I'm going to Lindy Focus for the first time and very excited. Would love to hear what your experiences have been! Any suggestions of things not to miss?

Also I have booked a hotel room from the 26th to 2nd and am looking for someone else to share the room with. I'm a flexible on dates so if you won't be there the whole time no problem! :)

I’ve been dancing as a follow for 2 years, currently taking intermediate lindy classes and beginner balboa classes. I want to learn to lead (lindy) but I’m also interested in solo jazz.

(Time wise) It would be difficult to learn to lead and practice solo jazz, on top of lindy and bal (as a follow). I also practice outside of class when I can.

What has been your journey? Should I learn to lead lindy or focus on solo jazz first?

I’ve been dancing for ten years, but most of that was only as a follow. I’ve taken some of the pre-dance beginner lessons as a lead, but they always cover the same three moves. I’d like to take the level two class as a lead to get better at the connection part, but my repertoire of moves right now is too low. Any tips on how leads who didn’t start by taking lessons learned moves, or from follows who then learned how to lead would be appreciated.

End of December/beginning of January. Can’t find anything on SwingPlanIt sadly. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated, thank you 🙏🏻

I'm wondering if anyone feels like they've benefitted from swing dancing to non-swing music, and if so, why?

I have a playlist of difficult and weird music that I think of as my 'advanced practice' songs. Most of it is jazz or blues, but I added a couple modern songs in 12/8 because I thought it might be interesting to practice to them. I assumed I would get some insight from trying it out, but whenever I've danced to those songs, the only thing I learn is that I don't like dancing to those songs.

Does anybody feel differently?

The featured couple at the end are particularly interesting - first off, there's the big swoopy leader's spin favoured by Dean Collins (although I'd put my money on that being a move he learned in New York).

They also break into collegiate shag double-rhythm basic at the end - I don't think I've ever seen an African-American couple dancing shag in period footage! If you know any others please link them below, I'd be very interested to see them.

Hey r/swingdancing!

I’ve been watching ILHC Europe videos for ideas and inspiration, and I came across this move from the winning couple of the Advanced Strictly. I was wondering—do you think this is something that works for social dancing, or is it more of a choreographed thing?

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd8eeH6PMZI

I’m thinking about training it but not sure if it would translate well to social dancing. I’d love to hear what more experienced dancers think!

Thanks!

Looking for gift ideas for my 68 year old father who has really gotten into west coast swing over the past 8+ years. He dances 2-3 times a week.

He’s talked about wanting to listen to more songs, but I’m not super up on what songs to dance to. Or if there are any other things you might need going from beginner to intermediate level

Thanks!

Hi! First post here. I've been dancing for more or less 10 years, I regularly take training dance classes, I teach with my partner and I also help my teacher with his other classes because leaders are often less than followers in my city (and I know it's the same in many other cases). I recently went to a festival with dance classes and dancing parties at night, with national and international teachers from around Europe (I'm from Italy). I really like dancing and I think I'm fairly good at leading but I'm shy and insecure. I always think "What if my partner feels uncomfortable?" "What if that smile or that 'thank you' is not so sincere?" "What if that teacher has been dancing non-stop for the last 10 songs and would catch a breathe but is not willing to refuse?" "What if I'm not as good as the other leaders?" And so the evening goes on, I sometimes dance with the followers I know from my school or other followers I met at classes, but I don't dance much. Is there someone else who has these kind of feelings? How do you cope with that?

I stopped wearing bras many years ago, but I still wear them to dance because I don't want to make any of my dance partners uncomfortable. But it makes me physically uncomfortable - I hate the way they feel so much!! How do you feel when you are dancing with a partner and you realize they aren't wearing one? Does it matter if you wind up in close embrace or not? Is a thin cotton sports bra enough, or should it have cups/structure?

Hello! I'm going to Istanbul from this Thursday 28th November to Sunday 1st December and would love to go to a social or two in the city. A couple of my Turkish friends have said there's a bit of a scene which I'd love to explore. I'm an intermediate swing dancer in London and have been dancing for over 9 years so I'm quite used to socials. Thanks so much in advance!

Hi! I'm going to be visiting Korea (Busan and Seoul) and Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh) soon, and would like to find some social dancing while I'm there. I know there are scenes in all of those cities but I haven't found any days or venues for where social dances happen.

I looked at some old posts in this subreddit but the links they had don't work any more.

Thanks in advance!!

"Charles Mingus used to say about me, Roy Haynes, you don't always play the beat, you suggest the beat…The beat is supposed to be there, anyhow, within you, within everybody that's there, once the tempo is established, everybody who's on. You don't have anybody waving a stick at you, or counting for you — that beat is supposed to be in you. Sometimes I figure if it's there, you just accompany the person. You don't have to say “one-two-three-four,” you're playing should say that with whatever you're doing, it should just be there. So sometimes I leave that and play around it." Roy Haynes

When dancing, sometimes I feel we forget: this is the goal. The beat should be inside us, locked in, and we are merely accompanying the musical interpretation of that reality.

Too often I hear… “This band doesn’t have a beat…” When objectively speaking they do.

