Tag: Lindy Hop

Valencia Recap – Paella, Dips, Tricks, Black Bottom

Valencia, Spain offers a great time especially when I get to work with Miguel and Carla, the proprietors of Black Bottom Lindy Hop. This was my second visit to Valencia and I was looking forward to it. February 1-3 would be my final weekend before I returned to the US. They had a great weekend planned featuring must eat foods and 6 hours of workshops.

That weekend was my last hurrah and seemingly, a coming out party for Black Bottom Lindy Hop. A student made cookies and a lindy sweets train, there were t-shirts and a special inappropriate move – Miguel’s Black Bottom. I attended a Black Bottom (not the jazz step) class where Miguel and Lucia taught a move from Skip Ups and I was inspired.

Most importantly, I had paella for the first time! I’ve been tempted by paella in the past, but the advertisements, the shrimp, restaurant commercialization have been turnoffs. Two years ago or so, I had a dish called paella at Ondo’s Spanish Tapas Bar in Denver. It came out in a cylindrical shape and contained chorizo, bacon, and shrimp for its proteins. I mainly remember the rice tasting and feeling wet, maybe slightly oily. And if you visit Madrid and Barcelona, you will find many restaurants advertising paella. Is it paella? Mmmmmm…. not really.

This is true paella from the Albufera region of Valencia, Spain. Rice, green vegetables, chicken and rabbit served in a large round paella. Delicious, hearty, authentic. Just how I like my swing dancing. Once you get to know the taste of authentic paella, you can’t go back to the cheap substitute. It won’t work, you’ve been spoiled.

This leads into other reasons why I enjoy visiting Valencia so much. The dancers have individual style, Miguel and Carla have great branding, they know what makes food and lindy hop so great (quality ingredients, authenticity, uniqueness), there’s a beach, and it’s cool, quirky, and there’s great architecture. Other dance scenes just have a permeating sameness, not Valencia. So, if you get the chance, visit Valencia, eat some of their fabulous regional cuisine, and say “hi” to Black Bottom Lindy Hop for me.

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.

Recent News from Barcelona/ESDC

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Last weekend was the European Swing Dance Championships, headed by Sharon Davis and assisted by local Barcelona swing dancers. I was mainly attending because I wanted to be at a European lindy hop. ESDC seemed to be the big one and coincided with my current travels. I was also motivated because I enjoy Barcelona and my favorite European spot, Ohla Bar run by Max La Rocca, is here. My final reason is because I do too many blues events and was even asked if I do other dances besides blues. Yes, that question did hurt.

I registered for ESDC early on, originally signing up for the Jack ‘n Jill lindy hop and balboa comps, and balboa strictly with Louise Tangermann. Eventually, I added the All Star Strictly with Kate Patsky from Sydney, Australia. This is what I learned from ESDC.

1. Europe has a great lindy hop scene and I want to visit and dance with more lindy hoppers

2. Only attend ESDC if you’re serious about the competitions. And by serious, I mean you’ve trained a lot with this partner. I trained balboa with Louise in between our blues gigs, even training in Heidelberg where I met Ali and Katja. Training can supplement, but never replace social dancing. My balboa and lindy hop social dancing has been lagging behind other work. It showed this weekend. Also, you might see the announcement of *live music* *killer DJs*. It’s still a competition heavy event. Good luck with your social dancing.

3. Frankie stories still matter. At Ohla Bar, Kevin St. Laurent was recounting a story when Frankie Manning was first demonstrating lindy hop. He’d start on the count he found most interesting and did the most inspiring step as he led a swingout. Each time it was different, uniquely musical. However, it wasn’t something easily teachable, so the swingout was codified, made digestible for the masses. What does this mean to me? Be musical. Get inspired. Dance like no one’s watching.

4. Competition heavy events are like the bad dj we all avoid. I appreciated the long competition intervals solely because I needed those 30-45 minutes to dry my soaking wet clothes. Otherwise, those long waits mentally took me out of the game. Sitting down so often and for so long made me cold. But what about all those awesome competitions and great dancers? Here’s my favorite: