I think that Oakland, NJ will be the next big scene for Lindy Hop and I base this on precisely nothing.

If live music and booze were enough, NYC would be the 2nd best scene to New Orleans.

Quoted from "Keither"
Austin has a weekly swing dance, a weekly blues dance, a monthly swing/blues dance, a monthly dance with live music, and a weekly practice dance. We also host a lindy exchange, a blues workshop/social dance weekend, and a social competition event every year. And our cost of living is less than that of NYC, Seattle, San Francisco, and D.C. :)

I mean if it's gotta be about competition then... DC has two nights of awesome dancing in addition to multiple other nights of decent dancing.

DC has amazing dj's. Their range and response to energy on the floor is hard to match. 4 or 9 Lindy Focus DJ's were DC finest. http://www.lindyfocus.com/djcrew.php

We are able to hear the Boilermaker Jazz band nearly monthly.

A monthly balboa dance.

We have DCLX and ILHC.

Currently we have bi-monthly blues, but in the upcoming weeks monthly blues dances are being put in place. http://www.capitalblues.org/dances.php

Finally, we have the jam cellar crew and the amazing dancers there. http://thejamcellar.com/

Our cost of living does suck, but the public transportation system makes up for that by slashing the cost of transit. I pay approx. 12 a week to get everywhere I need.

I think what spurred me to respond to this thread again is the strong sense of pride that many people have for the dance scene here. While I cannot assert that the dancing is higher quality, I can show evidence and frequency of events that exhibit quality.

I think this thread is getting rather off topic from the original, "Next Big Scene", because many scenes are trying to lay their claim to being "the scene."

We should all just play nice, give props to New Orleans for having the right ingredients for something great, avoid superiority, and respect each individual scene for what they bring to the community.

DC does have an amazing scene, plus the quality of leads are incredible. It's hard to have a "bad dance."

I've never danced outside the US, but just curious, which international scenes would you say are pretty amazing? I've heard a lot of about Seoul. Any other amazing scenes?

Quoted from "Travis"

Quoted from "almostapoet"
You can see where I'm going with this.

You are declaring the Seattle scene dead or dying because we do not have an abundance of live music?

Of course Chance can respond himself, but I read that line as meaning something else. He wrote it directly after a comment about our regular live music venue being once a week maybe, at a restaurant called the New Orleans Creole Restaurant. I think he was using that as a way of saying that even the one live venue he thinks we have is only an imitation of the 'real thing' in the city of New Orleans.

What he's missing is that there's live music at the New Orleans nearly every night, and dancers go there at least twice a week. Sure, not as much as N.O. but not as dismal as he made it sound.

This whole conversation seems less like an actual discussion of what makes a scene a "great" scene, and more like someone from N.O. trying to puff up their scene in hopes to attract attention and more emigration to their scene. Each person has to make that decision for themselves on what scene they think is "best" and what scene they want to live in. If N.O. really has the best to offer lindy hoppers then it will be evident over time.

Actually RM, you're right on! Just wanted opinions on the movement and progression of the next "big dance" scene, whenever that may be.

Quoted from "freddie"
Of course Chance can respond himself, but I read that line as meaning something else. He wrote it directly after a comment about our regular live music venue being once a week maybe, at a restaurant called the New Orleans Creole Restaurant. I think he was using that as a way of saying that even the one live venue he thinks we have is only an imitation of the 'real thing' in the city of New Orleans.

I may have used that line out of context but it seems that where Chance is 'going with this' is that tons of live music makes dancers better which makes a better scene and since Seattle doesn t have that (according to him) then it is "hardly" the best dance scene. But, hey, he sure looks forward to coming to visit us in May for Camp Jitterbug!!! Hahahaha.

Of course I wish Seattle had as much live music as N.O. but we seem to be getting along ok with what we have.

I won that years ago, and claim the title when need be. One of the downfalls of having passion and heart.

Quoted from "freddie"
It's useful to hear what others think makes a great scene, but declaring that one scene is "best", or that another scene is not the "best" because of one premise is foolish.

When speaking with a couple of others at Swing and Soul regarding which scene would be the best scene in their opinion as far as quality of social dancers, instructors, and room for personal progression, all of their answers were Seattle. I don't think anyone was foolish in saying this. Of course, I'm sure he doesn't think the other scenes are horrible, but we discussed which scenes lead certain movements, and where they're heading, including DC and LA. That also doesn't mean that NY and San Fran suck, but it does mean that they were not part of a national movement (although, I would certainly disagree by stating that when Savoy Style resurrected, NY had a HUGE influence on the rest of the world).

With watching the trends over the years and what dancers are looking for in a scene, as Chance mentioned, there is a larger progression toward live music and trad jazz. That's why I think NOLA will be the next big scene, although I do agree that Denver and other scenes are growing in popularity. And with the incredible amount of high quality dancers we already have here as well as for those moving here shortly, not to mention a large percentage of exchanges constantly bringing in New Orleans bands to play at their events, NOLA is definitely gaining more in popularity. Didn't Seattle recently have an event (last year) where the theme was New Orleans? They even brought in the Loose Marbles. DCLX, Charleston, and somewhere in Florida have all brought in the New Orleans Jazz Vipers. The music and bands that people want to dance to are either from New Orleans or have a New Orleans influence (like the Boilermakers and Blue Vipers).

