Last Sunday I was hired to DJ the breaks for the Steve Lord 18 piece Big Band that played at Vibz Uptown in Hartford, CT. It got me to thinking about the Big Band scene – or rather, the lack thereof.
Why do we not (or not get to) dance to Big Bands that often? Perhaps it is that organizing a dance with a Big Band and really pulling it off takes immense planning, more money, better sound systems, grander halls – that usually our local Lindy scenes cannot afford.
Who are the Big Bands in CT, or in the country in general that we present day Lindy Hoppers would really relish dancing to? How and where do we find them? Are there many Big Bands whose music we can access beyond the recording studios and big concert halls? Are they simply the survivors and alumni of the Big Bands over the decades that used to be led by all time legends such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington and their ilk? Are there newer big bands that are unfettered by the past, yet can beat out juicy dancey tunes? What could a ‘new Big Band’ sound be like? Personally, I like bands that manage the vintage sound while at the same time sound new and fresh. Of the newer bands that satisfy this criteria, I feel the Boilermaker Jazz Band, Loose Marbles and their break away Baby Soda Jazz Band, Cangelosi Cards much deserve their acclaim within the Lindy community. Of course these are smaller, tighter units. I am hoping there could be Big Bands that can mirror their success and musical accomplishment. Or do you think the newer big bands ought not deviate much from the timeless music and arrangements of the Swing era?
There’s definitely something very vibrant, chaotic yet harmonious about a big band that appeals to me. For example, as a dancer I like the opportunity to keep switching what instrument I am listening to (That is, using that instrument for inspiration to create moves or dictate the ‘feel’ of the dance that moment). On the music side, it must be a challenge making sure that all parts of the group come together well and then manage to sound greater than the sum of its parts. If you play for dancers, then there’s yet another dimension to worry about.
Are there fantastic big bands in your area you’d like to recommend? Would you want to dance to a big band? Have you been to such an event – what was your experience like?
My friend Adam, (who with his wife Camille run the excellent Lindy League of Western Mass) picked up on my saying that I felt ‘on’ all weekend in my Boston Tea Party post. He wanted to know what I thought that meant. I thought it’s a good concept to blog about – most Lindy hoppers seem more satisfied with their dancing when they are ‘on’.
For people who have been dancing awhile, it should not be a big mystery. Another friend, Chris, from Albany summarized it as “…having (a) good connection with your partner, dancing to the music, timing your moves in sync with the music and your partner..”. I think I can safely say that most people would more or less agree with him, although I can see that feeling ‘on, may mean slightly different things to different Lindy hoppers.
For me, it means feeling comfortable. You know how teachers say, ’dance with your entire body’? That’s what it means to me. I feel ‘on’ when my entire body moves as one to the music, and with my partner. It means listening to your partner, catching on to what they are trying to do and responding in time to it, especially if they hear something in the music and want to express it, and want me to go along with them. It means being comfortable enough that my mind and body can listen – really listen to each song, sense the rhythms and beats in it at an early point and be able to move to it (no matter what the tempo) appropriately. Catch the nuances in the song – catch what the ‘feeling’ in it is and then let my body move organically to them. Another thing I have noticed when I feel ‘on’ is – regardless of the tempo of the song, I seem to have so much time during the song that I can create my moves in advance and really fill out my movements to the music and . So I suppose at various levels it is indeed about being comfortable with your dancing. And being connected – with yourself, to the music, to your partner, to the floor in general.
At the end of the day, it is more personal than that. It is one of those things what you seek in a dance, and in an entire dance evening in general.
What does being or feeling ‘on’ mean to you?
And how to become one of those people that are ‘on’ most of the time?
Just take more workshops and lessons? Do a lot of social dancing? Naturally, more ability and more experience on the floor gives one more confidence in our own dancing. Get more familiar with music? That allows us to ‘play more’ with the music Keep fit? That will physically allow us to be more adept at handling higher tempos, not to say we get tired later rather than sooner! I suppose a bit of all the above. But for me, it’s also being relaxed enough at the beginning of an evening to really soak the whole thing in!
Thoughts?
May the ‘on’ be with you!
The Boston Tea Party is a national level swing dance event that encompasses workshops, competitions and fantastic social dancing. It’s a pretty ‘big’ event – and really kicks off the Spring for dancers and most people become regulars once they attend one. There’s West Coast swing, Lindy Hop and Balboa and as of the past 2 years, we have had the hugely successful Crossover room where people can dance to Soul music as well. The emergence of all that – and further history of the Tea Party – are best left to other bloggers or to a later blog, but that should be enough of an introduction to the event.
This was my third Tea Party and my favourite so far. It had almost everything I crave for in a dance event: really good workshops that gave me ideas to work on, fantastic social dancing, me feeling ‘on’ all weekend, the company of dance friends I have made from the US and Canada, watching high energy competitions and finally, the feeling that I competed well, myself. I think this would be a great event to start this blog off from.
Before I go into actual details, I wonder if anyone else feels that each Tea Party seems to have certain ‘theme’ to it: in the kind of music played for the dance evenings, in the workshops, in the kind of moves seen in the Invitational Jack and Jills – that seem to set a tone for the rest of the year. For instance, in the 2006 Tea Party, so many workshops were focussed around Tandem Charleston moves. In 2007, we seemed to have the ‘fast music’ theme: and the workshops were based on dancing to fast music and sure enough, the general tempo of music in the Lindy room was fast. Both years, the other events I subsequently went to, mirrored these things.
This year, on the music side, Artie Shaw seemed to be a favorite. The songs the DJs seemed to favor were his trademark punchy, driven songs that are overlayed with Artie Shaw’s typical vibrant clarinet playing. Songs like ‘Everything is Jumpin’ were played a lot, but the DJs seemed to eschew the more frantic ‘Traffic Jam’, ‘Carioca’, ‘Man from Mars’ that are the usual jam circle suspects. That seemed to me to be a feature of most songs played over the weekend: the songs were fast and pulsey, had a strong beat yet seemed suited more for the social floor than a jam circle, as perhaps was the case this year. I must say, in particular I enjoyed the sets Naomi Uyama played.
On the instruction side, I felt instructors in several workshops seemed to be keen to talk about ‘rhythm and syncopation’. It is a very neat idea on several levels. One can of course, just dance to the music, obey it, so to speak, as it plays. But just as jazz musicians like to fit improvisations, and different phrasings within each 8-beats, dancers ought to be able to create space for themselves within that framework. They should be able to take varied moves and movements and fit them inside the space of the 8-count. The easiest example, of course, is executing a little kick-ball-change within a 2-count. There are several variations thereof as well. That is an example of taking a small time-space, just 2 beats and filling it with something that goes by relatively faster. Kevin St. Laurent and Emily Hoffberg talked about this in one of the Friday workshops. Peter Strom and Ramona Staffeld on the other hand, chose to fill in quicker 8-count with moves that seem to (over)flow the 8 count. The move they chose to illustrate the point with quick stop on 5, then a seemingly long flowy turn of the follower.
I am looking forward to incorporating these ideas into my dancing – not just these moves, but the ideas and possibilities they can provide. It shall help to not just complement the music, but pay more attention to it and then being inventive within the phrases while staying in its overall frame. Isn’t that what jazz musicians do? So it makes sense as dancers who dance to swing and jazz music to do the same.
