Hipsters feat. Robert Cordoba

[Lory]

In the unlikely occurrence that I get a chance, I will try and talk to Robert Cordoba about musicality tonight. He is the one dancer that has inspired me more than anybody else in this respect, and I think even Nigel idolises him!
I suspect the floor at Ealing will be emptier than normal tonight, because people will just be standing watching in awe.
(Hmmm, I hope he doesn't have an "off night" after I've said all that.)
So if I'm not totally awestruck, I'll be making notes to report back tomorrow.

Greg

I shall be in Hotshot testing mode! (Is he a fabby dancer? AND more importantly, will he dance with a nobody like ME? )

[Zebra Woman]

I shall be in Hotshot testing mode! (Is he a fabby dancer? AND more importantly, will he dance with a nobody like ME? )

Oooh yes..... I'll be right behind you Lory

Not too close mind

[Rhythm King]

Oooh yes..... I'll be right behind you Lory

Not too close mind

And I'll be there to dance with both of you, when you aren't dancing with Robert!

R-K x

[Lory]

I shall be in Hotshot testing mode! (Is he a fabby dancer? AND more importantly, will he dance with a nobody like ME? )

Reporting back!

Yes, he IS a fabby dancer..... I watched in awe AND he's definitly a nice bloke too, I asked him for a dance and he was really friendly and said he had 2 in a queue but would get back to me straight after, and true to his word, he did BUT we got the worst track, White hot Christmas by the Jive Aces (sorry to anyone who likes it but the more I hear this the more I hate it! ) And 'I' was RUBBISH!

[ChrisA]

BUT we got the worst track, White hot Christmas by the Jive Aces (sorry to anyone who likes it but the more I hear this the more I hate it! )

......

(Rant)

What the hell was JB doing even playing it? I mean, he even apologised before he put it on. I've had two goes, but now I won't even try to dance to it.

It's not even as if the Jive Aces haven't done lots of danceable stuff - grrrrrrrrrrr

I had a crap night... I really enjoyed the class, even though it was hard (having done no WCS for nearly a year), but then in freestyle my mind had switched partially back into West Coast mode and I found myself continually trying to do these things that were a sort of mixture of MJ and West Coast, and needless to say they were complete, unmusical rubbish

And it was crowded, with muppets doing their usual inconsiderate thing. And to cap it all, although usually I like JB's music, I didn't like it at all last night - too much swing encouraging some of the kicky-runny-jumpy-lindy people to get even more inconsiderate, and too many things that, for me at least, have been overplayed. If there had been some really luscious tunes then maybe I could have got back into the groove, but it just wasn't happening - and I even left early which is pretty unheard of.

There were some nice moments, but nights like that I just end up wishing I'd stayed in with a bottle of wine.



(/Rant)

Phew. I feel better now.

Chris

PS Did anyone else find it surprising that such an accomplished, stylish WCS dancer as RC could make MJ look so awful when attempting to demonstrate how to do his West Coast moves as MJ? I mean, armjives for goodness sake

[ChrisA]

although usually I like JB's music, I didn't like it at all last night

Actually, re-reading this, a thought struck me...

... there's lots of slowish music that is WC-able and jivable too.

So on a theme night with a visiting WCS deity, wouldn't it have been sensible to have slowish music predominate?

And better still, get someone experienced in WC DJing - like our very own Sheepman perhaps

Ooh, I'm just having a little fantasy, where there's lots of luscious slow music that drives off the mad and inconsiderate people because they can't flail around at high speed to slow music, and so the floor's less busy as well. Result


Chris

[David Franklin]

PS Did anyone else find it surprising that such an accomplished, stylish WCS dancer as RC could make MJ look so awful when attempting to demonstrate how to do his West Coast moves as MJ? I mean, armjives for goodness sake

Well, I guess if you exaggerate the differences you end up with a caricature... It was rather bouncy! But I can show you US Open winning performances that are frankly cringeworthy - though you do have to go back quite a few years. Other amusing historical fact: We think of WCS being for slow music? Well some of the early WCS showcases had sections at 220 bpm! (The Lindy origins being very visible at that point...)

