Urban Marinade

Well here we go again. My usual once-per-year rant about Lindy Hop, the partner dance I am still (reluctantly) in love with. The truth is, most of you don’t know me as a dancer. I was talked into learning this type of swing dancing while living in California. I continued to learn it when I moved to DC because it was something to do and an easy way to meet people. I got better. I started to travel and compete. I even won a few competitions. Now I teach it. But I find myself drifting further and further away from this dance. Why? How? What should I do?

The issue I’m facing is actually pretty simple. I shoot photos…A LOT! I’m practically a full-time professional photographer now. When I’m not shooting, I’m editing. And I love it. It’s hard to pull me away from something I love. I’m also in love with dance music. If I’ve got music on, it’s 99.9% almost always going to be some form of dance music. So the reality is there just isn’t a lot of time left each week to devote to learning and expanding my knowledge in vintage jazz dancing. The other reality here is I just don’t connect with the dance anymore. It’s not that I can’t go out and have a fantastic dance and feel great about it. I can. But the whole world that surrounds Lindy Hop is so dramatically different from my cutting-edge/house music/nightlife/music industry world. Doug and the Lindy Hop work well together. Doug and the Lindy Hop “scene” just don’t go. And that bothers me a bit.

Let me try to explain this conundrum. When I started dancing, I walked into the whole thing a little suspicious. I liked the idea of learning a partnered dance, but I really didn’t identify with the whole 50’s, sock-hop, neo-swing style I thought the dance represented. I had no desire to learn a dance that forced me to dress like a greaser and listen to Elvis. But I found people just like me. They looked like kids ready to hit the club. They dressed normal, looked normal, had jobs and seemed to just love the dance itself. This completely blew away the stereotype so many seemed to identify swing with and I loved it. Here was a dance that was gaining momentum just as it did in the early ’30s…just regular kids tearing up the dance floor.

Well over the years, the idea of dancing vintage while dressing vintage has gained some steam. In fact, so many people dress vintage at dance events these days, it’s almost hard to tell when the photos were taken. On one hand I think that’s kinda neat from a photographers perspective. But on the other hand, you won’t see me wearing the tweed suit, paperboy hat and suspenders any time soon. I tried it a few times. I started to get sucked into the whole idea. But I was more comfortable dancing in clothes I would wear to Lima Lounge. And I liked the idea of living our lives like we normally would while incorporating a dance that got it’s start a long time ago into our modern lives. The old was becoming new.

Today, everyone seems to be dressing vintage at big dance events. I tend to think you’re out of place if you aren’t. And here is where I’ve started to feel disconnected. I just don’t care to wear period clothing. I don’t think wearing period clothing makes you a better dancer. I don’t think it represents the dance. When Frankie Manning busted up a dance floor in Harlem in the ’30s, he was wearing what was in style in Harlem in the ’30s. He was inventing moves and helping create a dance not because of fashion, but because of what the music made his body feel.

Long story short, I believe most of the dancers today are so desperate to fit in to this little world that they dress like this in hopes it legitimizes them as Lindy Hoppers. It’s like the guys who wear Cutter & Buck on the golf course. They can’t hit a golf ball if it was the size of a basketball, but they sure look like they can. Jump to the modern Lindy Hop dance floor…can’t swing out if your life depended on it, but you’ve got a vest on and are carrying a cane. Rock on!

So there ya go. My annual lindy hop rant. I love the dance. I love taking a partner on the dance floor and swinging out to a 200 bpm song. I love to see the smiles on peoples faces when they realize there is something so exhilarating about this dance and the moves that go with it. But all of this comes back to the dance itself. Not what is being worn or what was being worn in 1932. Until the Lindy Hop world comes back to reality a bit and focuses more on the dance than the fashion, I’m afraid I just won’t fit it. A cane would be pretty cool though! =)