Whoops! here's News and Views #3

[Allen Hall]

News and Views from the Hall Lindymobile

‘04/’05 Installment #3



Dancin’ in D.C.



We only hit two venues while in Washington D.C.

The regular Wednesday night Lindy dance in the K-2 Dance Studios. The floor is plastic faux wood but dances very well. About 35 dancers showed up and almost all were experienced LHers, and there was plenty of room to dance. The DJed music was provided by Rayned Wiles, one of my favorites DJs, as he has a discerning ear for that which swings. Music at 9P, 6$ parking easy, all ages 10800 E Rhode Island Ave in Beltsville 301-937-7076.
The regular Monday Lindy dance at the Chevy Chase Ballroom, a second story venue. The floor is long and narrow and made of wide board maple, It is in excellent condition, and there was room to dance despite the 60 or so dancers which showed (very few sitters at this venue). The DJed music was a well chosen eclectic mix of styles, and while the tempos were varied, none were unLindyable. Very friendly dancers and good fun. If I have one knock it was the sound system, though new, was a problem, as music often skipped tracks, the volume would fall off, and sometimes the music disappeared, but if you kept dancing, it would reappear, with you, miraculously, on tempo and rhythm. Say, you don’t suppose that enough dancing will result in the installation of a mental metronome? DJed music $5 Live music $13, 5207 Wisconsin Ave in Chevy Chase MD tight on-street parking, all ages.


Washington D.C. is fortunate as there are almost always Lindy venues for every night of the week, including the magnificent storied and recently restored Spanish Ballroom,7300 MacArthur blvd. Glen Echo MD., in Glen Echo Park, where they hold a regular dance on Thursday and most Saturdays, and they book great bands there. This autumn they have they booked Georgie Gee’s “Jump Jive and Wail”, the “Tom Cunningham’s Orchestra”, “Casey McGill and the Spirits of Rhythm”, and the London-based, “Jive Aces”, $12 to or $13, nearby parking lot. Sunday nights are at the Lyon Village Community House, at the corner of the Lee Highway and North Highland in Arlington VA, Music 9P $5. Another Wed venue is Lulu’s 1217 22nd St. NW in D.C. music at 9P, FREE! How ‘bout that? Tuesdays are at the “Jam Cellar”, 146 Maple Ave East in Vienna VA (go around the side of the building and down into the cellar—it figures, ergo “Jam Cellar”, $5 music at 9PM parking easy, all ages.



FFI on D.C. Lindy go to www.wsds.com www.jitterbuzz.com www.gottaswing.com or www.swingoutdc.com



A Dance Against which I Can Measure All Others



Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you. Recently, the man-eating bear got me; I had the worst dance ever, and I hasten to add that it wasn’t my fault. Trust me, I tried. See, it was late; my knees hurt, and I was sitting down, but this lady asked me to dance. It is my practice to never turn anyone down unless I have already changed my shoes, and, at times, I have danced in street shoes. So, we dance. The lady was unleadable, but that is usually not a big problem, as I make it a practice to go get a beginner wallflower every night of dance. It is not a completely selfless act, as it keeps my firm leading chops in shape, and I do pride myself on the ability to create a fun dance with a beginner, but this time, a bear is chewing on my ass, as this lady was unleadable because she refused to be lead. The lady was strong; if she were a man, you might call her portly. She looked like a feminine mini-sumo fireplug with limbs—strong limbs. She resisted mightily all my leads, and finally, when I persisted, she dropped both hand at her sides, and proceeded to do an arrhythmic wiggly squirm in front of me—I don’t know how else to describe it. If I turned, she tickled me, and when I turned my back to her to do some chugs, she grabbed me around the waist and began to dry-hump my butt. I desperately tried to extricate myself from her grasp, but, as I said, she was strong. I soon became frantic, as I worried people were watching us, and then, I fantasized that a German Shepherd might suddenly appear and throw a bucketful of cold water on us. But, I soldiered on, as I also make it practice to never walk away from a dance; it has happened to me, and the rejection was devastating. So I persevered, even though I dearly wanted to tell her. “Look, if you want to lead, go find a follower. If you want to follow, please do so, and if you want to dance by yourself, go ahead; I’ll sit and watch you do it.” But, if social pairs dancing does nothing else, it does instill a sense of unfailing politeness, and so, we continued to dance (I use the word in its loosest sense), as the music droned on, seemingly forever. I tried to get her in a two hand hold (usually a good ploy with a beginner follower), but she ripped her hands out of mine, to squirm some more. I tired to get her in closed position so I could control her footwork, but when I did, she overrode my efforts with her random arrhythmic footwork, and each time, she just broke away, to squirm and wiggle anew. When I reached for her hand, she would not give it to me. It was like a wrestling match, in which I was behind on points, and she was defensively fending off my every move. Finally, the music stopped, and we exchanged the usual pleasantries just like nothing amiss had occurred. It was then I recognized that this dance was not a total loss, as it had set a timeless watermark against which I could measure all subsequent dances, and if guys start talking out their worse dances ever, I know I have Grizzly bear horror story to top them all. In all fairness, I’m sure this lady is good to her mother, probably has gainful employment. and may even go to church regularly, but she is not cut out for any kind of social pairs dancing, but then, for all I know, maybe that’s what they said about me when I first started dancing.



