By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 03:36 pm: EditIs it just me, or is the front page kind of messed up? It looks like the messages displayed underneath the topic titles are totally jacked.
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 03:36 pm: Edit |
Is it just me, or is the front page kind of messed up? It looks like the messages displayed underneath the topic titles are totally jacked. |
| By David Midnight Patrone (Crooner) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 03:43 pm: Edit |
Yeah, it looks like the body of the messages is mixed up with the headers of the messages from other posts. Oh well |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 04:17 pm: Edit |
Shawn! You there? What's up? |
| By Shawn (Adminorama) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 04:18 pm: Edit |
Yeah, I rearranged the topics, but the board draws from the original setup. I've learned my lesson. I will not do that again. Just post new news to get rid of the old stuff! |
| By Ron (Ron) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 04:20 pm: Edit |
Speaking of the front page, Shawn could change the poll. Sorry, Jeremy, your "coming out" is old news... |
| By Shawn (Adminorama) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 05:01 pm: Edit |
suggest an alternative! |
| By Ron (Ron) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 05:44 pm: Edit |
Something to do with sex. I'm a dirty old man, you know. |
| By Jeff Eldridge (Jeff) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 05:56 pm: Edit |
Wow! Terrorists attacked the front page! It's absolute chaos!!! (Jake should love that....) |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Friday, October 19, 2001 - 06:20 pm: Edit |
Why not something to do with leads in san diego.... After all, that's a hot topic right now. |
| By Shawn (Adminorama) on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 10:35 am: Edit |
Suggest something! |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 11:13 am: Edit |
Michelle and I came up with this: What San Diego Leads should work on most: 1) Connecting on Swing Out (no bouncing!) 2) Fast Lindy 3) Dips & Tricks 4) Musicality 5) Being smooth, not jerky |
| By Shawn (Adminorama) on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 05:02 pm: Edit |
A bit sleepy, don't you think? |
| By Shawn (Adminorama) on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 05:11 pm: Edit |
San Diego Leads: 1) Can't connect on the Swing Out. 2) Fast Lindy? What's that? 3) Are way more fun than LA leads. 4) Musicality - what are you talking about. It's easy to dance to the blues. 5) Should try to be smooth like Reuben & Jake. |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Saturday, October 20, 2001 - 08:21 pm: Edit |
LOL! That's definitely more colorful. |
| By braid my hair plz (Rich) on Sunday, October 21, 2001 - 01:51 pm: Edit |
(no bouncing!) A MANDATE, gota love that. |
| By braid my hair plz (Rich) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 10:23 am: Edit |
How about this 'adlib' Shawn? What San Diego Leads should work on most: 1) Should swing out like me. 2) Do Fast Lindy, like me. 3) Do Dips & Tricks, like me. 4) Learn Musicality, like me. 5) Being smooth, not jerky, like me. 6) Do nothing else in their life until they dance like me. The moral of the story: Until all you leads dance like me, you look stupid. I AM YOUR SAVIOR! All hail me! (note: "me" = anyone with a "lindy-superiority" complex) THE END |
| By pond/pie girl (Heather) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 11:04 am: Edit |
RICH... should we call you GOD? All Hail for the Saviour has arrived. I love you! I also had fun leading you while everyone was learning how to shag Saturday night. You rock! |
| By Jeff Eldridge (Jeff) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 11:12 am: Edit |
Hey, Rich! It's "me".... Actually, I think I have a have "lindy-inferiority" complex...I'm terrified to ever enter a "jam circle", can't do anything "flashy", and don't think I look very good. (Those who know me well think I beat myself up way too much over how I look and the way I dance). But follows in this town DO want MORE leads, and they want BETTER leads. I LOVE GIVING THEM WHAT THEY WANT! YES!!!!...And so...I'm sorry if all the talk about leads in San Diego improving is giving you the impression that I, or others, have a "lindy superiority" complex. I don't see it that way at all. I see an attitude of humility, and a growing realization that this dance, and the "swing movement" of it, is SO AWESOME that it's a life-long study. Personally, I just have a passion for the dance, a desire to help, and lots of patience. I'm hopeful that "Study Hall" will be a "think tank" for new ideas and ways to improve. I'm totally "wingin' it" here, so I apologize if my comments have led anyone to believe that I want you to be like "me". The End |
