Shim Sham on "1"

One of the examples we like to use when discussing cultural appropriation is this video from Kansas City featuring Frankie Manning leading the Shim Sham, a line dance created by Black dancers, Leonard Reed and Willie Bryant. Boulder Swing Dance has a good summation on the Shim Sham in a 2018 blog post as does Retro Rhythm.

Do you notice the dancers starting on the “1” instead of “8?” Quite a few dancers know and teach the Shim Sham on “8” as it’s done, others know the Shim Sham on “8” but teach it on the “1” while others only know it as starting on the “1” because of the aforemention teachers.

I, founder of Swingin’ Denver, was one of those instructors who taught the Shim Sham on the “1” because as my white French male boss stated “it’s easier.” I didn’t know better and instructors were there to entertain, enable people to have fun and make money for the owner. One of the things that cultural appropriation does is it removes connection from the dance to the culture, Black culture. It also can divide as you can see above.

Funny thing is as I was flashing back recently to all the ballroom dances I learned, there was at least one Latin dance where I had to know where the “8” was. It wasn’t so bad to learn and it made me wonder if American-born Black social dances are treated differently than African diasporic dances imported from abroad? That might take a deeper dive than I’m prepared for but I’m reminded of when a social dance school chose to teach Lindy Hop under the label “Jitterbug.” Once again, cultural appropriation applied to a Black American social dance. Why? Why engage in white narratives when engaging in a Black social dance form?

Lindy Hop Is Full Of Choices

Immediately after Lindy Bop happened, I reflected on a moment in class that contrasted strongly with my learning foundation. Vi Bright and I were teaching a nifty little move I learned from Nathan Bugh when learning the team choreography for Montreal Swing Riot 2016 that appears in the Day of the Races clip below.

via GIPHY

It’s that lead’s inside turn where the follow ends up going in front like a send out in this particular instance. During class, Vi chose to turn 540° during her path landing in front of me. This threw students for a loop! Leads were like - “I can’t generate the momentum to get my partner to do that rotation while taking care of myself” and follows were like - “I don’t feel that rotation to be able to mimic Vi” which started to lead to people maximizing their effort. And then we said this is a choice Vi is making and that the lead to generate such rotation would be too much and forceful in our opinions. Everyone after this knowledge drop seemed to take this deep sigh of relief and kept creating on the dance floor.

Back when I started taking group swing dance lessons in Overland Park, KS in 1997/1998 (it’s been awhile) I was told that:

1. I possess or will possess all the tools in my toolbox to lead the follow

2. If the follow didn’t do what I wanted/expected, it was my fault

While I value my experience there for many reasons, that #2 is a philosophy rooted in control, controlling another’s body for a predetermined result. On the other hand, we teach Lindy Hop and other Black social dances emerging during the swing era to be full of choices where partners are mutually assertive, constantly riffing with each other in dynamic interplay. This is lockstep with vernacular dance hallmarks such as call-and-response and improvisation. It’s freedom together and that’s what I’d encourage any swing school to offer.

We’re here to dance with one another and everyone is invited to bring their self, their body, their ideas into the dance and immediately make an impact on the dance floor and within the community.

Everyone's a Dancer

Something Moncell Durden said during his first Stormy Weather Jazz Festival talk got us thinking about how we raise our kids and manage our dance classes. Due to a lack of notes during this section, we’re running off of memory but it basically came down to - treat kids like they’re people because they’re smarter than us just taking in all this readily available information until they’re ready to showcase their gleaned knowledge.

In contrast, I used to teach as if students, especially newer ones, were tabla rasa or blank slates. Our methods were based on conformity and only later in their dance journey (if they stuck around) would we talk to students about expressing themselves, musicality, individuality, being non-conforming. We’d also simplify movements sometimes to the students’ detriment that we’d fix later on (if they stuck around). We’d also avoid topics viewed as difficult because this space was “the home of happy feet.”

