Welcome to the Romance of Dance, with platinum-selling swing artist, Cherry Poppin' Daddy.
Swing dance instructors, Evan Jacobson and Noel Galang.
And now, here's your host, Nancy Hayes.
Hi, I'm Nancy Hayes.
In this program, you'll be learning about the hottest partner dance in America today,
the swing.
Here's a preview of the fun that's in store and the steps that you'll be learning to the
music of the Righteous Swing Band.
Looked at the clock, the clock struck one, me and my daddy had just begun, my man he
rocks me with a steady roll.
Looked at the clock, the clock struck two, I said daddy, me and you, my man he rocks
me with a steady roll.
Looked at the clock, three, four, I said daddy, won't you give me more, oh, rock me with a
steady roll.
Looked at the clock, five, six, seven, my man took me straight to heaven.
Looked at the clock, the clock struck eight, I said daddy, don't be late, oh, rock me with
a steady roll.
Looked at the clock, the clock struck nine, I said daddy, now you're right on time, rock
me with a steady roll.
Looked at the clock, the clock struck ten, I said daddy, tell me when, oh, tell me, oh,
tell me, you can thrill me daddy, oh, you thrill me daddy, rock me, rock me, rock me with a
steady roll.
Looked at the clock, three, four, I said daddy, won't you give me more, oh, rock me with a
steady roll.
Looked at the clock, the clock struck nine, I said daddy, don't be late, oh, rock me with
a steady roll.
Looked at the clock, the clock struck nine, I said daddy, now you're right on time, oh,
rock me with a steady roll.
Looked at the clock, three, four, I said daddy, won't you give me more, oh, rock me with a
steady roll.
Looked at the clock, three, four, I said daddy, don't be late, oh, rock me with a steady roll.
I'm going to show you how to transfer this rhythm into your feet.
As a leader, we will always begin with our left foot, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick,
quick, slow, slow, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right.
As a follower, I'm beginning on my right foot and I'm going right, left, right, left, right,
left, right, left, quick, quick, slow, slow, right, left, right, left.
Now we're going to change that step up for a little bit.
That first step is going to actually be taken now straight back and this is called a rock
step.
This first step, straight back with our left foot.
Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right.
The pattern still stays the same.
Now as a follower, again, I'm going to begin with my right foot and just bring it back,
rock step.
I continue to do my side to side the same and remember your rock step goes straight
back unlike other dances where you step forward.
So again, rock step, side, side, right, left, right, left, rock step, side, side.
Now if you notice, we're not dancing together yet.
In order to dance with each other, we need to establish a lead and follow relationship
and this is very important.
Consider the lead and follow relationship a conversation that happens between us.
She'll be listening and I will be talking and we want to speak loud and clear.
We will be speaking through our hands so you don't want to offer her a little bit of your
hand, you want to offer her a large part of your hand.
Now that rock step, it's leadable.
We actually lead that step and how do we do that?
I want to give her a push, a definitive push, not a touch because she's not going to go
anywhere.
I'm actually going to give her enough push to send her momentum backwards.
Now she's going to be following with a frame and when I give that push, I let her travel
to the end of her frame, she's going to be stopping herself with her fingers and she'll
move her momentum forward, hence a rock step.
Now to add this with our actual steps, I'm going to deliver a push, push, side, side,
push, side, side, rock step, side, side, rock step, side, side.
Now to follow this, I need a frame and this is to us the most important part of the dance
because you could do these steps all day long but you still wouldn't be dancing with someone.
I'd be dancing but holding hands.
So my frame is going to be a little bit stiff.
I want to have him push on my hand and move my body.
So I can't have jelly arms, no jelly arms.
We're going to keep it kind of stiff.
You're going to bring your arms forward and away from your body, keeping your forearm
parallel to the ground.
You're going to open up your hand all the way so that there's a palm to push on.
And you're going to bring your fingers all the way over so there's something to pull
on.
