Are dancers musical tastes changing?

[la musette]

I consider Lindy more 'street dance' because, though there is sort of a standard basic and a unifying look and basic set of moves, we don't dance to meet specific requirements, there's no textbook on Lindy. There is no officially correct and supreme way to do Lindy. No one person or organization has the upper hand in telling us how to dance, and individuals still have the power to revolutionize this dance form.

On a social level, we are free to dance how we want, with influences coming constantly from tango, hip hop, salsa, jazz dance, whatever, as long as we maintain good connection. Lots of scenes have some local twist to them, like in Lousiana and Florida some of the dancers also do Zydeco so some dances incorporate both, or other places it's blues, etc. Where I am right now, west coast is popular among the younger set, so I've had to learn to follow a bit of west coast to understand the local dance 'accent'.

I think it is so COOL that we can pull influences from so many places. I think it's so cool when people are such good dancers that you can really challenge their boundaries with songs that aren't in the usual style. I think it's cool when we have regional 'accents' that make one scene different from the next. And if in some places that spawns new dances, then I think that's cool too and I want to learn them.

I think it's a crappy idea to put Lindy in a sterile display case and let it just sit there as a historical relic. Truely good dancers will not be content to let it sit there. We should never be FINISHED with Lindy. The book is not closed. In fact, if you compare Lindy to it's cousins Charleston, Balboa, and east coast, it is the most open to improvisation of all of them. Lindy is a pretty free-form dance when you get to a certain level.

I'm not worried about losing Lindy. Beginners will continue to come into the dance with the same beginning set of moves, and we should continue to appreciate and use the music that Lindy grew out of. But if someone hears a new song and thinks 'hey I bet I could dance to that' then I say GO FOR IT.

You say the 'window of evolution was opened and closed many moons ago' but if you think that, then you must not go dancing much. The lindy world is not a time capsule. We have fashion trends and music trends that come and go, just like the 'real world'. Some of our trends are borrowed from the past, but many come from the present. It is possible to welcome the future while still celebrating and honoring the past.

[GemZombie]

While I don't particularly like dancing to Soul music myself, I don't have a problem with people who do. I would prefer most of the music at an event I go to to be more on the Swing side of things.

John, I'm afraid that most regular dancers out there aren't going to sympathize with your stance. I don't think the occasional non-swing song is diluting my (our) dancing, I'm doing just fine.

[CafeSavoy]

Disgusting. It's like bringing your wife and your whore to the same place and trotting out your whore for part of the night. No respect for the wife who is the corner stone of the relationship. In this instance the wife is Swing music.

You are equating soul music with a whore?

[Eyeball]

I consider Lindy ..... It is possible to welcome the future while still celebrating and honoring the past.

Well then - we have very divergent points of view.

Such is life.

Thanks for the post!

[Eyeball]

While I don't particularly like dancing to Soul music myself, I don't have a problem with people who do. I would prefer most of the music at an event I go to to be more on the Swing side of things.

John, I'm afraid that most regular dancers out there aren't going to sympathize with your stance. I don't think the occasional non-swing song is diluting my (our) dancing, I'm doing just fine.

That's Okeh, Jesse. That's life, I guess.

[Eyeball]

Disgusting. It's like bringing your wife and your whore to the same place and trotting out your whore for part of the night. No respect for the wife who is the corner stone of the relationship. In this instance the wife is Swing music.

You are equating soul music with a whore?

No. I was equating most any non-Swing music used for Lindy dancing as the whore.

[CafeSavoy]

Disgusting. It's like bringing your wife and your whore to the same place and trotting out your whore for part of the night. No respect for the wife who is the corner stone of the relationship. In this instance the wife is Swing music.

You are equating soul music with a whore?

No. I was equating most any non-Swing music used for Lindy dancing as the whore.

This your perspective as a lindy dancer?

[Eyeball]

You are equating soul music with a whore?

No. I was equating most any non-Swing music used for Lindy dancing as the whore.

This your perspective as a lindy dancer?

Yes and even more so as an observer of other dancers.

[djstarr]

I just had a series of the weirdest requests at Soflex during late night. within a span of an hour I got a request for Tom Jones-Sex Bomb, another one for anything from the latest Justin Timberlake record, and a third request for anything modern. All of these sound like songs that are more appropriate for a west coast swing setting. During this time I was djing a set that was mostly groovy jazz, with some classic big band, and a few Chicago blues songs.