Instead, and we delved into this topic matter in our Jazz With A Beat class at Stormy Weather, we treat people as dancers, capable of movement as we’re all movers. So we remove the expectation that swingouts finish in a prescribed manner (360° rotation start to finish, followers exiting sideways/forward/back); that Lindy Hop equals triple steps, or that we hold each other’s bodies so. We become more focused on encouraging people to bring their selves into the dance and ask questions of the students such as “could you react well into the next pattern, did anything hurt, did you like your choices” while encouraging experimenting, being open to “failure,” and treating each partner as unique. While we’re using the Design To The Edges concept as teachers, we’re also encouraging dancers to design their dances to the edges rather than the mythological average.

We’re all different as individuals, we’re all the same because we’re movers.

Why "Other" African-American Dance Contributions?

Kizomba, Salsa, Zouk, Jitterbug read the dance list. Here was a school that respected the names of Black dances created outside of America but chose Jitterbug to represent Lindy Hop, a Black dance created in America. We asked why and are still awaiting a response.

Frankie Manning, a second-generation Black Lindy Hopper, once said in an interview: "Nowadays if you say Lindy Hop there are very few people who know the word. You know you say Lindy Hop and they just look at you you know. What is that? And then you say uh jitterbug and their face light up because they have heard Jitterbug for so long till they think that's what it is."

There’s a local jazz festival celebrating Jazz Age dances and listing Charleston, Lindy Hop and Jitter Bug in what is being billed as a “celebration of America’s unique performing art.” Once again, a Black creation is subsumed for a white audience with the Jitter Bug inclusion and no mention of Black creators related to these dance and music forms.

Related to this, using words like "vintage" can fix Lindy Hop into a particular time and place while ignoring it's cultural transmission (separating creators from their creation) through generations perhaps minimizing its present impact. My notes from Marie N'Diaye from hers and Felix’s workshop - “European cultures tend to preserve. That was their environment. If they didn't preserve food, they'd die, whereas food was often abundantly available in the African continent.” If environment begets culture then we ought to look at the language we use to enhance inclusivity.

Oftentimes, organizers are resistant to changing their language because they’re afraid of distancing their majority-white customer base. When an organizer asked us for co-promotion assistance, we asked them to take several anti-racist steps such as calling what they were teaching by their Black social dance names, talking about the roots of these dances both on their website and social media. Months later, we still haven’t heard back.

But what if we fully embraced and acknowledged Black ownership? As Dr. Thomas DeFrantz discussed in a CVFC talk - “Dance is technology transforming dehumanization into joy but Black people can’t hold the patent.” We keep taking their fertile creations and:

• renaming their creations

• transforming their creations through European-American lens (lead/follow concepts, angularity or lack thereof)

• sharing a history where these creations are vintage, ending in a certain era, and thereby ignoring the living community that fostered them

It’s sad to hear “That's just the way he is; he isn't going to change.” when people talk about organizers that will continue teaching East Coast Swing alongside their Lindy Hop. Instead of preserving white ownership appropriating Black culture, we should dismantle it through our words, actions and dollars.

Lindy Hop as Thoroughly Vernacular

I’m reading Sam Carroll’s thesis paper and came across the following (emphasis mine):
”Both Jackson and Malone draw on Ralph Ellison’s definition of African American vernacular dance, quoting the following passage from Going to the Territory:

‘I see the vernacular as a dynamic process in which the most refined styles from the past are continually merged with the play-it-by-eye-and-by-ear improvisations from which we invent in our efforts to control our environment and entertain ourselves. And this not only in language and literature, but in architecture and cuisine, in music, costume, and dance, and in tools and technology. In it the styles and techniques of the past are adjusted to the needs of the present, and in its integrative action the high styles of the past are democratized… Wherever we find the vernacular process operating we also find individuals who act as transmitters between it and earlier styles, tastes, and techniques. In the United States all social barriers are vulnerable to cultural styles (Ellison 139 – 41).’”