Now you have to keep this all the time because if you stop keeping your frame for any moment,
you stop following.
That's how I go back and forth for the rock step.
He pushes and then my fingers pull me back.
Now to put this all together with a lead and follow, rock step, side, side.
Rock step, side, side.
And you notice that when I did my side-sides, I didn't move my hands back and forth.
That's not why we call it swing.
No.
By the miracle of nature, my arms are attached to my body.
So when I move to side to side, my arms travel with me.
I don't dance like this.
If you do that, laugh.
Yes.
Okay.
So again, we're following and leading.
I'm responding to what he's making me do by pushing me, bringing me back, and from side
to side.
Push, stop, side, side, push, stop, side, side.
Okay.
Now that's the basic open step, but there's still something missing.
We need to have our official swinger posture.
Now it's pretty important.
It not only gives you the swinger style, but as you learn to do different moves and different
turns, it'll help you keep your balance.
Now what we're going to do is we're going to place our feet shoulder-width apart.
We're going to actually be on the balls of our feet.
We're not going to have our heels on the ground.
Now you're going to bend your knee, not too much.
You don't want to be doing deep knee bends.
And you're just going to kind of cover the toe with your knee.
Then you're going to lean forward from the hips or the waist.
And you should feel a little bit off balance.
When you feel off balance, you know that you've got this part so far.
When you feel off balance, you're going to anchor yourself by sticking your backside
out.
Okay.
Little weapon.
And this will help you, like I said, keep your balance and keep your weight forward,
like when you do the rock step.
And this is also very different from other types of dancing, such as ballroom, which
is very formal, and tango and Latin dances, which are very sexy.
Okay.
So this is more of a silliness.
This gives the swing element, this gives style and makes the dance happen.
Now also be aware that you want to bend from the hip and not from the shoulder to slouch.
And if you keep yourself erect and you do everything else, you get the effect of sitting
on a ledge, which isn't the swinger's style at all.
It should be kind of a relaxed kind of pose.
Now that you got the style and the step, we're going to give you a turn.
The first turn we're going to go through is the inside turn or the she goes, because she
gets to go.
So this is what it looks like.
Rock step, side, side, quick, quick, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow.
So if you notice the she goes, we actually switch places.
And we're going to lead that, leaders.
Now what we're going to do is form a J shape with our hands.
Rock step, and the rock step, I'm going to drop my right hand and just lead it with my
left.
Pull her forward.
That begins her stepping forward.
And that last hook in the J, she begins to turn her body.
Now she's going to be coming straight at us.
So we're not going to want to charge forward.
We're going to take a rock step and step a little bit off to the side, allowing her the
lane to pass through with the turn.
Followers, I'm going to be taking my rock step and then stepping forward on my right
foot.
To demonstrate this together, rock step, slow, slow.
Rock step, slow.
Okay, from another angle.
From this angle here.
Rock step, slow, slow.
Rock step, slow.
You'll notice that my frame is still in the same place.
If I were an action figure, my arm would move just like this.
That's the idea that you want to go for.
Your arms can't move out this way.
Okay.
Now that was the hard part.
The easy part, if leaders did their jobs right, you have given her enough momentum to carry
the turn all the way through.
And all we have to do at this point, at this moment now, is at that step, since our weight
is now on our left foot, all we have to do is pivot and face her.
Her hand's going to be right there to come around.
We're just going to grab it and rock step.
So one more time.
Rock step, slow, slow.
Rock step.
Notice your beat, your rock step, slow, slow, is still there.
We've got a pattern all the time.
Quick, quick, slow, slow.
My footstep is rock step, right, left.
We can do it a couple times.
Basic, side, side.
Rock step, slow, slow.
Basic, side, side.
Rock step, slow, slow.
Remember to drop that hand, leaders.
And pull with a J, because this is not a lead.
I think I might want to jump if you did that, maybe.
Jump.
Right.
Okay.
