Originally posted by DigiMark007
Bump.Went dancing. After a formal lesson a couple weeks ago (only $20 for 4 hours) and some pre-going-out training from a friend. I'm still not "great" and occasionally just kill a dance. But then occasionally I go an entire song and look f-ing sweet, improvising, doing complex moves, stringing them together, etc.
Highly recommended, though only after some kind of training. The friends there that had never danced (even girls, whose job is far easier than the guys in swing dancing) were decidedly less comfortable.
Alcohol helps too, but only moderately so. A slight buzz is enough to break the tension...any more and it makes you sloppy in a hurry. If you're into dancing, the enthusiasm carries you anyway.
Originally posted by DigiMark007
Bump.Went dancing. After a formal lesson a couple weeks ago (only $20 for 4 hours) and some pre-going-out training from a friend. I'm still not "great" and occasionally just kill a dance. But then occasionally I go an entire song and look f-ing sweet, improvising, doing complex moves, stringing them together, etc.
Highly recommended, though only after some kind of training. The friends there that had never danced (even girls, whose job is far easier than the guys in swing dancing) were decidedly less comfortable.
Alcohol helps too, but only moderately so. A slight buzz is enough to break the tension...any more and it makes you sloppy in a hurry. If you're into dancing, the enthusiasm carries you anyway.
I went to a swing dance class for an hour every Wednesday for about 6 months. I got quite good. My wife doesn't like to dance....so I've been wasting away with my skills.
Working out really helps with the lifts. Have you heard or have you seen "The Star"? It takes a nimble and light woman and a strong man to even pull it off. What about "The Bird"? That just makes you look strong if your female partner is nimble...but all my partners in class were far from athletes and one of them was 165....it took me a month before I get lift her into "The Bird".
My favorite way to end a song is in "The Chainsaw". It just looks incredibly bada$$. Another one that just looks incredibly cool is "The Never-Ending Pretzel." It's the pretzel move except instead of ending the pretzel on the last "unfold" of the arms, the dude just spins completely around and starts the pretzel over again. If you do it fast and nimble and your partner knows what's going on, it looks really really cool.
I think swing dance is fun, but I haven't been able to do it in over 2 years. 🙁
Originally posted by dadudemon
I went to a swing dance class for an hour every Wednesday for about 6 months. I got quite good. My wife doesn't like to dance....so I've been wasting away with my skills.Working out really helps with the lifts. Have you heard or have you seen "The Star"? It takes a nimble and light woman and a strong man to even pull it off. What about "The Bird"? That just makes you look strong if your female partner is nimble...but all my partners in class were far from athletes and one of them was 165....it took me a month before I get lift her into "The Bird".
My favorite way to end a song is in "The Chainsaw". It just looks incredibly bada$$. Another one that just looks incredibly cool is "The Never-Ending Pretzel." It's the pretzel move except instead of ending the pretzel on the last "unfold" of the arms, the dude just spins completely around and starts the pretzel over again. If you do it fast and nimble and your partner knows what's going on, it looks really really cool.
I think swing dance is fun, but I haven't been able to do it in over 2 years. 🙁
That's a shame.
I've seen the pretzel move I think. Don't know it myself yet though. And you're a bit more advanced than me. I know maybe 8-10 "moves" and can mix and match them well enough, but I'm nowhere near even attempting lifts and such.
Are those moves google-able or youtube-able? I'd be interested in seeing them.
Originally posted by MIÅ_T
😂
😐
Old thread is old. Anyway, bumping. Sorry I didn't see your bump newjak.
I made this thread circa 3 years ago. I've made some strides since then. I am fluent in east coast swing and blues dancing, and have varying proficiency at lindy, merengue (sic?), salsa, and cha-cha, and I'm told I need to learn west coast soon.
Dancing is always a good time, and surprisingly hilarious at weddings when no one else really knows much. It remains a good way to meet women (I met my last gf there), but some guys are there just to meet women, and it shows. It makes it hard to appear overly social without getting lumped in with them, regardless of my intentions. That's my lone gripe. So mostly I just go to goof around and have a good time.
Originally posted by ADarksideJedi
I could swing dance alittle but my two sisters are better then I am with dancing!
My sister is actually better than I am as well. But she knows all of my leads, so she's one of my favorite people to dance with. For east coast at least. Blues dancing is too weird to dance with your little sister.
Originally posted by dadudemon
Hey, I did have a nice long reply to you, 2 years back, then something happened at work and I lost it all....power sag?Can't remember but I spent like an hour putting a nice post together with some videos on East Coast swing and lost it all. Then I was like, "**** it."
Lol. Yeah, east coast swing is my thing. The city I live in isn't big-time by any stretch, but in the local scene I've taught east coast lessons and stuff on occasion.
I'm good at Lindy Hop too, but not to the extent that I'd teach it to anyone outside of beginners. Decent at blues too. Then there's balboa, the latin stuff (cha-cha, salse, merengue), Foxtrot, other ballroom things, and assorted others. Technically I can do a lot of them, but pretty much nothing beyond the basic step(s). So, for practical purposes, not at all.
If you ever want online resources for this stuff, hit me up. I'll show you the goods.
crackers