| By Jeff Eldridge (Jeff) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 11:15 am: Edit |
Wow, Rich! Looks like you gave Heather what she wants!! Woohoo!!! |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 11:42 am: Edit |
So Rich, who do you think has a lindy superiority complex? |
| By braid my hair plz (Rich) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 11:56 am: Edit |
Thanks heather =) But not god. King of Fun? Yea maybe. god ? no. Heather you too are FUN (keyword here people), FUN to dance with. Note to all: I CANNOT follow worth a DAM. However, I know if I TRY and DO NOT CARE how I look (self-esteem helps here), eventually I'll get better at it. And I'll be the first to admit I DID look dumb following heather, but hey, we still managed to have fun and MAYBE I learned something... hhhmmm... Take someone new and dance with them. To watch their expression of elation of dancing is the best! Hopefully they walk away addicted to the fun and come back for more… And I love the fact I have NO IDEA what they will do to a certain lead move. I love that dynamic! It fun with chaos! Completely unpredictable! It’s great! Ok. I admit it. I have a Fun Superiority Complex. I need therapy. I must have fun and I DEMAND everyone have fun too! I will create an army of fun people and take over the WORLD!!! I will replace mass transit with roller coasters and if you don't have fun, well you look stupid then and you will have to wear a hat that says as such! HAH! (wow, I'm really losing it...that was waaay out there =) Jeff if you have a "Lindy-inferiority" complex then you are just in denial. Dam near EVERY follow loves to dance with you. I know this, I hear this, and read this: so you sure as hell should know this =P Also you said (again these two words), “LOOK GOOD”. What about FEEL GOOD? I’d rather feel good and have the follow I'm dancing with FEEL GOOD more than LOOK GOOD. However she may no see it that way, LOOKING good being her priority, if that’s the case we usually don’t dance well together. And that’s ok with me. IMO looking good is about having acceptance from others (unless performing for money of course =). If you need to DANCE for that... hhmmm I'm not gona go there. And Jeff I feel you DO NOT have a "lindy-superiority" complex. You don’t preach “BE LIKE ME.” or “BE LIKE SO AND SO.” And now back to your regular computer programming… |
| By Jeff Eldridge (Jeff) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 02:07 pm: Edit |
"Less filling!! Tastes great!!!" "Looks Good!!! Feels Good" Of course, the idea is to have BOTH at the SAME TIME! Of course, in Lindy Hop we want BOTH as well. There's no doubt that we all do this because it's "the most fun you can have with your clothes on", as they say. But I'm discovering, as I talk with follows who are frustrated, that dancing with leads who don't improve, OR WORSE, who REGRESS once they stop taking lessons and TRYING to improve, is not fun for them. The emphasis that I'm placing on "Leads Improving" is primarily for the benefit of all the TOTALLY AWESOME, WAY HOT, AMAZING, SUPER- ADVANCED FOLLOWS right here in our very midst, with whom we, mere mortal men, have the privilege of dancing!!! THEY DESERVE MUCH MORE THAN WE'RE GIVING THEM. Rich, you said, "looking good is about having acceptance from others". I believe that's true. I also believe that looking good is having respect for others. Thanks for your kind words. I still want to look more like Jeremy. (Which reminds me!!! Melissa Varriano just emailed me!!!! Wait 'til you see what we got planned for "Study Hall" this Friday!!!) Jeff |
| By braid my hair plz (Rich) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 02:51 pm: Edit |
"Leads Improving" From what I've been reading on this forum the idea seems about: "Leads Changing" Improving I agree with. Modification For Conformity (MFC?) I do not agree with. Mandates: Telling someone they are wrong (look stupid) for HOW (keyword) they dance I do not agree with. Interpretation is subjective to the interpreter. Having conceptual advice I do agree with (e.g. don’t just have your non-lead hand stiff at your side. e.g Turning body mechanics). Advice on “HOW TO DO” I agree with. (IF and only IF that person WANTS to “DO”) “do like ‘so and so’ or else you look stupid” I do not agree with. >I also believe that looking good is having respect for others. Are you saying, “If I do not look good, I am disrespecting others.” ? IMO Looking good is subjective and you can’t satisfy everyone all of the time. However feeling good is not subjective (either you feel good or do not), you can’t draw comparisons here. Apples and Oranges. For some people LOOKING good makes them FEEL good because they get COMPLIMENTS. Ahhhh compliments! Everyone’s drug of choice, and not illegal (yet!). People sometimes state they are “BAD” (“oops I’m sorry”) to get a compliment from the person they are dancing with, or at least reinforcing the hope that the other person is not suffering a painful dance… Recently I feel this forum is all about expectations: i.e. "I expect this from person X." It is certainly not about acceptance: i.e. "I will get this from person X." Hhhhmm… that web site is calling me again… |