Yup, it's true. And the more out of town dancers that come, the more mula I make!! ;)

Actually, we don't have a dance venue (other than Nathalie's studio that has DJ'd dances once a month). We don't need a weekly dance venue. Have have several places to dance any given night, with live music.

Quoted from "jlindyhopr"
In my opinion (and I've been dancing since the resurgence in 1997), DC was the first BIG scene. Tom and Debra paved the way by bringing in lots of renown instructors for workshops, teaching hundreds of people to dance on any given Saturday night (America at Tyson's Corner anyone?), and really promoting swing. The quality of leads and follows were amazing, and the events were incredible! And as a disclaimer for Charlie, I never said the scene is not amazing. It's still going strong, but it's not the 1 scene. Then when Hollywood style got big, LA had the next big scene. Camp Hollywood was a HUGE push for that scene, along with incredible instructors and dancers. After Hollywood style died down (again, disclaimer, the scene did not die, but the style did), it seemed that Seattle was next on the list. I have not had the pleasure of going there, but all of my girlfriends have told me that you will NEVER have a bad dance there since the quality of leads and followers are awesome. Plus you have big name instructors like Peter, Mia, and Todd (and there's more, but my mind is blank). Of course NY has a great scene too, but if you were to ask Steven Mitchell or other legends (I know cause I've asked) what the 1 dance scene is in the world, they'll tell you that Seattle is the 1 hot spot. Great dancing, great people, great instruction, etc. I'm just curious where the next big movement will take place. I truly think it will be New Orleans, and I think dancers will actively move here to be a part of the scene.

That is the history that I'm aware of in regards to the most popular scenes in the past ten years. If I'm missing something, please enlighten me. As far as I know of, San Fran and NYC were both incredible dance scenes, but did not have the numbers and reputation as much as DC and LA. If you disagree, please let me know where they fit in.

Actually, I do think NY was first in the resurgence. When retro-swing took off and we were all learning Savoy Style, wasn't that 1997 and 1998? So, perhaps NY was first on the list of big dance scenes, then DC, then LA, then Seattle.

Mouth, I actually didn't know that (obviously). Thanks for setting the record straight and educating me on NY and SF's role.

So, IYHO, what city do YOU think will be passed the lindy torch and why?

Quoted from "jlindyhopr"
With watching the trends over the years and what dancers are looking for in a scene, as Chance mentioned, there is a larger progression toward live music and trad jazz. And with the incredible amount of high quality dancers we already have here as well as for those moving here shortly, not to mention a large percentage of exchanges constantly bringing in New Orleans bands to play at their events, NOLA is definitely gaining more in popularity. Didn't Seattle recently have an event (last year) where the theme was New Orleans? They even brought in the Loose Marbles.

Yeah, the Seattle Lindy Exchange flew the Loose Marbles out last year. I agree that live music and trad jazz has been the trend for the last few years, and Seattle has been no stranger to that trend, even before hiring LM. The idea behind hiring LM for the exchange was to give the PNW folks a chance to hear them (Seattle is kinda out of the way), and to give some of the national scene another reason to come out and dance with us. It was a lot of fun of course and we were happy to hire them.

As for Loose Marbles, they are a great band no doubt, but having the exposure that ULHS and Chance/Amy brought them was what really made them dancer favorites nationally outside of their street gigs. (that and Meschiya's voice really attracted a lot of people) There are sweet bands all over the country, sometimes its just a matter of exposure.

It's great that N.O. has fine bands, but to me that doesn't automatically equal a great dance scene. N.O. has had great bands for the last century. If bands is all it took to have a great scene then why hasn't N.O. been a dance mecca the whole time?

Is the fact that non-N.O. events have hired N.O. bands for events more or less convincing than the fact that many events hire Seattle DJs to stock their events, or D.C. instructors, or L.A. bands, or Swedish dance troupes? It's gotta come down to a wider picture than just one element of a swing scene.

I think a dance scene has to be able to stand on its own. The community of dancers, teachers, djs, and organizers need to have their own thing going on, without the need for outsiders (or local tourism) to prop it up. Big events are great jolts of energy for a scene, but when everyone goes home the scene still has to have a solid base. I'd like to hear more about the small things that N.O. has going on, the local organizing, the evidence of a tight knit community before I'll be convinced that N.O. is more than just a place with lots of bars and bands. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to dance in New Orleans more, but the argument that live music is the only thing you need just doesn't hold water to me.

Since I've never been dancing in New Orleans, I'd be interested to know what it's like on a regular week. You said somewhere that there are no weekly dances, rather a monthly dance and the various bars with live music. Is that correct? Do people group together to go to certain bars on certain nights? How many people are out dancing on a given night on average?

Also, how do people typically learn to dance in N.O. -- meaning, is there a local dance club that gives class series, or private studios?

It's nice that you have such strong pride for your city, but you only listed bands, big weekend events, and random rockstars as evidence for your predictions of greatness. What are the everyday dancers/volunteers doing in the scene to make this ring true? Bands come and go into favor, big events can be run from the top-down, and random rockstars can tend to grow shallow roots -- a great scene, in my opinion, comes from the bottom up.

Quoted from "falty411"
MY [bleep!]IS THE BIGGEST!!! ....that's what this thread is about, right?

ftw