Dave

[Feelingpink]

And it was crowded, with muppets doing their usual inconsiderate thing. And to cap it all, although usually I like JB's music, I didn't like it at all last night - too much swing encouraging some of the kicky-runny-jumpy-lindy people to get even more inconsiderate, and too many things that, for me at least, have been overplayed. If there had been some really luscious tunes then maybe I could have got back into the groove, but it just wasn't happening - and I even left early which is pretty unheard of.

Chris

PS Did anyone else find it surprising that such an accomplished, stylish WCS dancer as RC could make MJ look so awful when attempting to demonstrate how to do his West Coast moves as MJ? I mean, armjives for goodness sake

Are you criticising the music here or the way that dancers dealt with it? I'm not a WCS fan at all - but did most of the well-taught lesson and accepted that there might be some slower songs for WCS people ... but still don't want to miss the "Hipsters experience" ... which includes the JB mix of music (although I'm with you on the Jive Aces song - yuk! - and I don't care if they do want it to get to number one for Christmas). Just because there is a visiting teacher in one style doesn't mean that the entire night should get musically hijacked by it.

As for RC's arm jive, it is the move that Amir takes the proverbial out of when trying to get us to do the smooth stuff ... easy to make look (& feel) rubbish.

Sorry you didn't get the dance experience that you wanted, though.

[Daisy]

Reporting back!

Yes, he IS a fabby dancer..... I watched in awe AND he's definitly a nice bloke too, I asked him for a dance and he was really friendly and said he had 2 in a queue but would get back to me straight after, and true to his word, he did BUT we got the worst track, White hot Christmas by the Jive Aces (sorry to anyone who likes it but the more I hear this the more I hate it! ) And 'I' was RUBBISH!

Sorry Lory but I was much worse than you!! After finally plucking up the courage to ask Robert to dance, and with some encouragement from Lily & Sally, I eventually tapped him on the arm. No sooner had he said yes than JB put on the fastest jive track imaginable! .....I groaned inwardly knowing that my hummble attempts at WCS would never cope. RC made a valiant effort but I know it was a disaster. We didn't swing and we didn't jive.....what the hell did we do?

By the way....when is JB going to play some music that we haven't heard a trillion times before? I'm so bored by the music at Hipsters these days....definately won't be making the long drive up from West Sussex again for a while!

[Lory]

In response to a few of the above.......

I felt quite embarrassed about the 'jive' demonstration, I wasn't quite sure if he really couldn't do it, or he taking the p*ss? (either way, it was embarrassing for him or us, the modern jivers)

It was only my third WCS lesson and as I said before, I loved it (it was fun and well taught) and right towards the end of the lesson, things began to click, it would have been so nice to be able to freestyle a bit of WCS to consolidate what I'd learnt BUT OH No, we didn't get a chance, the music just wasn't appropriate.

A while back, when downstairs changed over from Lindy to WCS I was genuinely excited at the prospect of a music change, I imagined we'd get lots of really smooth tracks to cater for the WCS's but I don't know if it's just me but there seems to be more lindy swing than ever????

P.s. don't you think Robert Cordoba looks like one of the Osmonds?

[ChrisA]

A while back, when downstairs changed over from Lindy to WCS I was genuinely excited at the prospect of a music change, I imagined we'd get lots of really smooth tracks to cater for the WCS's but I don't know if it's just me but there seems to be more lindy swing than ever????

.......

I wonder if DJs can get like dancers sometimes - all plateaued out?

Hope you're reading this, JB... we think you're fab, but maybe you need to get some new stuff in, work on innovating a bit more??? There are some very innovative DJs about - LL and Kenobe to name my two favourites, and it would be a shame to lose you from their ranks.

Take some risks, dude. You know you want to

P.s. don't you think Robert Cordoba looks like one of the Osmonds?

Yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bad girl, Lory

I'll never be able to look at him in quite the same light now

Chris

[ChrisA]

Are you criticising the music here or the way that dancers dealt with it?

Well on this occasion I'm mostly criticising the music - elsewhere I've banged on about inconsiderate dancers on crowded floors.

I've been dancing at Hipsters for a couple of years or so now, and usually I've enjoyed it, except when it's been too packed to dance without stress. But I do think that the music mix needs updating, and I'm obviously not the only one.