| By Jeff Eldridge (Jeff) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 03:15 pm: Edit |
Here's my point. GET AS GOOD AS YOU CAN. HAVE FUN ALONG THE WAY!! |
| By Brandon Backlund (Bbswing) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 03:52 pm: Edit |
Remember, in the immortal words of Billy Crystal, "When you LOOK mahvelous, you FEEL mahvelous...and darling, YOU LOOK MAHVELOUS..." One from the old school... |
| By Jeff Eldridge (Jeff) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 04:00 pm: Edit |
PREACH IT, BRANDON!!! I'll turn the pages!!! |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 06:25 pm: Edit |
Nice ideas, Rich. It's good to have some fellow idealists in our community. The problem is that some people in our community look "stupid" because they are not doing the moves correctly. (not necessarily you!) There are different ways to do different moves, but doing a move incorrectly does not count as a variation. I have watched a lot of expert dancers from around the world, as I'm sure have you. All of them look like they are having fun, and all of them look good while they are doing it. That is my goal; I want to have fun and look great doing it. I still have fun in the meantime, but realizing that I have a long way to go before I reach the level I want to be at, I continue to work hard to improve. I'm kind of confused about your "mandate" point. A mandate is an order or command, so I'm not sure how that fits into your arguments. Apparently, it has something to do with my suggestion for the poll. Just so you know, the "bouncing" part came from my wife Michelle, not me. She said that a lot of leads do it and that it is really annoying. It is in reference, not to stylistic bouncing, but to leads whose let their lead hand bounce all over the place. This makes true connection nearly impossible. Test out Doug Silton's "Zen of Swing." Try closing your eyes when you dance (or have your follow do it, or even both of you), and see how you connect. With some follows, it is impossible to tell where they are or what they are doing. With others--like Melissa--you can feel where they are. It is such a cool feeling! P.S. If you ever want to discuss this face-to-face, feel free to approach me. I'm game. |
| By pond/pie girl (Heather) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 12:32 am: Edit |
Rich... you are fun! The reason you looked silly with me leading you is because I DON'T KNOW HOW TO LEAD! I jut learned to follow and often I struggle with that... but I believe you hit the point head on... I HAVE FUN NO MATTER HOW I LOOK or HOW OTHERS SEE ME! I find I do so much better when I stop caring how i am coming across to others. I think we get so caught up in what others think that we forget why we are dancing. And that is for the joy of doing it. The less I am worried about if I am on every beat of the song, if my frame is okay, and if connection is there... the more those things just fall into place. When I find myself focusing on the negative the negative comes out. If I just think about having fun... I am more relaxed and in turn the musicality just flows. I think too many people are focused on always being "right on"... when we just let ourselves dance is when we are truly dancing. Style... is not learned... it is developed. That's why everyone looks different. Oh and Jeff... you are one of my favorite leads. You are also the most compassionate. Always taking on us beginners and guiding us to the Lindy Light. It is because of you that people like me have at least a portion of knowledge in the art of Lindy hopping... with so much more to learn. I know that you know you are good... so is this about fishing for compliments. :0 Cause I’m sure we could hand out plenty.! Oh well... time for bed... night-night. |
| By Franglaise (Hepnat) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 09:27 am: Edit |
