Boogie Woogie vs Lindy Hop Tanya & Sondre Lindy Choreo reaction Lindy Hop Swing Dance

[@streetsmartswing]

Do you think Boogie dancers are more talented than Lindy Hoppers performance wise?

[@djangaver]

They are more practiced of course yet lindy hop looks more reachable and humane and relatable

[@streetsmartswing]

@@SwingyBoy88 lol

[@cpersable]

Yes and no. In the Europeean boogie-competition the choreographed hightlight part sadly has taken over hand and takes way too much focus from the actual boogie-dancing bits. For some couples i have to struggle to even find some bits with actual boogie-characteristics. Often it is great "dancing" but its just a bunch of choreographed bits with so little boogie character that they could have participated in any other dance contest, like hip hop, jive, salsa or whatever. Most europeean contest are not showcase style but could easily be mistaken for that. In my opinion, the best dancers are the ones that has made the effort and practices both Lindy and boogie. With that knowledge they can really present a boogie that is well connected with its roots (Lindy). One of the best example is Nils and Bianca.

[@streetsmartswing]

@@cpersable fantastic assessment.

[@MiklosHajma]

As someone who's a long time Boogie/Lindy dancer (since '96 and '98 respectively), I might have some insights on this. In Boogie competitions you only have fast rounds until the finals. This in itself trains you to have precise quick technique (if you're any good of course). Sadly, this also has a side effect - lots of Boogie dancers are struggling with slow music and being more expressive without your technical tricks. Out of competition, in socials you don't really see fast music anymore neither in rock n' roll (boogie) or swing (lindy) parties. This makes me sad because we got good in it exactly because we were dancing our asses off to fast music. The current trend is to make everything approachable and people can't improve after a while because their limits aren't pushed. Also, I perceived some "purist" movement within Lindy Hop over the years, a lot of people outright said that they only want to learn classic jazz/lindy moves and not bring in other technique because it'd "taint" their pure Lindy Hop styling. In my almost 30 years of dancing I've been learning Boogie, Lindy, Tap, Hip Hop (all the OG styles like Locking and stuff), Jazz (the theatrical one, you know, a lots of Ballet and modern dance techniques), West Coast Swing, etc. They were all additions to my vocabulary. I still consider myself more of a Boogie dancer as it was the one I performed and competed for the longest time, but the only real difference for me between Boogie/Lindy/WCS is the music and the styling comes with it. Because the common root is Lindy Hop, Boogie is originating from the dance they saw in movies like Rock around the Clock (where Lindy dancers were performing to RnR music), and WCS is an ever evolving beast swallowing all the latin and other influences. In basic technique and approach they are quite similar regardless of the music and what they were integrating over the years.

[@jamesseals5007]

you hit the nail on the head, boogie woogie dancers constantly have to push the envelop where lindy dancers are stuck watching hellzapoppin and spirit moves trying to figure out what was done 100 years ago....

[@streetsmartswing]

Ouch…yet there is a lot of observational truth to your comment in my experience.

[@gregburns5638]

Those couples who, um, "over-performed" to outdo everyone else were called "shiners" in the day. As my Mom, "Star-Spangled Stella" used to tell us: "NOBODY did those flips and splits in real life, except in the movies!" Ballrooms and night clubs were way too crowded, especially during World War ll, to allow it. In fact, the "Balboa" was concocted and named after the famous ballroom that literally forbid any kind of swingouts to prevent injuries between dancers. Obviously, its hoppy/skippy footwork was supposed to make up for the lack of swing outs, acrobatics, and aerials... 🤔

[@carlobruno9592]

Also i love William & Maeva and Nills & Bianca, both couples comes from boogie woogie (and they were both world champions). I agree with you about all what you said for strictly lindy and coreography time. But when it comes to jack & jill and improvisation? Well man, Lindy Hoppers are still not easy beatable by boogie woogie dancers. First of all for their solo jazz background which i believe is larger. Once one told me: before be a lindy hopper, you should be a solo jazz dancer. That being said j&j should be the floor where they fight, and let's see what would happen...

[@UrsStockli]

I just speak for the situation here in switzerland. I am a lindy balboa and boogiedancer. I agree...the boogie dancers are more ...fun, fresh...special spirit of life and happyness...they play more with the music. In my opinion, the reason is the music. Lindy events in switzerland very often play a to intellectual music, sometimes the read the notes from the paper...no individuality...mostly there is no blues in their music. It looks like the actual comunity in switzerland forgot where thet great original swingmusic comes from. Now its just one thing: boring. With a boring sound ...its not possiple to dance funny.

