could he PM me the details.

Sounds like I missed a whale of an after-party...what happened?

All the blues parties I've ever been to (St.Louis - New York) have been a blast! Since I'm kind of out of the loop here, I am a bit curious as to what level of debauchery may have taken place.

As scintillating as some of the many dances have been that I've had over the years, nothing has ever taken place that my "moral constitution" couldn't handle. A dance has been just that - a dance. Have I been attracted to a dance partner, sure I have...and the reverse is also true. I don't spend an entire dance bumping and grinding, dancing w/ me is not going to get your crotch massaged - well, I should say there ARE exceptions to every rule but at least let's be introduced first.

But seriously, the dance is about many different things to many different people and that sometimes leads to many different agendas.

RubyMae's Guide to Idiocy: Oh my GOD I can't believe you haven't read all 12,000 past Yehoodi topics.

Julius's Guide to Idiocy: Oh my GOD I can't believe you've read all 12,000 past Yehoodi topics.

Quoted from "RubyMae"
I don't read Swing Music, Classes&Workshops, or the Welcome Wagon.

all 6 posts that that covers.

:D

Quoted from "julius"
RubyMae's Guide to Idiocy: Oh my GOD I can't believe you haven't read all 12,000 past Yehoodi topics. Julius's Guide to Idiocy: Oh my GOD I can't believe you've read all 12,000 past Yehoodi topics.

Snorted so hard when I read this that I scared the sleeping cat off my lap. Thanks for my best laugh of the day, Julius! :lol:

Quoted from "julius"
RubyMae's Guide to Idiocy: Oh my GOD I can't believe you haven't read all 12,000 past Yehoodi topics. Julius's Guide to Idiocy: Oh my GOD I can't believe you've read all 12,000 past Yehoodi topics.

I've only read about half of them ... so I guess I'm an idiot to both of them.

Speaking from personal experience, having thrown a couple of after hours parties when I was single. There was drinking, body shots, some makin out, which is all well and good for the most part. But, I had to call a halt to it all when it was brought to my attention that a large number of the attendees were under 21 and drinking my liquor. Probably not a good situation if say the friendly Dallas Police Dept showed up because of the noise. Me, being 40 should know better, they would probably say, as they handcuffed me. Plus it didn't really fit the image that I wanted to have in the community.

But these were 'private' parties where people knew drinking and such was going on. Which by the way can not to be compared with the debauchery that Dpezz speaks of at an actual, scheduled, exchange, late night dance. With people from around the country paying to attend. (Altho I never heard of chocolate sauce at that dance, only the stripping and sexual innuendo during the 'contest'. I thought the chocolate sauce was only at the after-after hours parties....)

First, I am gonna toss a big ugly turd in the middle of this punch bowl and say that in my opinion this has more to do with the combination of hormones and leadership. Specifically 16-23 year old male hormones. I would hazard to guess that most of us guys can remember when there was nothing more important in life than when/where your next lay was coming from. Some of you may still be in that "sexual prime" part of life.

I will also go out on a limb and say that a large percentage of the males in the scene were not Mr. Stud in school (football jock, or some other sport/high profile person). So we may not have been 'gettin' it on a regular basis. And now that WE have an ability that attracts girls/women to us, we have a new found popularity we are just not used to. In my very informal poll of dancers throughout my 5 years of dancing I have found a high percentage of what would have been called 'nerds' or 'geeks'.

Some guys at that age can control/handle it. Others can't. They may grow up eventually. But even at 40 I didn't discover this new found power until then. It took good friends to point out some of the 'truths'.

Sometimes in the interest of dance, some young men become 'leaders' of the community and influence the activity along the lines of what sounds good to them. Unfortunately that doesn't always work for the community as a whole.

Along with being an adult comes responsibility for your actions. (Before that your parents were responsible.) You get to make your own choices and you get to be responsible for all of them. Right or Wrong. Sometimes people need a little wake up call to make sure they are being who they really want to be. If that is who they want to be, then so be it.

Dpezz, I applaud you for looking at your choices and taking responsibility for them. I hope to see you this weekend in Dallas and shake your hand.

Finally, as for all this talk about 'blues dancing'. I have one rule that I try to apply to my dancing, especially blues. As a married man, if I dance with someone other than Kathy, will I have to defend my actions to her? If your 'blues' dancing would have to be explained to your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse, then you have probably crossed over the line and you are not just dancing anymore. Try and develop your 'blues' dancing so that it is universal and can be applied to both single and attached partners. You wouldn't change the way you lindyhop because a person is married!

As always, these opinions are mine and I got one, just like everyone else. They may not be true for you. Prices based on MSRP. Your mileage may vary.

