Colorado 14ers – Journey Before Destination

When hiking Colorado 14ers, those mountains higher than 14,000 feet elevation, I have much thinking time. I spent 8 hours Monday on Mt Bierstadt and 7.25 hours Tuesday on Mts. Democrat, Cameron, and Lincoln. After 9 weeks in Europe, 1.5 weeks in Atlanta, why on earth was I’m climbing 14ers less than 24 hours back in altitude? My brother has a goal of ascending to Mt. Everest’s base camp in 2014 and he asked me to join him. We’ll see what 2014 brings (lindy hop Nepal?), but he needed altitude training and I had limited time, so we fit climbing mountains into our schedules.

These were my brother’s first fourteeners and I was reminded again of the struggles and difficulties associated with summiting these peaks. While climbing these mountains, you deal with freezing temperatures, strong winds, snowy and icy conditions, altitude, lack of oxygen, frozen and same tasting food, and more. Why do I do this?

It’s about the destination. That marvelous view when you’re standing 14,000+ feet about sea level and admire the surrounding mountains comprising a gorgeous landscape. You’re on top of the world now. Every time I hike one of these mountains, I’m guaranteed to question my sanity and drive, but it is journey before destination.

On my journey down during Day 2, I was thinking about some dance advice I’ve received and, in turn, preached. It’s about the journey, not the destination. I received this advice because I rushed my basics or looked like I had a master plan (I did). I was thinking that this advice only partially tells the story as I related it to my 14er adventures. Then I read this article about useless dance advice back at our hotel (marvelous timing). Then I read more “The Way of Kings” by Brandon Sanderson. The First Ideal of the Knights Radiants includes the saying, “journey before destination.”

Without the destination, the journey is pointless. Sure, you may have enjoyed the journey, taken the scenery in, but did you finish anything? Stand atop the mountain? A close Denver friend was lamenting how leads aren’t finishing their movement nor finishing patterns. They’re aimless. From my own experiences, I notice follows that aren’t finishing their movement and are merely stuck on autopilot, circling around the leader. Yes, I want you to enjoy the journey, those in between moments between steps and beats. I also want you to arrive at your destination(s) on this long road trip we call a dance.

Overall, I think the dance advice of “it’s about the journey, not the destination” is partially useless. It only tells part of the story. It’s good for beginners that rush the dance. It’s good for leaders who get caught up in their master plan. But as intermediate plus dancers, we need to enjoy every moment and really finish our steps and movements.

Those are my thoughts. If you’re ever in Colorado and want to hike a 14er, Rocky Mountain National Park, Boulder’s Chatauqua Park, or drive up a 14er, let me know.

Atlanta Varsity Showdown – Gangnam Style

I’m reminded of a conversation I had with Ali Taghavi in Heidelberg, Germany this past March. The primary reason I met Ali and Katja was because I saw this YouTube video. I knew of Ali and Katja before, but never had an opportunity to introduce myself. At dinner, Ali and I were talking about marketing. One of those ideas centered around me embracing my inappropriate move fame and offering similar classes based around having more fun with the dance. In the words of the Atlanta Varsity Showdown organizers: “We handpicked the teachers based not only on their killer dancing and teaching experience, but mostly on their ability to get cray cray at a dance weekend.” It’s working.

I was paired with Delilah Williams and Lindsay Longstreth. I think we brought the fun and crazy into the classes exceedingly well. For more proof, look no further than Delilah and I going Gangnam Style in class.

Wait! You need more proof? Fine! Have some animal dancing.

Anyway, AVS was a lot of fun. I met a lot of new people from the East Coast and the eastern Midwest parts. It’s really cool experiencing this young crowd and what they’re delivering on the social and competition floor. Compliments to the organizers for the rides, lunches, amenable schedule, the iPad beta testing for level tryouts, judging preparedness, and more. The DJs and live band, the Low-Down Sires, were great. I have a few days more here.

