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| Lindy: Southwest Lindyfest '07 |
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| on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 11:54 PM - 903 Reads |
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This is an event that I wouldn't have gone to if it wasn't only a couple hours away. I'd have saved my money and flown somewhere for an entire weekend of just Steven & Virginie. In spite of this, there were many things that happened this weekend that made it a very worthwhile event for me to attend. Lots of self-evaluation and instruction and enjoyable social interactions.
Unlike every other tracked 'camp' that I've been to, the levels were more a limit of what you could take rather than your assigned class. It was nice to have the flexibility of choosing which class to go to (no guilty feelings about only taking S&V classes), but it made it harder to really get to know people. I rotated amongst way too many people to remember names, and that made it difficult to develop new friendships and seek out specific people for dances later. The overall level of the camp was really high. This was probably due to the instructor line up of "badass" dancers (competitive and performance oriented dancers). Most of the camps I have attended are more 'social' in focus, which doesn't seem to appeal to the highest levels of dancers.
Venues: Everything was held at three venues, but they all worked very well for what was needed. The venues were of good size and had (mostly) good floors. Several got a little hot at times, but there is only so much you can do in Houston, even with good air conditioning and fans.
Music: It was all pretty good, but not all of it “spoke” to me. Jesse & Rayned are the two best lindy DJs in the country, so having them there was great. Friday night overall was a struggle, especially after my negative experiences so far in the weekend (see below). I felt most of the music was more classical and plinky than I appreciate. The late night back room was a 'soul' room, and not a 'blues' room. This meant faster tempos than I enjoy at the end of the night. Especially when the main room was playing classic swing, I didn't feel like dancing. I liked the Saturday and Sunday evening music much better than the Friday night, though that could also be for other reasons.
Most different thing learned: Balboa moves. I haven't really taken a bal class since Seattle in 2001. I found out that the 'basic' balboa steps that I learned is backwards from the 'standard' steps, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not just misremembering it. Hopefully I can work on some of the the things that Sylvia taught the next time I go to the Continental Club on Monday.
Favorite thing learned: Swing Waltz. I love how the waltz looks and feels, especially the way Steven & Virginie do it. I need to do more of this. I remember that 9:20 Special in San Francisco often ended their dances with a waltz. I think that would be an excellent thing to do in Austin.
Most challenging thing learned: Steven's James Brown Jazz Routine. I usually feel a little like I'm missing various things when I do Steven's routines. I suppose I feel comforted by the fact that I feel like I get it better than most people. This time I wasn't even close.
Important take-aways from the weekend:
1) I've purposefully chosen to limit the scope and focus of my dancing. This makes dancing with some follows difficult and/or uncomfortable. I don't need to change this necessarily, but it hasn't been something I've really noticed when dancing in Austin and at Exchanges.
2) I need to resume traveling to S&V workshops so I can try again to train my body to approximate what they do. That and so Steven doesn't glare at me as much, and Virginie doesn't harass me as much.
3) I don't own my dancing. I feel it inside me, but I'm not letting my body express it like I want to. This was very evident while watching other people do the Jazz Routines, as well as some of the warm-ups Steven did with us. I watch others do the moves, and they "get it" and use it. I just tried to keep up (somewhat unsuccessfully). I also noticed this expression being very evident in Mike's dancing. Two years ago I'd have considered myself a better dancer than he, but at this point his dancing is inspirational for me.
On that note, Mike & Laura took third in the ALHC qualifiers. I was pleased with myself for predicting the 3 winners, including their proper placement. I was especially pleased since I'd heard a lot of people talking about how good one particular couple was, when I don't care all that much for how they dance. First place was Jeramie & Crista. They were incredible together and made spectacular dancing look natural and easy. Nelle & Joe threw some great aerials and gave a strong performance to get second place. Mike and Laura danced hard and with heart. They didn't necessarily make it look easy and natural like Jeramie, but they pushed it and went for things in their dancing, even if they didn't always get them. It is way more enjoyable for me to watch that than aerials. Once they get better at hitting more of the things they go for (in competition/high pressure settings) and then make it look effortless... well, I look forward to getting to watch that.
Hosting: I had a very friendly host (Marissa), with pleasant parents, and awesome fellow hostees (Shermalyn, Suzanne & Jean-Francois). Overall a good experience.
