So I don't want this topic to be cruel or making fun of anyone, but I wanted everyone to share any videos they come across online of people that dance to swing music, but what the're doing is something makes you wonder where they heck they learned to dance like they do . . . (i.e. unique…
Originally posted Thursday, April 12, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quote Oh, I heartily disagree. The windmill and the peekaboo share the crown of evilest "the swing" move evar.
And the cross arms behind the head slide down and swivel thingy.
Whats the peekaboo? and care to explain more about this cross arms thing?
They get points for a safe practice set-up, but any aerial where the follow being "thrown over the guy's head" is what happens when they do it correctly seems like a bad idea to me.
Originally posted Thursday, April 12, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quoted from "Mak" Many instructors refuse to teach the pretzel simply because many people lack the timing to do the move correctly and smoothly.
So that means people learn the pretzel from
A. Each other
B. Online videos
Neither is good enough as somebody watching you and telling you if you're doing it correctly, and painlessly for the follow. Which also brings the point of why I believe that many people dislike the pretzel, nobody wants to take the chance of hurting the follow or the lead, after the follow knees the lead.
Mak,
Every example of the pretzel I have seen involves massive frame breakage.
More importantly, it's just ugly
really really ugly
hence reputable instructors don't want to get near it
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Umm yeah, these are not the best dance clips in the world, but hey, everyone has to start somewhere and I for one believe in supporting beginners' performances. :shrug:
If it aint swing, it just aint swing and post away, but if it's simply underdeveloped technique, style or understanding of the dance, then perhaps such harsh comments can be saved for a worthy cause.
I don't post much, however I do enjoy reading the lively debates on Yehoodi and would hate to see some of these comments come across as elitist, which is not how not how I believe they were intended.
:-?
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quote Mak wrote:
Many instructors refuse to teach the pretzel simply because many people lack the timing to do the move correctly and smoothly.
So that means people learn the pretzel from
A. Each other
B. Online videos
Neither is good enough as somebody watching you and telling you if you're doing it correctly, and painlessly for the follow. Which also brings the point of why I believe that many people dislike the pretzel, nobody wants to take the chance of hurting the follow or the lead, after the follow knees the lead.
Mak,
Every example of the pretzel I have seen involves massive frame breakage.
More importantly, it's just ugly
really really ugly
hence reputable instructors don't want to get near it
I think more than any of the others, this is an example of lindy hop misunderstanding. From the description, it sounds like this is a reputable dance troop (ballet? modern?), but they probably don't dance lindy or swing for that matter. This is their director's idea of what lindy is, which you can see from the many recognizable moves that are completely lacking in their original spirit or context. Like the move where the girl is being spun with legs kicking - she jumped on the guy and did it herself!
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quoted from "YellowSchoolBus" So from a lot of these videos, everyone seems to be doing the pretzel... Now the only place I ever learned the pretzel is in a country dance hall, and NEVER associated it with swing dancing. Now the question is, who is going around teaching the pretzel as swing dancing?
Doug Silton? Ok, he makes it look good and it's barely recognizable as a pretzel. Maybe that's the point.
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
No man, that old MOTW video is a quote unquote pretzel-esque maneuver, but that's not the pretzel as most of us have it in mind.
I actually do teach my beginner students the pretzel. It's a part of a class which I title "Moves that Suck". [Arm slideaway disco thing and touchbacks are also in this one]. I do want my follows to essentially be warned that it exists.
--R
y i no haz signature? Come on people, make with the funny.
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
I think what you're doing is very noble. Props. :-D
Teach them that it exists, what it looks like and how to recognize it, and then tell them that if you ever, EVER catch them doing it on the social floor, you'll excommunicate them and banish them forever, shamed and broken, from the world of dance. Well... that's the tack I'd take, anyway.. :-P
I have to say that the arm slideaway thingy makes me want to slap my lead across his face. Sigh...
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Doug is also teaching the "Pretzel" in that clip for WCS, not lindy..the execution is a different and much shorter in time than many overzealous "swing" dancers will do. There's a lot less herky-jerky and the WCS "pretzel" is taught with technique in intermediate classes, not at the begeinner level. It's not something a few newbies teach each other as they fling one another around.
