ULHS Around the Bend

ULHS starts tomorrow night with the Riverboat and will most likely run until the wee hours of Monday morning before people ship off to the airport.

Last year I wrote a quite extensive review of ULHS 07 in a series of posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) which gathered quite a bit of traffic.  This year I hope to bring that traffic to Lindybloggers.com with a more pointed review, but also stay tuned for key footage from the event and perhaps an interview with one of the organizers.

I think this will be an interesting event for me since last year I approached it as just a dancer and competitor and this year I have the angle of a journalist/blogger in addition to those roles. To come back to an event the following year after having reviewed it once, I look forward to seeing what changes are in store (there are definitely some large ones relating to some of the competitions) and how they’ll affect the event.

If you’re going to ULHS this year and see me walking around with a camera, a notepad and a ridiculous hat (okay maybe not the hat) say “Hi”, introduce yourself, get a snapshot, give me a comment, and let me know what you think about Lindybloggers, this blog, and/or ULHS.

Stay tuned for the ULHS review and if you’ve got something to add, post it up in our comments on Lindybloggers.

Lindy Hop for America Bill

 George W. Bush signed into law today the Lindy Hop for America Bill ensuring the preservation of this lost art form as the U.S.’s National dance.

Having quietly pushed the bill through Congress last night, the bill will provide federal funding for renowned events like ULHS, Camp Jitterbug and ILHC to ensure America’s dominance in the global lindy hop community.

Courses in Lindy Hop and other vernacular jazz dances will be required in all public schools and institutions.  Instructors will be given federal support for teaching in less traveled dance communities in hopes to spread this American past time into less rhythmically inclined neighborhoods.

The presidential hopefuls had their remarks to make on the bill, with John McCain backing the president although rumor is that he would have preferred the Texas Two-Step as the national dance.  Hillary Clinton reportedly had no comment although she was last seen heading to a contra dance in Pennsylvania to rouse supporters.  In a rare move, Barack Obama came out in support of the Lindy Hop for America Bill proclaiming his support for a dance that brought people together.

Here is some footage of George W. Bush dancing moments before the announcement.

Fats Waller – Be Kind

The movie Be Kind, Rewind got me thinking about Fats Waller and the importance he played in jazz piano in such a short yet productive life.  He was a vastly productive composer, including lesser known tunes like Minor Drag, Fractious Fingering, and Yacht Club Swing, alongside more popular tunes like Honeysuckle Rose and Ain’t Misbehavin’ which have been performed by Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Duke Ellington, and many more.

Classically trained and rent party experienced, his music is often characterized by its playful manner and lyrics.  A prime example of the stride tradition, Fats studied with James P. Johnson and Willie “the Lion” Smith; his songs reflect the brightness of strides’ ragtime roots with the complexity of jazz improvisation and swing rhythms.  He influenced a great number of jazz pianists, including Count Basie and Errol Gardner, and still influences pianists like Gordon Webster who regularly plays for dancers.

Most recently in the lindy hop community one of Fats Waller’s lesser known songs, Twenty-Four Robbers, was used for a choreography by Skye Humphries and Frida Segerdahl.  It was performed at ULHS (article here) and at ALHC.  The routine emphasizes the clarity of Fats’ piano, and an ease and happiness that is just as characteristic of their personalities as it is of Fats’.  They evoke the spirit of the song, dancing within the space created by Fats Waller’s piano and voice.

All too often as dancers we can forget the joy of dancing or as musicians that joy of playing, we get caught up in a technical perfectionism and bind ourselves with arbitrary rules which supposedly define our arts.  Fats Waller as an icon of playfulness and joy should not be forgotten and we should embrace that when we are on the floor or the bandstand.

Solo Charleston: All The Rage

These days almost any competition worth its salt hosts a solo charleston competition; we have them at renowned events like ULHS and RAF, older events such as ALHC, and all sorts of other competitions. Camps and workshops often feature a couple of solo classes to compliment their array of partnered ones; additionally there are a few special events like Stompology which focus exclusively on solo dance.

The charleston was supposedly developed or at least got its name from Charleston, South Carolina in the first few years of the 1900′s. Although the rhythm was popularized through various shows, particularly Runnin’ Wild with music by James P. Johnson entitled “The Charleston” in 1923, it could be found in black communities for twenty years prior. It can be found in all sorts of old films dating from this period; it was generally danced either solo or in a walking (face-to-face) position. Dancers, particularly white females, were labeled flappers for the semi-birdlike resemblance that their motions had.

The lindy hop adopted many of the charleston variations into the dance and later versions of solo charleston can be seen in footage from the Spirit Moves collection and in this piece by Al Minns and Leon James.

Solo charleston today has sprung back into popularity due perhaps in part to the competition footage from ULHS for 2004 which has reached so many dancers. It features spectacular dancing with a final dance-off between Frida Segerdahl and Jojo Jackson. They have distinctly different styles but remain firmly rooted with the jazz vernacular. Many solo charleston competitions to come would see the emulation of these world-class dancers.

With its growing popularity there has been a growing selection of dancers to watch and acquire different styles and feelings within solo charleston. Take the dance-off from ULHS 2006 between Max Pitruzella and Sharon Davis; it has a vastly different look from the almost gawky dance that we see in the 1920′s flappers; sharper, more athletic. Max is rhythmic and sharp with a definite urban edge while Sharon is softer and keeps to a more recognizable jazz repertoire.

Finally we have a whole new generation of dancers coming up where solo charleston is an integral part of their early dance education. This years Rhythmics Arts Festival solo charleston competition winner is a young girl named Brieaunna or Brianna from San Diego. Check her out here.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Swift from ULHS 2007.

American Lindy Hop Championships 2007

This years ALHC was held in the Westin hotel in Stamford, CT this past weekend. Unlike ULHS, ALHC prohibits the use of outside cameras to record footage of competitions and performances so there will unfortunately not be any video footage available until the DVD comes out. Alain has posted up a few bits which showcase some of the performances from ALHC though, including a video of myself with Joanna Lucero in the Strictly Lindy.

It was the 10th year of ALHC and so it was billed as a special event with Frankie Manning attending, a special performance by Minnie’s Moochers in honor of their groundbreaking routine to “Love Me or Leave Me”, and a bit of hype. Unfortunately it didn’t seem to live up to its full potential. There were no ceremonies honoring Frankie Manning, Norma Miller or Dawn Hampton (who were all in attendance) or a talk which I would have found fascinating (unless I missed it somehow). Additionally I heard a slew of complaints regarding the hotel service, which was unfortunate since the hotel seemed quite nice.