[@bethflokstra1028]

I just ate this up, being a passionate fan of Sondre and Tanya 😍😍. Prefer b/w as it's of my era, 50s/60s as I grew up. Only beginning to be interested in watching Lindy Hop, mostly from watching S and T. Too creaky to dance now, so appreciate your opinions on dance moves but don't have opinions on them 😜. But I KNOW what I LIKE!

[@poonbeat]

I like Sondre and Tanya but I actually prefer their Lindy performances. To me, Boogie Woogie routines seem more choreographed as opposed to lead and follow. I like lead and follow in the Todd Y vein because it translates to the social dance floor better for me. Doing Boobie Woogie all night would kill me!

[@MrBlablaboy64]

One this one I have to disagree... to me "talented performance wise" would mean to be able to make feel big emotions... And in this case, this couple does not make me feel anything else that they are proficient "technically" wise :/ But I do agree that some really talented lindy hoppers were/are boogie dancers and that it probably helped them having more control

[@streetsmartswing]

Great comment.

[@tecoberg]

I agree👍

[@barbaravanwye3386]

Love Tana and Sona been following 💕 them

[@markelliott1397]

Love your provram

[@tarjei99]

ALL public dance performances are choreographed. Even ballet performances. Competitions tend to be about technical performance. Apparently, the audience at the competition seem to appreciate what they are seeing. At other times, there might be more emotion in the dance.

[@peterwalker2377]

Of course, they are very very good, but I watched this and another video of theirs and I dont know, I just find them too mechanical and choreographed. The only thing I can think of is that they are out there dancing to win a competition (which of course they are), and it shows. They're not dancing, they're doing what's needed to win a dance competition. To quote Strictly Ballroom, "where's the musicality"??

[@streetsmartswing]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Peter!

[@gregburns5638]

Sondre is from Norway and Tanya from the Ukraine. After each lost their original dance partner, they joined forces almost 6 years ago, and live in Poland together. They are not married or in love, they just dance incredibly with each other. Both caught Covid last year, as did Tanya's 8 year old son, who was deathly ill. He literally needed a transfusion of stem cells to survive and recuperate. Sondre and Tanya have won 🏆 numerous World Champion awards over the past few years, but have apparently "retired" from competition to concentrate on teaching...

[@streetsmartswing]

Thanks for sharing, Greg. We all had the chance of working together a few years back in Parma Italy. It was a good time.

[@omardominguez2885]

Dude...

[@multislann]

I can see the kind of work and discipline Boogie dancers put in their art but I cannot agree that they are better than Lindy Hoppers at Lindy. To be fair I don't think Lindy Hoppers are very good in Lindy Hop unless they have a strong Solo Jazz base to fall back on. These old-time dancers of the 30's and 40's grew up as children dancing and tapping on the side of the street which gave them this unique and personal movement. Boogie dancers and overall partnered dancers rarely learn how to dance on their own before they start dancing with someone else. I practice solely authentic jazz and tap and Im a very average 'advanced' dancer in lindy hop. But I do see that the more i develop my own movement and aesthetic through solo dancing the more interesting even the simplest lindy moves become.

[@MiklosHajma]

Yes 99% of the dancers I know in Lindy and Boogie never had any solo dance experience before they started to take classes, the only problem is if they don't experiment with their bodies (so to say) and improve their overall collection of patterns, tricks, etc. through that. But let's be honest, most of the people doesn't want to do that, they just want to have a good time at the socials or in class. That's only a problem if you want to aim higher.

[@user-pw5pi3gv3t]

you should react to a rock n roll dancing competition of nationals here in new Zealand both senior and juniors have it

[@streetsmartswing]

Sounds like a good idea. Do you have a suggestion?

[@user-pw5pi3gv3t]

@@streetsmartswing kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJavoGdmrc2FeM0 open section final a lot going on at once but this is a good video to show how the competitions are by the way the songs are not known before going on to the floor so you just make up routines and do them to whatever song you end up with. Their is one fast and slow song per section but you may have to do multiple fast and slows depending on the competitor amount like heats and semis

[@whatyoudo9773]

can barely tell the difference tween the two.. very similar moves

[@lindyhopperalbury]

I have always thought they were really great dancers, but I have never actually wanted to absorb anything moves or styling from them . Their shapes are way too polished for my liking, just way to controlled with no real soul. A bit like those acrobatic rock and roll dancers from Eastern Europe. But if I could dance my preferred dance 1 percent as good as they do in this performance I would be happy

[@streetsmartswing]

Nice perspective, Greg!