Top 5 Dancers for the weekend (purposefully not considering most Austinites):
Virginie (San Francisco)
Mel (San Diego)
Laura (Austin – I can't not include her at this point)
Abigail (Nashville) [New Friend]
Lisa (Indiana)
[I know I always miss a bunch of people when I do this, but I want to remember as many as I can, so I write what I can remember at the moment]
Friends from previous events: Seth & Melinda (Tampa), Puqui (FL), Krista (S FL), Joan (AZ), Holly (Albuquerque), Dee (Minneapolis), Megan (Dallas), Shermalyn (Ral/Dur), Jeramie (DC), Bethany & Stefan (Portland, now DC), Laura (Houston), Shana (Denver).
Austin Peeps: Laura, Lani, Karen, Tina, Tina, Jordan, Emily, Vanessa, Karri, Mike, Scott, Scott, Hannah, Abby, Brandy, Andrew, Jonathon, Keith, Ruth, Martin, Ashley.
New Friends: Melissa (Tampa), Ruel (Nashville), Kristi (College Station), Suzanne (Austin, at least briefly).
No Dances: Evita, I asked her once and she politely turned me down. I didn't make it over to ask her again later. I didn't ask any of the instructors besides Virginie to dance. I wanted to ask Sylvia since I haven't before, but didn't manage to get to her. Gina, who never seemed very "present" or relaxed at the dances. Pretty much the same goes for Nelle from Denver. To be fair I didn't seek out and ask either, but there is a lot to be said for sending and receiving "welcoming" vibes. On that note, it was interesting to me to say hi to Peter and barely get an acknowledgment. I figured maybe he just didn't remember me, but he remembered well enough on Sunday to call out my name to tell me I was blocking his view of a particular dancer.
I don't consider these things to be intentional sleights, but it is something I need to keep in mind from the other side of the fence as I walk quickly across a floor avoiding eye contact to minimize the number of dances I get from people I don't know or who are less likely to be enjoyable dancers. I also don't go out of my way to learn and remember guys' names like I could. Even if I don't want to dance with someone, or talk to them, I can at least be more friendly and smile more.
Funny experience: Dinner conversation Sunday night. I'm not repeating any of it, but I was in stitches.
Best compliment: This is a tough one, because I did get a bunch this weekend. Mel tried to cheer me up on Thursday, another lead from Austin complimented my dancing on Saturday, and then Virginie said a number of nice things to me. The one that meant the most was on Sunday night when Virginie told me (after I apologized/complained to her earlier in the weekend) that my dancing certainly was not worse than the last time we danced. Happiness.
Most negative experience: Getting lost in Houston, several times. The maps in the registration books were completely insufficient and effectively useless. The venues were all close enough that they could easily have made a page with a nice overview map. Instead they put three itty bitty maps just giving the few streets surrounding the venues, and one of these even had the wrong street names on it. Ridiculous. I spent over two hours trying to get from the late night venue back to my host's house. As best I can figure out, this is the route I managed to take. At least there was no traffic, I drive a fast car, and I had pleasant company to keep me from going insane and/or crying.
Most positive experience: In general I got to spend a lot of time hanging out and talking with a bunch of my friends, including Austinites that I don't socialize with as much as I'd like to. I also really enjoyed the time I got to spend hanging out with and getting to know Suzanne (even if two hours of it was frustratingly lost). She'll be in Austin for at least a few weeks coming up as she figures out where life is going to take her next.
Most disappointing experience: The advanced tryouts on Thursday evening really took the wind out of my sails at the beginning of the weekend. I'd requested master's level, but was told I had to try out for it in the 'advanced' tryouts. Yes, it was poorly executed, yes I was tired, yes I was in uncomfortable (non-orange) pants, no I don't dance like the rockstar judges (Andy & Nina I think)... At the same time, after seven years of this being a huge part of my life, I should be able to pass myself off as advanced even under the worst of circumstances. Not getting selected that night sucked. No, I don't take it personally, but it certainly gave me pause and had me examine my limited dancing focus (as I mentioned above), as well as how much other people recognizing my dance skill affects my self-esteem. Of course, Sylvia selected me right away in the tryouts the next morning, but it still started the weekend off on a bad foot, and colored my perspective on how things were going to go during the weekend.
Note: Yes, I'm adding names of people as I continue to remember them... Sorry for any and all inconvenience my limited memory provides... |
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