Frankie and Johnny were sweethearts, lordy but highly good-loved, swore to be true to
each other, true as the stars above.
He was her man, but he was doing her wrong.
Frankie went round the corner to get a bucket of beer, said to the man called the bartender,
hey, have you seen my Johnny here?
He's my man, but he's been doing me wrong.
Ain't going to tell you no stories.
Ain't going to tell you no lies.
I saw your man, Johnny, about an hour ago with that gal named Nellie Bly.
He's your man, but he's been doing you wrong.
Frankie went round to that hot joint, brought along a great big 44, went inside, and there
she spied her Johnny on the floor.
He was her man, but he was doing her wrong.
Oh, turn me over, Frankie, turn me over slow, turn me over on my right side, Frankie.
Why did you shoot so low?
You were my man, and you've done me wrong.
Okay.
The next dance we're going to do is called the Charleston.
The Charleston is a lot of fun to do.
It was originally done on the docks of Charleston, South Carolina, hence the name, and it was
done to ragtime and really fast, jazzy rhythms.
You'll notice that it's a real traveling, really bouncy, fun step.
I'm going to have Noel do the leaders part first, and then I'm going to step in to show
the followers what they do.
Now, we're going to start off just like we did earlier.
We're going to start with a rock step with our left foot that's right, surprise.
Rock step, kick step, kick, kick step, and then we start again.
Rock step, kick step, kick, kick step, rock step, kick step, kick, kick step.
Leaders, I'm going to say which foot you're on.
Left, right, left, right, right, down, left, right, left, down, right, right, down.
Now, each of those steps is two counts, except for the rock step, which is one count for
each foot, one, two.
Now, followers, we're just the opposite of them.
Of course, we're still starting on our right foot, and we're going to do a rock step, kick
step, kick, kick step, and then we begin again.
Rock step, kick step, kick, kick step.
Now, calling out what foot you're on, right, left, right, step, left, left, step, right,
left, right, step, left, left, step.
Let's do them together.
Okay.
Now, leaders, we're going to begin with our left foot.
Followers with our right.
Five, six, seven, eight, rock step, kick step, kick, kick step, rock step, kick step, kick,
kick step.
Stay on your toes and put a little bounce into it, and you're actually moving back and
forth.
You want to look like you're going somewhere, and as soon as you feel comfortable, start
waving your arms with it.
And let them wave naturally.
If your left foot is forward, your right hand is forward, and if your right foot is forward,
your left hand is forward.
Now, once you get this bounce and this arm swaying, to add that style, remember that
swinger posture, now you really get the effect that you're running.
Okay, again, the count, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Now, you can have a little fun with this.
You don't have to kick all the time.
Remember, you have two counts with each one.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
You can have a little fun by adding a little style.
What I like to do is on this kick, I like to step, hold it for two counts, come back
for that kick.
So, it looks like this.
Rock step, kick step, hold, kick step.
And when I hold, I like to throw my arms up in the air, rejoice.
Now, followers, we can mimic that same step.
It's pretty fun to do.
The leaders are doing it on their right, correct?
On their right foot, that's correct.
And followers will be doing it on our left foot.
And again, it's just down.
You don't want to stomp too hard.
You'll end up hurting your feet, right?
So, you just kind of hold that pose for two counts and then back.
Let's try it.
Five, six, seven, eight.
Rock step, kick step, hold, back step.
Alright, and another way to style this is I like to call the sweep.
Remember those two counts?
Instead of just kicking it out, add a little shape.
Sweep, kick step.
Rock step, kick step, sweep, kick step.
And from this angle, rock step, kick step, sweep, kick step.
Rock step, kick step, sweep, kick step.
And again, followers, we can mimic the same step.
And you can make your sweep in any number of shapes.
You can either sweep out like this.
I like to sweep like this.
There are all kinds of things you can do with it.
So, let's try that one.
Five, six, seven, eight.
Rock step, kick step, sweep, back step.
