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Challenge #8: Put Some Backbone Into It
So last week’s challenge, about softening your gaze, was amazingly helpful to me! I found that when I was keeping my head up and looking more-or-less at my partner, without staring anywhere in...
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Leading Lady
When I was just starting out dancing, I was terrified to ask guys to dance, and I was terrified if they asked me. I wasn’t so terrified with the guys in my little East Coast Swing class; I knew they...
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The Trouble With Switching Roles
I got so disgusted with my leading last night. See, here’s the problem… Normally, I’m a follow. So when I try to lead things, if the person following me doesn’t follow me just perfectly, I tend to...
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As Always, a Question of Shoes
My struggle with learning to lead continues. I’m making deals with myself about how many times a night I have to ask a girl to dance. And I’ve gotten to the point where I now have a small, select group...
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We’re Doing This All Wrong
I’m becoming more and more convinced that there’s something fundamentally wrong with the way we as a dance culture approach the process of learning and teaching Lindy Hop. Specifically, the issue I’m...
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Who’s Driving This Thing?
Have you ever had a dance like this? Last night I was dancing with this kid who also leads and follows. We were switching off roles, experimenting with cutesy ways of getting into and out of a lead or...
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Footwork Variations
As promised, here are the notes from the workshop Mindy and I taught on Sunday: First, we discussed the difference between a weight change and an axis change. A weight change can be limited to just the...
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Dancing Slow
Thursday we had a band, and it was fine and nice and everything, but there was this problem. See, they insisted on playing different tempos. In our scene we have an extremely high percentage of swing...
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