Rocking Personal Style – Adventures in Porto

You ready? This is Guedes. Sometimes, like tonight, he goes by his pseudonym DJ Joe. He’s rocking the plaid, a bow tie, and fierce facial hair. The music was in good hands after he took over from Abeth and the Mean Swing Machine, carrying the party until 4am.

I was in Porto, Portugal teaching an aerials workshop with Helena Cardia and coordinating with Lindy Hop Portugal for promotions. The aerials workshop was a great success, bringing 40 dancers from Porto and Lisbon. We taught 7 different aerials in 4.5 hours at an amazing acro gymnastic facility.

During my short stay, I was reminded that I miss Porto’s crazy winding streets, riverfront, towering bridges (abandoned and otherwise), and the dancers.

Two things stood out for me at the Saturday night party. I wrote the following in my Notepad: “have good fashion style, solid dancers”. It’s not that they are wearing fashion labels, fancy footwear, or dressing vintage/retro/classic. It’s that the clothes fit their personal style so well, embodying their characteristics as a person and a dancer. They are put together.

They are also put together dancers. Abeth has done a great job developing Portugal’s scene. And a good portion of Portugal’s dancers have really invested themselves into swing dancing. It shows, especially on the dance floor. Just as you have many fashion flavors, you also have many dance flavors and styles reigning on the dance floor. They have a big small scene.

I had a great time dancing with everyone that night. Eventually, my back started stiffening (4.5 hours teaching plus 3.5 hours training) and I had to rest. Fortunately, Daniel was making a recovery brunch the next afternoon. Always say yes to a Daniel meal. Trust me.

That wraps up Portugal. Hopefully, I’ll return soon for more adventures.

Flow, Parkour, Functional Movement – Thoughts After London

Aerials aren’t easy, but they can be with the right training, introspection, and dedicated practice. What is the relation between aerials and parkour? They both require timing, precision and breathwork (I get caught holding my breath in both). They both utilize powerful movement and synchronization across several muscle groups. Both require you pay attention to your environment, whether it’s a wall, vault, dancers around you, and your partner. Finally, both should be supplemented with extra training aimed towards perfecting your movements.

Recently, I’ve been teaching many aerial workshops, each time with a different partner. This typically involves 2-4 hours training and 4-8 hours teaching each weekend.  I appreciate the women who step up to teach with me, but I miss my Colorado regulars. Training and learning in the ultra-competitive environment of 23 Skidoo created fierce follows. Talk about timing, technique, and teamwork.

The elements needed to achieve an ideal lindy flip (or other aerials) are similar to DemonDrill‘s climb up progressions 1-4. Depending on the aerial, oftentimes students learn the struggle up version, the Level 1. You know where to place your feet and hands, but not all the elements work together fluidly. You push or jump with isolated parts. Level 2 is a great achievement, it’s smoother yet still choppy, the wasted movement needing further elimination. Level 3 is when the dancers subconsciously work together to achieve a smooth flow, an airstep. Muscle groups are working together, you understand how to drive through your legs, lift your vertical center, link your legs, chest, and arms in a powerful movement. Level 4, well, that’s when you wear a bad ass smile afterward.

I’m happy more and more dancers are learning aerials. They are relatively accessible to the masses under the right circumstances and environment. If you want to get better, here are a few suggestions:

  1. Practice aerials once a week. Do 5-10 repetitions of each aerial
  2. Practice jumping and landing. This can be broadjumps, tuck jumps, hopping up or down stairs, skip jumps, jumping on park benches.
  3. Practice climb ups, deadlifts, squats or any multi-dimensional exercise.
  4. Improve your mobility.

If I had my way, every aerial student would learn basic parkour skills. Since I want you to learn aerials, the parkour training must occur in the dynamic warmup. While you’re training, use power only when you need it. Too many aerialists exert too much effort on the down motion. This prevents a good elastic jump. Other aerialists try using their arm too soon. This means girls get really heavy early or guys aren’t using their legs. Conserve your energy and practice good form. In the meantime, I have another aerial workshop to plan. Porto is next!