This is helping me now reconcile my complicated feelings toward labeling Lindy Hop as a vintage dance which Amy Johnson brought to the forefront last year when marketing for Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown in New Orleans. Here is now a smattering of thoughts from me and others as it relates to Lindy Hop as a traditional dance - “traditional meaning, something that is rooted in tradition, but wholly alive. Of the now, but with some of the old ways preserved in order to connect it to the culture from which it came.”:

• Notes from a conversation with Gaby Cook about the ideas behind Sw!ng Out and you can learn more through this NY Times article - Swingout! is a modern anthopological exhibition about how swing dancing is a form of humanity. Wants to be a display of swing dance in modern bodies/modern clothes and doing things that feel true to the dancers' bodies.

• As dancers we are asked to bring ourselves into the dance including our entire lived-in experience. Teachers ought to be asking students to explore their range of personal movement while social dancing inside or outside class while avoiding asking them to re-enact the teachers’ exact movement because Lindy Hop is real now and not just the past.

• From my experience selling and wearing vintage clothing, vintage was always something plucked from a fixed time period. Lindy Hop, as any vernacular dance, is mutable as seen in Moncell Durden’s documentary, Everything Remains Raw, and continuously spans multiple generations. It seems this could play into the revival myth that places white saviorism and dance colonialism in the midst of Black stories that featured Lindy Hop as ongoing community dance practice.

• Vintage also communicates very differently between Black/BIPOC and white communities. The idea of vintage can also play into the idea of time travel to an era when Black communities dealt with Jim Crow laws, segregation, and much much more which Grey Armstrong tackles here.

• From a marketing standpoint, I want to appeal to wide demographics and want potential students to see themselves learning and dancing Lindy Hop. Vintage can be a barrier to entry as people might not want to dress vintage, do a dance that seems to be a reproduction, or do something deemed out-of-fashion.

• If you were to look at comparable dances including blues, salsa, argentine tango, you’ll rarely if ever find them branding their dances as vintage though some have as long if not longer lineage than Lindy Hop. Again, why does Lindy Hop and its dance peers get the vintage treatment? One theory posits that by labeling a dance as being in the past or even “dead,” one can preserve and do with it as they see fit, therefore separating it from its originating culture.

Overall, I see this as a complicated subject and still want to include people where vintage plays a large role in their lifestyle. I do think labeling swing dances and music as vintage keeps them in the past while new swing content continues to be produced by both dancers and bands. To paraphrase what Rachael Pitner once wrote - To limit Lindy Hop being a “vintage” dance likely sterilizes it and hurts the art form.

How to Incorporate History Into Classes

We’ve had some recent posts on our Facebook page that have led people down a path regarding history incorporation into classes that we’ve seen before. An unattributed excerpt - “I think force feeding history in schools is absolutely foolish.” Partially related would be the response, “I need to think about how I can best alter the message to be on brand and relevant to our patrons.” we received from an event organizer when we wrote them: “Within my company and places we teach, I'm striving to name the specific dances we're teaching and give proper attribution to the Black creators when possible. With how you're advertising this event, and given that your event is celebrating Black American music, I think there is opportunity here for us to honor the creators.” When your first reaction is immediate pushback or pushback against an exagerrated version of what is asked, we’d recommend some inner evaluation of your own biases.

One argument to incorporate history into classes, marketing, and other educational material is made by noted Black historian and dancer, Moncell Durden, here around the 42:00 mark: “Most of the time, it’s the music that labels the dancing. It’s not swing dancing, it’s lindy hop. It’s called lindy hop. If you change that, then you’re changing the people who brought it to you. You’re changing the identity. It’s not defined by the area. The area has influence.”

Moncell further dives into this around the 2:00:00 mark in the video below, a great talk hosted by The Breakaway.

Here are some ideas for incorporating history into classes and within an organizer’s direct sphere of influence:

• Incorporate naming the dance and its origins into an opening statement.

  • We’re going to teach you Lindy Hop, a Black dance created in the 1920’s

  • We’re excited to teach Lindy Hop, a Black vernacular dance formed in the 1920s out of the Harlem community

• Find opportunities to share that Lindy Hop and other swing dance styles are vernacular dances and what that means and what those vernacular hallmarks are. “Vernacular refers to dance performed to the rhythms of African American music: dance that makes those rhythms visible” - Steppin’ on the Blues by Jacqui Malone

  • Improvisation and spontaneity - “nice, love the improv there!”