Sweep, kick step, rock step, kick step, sweep, kick step.
Now, just in case you're getting confused or anything, followers, I'm going right, left,
right, left, left, right, left, right, left, left.
And leaders, left, right, left, right, right, left, right, left, right, right.
One of the mantras I like to use, because we like to stick with these mantras, is a
rock step, kick step, double kick.
Because if you notice, we're doing two kicks on one foot.
Rock step, kick step, double kick.
And you start singing it, and so you get that Charleston feeling.
Okay, another fun thing to do is move around with your Charleston.
Now, you can do that in a number of ways.
The easiest, of course, would be to actually just change your direction.
You might want to try doing that a little bit.
And as soon as you feel comfortable with that, we can start moving on complete angles.
We can actually change our direction 100% completely.
We're going to, for example, rock step, kick step, and on the double kick, we can turn.
It seems a little crazy at first, but try it out a couple times.
We're going to rock step, kick step, kick, kick step.
Now, what helps with that little mantra I said earlier, double kick?
Rock step, kick step, double kick.
That way you don't forget that you're going to have to kick twice with one leg.
Or if you want to count it, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Let's try it a couple times slow.
Okay.
All right.
Five, six, seven, eight.
Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Rock step, kick step, double kick, and a rock step, kick step, double kick.
Okay.
And still the same thing applies for your feet.
We're going to call it out for followers.
Right, left, right, left, left, and a right, left, right, left, left.
Leaders, left, right, left, right, right, and a left, right, left, right, right.
Please keep in mind staying on your toes, keeping that bounce, and swaying your arms
naturally.
It makes it a lot of fun to do.
This is a really good step, like I said, for fast songs, because one of our favorite things
to do when we're being silly is do the slow Charleston.
This is very silly.
So, Charleston.
So, we like to keep it fast.
Okay.
It's a lot more fun.
Now, that's another way you can do Charleston is with a partner.
Now, what you do want to keep, side to side leaders, keep a firm grip on her hip, because
if you're doing this and you're bouncing around a lot, you want your partner flying around
all over the place.
So, keep her tight.
Keep a firm grip.
That way I get lots of information about where he is.
I know if he's going backwards or forwards, and it's easy to stay in the same beat as
him.
Now, he's got his hand actually on my hip bone.
You don't really want to take the waist area.
You might tickle her.
Right.
So, keep it on the hip.
His other hand goes right on his shoulder, and the way we start off is.
Now, leaders, remember that rock step in the beginning, how you gave her that push back?
This time you got your whole connection here.
You got her whole body.
So, when you do that rock step, you bring her back with you.
When you take that first step, she can feel you moving forward.
Can you feel me moving you back and forth?
I can feel you moving me back and forth.
That's called leading.
You're such a good leader.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Okay.
So, what I'm doing is I'm doing my regular step, and we're still mirror image, because
I'm still starting with my rock step on my right foot.
He's still starting with his on his left.
So, we create this nice mirror image just back and forth, and he can still move me around
in this position too.
We can go in a circle.
And those little style steps before, if I want to lead her down, I just bring my body
down because of this connection.
We go down.
It's pretty fun.
It is.
It's pretty low.
And you can still wave your arm.
Okay.
And that's the basics of Charleston, both with a partner and without.
And now we can take a look at some of the style steps you can do to music.
Frankie and Johnny were sweethearts, Lordy but highly good-loved, swore to be true to
each other, true as the stars above, he was her man, but he was doing her wrong.
Frankie went round the corner to get a bucket of beer, said to the man called the bartender,
hey, have you seen my Johnny here, he's my man, but he's been doing me wrong.
Ain't gonna tell you no stories, ain't gonna tell you no lies, I saw your man Johnny about
an hour ago with that gal named Mellie Black, he's your man, but he's been doing you wrong.
