Ultimate Lindy hop Showdown 2007 – The Middle pt. 1

Saturday afternoon started off with the preliminaries for the Revolution, Freedom and Liberation divisions (that’s medium, slow, fast for those not in the know). The bandstand was set up in the middle of the far wall and three heats went out for the medium and the slow, and two for the fast. The band was pretty good, although not exceptional for the contests. Their songs lacked tension in the slow tunes and drive in the mid and fast divisions. I was excited to watch the prelims and very proud of my friends who entered the competition alongside some of the biggest names in the community. They worked and danced exceptionally and next year the big names will have a huge community stepping up.

Saturday night is a night to dress up. Men snazzy in suits, vests and jackets; women in skirts and dresses; a full dance floor and a big band. The Wolverines Classic Jazz Orchestra had been set up middle of the far wall with the one oddity of a keyboard on the floor (probably did not fit on the bandstand). The room was packed. I’ve only had a limited number of occasions to see a big band in action, but the Wolverines were probably the best outfit I’ve seen so far. They played classic tunes with exceptional energy. Their song book was probably five inches thick and they played tunes so rarely heard except in recordings that it was exceptionally refreshing.

There were the finals for the three strictly style divisions during the second band set and the crowd was anxious to see who had made it and what fabulous dancing they would see. It started off with the midtempo division. The couples included Sakarias dancing with Ramona, a very entertaining and rhythmic pairing; Skye and Frida with top-notch dynamics and spectacularly graceful motion; Andy with Laura who are so easy to watch and cute; Mikey Pedroza and Nikki Marvin an interesting pairing of ethereal modern grace and classic style; Dax Hock with Emily Hoffberg; Thomas and Alice, although I’ve never met Thomas before Alice is a wonderful to watch; and Andy Spitz with Christelle de Crus. It was a fantastic showing with a number of international dancers who made the finals.

Next was the slow round. Of the strictly rounds, this was one of my favorites. I’ll name off the couples first: Thomas and Emily, Skye and Frida, Todd and Frida, Peter and Naomi, Mikey and Ramona, Dax and Alice, Brien Brown and Mia Goldsmith. I was a bit surprised by the results of this competition watching it again now. Mikey and Ramona had such wonderful chemistry, it was sexy and sultry without feeling sleazy. Peter and Naomi were subtle and gentle in their appreciation of the music the first time out and very rousing their second time out. Brien and Mia were vastly entertaining in the prelims and kept it up in the finals, almost a character dance on Brien’s part. Todd and Frida were entertaining, the stylistic choice that Todd seemed to make throughout the weekend was very unique, as if he was playing a suave Charlie Chaplin. Skye and Frida are always a wonderful duo with such controlled and easy physical movement, their lines always feel clean yet simple. Thomas and Emily had moments I thought were excellent and very cute although I disagree with their placing cause they didn’t feel in sync always and the lines weren’t as aesthetically pleasing. Dax and Alice, although excellent dancers seemed a bit jerky in this competition which surprised me.

Keep up for part two.

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown 2007 – The Beginning

This past weekend a couple hundred dancers descended upon Minneapolis, MN for the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown.

ULHS kicks off Thursday evening with a traditional riverboat cruise that skips down the Mississippi with a live band. Unfortunately, my flight arrived too late to make the riverboat; however, I heard it was one of the best evenings due to the wonderful atmosphere and excellent band (despite a carpet dance floor).

Friday was the Battle of the Small Combos. The TC Seven and the Hot Swing Combo faced off in the Cinema Ballroom from opposite bandstands. The TC Seven were technically very good, they played their arrangements well, but they seemed to lack energy and dynamics. Robert Bell’s Hot Swing Combo was on fire, however. They played much more in a hot jazz style, while the TC Seven played a bit cooler and smoother (a la later Count Basie and Ellington). The Jack & Jill contest (which I had hoped to enter) was full before I even got there and the line of contestants stretched across the long dance floor. No separate heats, just one giant mash up on the floor. Five songs for the prelims; slow to insanely fast, then right into the finals for the six or seven couples that made it.

On a side note of contests: they changed the format for most of the competitions this year. Rather than having the preliminary round followed by a break and then later finals; the contests flowed straight from prelims to finals without any break for contestants (excepting the Slow, Mid and Fast competitions). You were tapped either out or in (depending upon the contest). It worked and I think I actually enjoyed it, but it definitely would have been nice to give the finalists a moment to breathe before launching into their spotlights.

In the late night was the Solo Charleston contest to the Loose Marbles (more on them later), which being the only contest I was able to enter I did my best, but with a tumultuous week already behind me and not having had any time to prep really I didn’t make the finals (although I do believe I was one of the last people tapped out – mostly from exhaustion). Disappointed, but still excited to see the finals, I plopped down with my friends for the finals. There were seven contestants I think. The finalists were mostly very good, some more in for their being known than their dancing, but I was happy to see Jojo in the finals with some of the Swedes. With two spotlights a piece it was then narrowed down by popular decision to three guys: Sakarias Larsson, Stefan Durham, and one more. Stefan was my favorite during the spotlights, but he definitely seemed exhausted during the dance off (since it was I believe the fourth super-fast charleston song). It was obvious that Sakarias was the most used to long performances as he barely seemed winded for the dance off and boy could he dance at that blazing tempo. Reminded me of the skill Frida has demonstrated in years past, for reasons plain to see. Sakarias won hands down in the dance off. I expected as much. I’ll post it up when it hits Youtube.

Here is the video from Lindy Library of the Jack & Jill finals. Exceptional dancing, my notable favorites are Todd Yannacone with Laura Keat and Andy Reid with Frida Segerdahl. My congratulations to everyone who made it to the finals and to anyone who was brave enough to enter the competition.