Oh, be sure to try Double Zero Napoletana, the Iberian Pig, Mac McGee, Cakes & Ale while you’re here.

Berlin Blues Explosion – 2012 Sequel

What happened, Berlin Blues Explosion? We got off to such a great start last year. I gave you a rousing two thumbs up and strongly complimented the European Blues scene. One year has passed and the honeymoon is over.

BBE, the sequel, brought more instructors, more class tracks, and more dancers. There were new solo and partnered camps, new venues, and new DJs. The potential for awesomeness was there, but why were you more Hangover 2 than The Dark Knight?

My bout with food poisoning or its violent equivalent did not help matters Wednesday before the event, but I was already experiencing discomfort before the event. I felt ill prepared and unsure of some organization elements. What was emphasized – trust in Claudia.

Along with organizational matters, I was also concerned with the blues dancing. Berlin Blues Explosion is billed as Europe’s largest blues dancing event and its emphasized to us instructors that: “We are an authentic blues event…. The material that you deliver here at this festival will filter through almost every nook and cranny of the European blues community in the twelve months following and even after that. Please give consideration to your material and ask yourselves if it is relevant/appropriate to the growth of the community in its current state.” I stress over these things because I don’t consider myself a blues dancer. I dance blues, enjoy the music and culture, but I’m a lindy hopper first, blues dancer second, a dancer overall. Stress just means that I’ll be uber-prepared for classes. However, there was also much recent debate and in-depth analysis about blues, the blues aesthetic and what isn’t blues happening on Facebook’s International Blues Dancers forum.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink, writes: “In the act of tearing something apart, we lose its meaning.” Blues dancing, for me, encompasses a wide range of emotion and dance expression. It is danced to music ranging from Egyptian Fantasy by Sidney Bechet to Big Ovaries, Baby by Gaye Adegbalola (Louise’s new favorite song). It has a particular aesthetic that is captured when dancing musically to appropriate music. Blues dancing can be danced big or small. It can borrow elements from other dances if it keeps the aesthetic.

Louise and I finally met via Skype. We discussed my recent complaints and frustrations with blues, but decided that we would focus on what we do best- Offer a variety of fun material for blues dancers, focus on the dancing, play lots of music, and have a  good professional time. We succeeded.

Down to business. Why didn’t I enjoy BBE 2012?

1. The Music. Last year, the DJs were specifically asked to keep high energy during the beginning of the night. This year seemed to be much slower and had less energy throughout. How could I give my energy to music that wasn’t giving any to me?

2. The Competing Dancers. This year I watched the J&J finals and judged prelims and finals for the Strictly and Solo comps. I will speak later about judging, so I will focus on the J&J, since I didn’t judge it. I was disappointed to see small dancers and uneven partnerships. People danced tighter and smaller, sometimes these choices seemed anti-musical. Very rarely did both people in the partnership bring it. Where were your voices?

3. The Judging. I only judged Sunday, since Chris thought I was too ill to judge Saturday. Several of my “no’s” made Strictly finals. The winning Strictly couple were my 4th place. The Solo top 3 were my bottom top 3. All of this is fine. That is why many people use the natural break when scoring prelims and relative placement for finals. I hope the placement sheets get posted, so I can contrast my judging to the other judges and the final placements. (If you read this and see my scoresheets, feel free to contact me with questions). Clearly, I have different values as a blues competition judge, so let me explain what I look for. 4 people outside the prelims competition asked me, so I will attempt a recap.

A. Musicality. I want to see the dancers capture the mood and feeling of the music. This is a matter of me going “yeah, you go!” or “what the ….”

B. Lines and Posture. Since it’s a competition, I want the dance to look good. It can feel as good as possible, but if it looks bad, I will score you lower. This means a good pulse, neutral spine especially head and neck lines, finishing movements with your arms and legs. If you hit a pose, HIT the POSE!

