monday, July 17, 2000 - 06:52 pm: Edit |
Oh yes, suffering through the upbeat and jazzy tunes! Dragging on endlessly between the magnificently stoic tango music. J This explains it! Perhaps that's why you always see women with roses in their teeth...to keep them from giggling at their partners. |
| By Oopapadoo (Oopapadoo) on Tuesday, July 18, 2000 - 02:14 pm: Edit |
Yes tango is a bit stoic, but also SEXY. And speaking of the SWANGO shindig: why didn't I see Ian and Ron out that night? I was so looking forward to sharing a swango dance with then. (Oh, did anyone see that guy with the super tight leather pants. That was classic! I think there's a picture of him somewhere in the Swango pix.) |
| By Miket (Miket) on Tuesday, July 18, 2000 - 10:28 pm: Edit |
The only thing I didn't like was early on when all the lindy-able follows kept getting hijacked by these old ballroom guys. But by the end of the night I had learned to pounce much faster, and I had some really good dances. Tango is pretty intense. I may have to try that again... |
| By Hepnat (Hepnat) on Wednesday, July 19, 2000 - 12:44 pm: Edit |
I'm playing devils advocate here, so nobody jump down my throat: Swing, Salsa marengue (sp?) would seem like a much better mix because: a) the energy of the music is comparable b)both are perceived more as social dances adopted by 'non-dancer' people c) salsa would have a bigger crowd pull than salsa I'm wondering whether the paring of tango with swing is because of the personal dance preferences of the organizers rather than logical reasoning? Don't jump down my throat, it's a serious question, I cross over into marketing, so I can't help it. Sorry I couldn't make it, but I'd love to know how succesful it was and whether all full moon dances are now going to be swango. How did the tango only people feel about the swing music? Did they do the swing lesson at the beginning of the evening? If so, dance north county beckons - sorry guys. |
| By Oopapadoo (Oopapadoo) on Wednesday, July 19, 2000 - 02:57 pm: Edit |
Some good observations Natalie. Actually, the evening was a mix of swing, tango and salsa music. From what I saw, the tango/salsa people seemed pretty excited about learning swing. (Meeshi's swing class had quite a large attendence.) AND best of all there were many new faces at the event. Perhaps some of the non-swing dancers will decide to take up lindy. New blood couldn't be a bad thing for the scene. |
| By Meeshi (Meeshi) on Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 01:38 pm: Edit |
Hey Natalie-- I'd like to respond to your comments. We did play a pretty equal mix of swing, tango and salsa that night, although by the comments I received from my survey, the swing "junkies" definitely were the most adamant about hearing more of their genre of music than the salsa or tango dancers. Actually, it was quite funny to watch the swing "junkies" fussing and fidgeting when the other styles of music were being played -- some were definitely going through withdrawal symptoms. Then, as soon as a swing song was played, boom, they would pounce on the floor like it was their first cigarette since quitting smoking! Of course, Mike and I wanted to run a "swango" event because of our personal dancing preferences. Why not sponsor something you love? We both know our respective dance communities and what music they prefer to dance to (more or less ;)). Besides I think the hardcore salsa crowd (vs. ballroom salsa) actually prefers dancing the bar/nightclub environment. Also from a marketing standpoint, I think "SWANGO" is a very catchy name that grabs people's attention. I don't think "SWALSA" would go over as well. You know, there really were not many hardcore swing dancers that night, and yet the ballroom was packed. I'm hoping that this "Swango with a side of Salsa" event will continue to bring new faces into our Lindy community and that Lindy hoppers will soon realize that swing is not the end-all-be-all of social dancing. Devil's advocate rebuked! See ya Nat, Meeshi |
| By Hepnat (Hepnat) on Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 02:38 pm: Edit |
Meesh, I think you've hit the nail on the head. The majority of the hard core dancers on the swing scene ARE junkies and may not want to mix in other types of dancing. Personally, I'll be making the trip up to Dance North County to get my 100% pure swing intravenously, but then I'm the first to admit I'm a junkie. Best of luck with Swango, and I'll see ya at the Firehouse and Rocket. Nat |
| By Ron (Ron) on Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 02:54 pm: Edit |
Anything that draws new people into swing is a really good thing. |
| By Shawn (Shawn) on Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 03:07 pm: Edit |
I agree Ron. It is an easy opportunity to recruit people to swing who have already shown an interest in dancing in general. One solution to the junkie would be to have a "hard core room" (easy Reuben). Keep that smaller second dance space reserved for whichever style is not being played on the bigger floor. That way you can dance swing or tango all night if you really want! |
| By Hepnat (Hepnat) on Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 03:32 pm: Edit |
Shawn you're a genius. |
| By Holee (Holee) on Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 03:32 pm: Edit |
about the mix of tango and swing and people being addicted--I actually was more frustrated with not getting an entire night of swing than I expected. (usually I love mixing it up.) I think my lack of motivation to dance tango (even after taking some lessons) stemmed from a few things--the most important one being: it's hard to have the patience with a dance I'm new with when it's right next to a dance I'm totally comfortable with. It's like learning a new language--if I can speak english with someone, I will, (regardless of good intentions) rather than forcing myself to speak spanish. Likewise, my mistakes and lack of confidece with tango is more obvious to me when it's side by side with swing--and if I can escape to a swing song and sit out on the tango, I'll be severely tempted. I'm not saying that it's ineffective to have both dances in one night, I'm just saying that we should all cut ourselves some slack when we're learning a new dance--it's not easy to let yourself look like a foolish beginner --especially when you can default to something you feel comfortable with. Kudos to Mike and Meeshi, though, for broadening the opportunity to dive into something new. It's so much better to be bilingual. Or trilingual. or whatever. viva el baile! heather |
| By Shawn (Shawn) on Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 03:37 pm: Edit |
I'm sorry, what was that again Hepnat? |
| By Mhwang (Mhwang) on Thursday, July 20, 2000 - 04:49 pm: Edit |
ummmm...can we change the name of that room? Suggestions? |
| By Laurel (Laurel) on Friday, July 21, 2000 - 11:37 am: Edit |
Oh, Michael, you're such a prude!  |
| By Anonymous on Saturday, July 22, 2000 - 05:25 pm: Edit |
New dancers to the swing scene to counter those Ron has run off... |
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