Just because there is a visiting teacher in one style doesn't mean that the entire night should get musically hijacked by it.

Well, for most visiting teachers I'd agree. But Robert Cordoba isn't just any visiting teacher. And there were a number of people in the class that almost never do classes, which IMHO says a lot.

To put on predominantly slower music (for a change) to make it possible for those people (and lots of others) to benefit from such a treat is hardly hijacking the night.

Chris

[Gus]

it would have been so nice to be able to freestyle a bit of WCS to consolidate what I'd learnt

Thats is one of those statements of the obvious that have organisers kick themselves about. We had been running WCS lessons at Northwich for some time and I was being a pain trying to get the WCS dancers out of thier room as soon as possible to join in the main MJ dancing. It wasnt until we ran a full WCS lesson at Cool Catz that it even dawned on me that, like all dancers, the WCS dancers needed some freestle to consolidate their learning We now have this policy in place.

Referring back to a point that Chris A made though., I'm finding it hard finding WCS music that is slow enough for new WCS dancers yet not so slow that you cant do a decent Blues dance to it. Having said that, two forum aces (Oracle and Sheepman) have very kindly given me some suggested tracks that I need to obtain to improve my WCS music collection.

[ElaineB]

Hello from Bristol!

I had a mixed night last night! This was my third time at WCS (huge gaps in between!) and as usual find Robert's instructions very easy to follow as he calls out the timing. However! Some of the Guys blatantly ignored his calling and instead of 1,2, 123, 123 in the sugar push, danced 1,2, 123, 1,2 and pulled through on that beat! Then to cap it all, when the Lady was supposed to do her 'thing', I followed RC's instructions to block the guys hand (hello, I am doing something!!!) and found myself in an arm wrestling competition with the Guy furiously attempting to pull me through! When I was lucky enough to get a partner who had previously done WCS, it was lovely, although by then I had lost the confidence to do the 'Ladies' bit!

The up side was that I had some really lovely dances with some new people and some of the 'old hands' (thanks Sheepman - ever the Gent!), but managed to be 'perved' big time This is the second time - different Guy, I hasten to add!

The music was dissapointing and I had hoped for some WCS to follow the lesson and consolidate what I had just learned, but as Chris A says it was far too fast. And as for that Jive Aces track - sorry, but yuch!

As for RC - he really is a good ambassador for dance Gods - I didn't dance with him last night, but when he came to Bristol about 18 months ago, I had two dances with him and he gave me the impression that he enjoyed himself, despite the fact that I had only been dancing for 9 months! So as far as I am concerned, he gets my vote anytime!


Elaine

PS - Arrived home at 2.15am.............5 hours sleep............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Daniel Sandars]

It was only my third WCS lesson and as I said before, I loved it (it was fun and well taught) and right towards the end of the lesson, things began to click, it would have been so nice to be able to freestyle a bit of WCS to consolidate what I'd learnt BUT OH No, we didn't get a chance, the music just wasn't appropriate.

A while back, when downstairs changed over from Lindy to WCS I was genuinely excited at the prospect of a music change, I imagined we'd get lots of really smooth tracks to cater for the WCS's but I don't know if it's just me but there seems to be more lindy swing than ever????

I totally agree with this line of thinking. If you are going to theme an MJ night on West Coast Swing and a top teacher/ dancer then go the full distance. That is what we try to do with our Blues events.

There will always be those MJ dancers who don't like the style, but that might ease the over crowding.

[ChrisA]

If you are going to theme an MJ night on West Coast Swing and a top teacher/ dancer then go the full distance.

Exactly

There will always be those MJ dancers who don't like the style, but that might ease the over crowding.

[djtrev]

Never having danced WCS or played any WCS tracks it would be nice if you could share your list of tracks with us Gus.Then if the occasion ever arises....

[Sheepman]

So on a theme night with a visiting WCS deity, wouldn't it have been sensible to have slowish music predominate?

I do agree with this, but sorry if I'm going to p1ss off every one else. I had a fab night, even if I wasn't feeling on top form.