C. Blues Aesthetic. What does this mean? I honestly have difficulty putting this into words. I know it when I see it, but that doesn’t help the reader. Athletic, grounded posture; dancing from your core; relaxed, even pulse; soulful dancer; movement rooted in jazz/blues. Take that as you will.

D. Variety of Movement. I want to know how skilled you are. Can you lead from different connection points, execute position and embrace transitions, include your partner into your solo movement, and be musical with your choices?

E. Appropriate Dress. If you made finals, dress like it. Certain clothing choices will either detract or improve the look of your dance.

Finally, I don’t judge the first all skate. I do judge the spotlights. If there is a final all skate, I will use this for tie-breakers. Otherwise, my goal is place you during your spotlights.

4. No Statements. I think dancers are afraid now. You’re looking to these teachers for definitions and dancing within their constructs. Let me address some issues.

A. Blues is sexy. It’s also depressing, funny, minimalistic, angry, sad, shocking, sensual, and more.

B. Blues is not just close embrace. It’s open, perpendicular, side by side, back to front (his or her), and breakaway. Any others I missed?

C. If you were not born into a blues tradition, you can create your own tradition. That’s what I loved about BBE last year. The Europeans were daring, making statements, and not pigeonholing themselves into someone else’s strict definition.

D. And we’re still learning about blues. We need more teachers and events to publish their materials online and tag appropriately so people can find this material better.

Overall, knowing all the competition results, I was dazed. Congratulations that you won and finished top 3, etc. Will European blues dancers look at these results and modify their dancing to win or will they continue developing and searching for their personal style. I encourage the latter. Find you.

The Valencian Life – Lindy Hop, Aerials, and More

Move over Madrid, Zaragoza and .. gasp!… Barcelona. Valencia is my new favorite Spanish city. My primary reason for visiting Valencia did not include teaching. I met Carla and Miguel in Madrid last May. They came for my aerials workshop. They spoke highly and with pride of their home city, Valencia. We kept in touch and I saw them at ESDC and I gave them contact information for their USA East Coast swing and scuba diving trip this early autumn. When I discovered I would be teaching one weekend in Zaragoza (Sept 22-23) and another in Madrid (Sept 29-30), I found the perfect opportunity to visit Valencia.

Besides having pride for Valencia, Carla and Miguel spoke of eating and drinking well. They understood the ways to my heart. I would arrive Sunday night and leave Friday morning. They would host me and I would eat, drink, discover local culture, play on the beach, stroll past towering cathedrals, and teach lindy hop, dips & tricks, and aerials. It was a relaxed sort of busy.

Mornings would include training related to my classes or fun stuff as pictured above. Miguel wanted to learn the guy’s front flip, an aerial which I mildly fear, mainly because I don’t practice it consistently. We started with handstand practice, then front handsprings, then the guy’s front flip. He went over, nobody died, and we were all quite successful. Moral of the story: practice and perfect practice makes perfect and gives you stronger mental faculties.

Needless to say, everyone had a great time. The first day Carla helped me teach fun social lindy hop moves. Day 2 brought Dips & Tricks for the social floor. And Day 3 brought intermediate aerials for a select group (3 couples). Day 3 was more intense, but aerials always are. My main aerial workshop rules are as follows: 1. Her (or the flyer’s) safety comes first. 2. Communication is key – listen to the teacher, communicate to your spotters and flyer 3. Don’t get ahead of the instructor. We had some tense moments with the pancake, but we taught three different aerials and even if couples didn’t go over, they have the skills, steps, and video recap to know how to complete the aerial successfully.

Overall, I found Valencia to be a very beautiful city with great cuisine, culture, and bars. Credit goes to Miguel’s sister for dating the owner of many outstanding Valencian restaurants. Special thanks goes to Carla’s mom for making a fantastic home cooked meal for everyone. And thanks to Javi for driving me around especially to get orxata where it is grown. Also, you can tell a lot about a dance scene’s direction by the locals’ enthusiasm, sense of community, and social dance music. Valencia is a strong swing scene. I can’t wait to return.