ECS+WCS=Swing with street cred!!??

[Daniel Sandars]

At Swingville, last week, I came across Noelle Gray teaching, she is from the Connecticut swing dancing scene. Their Lindy is neither Hollywood or Savoy but a smooth modern evolving form taking influences from ECS & WCS, etc. It looked great!!! :clap:

I for one don't really, to be honest, enjoy the retro image that gets bundled into the swing that we get so much of here. I don't have the kind of fantasies that make me want to dress like my grandfather and dance with women looking like my grandmother or worse still her friends!

I respect those that do. There is always a place for ancient crafts like drystone walling, thatching, morris dancing, etc. There are always those that feel that they belong to another era.

But not me. Come my way the Connecticut Swing Dance Society....please!!!

:cheers:

[Minnie M]

I think 'dressing up' is fun, and IMO they DON'T look like grannies - the guys look very dapper and the girls show off their waistlines and LEGS mostly, can't see many men complain about that.

The dance style must be similar to the '40s'/jitterbugs jive they will be doing at the Rhythm Riot (this weekend at Camber) and I for one LOVE IT :clap: It is far easier to learn than Lindy and doesn't have those (IMO) awful choreographed moves etc. :rolleyes:

[Gus]

I for one don't really, to be honest, enjoy the retro image that gets bundled into the swing that we get so much of here. I don't have the kind of fantasies that make me want to dress like my grandfather and dance with women looking like my grandmother or worse still her friends!
Retro image?? Obviously you haven't seen Gary Boon doing Hip-Hop/Swing? The main man who dragged MJ into modern Hip-Hop/R&B was Dan Baines who's style originated in Swing. Its not so much the dance style you come from ... if you want "street cred" then its how you dance to street music ... nothing to do with the clothes you wear. The most embaressing thing I've seen on the circuit is middle-aged guys wearing club trousers or urban tops who have no idea what the club scene is about and end up dancing 'safe' MJ moves to the likes of Rachel Stevens and Steps! :devil:

[Daniel Sandars]

Retro image?? Obviously you haven't seen Gary Boon doing Hip-Hop/Swing? The main man who dragged MJ into modern Hip-Hop/R&B was Dan Baines who's style originated in Swing. Its not so much the dance style you come from ... if you want "street cred" then its how you dance to street music ... nothing to do with the clothes you wear. The most embaressing thing I've seen on the circuit is middle-aged guys wearing club trousers or urban tops who have no idea what the club scene is about and end up dancing 'safe' MJ moves to the likes of Rachel Stevens and Steps! :devil:
From one extreme to the other...
My point is that there is a vibrant scene of 20-30 somethings shaping lindy to their own purposes, in their own bars, to their own music, wearing their own clothes. They are neither trying to relive the 1940s or for that matter trying to break into a scene that is half their age.

As for the black and white shoes...yes I do because that is all that fitted!! I am now however, happiest dancing in casual shoes and trainers that I have had re-soled with suede for dance.

[Whitebeard]

The most embaressing thing I've seen on the circuit is middle-aged guys wearing club trousers or urban tops .....

Don't mock me young man. I probably cut an even funnier figure in my check shirt (never worn a T-shirt in my life), tucked into leisure pants (courtesy of JBL), and sporting Steath trainers. It's evolved as the kit most comfortable and presentable for me at classes, and at least there's no beer belly to hide. Safe MJ moves are the only one's I know and if my interpretation of them causes some amusement in the onlooker: so be it.

[Gus]

Don't mock me young man.
By Gum ... I havent been called young man since my first day at work ... for the NCB when Staffordshire still had coal mines...

[Daisy Chain]

I for one don't really, to be honest, enjoy the retro image that gets bundled into the swing that we get so much of here. I don't have the kind of fantasies that make me want to dress like my grandfather and dance with women looking like my grandmother or worse still her friends!



:yeah: I'm with you on this one. Dance styles need to progress. Riverdance wouldn't have been quite the same without those stylish bum skimming contemporary style frocks and Michael Flatley's bare muscley, oiled chest :wink:

I love trad dancing when Bright Young things get hold of it and drag it and the costumes into the 21st century

Daisy

(A Riverdancing Flower)

[Zebra Woman]

I have been to a few 1940's nights and attempted Lindyhop and Rock and Roll but I didn't feel comfortable in that world. I'm not keen on choreographed moves, kicking or hand waving. I didn't like the way it was harder to mix with strangers because the leads were wanting to dance with followers who could follow their choreographed / complicated stuff.

That said, I like Gary Boon a lot , I enjoyed his Lindy class at RB . He's cool :worthy: .

In the blues room at Camber I could not take my eyes of Paul Warden and Sally dancing WCS, 'street cred' does not cover it. Utterly Spellbinding :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

I love the way WCS can be danced to modern R&B. and slow songs. In the past I have been so frustrated to find a fab track that too slow for jive, now WCS fills that slot. I like the sleekness of WCS and the opportunities for musicalilty and syncopation. I can't do it yet, but I can see a whole lifetime of learning ahead. The rush when it goes well is like mains electricity compared to battery (modern jive).

To me WCS is like Lindy without the bounce and with and a more sexy feel. :drool: IMO It has street cred in spades, and that's before I factor in the music.

Not sure what East Coast Swing looks like.....any links to websites?

[DavidB]

Not sure what East Coast Swing looks likeTo me, ECS is a generic term for predominantly 6-count swing. Examples would include Traditional jive, Rock'n'Roll, Ballroom Jive, Jitterbug etc. It is a circular dance - it is not slotted. It tends to be done to faster music than Modern Jive. The name was coined to differentiate it from West Coast Swing, rather than it being the style that was danced on the East Coast.

There is a pretty good description at http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3ecs1.htm , although I get the feeling the author doesn't really like it...

David

[Daniel Sandars]

:yeah: I'm with you on this one. Dance styles need to progress. Riverdance wouldn't have been quite the same without those stylish bum skimming contemporary style frocks and Michael Flatley's bare muscley, oiled chest :wink:

I love trad dancing when Bright Young things get hold of it and drag it and the costumes into the 21st century

Daisy

(A Riverdancing Flower)
Not quite my definition of natural attire for the 20-30 somethings, but I'd sure give you dance if you were sporting a well oiled and defined chest. :rofl:

I think the bum skimming frock is a bit too far!! It can wreak havoc with a male lead as the brain starts to short circuit. I've seen it happen! one chap in Bedford got stuck in an infinate octopus, with I will not say who..., until the end of the track...he was so preoccupied his brain didn't have a chance..poor chap....blush: