Quoted from "petalscutiegirl"

Quoted from "Beckto"
Swing is the most a-sexual dance I've ever seen besides clogging.

Really? What dance are you watching?

Comparing it to salsa, and ballroom.

Although, I wasn't considering stuff like Foxtrot. And that would probably be more a-sexual.

Swing is sassy, and fun, and cute and bouncy. But it's not as overtly sexual as WCS, salsa, merengue... etc

Quoted from "Swifty"
Oh, and on its Facebook page, it's listed as "Type: Party - Erotic Party."

Seriously? so disgusting.

That is why I could never support FMWL. I mean, they were distribuiting condoms at the late night! the first year.

Agreed, PCG. I think we like that there is a little bit of sexiness to all swing styles. But it's the approach and degree that leads us to choose which flavor and what degree. And the difference can be between the tickle of a feather or a whack from a sledgehammer. BOOBS? ASSLX? That's a ton of bricks, yo ... it's more than a little off-putting.

Quoted from "Swifty"

Quoted from "petalscutiegirl"
This event is not representative of the blues community at large.

What i don't understand is that i see quotes like this all of the time, when in my experience it's just not true. What I think would be true is saying "This event is not WHAT WE WANT TO BE representative of the blues community at large."

But really, I see more stuff like this than I do of "good" blues dancing on the very rare occasion I go to something with "Blues" in the name.

I would argue you're going to the wrong events.

For comparison, if all I knew of lindy was going to events like LOLX and ASSLX, I'd think lindy scenes were pretty ridiculous. Heck, blues hardly invented such ideas as "dirty boy jams" and lapdance contests.

Both lindy and blues scenes are made up of a large number of socially awkward folks who never got to be frat boys or sorority girls and are trying to get in all that immature, silly partying now that they've found somewhere they have a modicum of social respect. Lindy has had enough time to really make these influences less main stream and more tertiary. The blues dance scene as a whole is still much newer and (unfortunately) still has a large number of promoters and instructors who are in the scene primarily to engage in grope fests and pick up parites.

That's not true of every scene, nor is it true of the most successful blues dance events. If you look at the events with the biggest numbers, the highest incomes, etc, they're not these kind of events. If you look at the people who are really leading the blues scene, with a few notable exceptions they're not that kind of people.

Trust me when I say that events like this upset and disgust me MORE than most of you simply because I know what blues dancing really is and really should be. Events like this make it harder for real, legitimate blues dancing to thrive because they (rightly) put off people who don't need dancing to interact with members of the opposite sex.

(and blues isn't "formless" any more so than lindy. FYI)

Quoted from "Keither"
Yes, clearly this workshop is representative of the blues community.

I've also got a bridge for sale. Any takers?

I'll give you two bits for it, don't really care where it is, always wanted to own a bridge

Quoted from "Swifty"
Look - it's a recurring theme and a recurring conversation. Doesn't that make it representative by definition? Just because you don't want it to be doesn't change the fact that it's a proliferating overtone.

Actually, it's fading away. There are far less of these events now, and far less of the creepy, awkwardly sexual vibe, than there were 2-3 years ago. It's much easier to spot because it's more offensive.

Again, the number of high quality blues events has risen exponentially over the past couple of years. They get huge numbers. And they're only getting bigger and more frequent.

" Lindy has had enough time to really make these influences less main stream and more tertiary. "

Actually, being apart of the Lindy scene from the earliest days in Dallas, Lindy was never seen as being sexually overt. Ever.

It was seen to be as sexually overt as say... the Gap commercial that came a few years later, or the Swing Kids movie.

Take it out of the concept of what you know for a second. Go to the archetypal image 99 of people have of both dances.

"Blues dancing": in a dark dingy bar a man and a woman, lovers, are pressed against each other in a type of dancing foreplay. They are almost always drunk and will no doubt screw later that night unless "he" gets "beer dik." Most of the "moves" in "blues dancing" are hip-to-hip.