  • Propulsive rhythm - “let’s play with the drive of that triple step” or “yes, great momentum!”

  • Call-and-response patterns - like a break and shake.

  • Self-expression - encourage peopple to bring themselves and their experiences to the dance

  • Elegance - dig into what it means to look effortless

  • Control - encourage different types of swingouts, tuck turn directions, level changes, etc.

• Include history into your class descriptions.

  • Learn to Lindy Hop from the ground up! Sign up today and learn the dance that sprung from Black American culture in Harlem during the 1920s-40s!

• Include history into your FAQ or Welcome Page and perhaps link to a more in-depth section

  • Learn Lindy Hop and Charleston, the original dances of the swing era! Swing dancing is joyful, free spirited, and infectious. It's unabashedly fun with a carefree style that closely reflects the music of the late 20s hot Jazz to the 40s Big Band music. It was created by Black Americans in Harlem, New York. You're going to love it! Check out more information on the history of these dances here.

• Be a resource and not just a marketplace on your social media sites by offering informative articles, good videos of historical and modern dancers, and spotlighting other learning opportunities from diverse voices.

• Fully name the social dances you’re offering

Our thoughts on including history are much like our thoughts when it comes to feeding young kids and what we tell them. We’ll determine what goes on their plate and they’ll determine what they’ll eat. There is no force feeding. It’s just a very well-balanced fun class.

Social Dances Have Names

Some of the shortest statements are the most impactful ones. When Taylor Madgett at Dance Dance Evolution firmly stated “Black social dances have names” at the beginning of her class when she was contrasting Black social dances with studio dance, it lodged into my brain. Much like - “The term vernacular refers to dance performed to the rhythms of African American music: dance that makes those rhythms visible.” from Steppin' on the Blues - this statement has become a touchstone for my teaching and teacher instruction, most recently being shared during our Little Man Ice Cream Swingin’ Under the Stars teacher training.

As my co-instructor pointed out during the teacher training, we both get a little irked when we see local swing dance schools continue to teach East Coast Swing and Jitterbug classes. As another school’s instructor shared when asked what a Jitterbug lesson was - “It was east coast. I asked why it was called a Jitterbug lesson and he said because it is very beginner swing dance. And the most important descriptor that stood out to me was that [name redacted] said that it’s very white. Like the most white. That it’s up pulse instead of down in the ground like lindy hop.”

"Nowadays if you say Lindy Hop there are very few people who know the word. You know you say Lindy Hop and they just look at you you know. What is that? And then you say uh jitterbug and their face light up because they have heard Jitterbug for so long till they think that's what it is." - Frankie Manning in Swingin' at the Savoy: The Frankie Manning Story.

“But why then, when I took dance classes in school, was I not told that Lindy Hop came from the Black community?“

This separation (Jitterbug = beginner swing dance) and centering in whiteness does more harm than good within our vernacular dance community. Lindy Hop is easy to learn, difficult to master. However, thanks to particular instructors and swing schools, we have many people that think Lindy Hop is hard, fast, too athletic because we have this “different dance” over here that is an appropriated commodified version of Lindy Hop further distilled (“tamed”) from what Arthur Murray originally did. I was in the thick of it in the 1990s and know why Jitterbug happened. It’s surprising JItterbug’s legacy has lasted this long since neo-swing crumpled and Jitterbug is attached to my parents’ and grandparents’ generation. As Gaby Cook wrote here, “Language like ‘East Coast Swing’ belongs to the practice of white people siphoning black innovation and repackaging it as a ‘safe’ white cultural product.”

From one swing dance school’s website

"The key elements are the implications that the jitterbug was a dance that was out of control, whereas the Lindy Hop was indeed a theatrical performance, one that Martins attests that "of all the ballroom dances these prying eyes have seen, this is unquestionably the finest; but let the white man attempt it at his peril." - The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Theater.