Frankie went round to that hot joint, brought along a great big 44, went inside and there
she spied her Johnny on the floor, he was her man, but he was doing her wrong, oh turn
me over Frankie, turn me over slow, turn me over on my right side Frankie, why did you
shoot so low, you were my man and you done me wrong.
You know it's a lot of fun dancing, but it's also a lot of fun dressing up, now sometimes
we like to go out vintage style and Noel sometimes wears his zoot suit, this was tailor made
for him in Chicago by Zoot Chicago.
Notice the broad shoulders and the long flowing coat, great for doing spins in.
And I like to wear some of the fancier vintage dresses, they were more home fitting you know,
show off that girlish figure and as I wear them I like to do my big spins in my big flowy
dresses, the skirt comes way up, I get to show off my dance pants, always wear dance
pants underneath.
You know this is a lot of fun for going to the more, the more fancy dress up dance parties,
but we like when we go out to the clubs to dress a little more modern, we always like
to wear things that have nice lines, like I like these dancey pants and a lot of the
times I shop actually at dancewear stores, so you can dress modern, you can dress in
jeans, you can dress in vintage, but whatever you do, dress to show off who you are and
have fun with showing off your style, both dancing and dressing right?
That's right.
Yeah.
Noel's hat here by the way.
I have sacrificed my favorite fedora to get signed by the great Frankie Manning.
So already always keep it fun guys, I got a little tip for you, when picking out a vintage
tie have fun with it.
My favorite vintage tie, I like to wear it with my zoot suit, zoot pants come right up
to here, so I got what I call short fat ties, short fatties with, and I found it like this,
did not get it, did not make it like this, have it done with an end, so when I'm dancing
I'm super Noel.
And also guys, to save on that dry cleaning bill, I like to go ahead and wear a bowling
shirt because trust me, it gets expensive dry cleaning your shirt, dry cleaning your
suit and everything.
Bowling shirts are a lot of fun for guys and gals and you'll notice that in the rockabilly
community they do a lot of swing dancing too and they love the bowling shirt, so it
goes in all directions.
So I guess the theme to remember is just have fun.
Hi, I'm Tarrin Connor with the Scoop On Swing, I'm going to give you the low down on the
hippest bands, the coolest clubs, basically so you can walk the walk and talk the talk
because swing is all about attitude, confidence.
The hottest clubs include the one we're in today, the Liquid Lounge in Chicago, there's
also the Supper Club in New York, the Derby in LA, and the Highball Lounge in San Francisco.
Swing clubs vary and to find the one near you, you ought to check out your local papers.
Swing nights often include dance lessons and live music, check out these websites.
The big bands of today include Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Big Bad Voodoo
Daddy, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Royal Crown Revue.
There's also local favorites from town to town, Chicago's got the Mighty Blue Kings,
San Francisco's got Indigo Swing, and there's the band that you've been listening and practicing
to, Nancy Hayes and Righteous Swing.
These bands are fantastic, but they have a difficult time measuring up to the classic
legends like Benny Goodman, Louis Jordan, Count Basie, Louis Prima, and Duke Ellington.
Lindy Hoppers prefer these slower tempos because the rhythms give them the chance to show off
their moves and their attitude.
If you're looking for attitude and the gear to strike up, you ought to pick up an article
or a magazine, Swing Time.
This will give you a good idea of what clothes to wear to the clubs and what the QDs are
looking for.
But to fellas, if you learn how to move, you learn the moves, you'll realize girls love
to be twirled.
It's the truth.
They're going to see you having fun on the dance floor, they're going to want to join
in that fun, and with a little bit of luck, you'll be swinging all night long.
Now we're going to see some live footage from a very popular band, Cherry Poppin' Daddies,
with their international hit, Zoot Suit Riot.
Who's that whisperin' in the tree, it's two cities and they're all real, claps and shaves
and swinging hands, who's your daddy, he's right there.
Jack-Jack can play now, he can run fast enough, you can stay away when the pushin' is coming
in, Zoot Suit Riot, I told everybody right here, Zoot Suit Riot, I'm gonna come through
your head and bang it.