Jerry

Quoted from "Hollywood_Class"
I myself am in total agreement with the main post. I get real sick of things being called a Lindy Exchange and end up being a Blues Exchange. If this is what you want, advertise it as that, there is no harm in that. Heck some are already doing just that. After attending several lindy echanges that turned into a blues fests (I do not like the blues by the way) I will not attend another, only workshops and camps for me. Like the main post I go for the dance. To increase my knowledge of the dance and try to continue to get better, watch other dancers and try to rip off some cool steps. :lol: I have always found it funny that when I was at a so called Blues Fest every once in a while they would play something that you could really "cut a rug" to I would grab a follow and tear it up. The follows respones was " Wow, that was the most fun dance I have had all night". My response is "Thanks, thats because it's swing". As for the after party stuff, it really is not my thing. I just can't get into that type of scene. I would rather be sitting at a Dennys or some place like that with friends talking about anything that comes to mind. Just enjoying everyones company. Swing/Lindy, it has always put a smile on my face and I hope it always will. I try my best to share those same feelings where ever and however I dance with. It truely is a wondreful dance. That is my two cents Brad

Dude, there's a dead horse in the corner and I think there's a baseball bat around here somewhere ...

Exactly. And as for not going to any more exchanges, your big loss. I have been to about 8 or 9 I guess, and a full half of them either had no blues or had the blues in a separate room.

I agree that the exchange organizers need to be VERY clear as to what they intend their exchange to be. STLBX was obvious from the get-go... you will get a mix of Lindy and Blues dancing in relatively equal proportions. Chris' dance equations posted above apply even to our exchange, because a lot of blues music is actually quite fast.

And I will have to step out a bit here and defend blues and blues dancing. Blues music is INCREDIBLE. At any speed, it is full of danceability and creativity. Blues dancing, done properly, can be a very enlightening experience with out risking pregnancy. Sure, depending on the music, blues dances can be very sultry and sensuous. This negativity directed at blues dancing is due to the actions of a few. Please do not let their behavior taint an otherwise terrific form of dance.

Quoted from "laughingcat"
or if you see something you don't like, just leave!! get out of there quick!! but don't try to dictate what other people should do. personally, i've seen a bit of blues dancing that just made me cringe. however, it's not my place to go stand over that person and wag my finger at them. it's no one's place. we really don't need a "lindy/blues vice squad"!

What if it's a bunch of shirtless men and women that effectively stopped the dance, like it was a birthday jam?

What about that?

Kalman

Quoted from "Captain Morgan"
It's simple... Afternoon Dance = Lindy & Bal Main Dance = Lindy & Bal Late night = Groove, slow Lindy, Blues After Party = Well, just that... Party (and whatever shenanigans comes with it). [/b][/u]

Hah. While Showdown is not an exchange there was more crazy shiite going down at 3AM then there was at 10PM. Granted I didn't participate 'cause I was close to passing out from exhaustion, but it was there. And ... ya'know what, the Binge is an Exchange and there was and will be as much crazy ass shiite going down at 3AM as any other time.

Why pidgeon-hole yourself that way. Your formula would definitely not interest me, or a number of my friends.

Quoted from "Wheres My Gravy"
Speaking from personal experience...

Best post in the whole damn thread.

As for subsequent posts, I still think people are not observing the distinction between blues dancing and the bad reputation that blues dancing has. Blues dancing has a bad rep. Why is that? It bears thinking about.

Who's bashing blues??? I love blues dancing. Hell, I even like blueth dancing... What I don't like is having someone or watching someone grind there uglies in a social environment.

I've seen and had some amazing, life-changing dances at exchanges and even here in my own little lindy scene and I want to do all I can to keep those moments with friends and in some cases strangers happening. But when I start to get to the point where I am wondering what my girlfriend (or anyone else for that matter) thinks of the fact that I just got laid on the dance floor I feel like it has gotten past just dancing and become the late-night soft-core movie that seems to try and reflect some perverse fantasy of my life.

Choice of events is important. But choice of after parties is even more. If you want to get into that mode for your after party, then by all means do so. Just don't spill it out onto the dance floor. I (and others like me) are sick of mopping it up.

Quoted from "dpezz"
Okay, I've had enough with the chocolate covered BS of a dance community I have been involved with. In AA, they say the first step is admitting you have a problem. Well, I have been involved with the perverse afterparty crap long enough. I am saying right here and right now that I do not have fun at sex driven, bump and grind blues, dance to crappy music after parties!!!! Alcohol is fine, sex with someone you love is fine, blues is wonderful, but this crap that has existed for so long in our beloved scene(s) is re-god-damn-diculous.

Want to get back to when the dance and the music inspired you to be better? Want to regain the passion that dance once brought into your life? Want to get back to a time when the best thing about lindy hop was the people and their politeness? Want to just dance and have some damn fun???[/list:u:46f503da36] If you are with me, post and let your voice be heard!!! -Danny Boy

Just in case you all forgot what this thread was about.

Quoted from "jphilli1"
I think wheresmygravy said it best last week when, during a blues class he told everyone that there should always be room "for the holy ghost" between partners. Well said!

While a senior in Catholic high school, I was dancing rather close with my prom date when a nun wandered by with that advice. I simply whispered into my date's oh so delictable ear, "Let the Holy Ghost find his own damn dance partner."