I do think it would have helped if people knew that they were going to get a WCS lesson, maybe it was deliberately kept from us, so as not to put people off who were only jivers, after all, the point was made in the lesson about the moves being translatable to jive. (Sorry, I wasn't paying attention during Robert's jive "demo", so I can't really comment, apart from saying that it didn't look as slick as his usual style!)

I started the lesson in the line up with Joy, and on discovering that it was to be a west coast lesson, I thought, "no, this will be beginners stuff only, I don't want to do this." So Joy and I agreed to go and work on some stuff together. (It may be 6 months before our next comp., but it's never too early to start trying stuff!) By the time we'd got ourselves together, the lesson was halfway through the second move, and I thought, "hang on a minute, this looks interesting!" We were amongst the non rotators at the back of the hall, and that's where we stayed , as the lesson just got better and better!
I accept that it wasn't a lesson that non-westies were going to execute faultlessly, I just hope that for most people the odd move and the principles within it were useful. I was in awe of how much Robert got through in such a short time, and with such a big crowd.

Regarding the rest of the night, I think I only jived to about 5 or 6 tracks, (one of those was "White Hot Christmas" - it might grow on me, but I'd rather it didn't!) I was west coasting practically the whole night. Admittedly a lot of it was fast west coast, but I thought the music was mostly great. I do accept that when you're struggling to get to grips with a new dance style (as I was for about 3 years or more), you need it much slower to give the grey matter a chance to communicate with the body. I was aware of the fact there seemed to be only one track that I'd not heard before on a Tuesday, but maybe it was just the mood I was in, I didn't sit down once!

And regarding the space, yes it was packed, and there were some complete nutters out there, (especially the ones who SHOULD know better ) But some of the time I found myself revelling in the amount of floor space I had, I couldn't believe how and why there should be so much space! (Admittedly I didn't venture down the front of the hall once.)

Greg

[Zebra Woman]

I have a hot pack on my shoulder ...damaged last night during the class so I wont be typing much.

Brief History: I have managed to make 9 of the Tues WCS classes at Hipsters over the last three months. Amazingly I have actually freestyled to less than 40 songs in that time!!! Usually in the gap between the two classes downstairs. I have had less than 15 WCS freestyle dances upstairs in the last 3 months . I have felt for some time that the music on a Tuesday is too fast and swingy upstairs even for MJ. That's just my opion of course.

Attempting to do WCS to fast music is demoralising and not really enjoyable for me. Like Lory I too would like to dance to the smooth lush R&B . Surely there must be a suggested playlist of suitable tracks for fledgling WCS swing dancers, it's not rocket science. Where's Sheepy????

Last night was a golden opportunity to inspire people to learn this fab dance. Robert Cordoba set the ball rolling but I think the choice of music for the freestyle did not help the cause.

Luckily during the freestyle I found a couple of men able to lead a transition between MJ and WCS so I had a few mixed dances. When Robert said he'd teach us 'how to incorporate WCS into MJ' I thought this is what he meant. A very usefull skill too.

Not do his moves to a MJ rhythm, that looked stupid. Agree with Lory he looked like he was mocking MJ I felt uncomfortable and confused watching that.

I was so looking forward to last night. The class was great, although my slot became so tight at times I was getting battered trying to get through it (hence shoulder injury). I have never seen so many WCS dancers in one room, and fab dancers taking the class too. The night had great promise....

Then the music started and it all went wrong. I just didn't feel good enough to go and wait in Robert's queue and run the risk of getting a fast song.

Gutted

ZW

No smileys ...they're not working today

[David Franklin]

Not do his moves to a MJ rhythm, that looked stupid. Agree with Lory he looked like he was mocking MJ I felt uncomfortable and confused watching that.

If it makes you feel any better, Robert tried to start up MJ-inspired classes in the US last year, so he can't be too down on it - though undoubtably it's seen as a more 'primitive' dance. I think it came down to trying to dance in a clearly 'MJ' style and going over the top with it...

The class actually went a lot better than I expected given the number of WCS virgins. It was pretty cramped though - especially for those who had trouble staying in their slot...

Biggest pity for us was it was so freakin' cold in the hall. Bryony never warmed up and we ended up leaving early...

Dave