Zoot Suit Riot, I told everybody right here, Zoot Suit Riot, I'm gonna come through your
head and bang it.
The riot, to be loved and grown, baby, I love you.
Hey, go!
You're in a six-year riot.
So what's that?
What's that you're saying?
Today I was in a six-year riot.
So what's that?
What's that you're saying?
That's what's at all, you should say.
When you're down here, you're swaying.
I want to just sway you.
When you say, let's go, when you're home, come for love.
Choo-choo riot, riot, the whole bag of my little beer.
Choo-choo riot, riot, the whole of home, girl, go back here.
I'm all honed for the good man here.
You're a ZZ put it in.
The
Lindy Hop has a rich history. It's a more complicated dance than easy six count swing
or Charleston. But for those willing to put in the time to master the moves, Lindy Hopping
can become a passion. Here to tell us about Lindy's history is Nicole Wood.
The Lindy Hop is a dance born in the 1920s in Harlem. It's a dance that embodies creativity
and movement of all styles. You would six count East Coast swing, you would jitterbug,
you would Charleston, all at the Savoy Ballroom. Savoy Ballroom at the time cost about 17 cents
to get into and people would travel from all over New York City to meet with their friends
and their family and to enjoy themselves. Rumor has it that the Lindy Hop was named
after Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. A man by the name
of Shorty Snowden took that opportunity to name the dance the Lindy Hop after Lindbergh's
flight. Now in the 1940s and the 1950s as the music started to change, it became more
common to see more jitterbug and East Coast swing, still the Charleston of course, but
all of that out on the floor. During the time groups like Whitey's Lindy Hoppers would
still go out and perform across the country with or without bands entertaining the masses
with this amazing dance called the Lindy Hop. Now in the 1980s a group of people got together
and after viewing some vintage film footage decided that they were going to seek out some
of the stars of the Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. They found people such as Al Minns, Frankie
Manning and Norma Miller and they found these people and these people instructed them on
how to instruct more people in the style of the 1930s and 1940s Lindy Hop. The next dance
we're going to do is called the Lindy Hop. Now the Lindy Hop is the granddaddy of all
these dances. And the most fun if you ask me. Oh yeah, it's a lot of fun. And the funny
thing is these steps for the leader and the follower are drastically different so it takes
a while to learn sometimes so we're going to go slowly through the steps before we even
bring us together. I just want to emphasize that this is a difficult step so don't be
frustrated when you're trying to learn this. Watch it over and over, okay? Okay first I'd
like to give you a demonstration of the step. With a partner. With a partner. Now that's
just the basic. Very different from six count. Now leaders I want you to see it from this
angle here. Thank you. Now the rhythm of the step just like in six count it had its own
rhythm this has another rhythm and that rhythm is step, step, triple step, step, step, triple
step. Or to count. Or to count it. One, two, three and four, five, six, seven and eight.
And now what we do with this rhythm, this is where the difficult part happens. If you
seen when I was dancing with Evan she was moving in this straight line. As a leader
I serve basically as a door. I let her in, I let her out. So this is the footwork we
need to do in order to serve as a store to get out of her way so she can travel back
and forth in this line. One and two is pretty much the same. It's a rock step. But did you
notice? Here's this straight line that she's dancing through. At one and two I move out
of her way. Now she can come through to stand where I was. Three and four that triple step
because this is the step, step, step, step, step I'm going to get back in the lane. Triple
step. One more time. One, two, do you see me get out of there? Three and four. From
this angle. One, two, three and four. I'm moving my four over here. Five, six, seven
and eight. Now this is what it looks like put all together. Starting from my starting
point here. One, two, three and four. Five, six, seven and eight. Now I didn't move around
but I stayed in a small area so keep your eye on that. One, two, three and four. Five,
six, seven and eight. Now the follower has a really fun part. All the girls love this
dance because we get to twist twist. Now that's the one and two. The step by itself looks
like this. One, two, three and four. Five, six, seven and eight. One, two, three and
four. Right, left, right, left, right. Now from four, my weight is on my right foot,
my left foot is back just on the toe and my next step is going to be on my left foot.