The other reasons that Jitterbug and East Coast Swing lessons are still pervasive with schools that teach Lindy Hop and other vernacular dance styles are likely marketability, white comfort, organizers resistant to the work involved when evolving, holdovers from the late 1990s neo-swing era, and whitewashing of Black history.

If we are to be better guests in Black social dancing’s house and, rather than be cultural appropriators, be cultural surrogates as defined by LaTasha Barnes, then changes need to be made.

• Swing dance schools ought to stop branding Lindy Hop classes as East Coast Swing and Jitterbug. Since Lindy Hop comprises of many different visible-on-the-dance-floor rhythms, teachers should be comfortable teaching and dancing a variety of rhythm patterns including step, step, rock step while folding it into vernacular dance values like call-and-response, improvisation, the aesthetic of cool, etc. Let’s start avoiding the neo-swing era with its further appropriation and commodification of Lindy Hop now.

• When renaming your class “Lindy Hop Taster” or “Level 0 Lindy Hop,” accompany your marketing with appropriate school-sourced video of teachers dancing what your school will be teaching. Include appropriate fun imagery, emphasize the beginner-friendliness of what you’ll be teaching and make some statements on social media and your website about why you’re making the change. Perhaps this will make your classes more accessible and inclusive.

• Continue to educate. Your website and social media presence should be a resource and a marketplace. Many people treat their social media platforms as places to sell things, but it should also be a resource. And then make sure your classes are educational on several fronts - music, history, dancing, consent, etc.

We can do better.

Another school’s website where they center Black social dances with their origins and using the dances’ names.

Planning for Active Shooter Situations Resources

In light of the shooting at the Monterey Park dance studio January 21, 2023, we would like to share some resources we’ve gathered from our work in the events industry.

Someone I know that was formerly in a Public Safety role at a U.S. shopping center provided me this presentation they prepared to train staff in active shooter preparedness.

It's meant to be self-guided and I do have permission to distribute this. Sharing settings are "View" and it appears you can download this and then upload to your own Drive to customize it to your needs. The original owner did have a logo in the left corner.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, but I anticipate not being able to answer due to the fact that I'm still learning. Hope you find this helpful.

Special Events Emergency Plan for an outdoor event I produced in 2020 so you can see what Denver has required of event organizers before.

Training for an Active Shooter Situation notes.

DHS - Active Shooter How to Respond.

NRF Active Shooter Guidelines.

Pottery & Lindy Hop - Philosophies Merge

Today I attended the O’baware Summer Sale in Lafayette. Not only did I find excellent pottery to purchase, but I had the opportunity to listen to Kazu Oba, the Japanese-trained pottery artisan, talk about his methods and philosophy.

One particular element struck me was when he was talking about the piece pictured in this blog and I’ll try to be accurate as much as possible with this retelling. This particular piece is shaped cylindrical on the wheel with the vertical lines representing Kazu’s fingers as he draws the material upward. At some point he slices this cylinder into three pieces and drops the wet clay from a slight height for it to flatten.

However, the clay remembers that it was round and part of a whole so it tends to recoil round, so Kazu must work it flatter, but you’ll still see the edges curl upwards. The clay remembers.

This is in contrast with other potters that might start with a flatter piece of clay and try coiling the ends. However, Kaza was saying something akin to him not wanting to impose his will on the clay. He prefers his method of providing the clay a memory and guiding that memory to form something unique. This was my takeaway.

This led me to reflect briefly upon dance teaching. While these thoughts aren’t fully formed, I’d say there is a remarkable difference between how I was trained to teach ballroom dance (specific foot placement, specific technique, specific syllabi, imposition of will) versus how we teach Lindy Hop (acknowledging ambiguity, welcoming expression, striving to improve those triple step rhythms and moving from core). You can bring your lived experiences to vernacular dance and they can inform your interpretation of your teachers’ expressed philosophies whereas ballroom (I’ll acknowledge not all) can be cookie-cutter and formulaic.

Sometimes one style works best for a person. Sometimes you start with ballroom and move to Lindy Hop, sometimes you move the other direction. And I think it’s good to offer options so dance can meet people where they are at.