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Here's some clips I found...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WbZfzxttBgw .... ok, it's actually just really bad camera work and not bad dancing....watch for a few seconds and see Mark Sextein!
and the ultimate "this is what people think swing is?" video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=knW1hGwmEXQ&mode=related&search=
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quoted from "westiegrrl" And more .... aerials and pretzles, Oh MY!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7F0gqHN1V_w&mode=related&search=
All I have to say about that one is "HOLY COW!"
This is a funny thread. I'm never posting video of me dancing on You Tube! It would be really bad if you thought you were really good and you find your video posted in this thread! :lol:
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Oh, goodness...lots of these videos look like they could have been filmed here. :roll: But, it is the hordes of hschoolers that fund the one venue we have. And some of them do grow up to realize that there is more to 'the swing' than having your elbow pulled out and popped back in at the end of each step.
BTW, the best defence i have found for the pretzel is to lock my arms in 90degrees and not budge them for dear life.(you have to know the lead will lead the move for this to work) Which funnily has lead to quite a few newbies saying..."no, you have to swing your arms from side-to-side!" I tell them I have rotar-cuff injuries (which I do!) and the wild swinging of arms hurts me.
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quote Oh, goodness...lots of these videos look like they could have been filmed here. But, it is the hordes of hschoolers that fund the one venue we have. And some of them do grow up to realize that there is more to 'the swing' than having your elbow pulled out and popped back in at the end of each step.
BTW, the best defence i have found for the pretzel is to lock my arms in 90degrees and not budge them for dear life.(you have to know the lead will lead the move for this to work) Which funnily has lead to quite a few newbies saying..."no, you have to swing your arms from side-to-side!" I tell them I have rotar-cuff injuries (which I do!) and the wild swinging of arms hurts me.
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
This reminds of a defense I've had to use twice. Normally even the newbies I dance with won't attempt aerials. But twice now an overzealous rock-stepper has attempted to fling me somewhere.
The defense?
As soon as you realize, "oh, crap. he's trying to throw me", do a deep squat and deaden your weight. And then, as politely as possible, explain to the person why we a) don't do aerials on the social floor, and b) don't do aerials at ALL without the follows prior knowledge, consent, and plenty of practice in a safe setting.
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quoted from "Mak"
Quote Oh, goodness...lots of these videos look like they could have been filmed here. But, it is the hordes of hschoolers that fund the one venue we have. And some of them do grow up to realize that there is more to 'the swing' than having your elbow pulled out and popped back in at the end of each step.
BTW, the best defence i have found for the pretzel is to lock my arms in 90degrees and not budge them for dear life.(you have to know the lead will lead the move for this to work) Which funnily has lead to quite a few newbies saying..."no, you have to swing your arms from side-to-side!" I tell them I have rotar-cuff injuries (which I do!) and the wild swinging of arms hurts me.
Sounds like you should come back to orlando IMO.
Albie, the last time I had the pretzel attempted on me was at the UCF dance!! He tried three times with 'the hand waving behind his back for me to grab" and when I ignored it 3 times, he grabbed both my hands and yanked me into it!! All of my buddies said I looked horrified !
Ps: you come up here!! Bring your crew, we'll have a party!
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quoted from "redbean" This reminds of a defense I've had to use twice. Normally even the newbies I dance with won't attempt aerials. But twice now an overzealous rock-stepper has attempted to fling me somewhere.
The defense?
As soon as you realize, "oh, crap. he's trying to throw me", do a deep squat and deaden your weight. And then, as politely as possible, explain to the person why we a) don't do aerials on the social floor, and b) don't do aerials at ALL without the follows prior knowledge, consent, and plenty of practice in a safe setting.
I have done the same thing when a new lead has tried to do an aerial dip with me, and trys to lead it with his arm crossed under my back. I take him off to the side and have someone help me show him how to do the aerial dpi in a safe way. has worked all except for one time, when the guy asked me, "and who are you to tell me how to do it" I replied, "one of the intermediate instructor who as a nurse doesn't want to hold some girls head in c-spine after you lose you grip and drop he on her neck."