I have been been DJing for 8 years all over the country and I have never experienced a series of requests like that. I didn't play any of them but I found it odd. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Hey Roy,

Just checking in after a long hiatus, LindyGras got me really energized again about music!

So I have another take on this, since I was also at SoFlex. There are a lot of beginning dancers going to exchanges now; the house I stayed at at SoFlex had a bunch of kids from Tampa who all had been dancing a year to two years. At late night Stacey played an old rockabilly/jump blues song [I think Fujiyama Mama but I can't remember], any how I'm thinking "oh that's old school" and when I get back to the house all the kids couldn't get over what a great song that was.

So I think your requests have more to do with a new group of dancers starting to travel rather than general tastes changing. We have a bunch of new dancers in Seattle and I'm still barraged with requests for BBVD etc., although someone wanted Tiger Rag and I'm going to play my new Kermit Ruffins for them on Sunday!

[Lawrence]

Why do you consider Lindy Hop a "Street dance" and how do you define 'street dance'?

I can't believe I'm breaking my personal rule and responding in part to something Cooper wrote, but this is one prime example of how he eagerly opines about things he knows nothing about. Please don't bother taking the bait.

A "Street dance" is a non-ballroom dance developed through improvisation by mostly non-professionals: much less rigid rules and less strict form. Lindy Hop is/was a Street dance because it originated outside of the stuffy European ballrooms of the Swing Era.

[Eyeball]

No one was being baited. Time to put old grudges aside,

[Razz]

John, I'm afraid that most regular dancers out there aren't going to sympathize with your stance. I don't think the occasional non-swing song is diluting my (our) dancing, I'm doing just fine.

I'd have to agree. I took an informal survey of the Lindy Hoppers at my local scene... not a soul chose the "All swing all the time" option. Most dancers wanted other genres mixed in as well. I even had a few Lindy Hoppers claim that they preferred non-swing music. I think it's healthy to mix it up, it really energizes the crowd.

[Mr Awesomer]

A Lindy Hop dancer prefers "all swing all the time" when they are at a Lindy Hop dance/event and are there to do the Lindy Hop. Even Modern, or "Groove" Lindy dancers (as I call it) dance to music that swings.

That same dancer may want to do other dances to other music, but would not want/expect said other music at a Lindy Hop dance/event. Rather, if they want to be a Salsa dancer for the evening, they go to a Salsa dance/event.

The problem is people who know the basic to one dance, the Lindy Hop (either of original or modern flavors), and want to do that to all types of music and expect to be able to do that at a Lindy Hop dance/event. Further complicating the matter is these people are more socially comfortable around the typical "Lindy Hop crowd" and thus aren't comfortable branching out.

The solution? Learn some more dances... go to other dances/events... get out of your bubble.

A West Coast Swing dance/event would probably be best if you're looking to dance many dances to many different types of music... unfortunately they typically don't play much if any music for Lindy Hop.

[Toon Town Dave]

The solution? Learn some more dances... go to other dances/events... get out of your bubble.

I couldn't agree more!

I'm a firm believer that what you are dancing should fit the music. In the strict tempo ballroom world, they don't want to change the dance (be it Cha Cha or Fox-trot or whatever) so the music is commissioned to fit the dance. As swing/jazz dancers, we generally approach it the other way and fit the dance to the music.

Lindy Hop is a rhythm dance, if the rhythm changes, logically, the dance should too. It doesn't mean the patterns are the same but the timing, attitude a styling likely will. In the ballroom world, Waltz and Foxtrot share many of the same patterns but the timing (3/4 vs 4/4 rhythm) and styling (rise/fall vs a bit of a bounce/swing) change because of the different rhythm.

Dancing Lindy Hop patterns to say Cha Cha music can be done but either I'm dancing Lindy Hop patterns in Cha Cha or I'm dancing swing to an imaginary rhythm. Not that's there's anything wrong with sticking LH patterns in Cha Cha unless the ballroom police are watching. It would just be nice to actually include a Cha Cha basic or two.

I like playing non-swing music in moderation if I think the crowd will dig it and not just treat it as really crappy music for Lindy Hop. Almost always if I'm closing out a night or event, I finish up with some pop/club music or a waltz depending on the crowd. Contrary to what Frankie says got folks out at the Savoy, a Waltz at the end of the night will often drag a few more folks getting ready to leave back out on the floor.

[trev]

Well said!