So one, two, three and four. Five, six, seven and eight. I've traveled back out and my first
step five is straight forward. Six, I begin to pivot back in. I do a little cross and
then seven and eight I turn back kind of open toward my leader. So again from the four my
weight is on my right foot. One, two, three and four. Five, six, seven and eight. And
my weight ends up on my left foot. So all together five, six, seven, eight. One, two,
three and four. Five, six, seven and eight. Okay now if you notice we did count this a
few different times. These are the manchas we're talking about. The Lindy Hop is a very
difficult step and what really helps is get the rhythm in your head so that way if you're
lost you can get back where you're having problems. The one I like to use is step, step,
triple step, step, step, triple step. That's a very good one and keep on saying it to yourself
as you do the step. Okay now let's demonstrate it one more time how it looks like with a
partner. Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three and four. Five, six, seven and eight.
Now to get the full, full shot, full view. One, two, three and four. Five, six, seven
and eight. Remember how we said you need to get all the way around on three and four for
both partners? That's because as you notice I come in and then we do this thing called
a face off. The face off is the crux. It's the epitome of the Lindy Hop. It's the most
important part of it. This dance as I'm sure you'll notice is a very improvisational dance
when you watch some of the other people doing it. You'll notice that they always come back
to this but then they go out and they do all kinds of crazy stuff out here. Okay so we're
showing you your first variation which is for the followers twist, twist and for the
leaders a rock step. Once you feel comfortable with your face off you can kind of improvise
a little bit more when you're out there. The face off. Now for now leaders there's a kind
of feeling you want to have. Now pretend you're holding, you're hugging a tree. You got this
big huge tree you got there. Now drop this hand. With here notice when you actually hug
a tree your elbow is up, your hand is placed firmly and spread out. Now insert follow here.
Notice my hand is open up right there on her back and she kind of breathes in and it's
kind of like Velcro. She sticks right into there and we get a nice little firm connection.
This elbow remains up. This serves as a more of a connection. We can read each other very
well in this position. When you drop this elbow kind of like you kind of lose. You lose
your connection. So you want to keep your elbow up. Leaders in this position, leaders
in this position, my weight is on my left foot and my other hand just falls about waist
level and my followers arm just falls right into there. Followers, my hand is right on
his shoulder and I can see over his shoulder. I want to be able to see where I'm going next.
My hand is, my arm, I'm sorry, is resting right on his arm and my right hand falls into
his. Now if we turn around you'll notice that this is where you are at three and four so
my weight is on my right foot. My left foot is slightly back kind of on the toe and our
feet you'll notice are staggered. It goes his left, left foot, my right foot, his right
foot, my left foot. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And I'm kind of breathing back like he said
into his hand. I want to feel a nice strong connection back there. Okay so this is the
point that you want to hit every time when you come around for three and four. When you
hit this every time you can do whatever you want once you feel comfortable with it but
if you don't hit this and you're making your face off very sloppy it becomes very hard
to continue to dance through the rest of the beats. And you find that if you do the Lindy
and you don't hit this point you get very dizzy because the feeling you get is you're
just spinning around your partner and that is just an illusion. The dance is actually
done very linear. In slots. Yes, in slots. Now there's a saying in the Lindy community
and that saying is, real men let go on five. That's count five. Now if I did not let go
on count five, if you want to count this out, one, two, three, and four, five. Notice if
I didn't let go on five my partner turns. She'll get dizzy. Your endurance for this
dance will wear down. So to let go on five the trick is, on four is to keep on moving.