He listened after that, and has wonder-of-all-wonders gotten more girls to dance with him. Imagine that! :o
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quoted from "redbean"
... I wind up in some ridiculous pretzel from whence I must be painfully and embarrassingly unwound. And it's not even dancing! There's no footwork during this move! You just stand there and play Twister for like 2 minutes! I feel shamed and degraded and oddly violated whenever I am the victim of the pretzel....
You mean I am not the only one who feels this way about it? Thank goodness :D
I have had to stop dancing with someone (that I used to enjoy dancing with) because after he learned this, he would not stop doing it, even after I tried on 3 different occasions to explain I had a rotator cuff injury and it hurts (and at least once broke forcefully away from him when he tried 'cause I was just plain mad.) I am willing to believe it's a bad memory thing, since he's like 106, but I really can't dance with him anymore.
Originally posted Friday, April 13, 2007 (4 years ago)
Quoted from "TheRiz" No man, that old MOTW video is a quote unquote pretzel-esque maneuver, but that's not the pretzel as most of us have it in mind.
I actually do teach my beginner students the pretzel. It's a part of a class which I title "Moves that Suck". [Arm slideaway disco thing and touchbacks are also in this one]. I do want my follows to essentially be warned that it exists.
--R
Videos of people dancing "the swing"
So I don't want this topic to be cruel or making fun of anyone, but I wanted everyone to share any videos they come across online of people that dance to swing music, but what the're doing is something makes you wonder where they heck they learned to dance like they do . . . (i.e. unique…
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Whats the peekaboo? and care to explain more about this cross arms thing?
:lol:
That's way better a term than "Flinger"
CollegiateShag.com
New aerial . . . I call it the dumbass!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j6cX97CSdY
CollegiateShag.com
As in dumb up the ass?
At least they're being relatively safe about it..although proper spotter position is NOT arms crossed >.<
They get points for a safe practice set-up, but any aerial where the follow being "thrown over the guy's head" is what happens when they do it correctly seems like a bad idea to me.
Mak,
Every example of the pretzel I have seen involves massive frame breakage.
More importantly, it's just ugly
really really ugly
hence reputable instructors don't want to get near it
Giving a bad name to "the Lindy Hop Swing"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K-8BA-2R-I
CollegiateShag.com
If this is a humour routine making fun of Lindy Hop then they aren't doing such a bad job. I thought that opening was pretty hilarious.
But the crowd was cheering, not laughing, so I am guessing it was a semi-serious dance routine that happened to miss the mark completely.
Geez. I didn't realize the Keystone Kops had gone coed...
Yeesh.
Umm yeah, these are not the best dance clips in the world, but hey, everyone has to start somewhere and I for one believe in supporting beginners' performances. :shrug:
If it aint swing, it just aint swing and post away, but if it's simply underdeveloped technique, style or understanding of the dance, then perhaps such harsh comments can be saved for a worthy cause.
I don't post much, however I do enjoy reading the lively debates on Yehoodi and would hate to see some of these comments come across as elitist, which is not how not how I believe they were intended. :-?
Very good point.
I didn't think this one was that bad amidst all the other crappy fake swing out there.
Spuds and his son playing "DJ Hero 2" • FreePlay Dance Crew Performance at Dancing in the River City (video)
I think more than any of the others, this is an example of lindy hop misunderstanding. From the description, it sounds like this is a reputable dance troop (ballet? modern?), but they probably don't dance lindy or swing for that matter. This is their director's idea of what lindy is, which you can see from the many recognizable moves that are completely lacking in their original spirit or context. Like the move where the girl is being spun with legs kicking - she jumped on the guy and did it herself!
Doug Silton? Ok, he makes it look good and it's barely recognizable as a pretzel. Maybe that's the point.
No man, that old MOTW video is a quote unquote pretzel-esque maneuver, but that's not the pretzel as most of us have it in mind.
I actually do teach my beginner students the pretzel. It's a part of a class which I title "Moves that Suck". [Arm slideaway disco thing and touchbacks are also in this one]. I do want my follows to essentially be warned that it exists.
