I've noticed that people in general out here on the west coast jump from one interest to another more often than people back east. Plus, I've noticed that many of the people here don't settle down like they do back east. I think it is b/c there are just so many things to try and do, and the weather is great all year long. I think that is one reason why people in the lindy scene seek alternatives. It's part of the southern California lifestyle. (just a fact: San Diego has the highest percentage of singles than any other city in the US) I forget where I read that, some newspaper.
I don't think Salsa is stealing people away from the lindy scene, I think it might be more exciting and easier to pick up for beginners and intermediates. The basic is a lot easier than the lindy basic, and once you've gotten the Salsa basic down moves are just as easy. Plus, the level of improv is far less than Lindy. In Addition, the women that dance Salsa wear much sexier outfits than the lindy dancers.
Another possible reason why there are less Lindy dancers than before is the energy at the dances. The music tends to be more low key and the emphasis has pulled away from "showy" lindy to "social" lindy. What I mean is that when I started dancing the more advanced and younger dancers really put emphasis on doing swing jams and "big" moves. Plus, the music tastes, at the time, were geared toward the "neo" swing music that was packed with energy, but lacked musical depth. The swing jams brought tremendous energy to the dance, some people would argue that it was intimidating, but that is what got Shana and me interested to learn more and to better our dancing. It became our goal to be able to enter a swing jam and be as good as the dancers we looked up to. Later, people would argue that the "swing jam" was all about choreography and less about social "lead and follow."
Our local instructors and more advanced dancers really started to focus on social dancing, and fine tuning their lead and follow skills. These are essential for any dance, especially for Lindy, which is a dance based on improvisation. The Savoy style lindy really was the perfect style to begin experimenting with improvisation, b/c the lead and follow held their own centers, and did not rely on counter balancing tension. Dancers then began to notice that more improvisation could be done with slower swing songs and the bluesier the song, the richer the opportunities were to improv. This began a small crack in the local scene.
Some dancers believed that the bluesier jazz songs were leaning more toward the Be Bop genre of jazz, and away from swing jazz. Those dancers wanted to preserve the original lindy dance form and dance to the music that the Lindy was originally designed around. Thus, the mild separation of the scene occurred. (at one time all the lindy hop dancers danced together at the same venues regularly, now it is not that consistent) The dancers that believed in the preservation theory, influenced by the LA dancers and their own research, felt that the local scene was being dominated by the dancers that preferred the slow and bluesy jazz music. So, they began venturing up to LA to listen and dance to the music they wanted to hear.
This caused attendance at many, at one time crowded, venues to be less crowded. Not that the San Diego under 18 law helped any. The scene began to be more geared toward the Savoy jazzy style since the separation of the styles occurred.
So back to why the scene seems to be deflating. The Savoy jazzy style, that seems to be so dominate in this city, is not an easy dance to learn. I think the majority of people that want to learn how to lindyhop have the "quick and now" state of mind. Where they expect to take a few lessons and BAMMM! they can dance like the more advance dancers in the scene. They don't understand that it takes time and patience to make progress. I also think that the energy that existed when Shana and me began Lindyhop has died, thus causing the interest of learning Lindy to subside. Another reason, is no one really seems like they are pushing each other to their limits. The main difference between San Diegans and the LA dancers is that the LA dancers are always trying to better one another, by showing each other moves, critiquing each other, and always trying to come up with new moves to showcase in their swing jams and competitions. Needless to say, that creates an energy within the entire scene. I don't notice that here in San Diego. I wouldn't want SD to be like LA any ways, b/c that's not original. It seems like the Lindy scene has become individual based. Instead of swing jams and group interaction, the dancers seem to focus on their individual dances. (sure there is the Shim Sham and improv circle s lead by Meeshi - group stuff) Maybe it's because there are a lot of beginners and intermediates that out number the more advanced that are focusing on getting better. I'm hoping that is the case, b/c I see a lot of newbies and one time newbies now intermediates at many local venues and if they stay with it they will be the next local advanced dancers!! Keep it up!!!
There are a few other styles of dance that are associated with swing music, the Balboa and the Collegiate Shag. Both are easy dances to learn, yet there is only one couple that teach it locally - Julia and Lisa. You can't do either of those dances to the slower blues jazz that is played at many of the venues, unfortunately. It would be nice to see more beginners learning these dances. It would be also nice to hear more variety of swing music at our venues, it seems to be heavily weighted on the bluesier slower jazz side. That might get more energy to the scene.
Sorry for the long thesis. It's been a hot topic for some time, "How to get more people into the scene, and keep them interested." I really love this dance and care a lot about the scene, and where it is going. I'm just not the type of person to let things die without a fight.
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By Ron on Thursday, May 11, 2000 - 11:55 am: Edit