“Jammin’ on the James”



For the second year in a row, we went to the Fri. and Sat. evening dances at this event in Richmond VA. Sylvia Sykes and Eric Robison taught both years and it was fun for Rudy and I to see them again, and each of us be favored with a dance. Although I would dearly love to hog dances with Sylvia, I make it a practice to never ask for more than one dance a day with a teaching pro, as they have been on their feet all day, while I have been supine in the Lindymobile examining the inside of my eyelids. Hey! gimmie a break; I’m old. This event was held in the Lewis Ginter Recreational Center, on the eastern side of Richmond, in a residential neighborhood of classy older homes. The 2 story Lewis Ginter is a vintage early ’30s structure, and the dance is held in the second story ballroom, a space which is nostalgically “old school”, by being open to the underside of the roof, thus revealing the building’s supporting posts, beams, and trusses. The lighting is provided by a number of strings of blue lights and white Christmas icicle lights draped from the ceiling. To my eye, the lighting was just right, not too garish, and not too dim. The floor is varnished wood which has been rubbed to raw wood by dancer’s shoes. I think the surface has been dusted with talc, and it danced very well. The acoustics were a bit boomy, but not distractingly so. About 50 dancers showed on Friday night with a mix of Lindy ability, from very good to beginners. More showed on Saturday night including some very accomplished LHers.

Live music was provided both nights. Friday night it was “My Kitchen” a swing quartet with female vocalist. The piano player was excellent and swung hard. The other musicians were guitarist, held bassist, and drummer, and all were quite capable. The singer was delightful, and they played a great book of swing dance favorites, segueing seamlessly from one tune to the next. The whole band projected energy from the bandstand. I really enjoy this band, as they have a sense of humor, and they obviously like to play for dancers. Saturday night the band was the “Boilermaker Jazz Band”, a dixielandish quintet of clarinet, banjo, bass, keyboard, and drums plus a good vocalist. The clarinetist is astounding good, and he plays really well in the difficult lower register of the instrument. The band plays a mix of warhorse swing numbers, and they play them well. They are fun to listen to, and fun to dance to, and I really enjoy the chunk chunk chunk of a rhythm banjo.

The regular Lindy night in Richmond is Saturday at The Dance Space, 6004 West Broad Street, $6, DJed music 8:30, all ages.



A Dance Vignette



You meet some delightfully irrepressible spirits in Lindy Hop, none less so than Peter Loggins. He lives in San Pedro, which is, much like Florida is to the United States, like a hanging flaccid... er....appendage of Los Angeles, and, like Florida, San Pedro is socially quite unlike the mainland to which it is attached. It is an unLA-like town; it is a port town of small cottages on small lots, a working man’s town, a town drinking spots full of sailors of all kinds, and a town full of small businesses, e.g. tattoo parlors. Peter Loggins owns Tattoo Deluxe, a spacious, neat, clean establishment. Peter is a tattoo artist, a title I would not have conferred had I not seen him in action. He did Rudy’s tattoo, but only after he did a free-hand drawing of just what Rudy wanted, a pair of well-worn dancing saddle shoes. We know Peter well, and although he is capable of raising the energy at a dance with his mere presence, he is more. Peter is a notable swing dance historian specializing in California dances; he may have the third largest library of film and video clips of vintage swing dance in the world. He is a much-sought lecturer on many subjects about Lindy Hop, its origins, its evolution and its venues. He is a tireless and inventive dancer and teacher of dance, and now, I know he is even more.

See, Rudy and I are on the sardine-can jam-packed dance floor of the Friday dance in NYC two weeks ago, when a New York guy, wearing a black leather coat (don’t they all?) tries to walk through the dancers holding a glass of wine. He is bumped, and spills the wine, and after making a typical New York gesture of disgust, walks away. This dance floor is heavily coated with paste wax, which means it holds the shoes well, UNLESS there is some liquid on the floor, and then, it’s like stepping on a gob of KY Jelly. When two dancers’ shoes aquaplaned on the wine, they went down like they had been poll-axed. People were trying unsuccessfully to avoid the big spill, and, although the fleeting thought of getting a bar-rag went through my mind, just getting to the bar would be a 15 minute round trip, as it was all the way across the dancer-packed room. Out of nowhere, appears Peter Loggins, bar rag in hand, and he mops up most of the wine, but not all. Confronted with a dripping bar rag, and some wine still on the floor, he unceremoniously throws himself on the floor and repeatedly rolls over the spilt wine soaking it up with his shirt. This IS Peter Loggins. Dontcha just love it? Dontcha just love the thought that there are people like him in Lindy Hop?



Tonight we start 4 nights of dance at the American Lindy Hop Championships, and I am off Vioxx—pray for my knees.



October 21, 2004

Allen Hall, ensconced in the beautiful New York Mountains with the leaves at their peak of color.