--R
y i no haz signature? Come on people, make with the funny.
I think what you're doing is very noble. Props. :-D Teach them that it exists, what it looks like and how to recognize it, and then tell them that if you ever, EVER catch them doing it on the social floor, you'll excommunicate them and banish them forever, shamed and broken, from the world of dance. Well... that's the tack I'd take, anyway.. :-P
I have to say that the arm slideaway thingy makes me want to slap my lead across his face. Sigh...
Stupid slow computer allowing me to double post. Doh.
Stacked: Dangerously Well-Read
Doug is also teaching the "Pretzel" in that clip for WCS, not lindy..the execution is a different and much shorter in time than many overzealous "swing" dancers will do. There's a lot less herky-jerky and the WCS "pretzel" is taught with technique in intermediate classes, not at the begeinner level. It's not something a few newbies teach each other as they fling one another around.
Stacked: Dangerously Well-Read
Here's some clips I found...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WbZfzxttBgw .... ok, it's actually just really bad camera work and not bad dancing....watch for a few seconds and see Mark Sextein!
and the ultimate "this is what people think swing is?" video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=knW1hGwmEXQ&mode=related&search=
Stacked: Dangerously Well-Read
And more .... aerials and pretzles, Oh MY!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7F0gqHN1V_w&mode=related&search=
apparently the pretzel is also a CRAZY swing move. How cool are these kids. Can we just make a thread of pretzel clips?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7F0gqHN1V_w&mode=related&search=
Stacked: Dangerously Well-Read
That's the first time I've ever seen that Gap advert...
All I have to say about that one is "HOLY COW!"
This is a funny thread. I'm never posting video of me dancing on You Tube! It would be really bad if you thought you were really good and you find your video posted in this thread! :lol:
Oh, goodness...lots of these videos look like they could have been filmed here. :roll: But, it is the hordes of hschoolers that fund the one venue we have. And some of them do grow up to realize that there is more to 'the swing' than having your elbow pulled out and popped back in at the end of each step.
BTW, the best defence i have found for the pretzel is to lock my arms in 90degrees and not budge them for dear life.(you have to know the lead will lead the move for this to work) Which funnily has lead to quite a few newbies saying..."no, you have to swing your arms from side-to-side!" I tell them I have rotar-cuff injuries (which I do!) and the wild swinging of arms hurts me.
Sounds like you should come back to orlando IMO.
This reminds of a defense I've had to use twice. Normally even the newbies I dance with won't attempt aerials. But twice now an overzealous rock-stepper has attempted to fling me somewhere.
The defense?
As soon as you realize, "oh, crap. he's trying to throw me", do a deep squat and deaden your weight. And then, as politely as possible, explain to the person why we a) don't do aerials on the social floor, and b) don't do aerials at ALL without the follows prior knowledge, consent, and plenty of practice in a safe setting.
Albie, the last time I had the pretzel attempted on me was at the UCF dance!! He tried three times with 'the hand waving behind his back for me to grab" and when I ignored it 3 times, he grabbed both my hands and yanked me into it!! All of my buddies said I looked horrified !
Ps: you come up here!! Bring your crew, we'll have a party!
I have done the same thing when a new lead has tried to do an aerial dip with me, and trys to lead it with his arm crossed under my back. I take him off to the side and have someone help me show him how to do the aerial dpi in a safe way. has worked all except for one time, when the guy asked me, "and who are you to tell me how to do it" I replied, "one of the intermediate instructor who as a nurse doesn't want to hold some girls head in c-spine after you lose you grip and drop he on her neck." He listened after that, and has wonder-of-all-wonders gotten more girls to dance with him. Imagine that! :o
You mean I am not the only one who feels this way about it? Thank goodness :D
I have had to stop dancing with someone (that I used to enjoy dancing with) because after he learned this, he would not stop doing it, even after I tried on 3 different occasions to explain I had a rotator cuff injury and it hurts (and at least once broke forcefully away from him when he tried 'cause I was just plain mad.) I am willing to believe it's a bad memory thing, since he's like 106, but I really can't dance with him anymore.
-- Rachel
Don't forget thread-the-needle - worst move ever.
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