Typically the issue is, the listener/dancer hasn’t learned to find “the beat, they’ve learned to “follow” the beat in certain mediums.

So I was watching ILHC videos, and I came across this video. It's the second place winner of the ILHC ProAm Leads. One of the Youtube comments pointed something out that I thought was weird and unfair:

Is Sean getting favouritism to get an exception and be an Am in this comp? Like he competed and won the All-Star Draw this year. Why would anyone spend all that money to travel to NYC and try to do Pro-Am, when they'd just get crushed by actual All-Stars pretending to be "Am." This is seriously taking away opportunities from someone else who could've been in finals and for whoever got 4th to get a podium spot.

For reference, Sean Vitale competed and won All-Star Draw the same year. And according to ILHC rules:

This is a social dance, strictly competition. The Amateur will dance with a Pro dancer. Only the amateur will be judged. Pros are dancers who are competing in All-Star or higher level divisions at ILHC 2024 or who teach Lindy Hop as their main occupation.

If you are competing in All-Star or higher level divisions at ILHC 2024, or teach Lindy Hop as your main occupation, you CANNOT compete as an Amateur in the Pro-Am contest.

It's just an interesting (and rough) look at sandbagging and levelling in high level comps.

Did you guys catch this year's Advanced Draw at Europe's ILHC? I haven’t enjoyed watching a draw like that in ages... The slow spotlight on the couple that took first place makes me wanna DANCE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqy2i0L3qLY

It felt like the overall vibe in both the Advanced Draw and Strictly was super chill and supportive. I loved it. Did anyone here go to the event this year and think it’s worth recommending? I’m thinking about going next year after watching all the videos.

Hi! So, I registered for that workshop and even dared to go for advanced level. Thrilled, excited but also a bit terrified.

Can somebody share what to expect? May be give some tips on how to prepare, I have about 2 months for it.

Thank you

My college just had their last lesson for Swing Dance till 2025. What should I do to maintain my skill if I have no one to dance with?

My gf (27F) and I (28M) met at our local dance scene, we've been together for about a year now. From the beginning of our relationship, she's already expressed a certain level of insecurities in relationship, she told me she liked me but was afraid to get closer because she fears being abandoned. I didn't think it was a big issue, we both continued to invest in our relationship, and the first few months were really happy.

Her insecurities resurfaced when we start to practice for competition. I've been dancing a bit longer than she has, so I'd give her some feedback on her steps, but she always gets very upset when I do so, because she interprets them as me not wanting to dance with her. This caused several serious fights over the three months of practice.

And our approaches to dancing are the complete oppsosite, I like to focus on inner feeling and connection with music, and she focuses on whether her steps are "correct" and "pretty". It's hard for us to feel connected during dance. I tried to tell her that you should feel happy when you dance and practice, and if you're torturing yourself over "correctness", that makes the whole dance thing pointless, but she struggles to see it that way.

But that's all in the past, here comes our biggest challenge. A few days ago, I was invited to teach at our local scene, I'm thrilled to have this opportunity, but she got very upset again because I'll be teaching with other people, not her. She again feels about to be abandoned. "I feel that you will never dance with me again", she said. This led to another fight.

Despite all her insecurities, she's a lovely and kind person, we are fit in another aspect of life, and I don't want to give up on this relationship. But now she's making me to choose between her and dance. I'm out of ideas on what to do, I'd like to hear some advice from you guys.

Edit: thank you guys so much for your thoughts, they're really helpful and reflective.

Hey Taipei dancers! I'll be in Taiwan (and mostly in Taipei) for the next 80 days, and I'm looking forward to doing lots of dancing. I've heard the scene is good (or at least better than Tokyo / Hong Kong), but beyond that I know nothing.

What are the big schools, and where are the popular socials? Any etiquette I should be aware of (I've only danced in Europe before)? Am I likely to find anyone that speaks English?, teachers for example? These are some of the questions going through my mind, and a big thanks in advance to anybody who can help me with some of them!

I am dancing swing as a Hobby and I am looking for shoes. I don’t like the professional leather shoes. I would feel more comfortable with sneakers but the are usually sticking and not sliding on the floor. Do you have any ideas or recommandations?

I(F18) am very extroverted and confident person, but when it comes to dancing i become really tense and stressed. I have no idea what to do on the floor. I want to go enjoy parties and dances. I also have school dance upcoming and I can't miss it. Im really afriad that I will bring awkwardness. What can I do to feel better? What should I learn?

In my city (with multiple places to social dance every week), I noticed that mainly mid tempo songs are played. Sometimes slower songs and sometimes faster songs are played: which then many default to dancing balboa if appropriate OR taking out triple steps when dancing fast lindy.

I recently danced abroad in a city in Asia and noticed the opposite: mainly faster tempos were played, with less slow/mid tempo songs.

I’m trying to improve my fast lindy dancing. And in a private lesson, the instructor encouraged me to triple step for now, to help build up my stamina for faster tempos. This has really helped me so far, especially for things like fast and controlled swingouts.

Curious…

1. What tempos are the norm in your city?
2. Do people tend to default to removing triple steps during faster songs?
3. Are people comfortable lindy dancing at fast tempos?