To add to Ye's looking stupid/doing a move incorrectly: A lead running round a follow on a swingout looks stupid and is incorrect and feels like sh!t for the follow Ditto 'skipping-up' on 3&4 and 7&8. Not only is the direction arguably wrong (up instead of down), but the timing is completely wrong: Rather than having crotchet (one), crothcet (two), 2 swung quavers (3 &), crotchet (4), you get crotchet, crotchet, double dotted quaver, hemi-semi quaver, crotchet. |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 09:41 am: Edit |
I agree, Heather, that sometimes it's better to just let it go and dance. However, that doesn't mean you don't have to worry about frame, staying on the beat, etc. Watch Meeshi and Melissa dance. They may get out of the beat when doing certain variations, but they always ends up back on the beat. And they always keep their frame and connection. My goal is to work on it so hard that eventually, I'll do it unconsciously. Of course Meeshi and Mel aren't out there thinking, "Okay, I've got to keep my frame, got to stay connected!" That's because they are way past that. They do it automatically. When you automatically have a good frame, things will come out of it that you don't expect. It's kind of like the Force! Sometimes when I'm dancing, I'll do something I wasn't planning because it felt right. This doesn't happen too often (because my frame and connection are definitely not perfect) but when it does it is sooooo cool. The whole fun of this dance comes from that connection to your partner. Dancing without a connection would be like playing football with no end zones. When you dance without connection, you've reduced the splendour of lindy hop to mere personal movements. When you dance without connection it's just two people doing their own thing while they hold hands. And don't worry guys. I'm not too concerned with the way I look on the dance floor. The only thing I don't like about the way I look is that I have bad posture. All the other "looky" parts of the dance come together when you do the moves correctly. Believe me, I'm not out there thinking "Oh I hope people like the way I look!" Posture is one of the things that is important, because when you let your shoulders slump, your frame gets mushy and the followers have a hard time connecting with you up there. Plus it looks dorky to be slouched over. |
| By Ron (Ron) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 10:37 am: Edit |
crochet? |
| By braid my hair plz (Rich) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 10:52 am: Edit |
hemi-semi ? |
| By Spawn of Satan (Melbamoose) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 11:17 am: Edit |
I believe those are music notes, with their different time values. |
| By braid my hair plz (Rich) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 11:30 am: Edit |
“The problem is that some people in our community look "stupid" because they are not doing the moves correctly” Wow, what a difference from: “San Diego dancers look stupid.” A much improved delivery. IMO if you want to implement change, you have to be a Leader. Ye by taking the reigns your are a Leader in all of this (and some others). Talking down to your ‘followers’ (“you all look stupid”) is not the best way to lead (that's leading by consequence, like some religions). With your new approach (above) you identify the problem promptly after the insult (taking the ‘sting’ out of it) and most importantly you offer a solution (move correctly). (do I use enough parentheses?). Inspire your followers to follow, don't scare them (jeez what a ramble! can you tell I'm working full-time now?) The whole mandate thing: When you said "NO" I read that as "No under all circumstances". That inspired my other DO/DO NOT thread, which IMO are the “basic rules”. The bouncing hand. Ah yea. I agree with that (which reminds me, some follows swivel their hips and their hand together... so leads hand's are going up and down and follow hands are going left and right! LOL! =D A few times in Margie’s class we did the 'close the eyes' dancing. Also try 'NO TOUCH' dancing. Do swing outs and other moves but do not make ANY contact. None. Exactly opposite of ‘close your eyes’, but extremely helpful non-the-less as you must WATCH everything your partner does. If you're one to just look around the room while you dance, this practice is for you! |
| By Spawn of Satan (Melbamoose) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 11:35 am: Edit |
you can't deny that people look stupid sometimes... |
| By I'm not running for Jesus (Dennis) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 11:39 am: Edit |
No kidding....  |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 11:41 am: Edit |
I guess I took it for granted that people would realize that the way you look when you dance is inextricably linked to your ability to execute the movements of the dance properly. |