Swing dancing: Gap commercial. Or Kids wearing vintage clothing and flat shoes bouncing up and down like goofballs. Most of the moves in swing are open.

So, it has nothing to do with time.

And yes, blues is very formless. You're talking to someone who spent many many years studying international latin ballroom. I know a little bit about structure and form. "Blues dancing" is mostly formless.

Quoted from "Beckto"
And yes, blues is very formless. You're talking to someone who spent many many years studying international latin ballroom. I know a little bit about structure and form. "Blues dancing" is mostly formless.

When you've spent as many years studying blues dance (and not watching two people in a bar pre-screw) as you have international latin ballroom, perhaps your opinion here would mean something. You need to give it a rest too, Beckto.

Quoted from "Beckto"
Actually, being apart of the Lindy scene from the earliest days in Dallas, Lindy was never seen as being sexually overt. Ever.

ASSLX.

You lose.

Quoted from "Keither"

Quoted from "Swifty"
Look - it's a recurring theme and a recurring conversation. Doesn't that make it representative by definition?

Or it means that you and Beckto have an axe to grind.

This nonsense is certainly not exclusive to blues dance ( cough ASSLX cough). Give it a rest, Swifty.

C'mon - it's not like I'm spending my days Googling "blues dance BOOBS." This stuff keeps getting posted in high-profile places. It may not be representative of the scene in its entirety or it may not be welcome in your circles, but it is representative of the scene and the fact that your certain small circle continues to deny that is amazing to me.

I don't understand how people can be so surprised and/or insulted when people have a certain perception of blues dancing.

4^(1/2) = Rainbows

Quoted from "Keither"

Quoted from "Beckto"
And yes, blues is very formless. You're talking to someone who spent many many years studying international latin ballroom. I know a little bit about structure and form. "Blues dancing" is mostly formless.

When you've spent as many years studying blues dance (and not watching two people in a bar pre-screw) as you have international latin ballroom, perhaps your opinion here would mean something. You need to give it a rest too, Beckto.

Watch any Youtube clip of a int ballroom competition and then any "blues dancing" and please tell me there is not a difference in form.

Quoted from "Beckto"

Quoted from "Keither"

Quoted from "Beckto"
And yes, blues is very formless. You're talking to someone who spent many many years studying international latin ballroom. I know a little bit about structure and form. "Blues dancing" is mostly formless.

When you've spent as many years studying blues dance (and not watching two people in a bar pre-screw) as you have international latin ballroom, perhaps your opinion here would mean something. You need to give it a rest too, Beckto.

Watch any Youtube clip of a int ballroom competition and then any "blues dancing" and please tell me there is not a difference in form.

Well, the int ballroom leader is certainly erect.

Quoted from "petalscutiegirl"
You're giving European values priority over African American values. In African rooted dance, the idea is to conceal the skill and technique, whereas the idea of European/white rooted dances is to make the technique plainly visible at all times.

In the same way, lindy hop looks like messy crap to people who do WCS or ballroom. That doesn't mean that lindy is less formed or well defined or that it takes less skill or talent or practice to do it well. It's a difference of aesthetic values.

African-American?

WTF?

I didn't know Lindy was european. Sorry.

Lindy is European and African and American as is blues dance. However, it still requires quite a bit of technique.

Quoted from "Beckto"

Quoted from "petalscutiegirl"
You're giving European values priority over African American values. In African rooted dance, the idea is to conceal the skill and technique, whereas the idea of European/white rooted dances is to make the technique plainly visible at all times.

In the same way, lindy hop looks like messy crap to people who do WCS or ballroom. That doesn't mean that lindy is less formed or well defined or that it takes less skill or talent or practice to do it well. It's a difference of aesthetic values.

African-American?

WTF?

I didn't know Lindy was european. Sorry.

Quoted from "Beckto"
The image of "blues dancing" is a product of the actual images of "blues dancing." Sucks for y'all.

Yeah. It does. Thanks for rubbing it in.