Now Lindy Hobbs is not done, stop, stop, stop, but has a nice constant flow and rhythm. So
on four I never stop. Four I keep on moving and when I take my fifth step my hand has
let go and now I'm a real man. Okay, so what we're going to do is demonstrate one through
four a couple times from different angles and we'll show you how we get around and face
off every time. Okay, five, six, seven, eight, one, two, three, and four. What from here?
Okay. Five, six, seven, eight, one, two, three, and four. Leaders, if you notice in that one,
two, I got this kind of feeling here, like I'm going bowling. This originally in the
Lindy Hop is a salute to your follower, like you're taking off your fedora, your hat and
letting your follower go through. It does have a function. When I do this one, two,
my hand is already out there to get her by four. I don't make contact until and four,
but until about four is the ideal time to make contact. Then we keep on moving and at
five I'm fully let go. Now followers, what I'm aiming to do is I want to put my back
into his arm. As we're coming together, I'm looking at where his arm is and that's part
of why I'm coming around the corner. I want to keep my shoulders square with him and just
put my back right into his hand. Now we're not facing off and being really close. There
is some distance between us. Let's do that a couple more times together. Five, six, seven,
eight. One, two, three and four. Let's do it from this side. Five, six, seven, eight.
One, two, three and four. Check and make sure when you do that that your feet, followers,
your weight is on your right foot, your left foot is slightly back and leaders. Your weight
is on your left foot and your right foot is slightly back. We've gone halfway through.
We're going to go halfway through and then take it through five through eight. Five,
six, seven, eight. One, two, three and four. Now at this opportunity, check your face off.
See, everything looks good. Now continue. Five, six, seven and eight. Try it again from
this angle. Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three and four. Check your face off.
My elbow was a little low so I fixed it right here. My feet were a little too close together.
And five, six, seven, eight. Okay, followers, when I walk away from him, my first step at
five is straight. And I don't begin turning back to him until six. I start to face him
a little bit and then by seven, eight, I've kind of made this nice open shape towards
him. You don't want to be like this. This can get a little weird staring at your partner
the entire time. Right? You want to open up a little. Make nice lines. And keep your frame
up the entire time, which will enable you to, when you do your twist, twist, it'll give
you a little attitude there. Sometimes you can wave it. Sometimes you can shake it. Whatever
you want to do. So, leaders, also please keep in mind all the elements that we discussed
earlier. Posture, posture, posture. On your toes, knees bent, bent from the hips. And,
your backside out. This adds flavor, life to the dance. And one of the beginning pitfalls
is triple stepping. Keep your triple stepping nice, light, and smooth. Take a distinct step
for each one. Actually change your weight. Yeah, change your weight. Don't just shuffle.
Pick up your feet. Triple step. This is what it looks like. You can tell the difference
right now if we don't, if we disregard all the elements we talked about earlier. It gets
a lot more stiff. You want to keep it really soft and fun and bouncy. Okay? So, after you've
done this for a little while and you feel like your face off is pretty good. You're
really making a nice squared off shape. You can begin to experiment. If you want to learn
more about Lindy and how to get more advanced, you can always check out your local clubs
and swing instructors. And you can also find some tapes at the end of the program. So,
we hope to see you out on the dance floor. Keep on practicing. And, smile, smile, smile.
Always keep smiling.
With a steady roll. Looked at the clock, the clock struck two. I said, Daddy, me and you,
my man in rocks made. With a steady roll. Looked at the clock, three, four. I said,
Daddy, won't you give me more. Rock me. With a steady roll. Looked at the clock, five,
six, seven. My man took me straight to heaven. Looked at the clock, the clock struck eight.
I said, Daddy, don't be late. Rock me. With a steady roll.
Now, if you've ever been to a swing nightclub, you've probably seen a group of dancers form
a circle and take turns going in the center, showing off their moves. So, now you can practice
the Lindy Hop steps you just learned or sit back and watch our experienced group of dancers
as they show off their stuff.
With a steady roll. Looked at the clock, the clock struck ten. I said, Daddy, won't you
from the
the
?