| By julius (Julius5) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 11:51 am: Edit |
But isn't that a bit of a tautology? How do you know when you're executing the movements properly? It looks good. When does it look good? When you're executing the movements properly. To a certain extent, looks are influenced by technique, but it's not 100% intertwined, in my opinion. You can have perfect looks or technique and the other component can be less than perfect. I make this claim because you are only responsible for your own lines, but both people together are responsible for good technique. (e.g. the bouncing hand comment above may not be the lead's fault ... or the follow's fault.) The trick is to balance both sides of the equation. Uh, anyway, I'm rambling, not sure exactly what this has to do with the point at hand. How about them chimichangas? |
| By Spawn of Satan (Melbamoose) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 11:56 am: Edit |
I don't think SD will get the chimichanga reference...but I could so go for one right now. Dennis...if I only knew how to post pictures and stuff...a picture of you in your tank top, shorts, and birkenstocks dancing would be oh so appropriate right now! |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 12:02 pm: Edit |
True, but your chances of looking stupid are far less if your technique is good. I think that usually, SD dancers that look dumb aren't dancing right. However, it is possible to do the moves right and look dumb. And when I say "do the moves right," I'm talking about being the move, not just doing it. Make sense? No? Good. Hahahahaha! |
| By Franglaise (Hepnat) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 12:54 pm: Edit |
Did I say hemi-semi? I meant, of course, demi-semi. You guys call a crotchet a quarter note (which of course is shot to hell if you're not working in 4/4), and a demi-semi would be a 32th note. We use breve (only really seen in organ music) 8 beats, breve 4, minim 2, crotchet 1, quaver 1/2, semi quaver 1/4, demi-semi quaver 1/8, hemi-demi-semi quaver 1/16. |
| By braid my hair plz (Rich) on Tuesday, October 23, 2001 - 01:09 pm: Edit |
eating oysters can give you the hemi-semi's |
| By Ron (Ron) on Thursday, January 03, 2002 - 10:48 pm: Edit |
When you get a chance, Shawn, update the main page to remove those Peter and Maggie and New Years exchange references... |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Friday, January 04, 2002 - 11:55 am: Edit |
I think perhaps it's also time for a new poll.... |
| By Shawn (Adminorama) on Friday, January 04, 2002 - 12:04 pm: Edit |
Suggest one! |
| By Ron (Ron) on Friday, January 04, 2002 - 12:08 pm: Edit |
This one is new compared to the one about you, Jeremy, that was up for months... I wonder why so many people voted for Talcum powder. I wonder, if you hit vote without selecting an option, does it default to the last one on the list? The "all of the above" and "none of the above" kinda cancel out... |
| By Ye Dancer (Yedancer) on Friday, January 04, 2002 - 05:08 pm: Edit |
I suggested one a few months ago, don't you remember. I e-mailed it to you. If you don't have it I'll send it again. |
| By Yes I have to use a flash!! (Tim) on Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 08:49 am: Edit |
hey I have an idea, how about the next front page survery be about whether we think san diegans, ourselves, as a whole suck at fast dancing or not..or something along those lines.. |
| By anonymus on Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 03:14 pm: Edit |
No Tim, San Diegan's as a whole don't suck at fast Lindy, people like you who try and make blues songs fast is what sucks. All the stupid "fancy" foot work that looks ridiculous. Just being honest. |
| By Shaolin Invincible Killer Monkey (Yedancer) on Sunday, January 27, 2002 - 06:42 pm: Edit |
Ha! Now that I no longer bear the shame of being anonymous, I can base on people who are anonymous, and won't openly stand behind their beliefs. Hey, you suck! (And I don't want to hear anyone saying "look who's talking blah blah blah" or anything like that) By the way, if you think San Diegans as a whole don't suck at fast Lindy, then you are an idiot. There is no one in San Diego who doesn't admit that, as a whole, we aren't adept at it. Wake up and smell the coffe, oh foolish anonymous one. I bet you ten bucks that if I played more than 2 fast songs (220+) in a row, the floor would empty very, very fast. Oh, and by the way, how can dancers try to make blues songs fast? What, like there's no such thing as fast blues? Apparently you have never listened to blues music; almost every blues CD I have has fast songs on it. What are you smoking? |
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