Q&A2 - for Lindy Hop and Swing Dance

[@paulgraf5259]

Let’s pause for a second to admire the plants… that is a heck of a collection

[@LauraGlaess]

I love it when it freezes outside and I need to bring my babies in.

[@AlmightyArceus]

That 6/8 question was so fundamentally clarifying to me as to how to Lindy. As a longtime jazz player who is starting to learn Lindy dance, it felt soooooo unnatural to dance in 6. But thinking of it as a way to set up improvisation and freedom of expression was soooo helpful!

[@LauraGlaess]

That makes me so happy! Thank you!

[@snörre23]

As a hobby musician this was very confusing for me at the beginning, sometimes i skipped in between to do a rockstep at one, then i went trough the phase "i have to start the first six count rockstep at one then do four so that i get the first 8 count, for example swingout at one again" - and then i got over it, also realizing that a good number of people (follows) don't hear the beginning of a measure anyway.

[@calebraysilcott9471]

I know some dancers that like 8 count patters for this reason they feel they can react to the phrases better if they stick to 8 count. ❤

[@theplinkerslodge6361]

You really do have the best Swing Dance channel. To critique, other channels just don't connect their theory words with demonstration. Just as you say "Get out and dance," the learning from videos is the same, "Just show me what it looks like." The 6 count kind of blew my mind as I tinker on the piano and was trying to deal with 6 counts in 4/4 time music. BUT, as you get to in your video, it adds the necessary sophistication to create mystery.

[@LauraGlaess]

I appreciate this so much. Thank you. Looking forward to seeing you on the floor one day so you can show me your moves!

[@Timbotao]

When your head falls off, LOL!... I have had a big break from dancing, through and after the pandemic... but have finally been missing it enough, and now looking up classes nearby, and getting back into going to socials etc. I loved your answer to "plateau-ing"... I am a musician who plays in the blues scene, and have played in jump blues bands etc, so it's easy for me to just forget about dancing, and just play music... but eventually I miss dancing!... so I found your channel as i have been looking back into dance and instructables to start refreshing things, and getting inspired again... ! ha I have also learned in several cities (Sydney, and Melbourne : Hello from Melbourne Australia!) several groups/teachers, and I have tripped around heaps of countries, and when I wasn't playing/jamming music I was finding Swing dancing all over America (New Orleans, Memphis, Austin, St Louis, Chicago, New York, {Toronto, Montreal})... and as a result, my dancing hasn't had a very linear path... it sometimes is a little chaotic, and has influences from all over... in some scenes I thought this was a real disadvantage... as it was very disjointed, and heaps of different theories and styles in there... and it can be challenging social dancing with 'established' dancers in a particular scene... Plus my musical background always gave me slight advantage, as no matter how much I 'misstepped'... I could always find my way back onto the rhythm or the one, or whatever count I was suppose to be on.. ha ha (which sometimes confuses great dancers as I can get so off track, and then still find my way back.. ha ha). BUT your explanation of plateauing, and the idea that 'the establishments' way of quantifying levels, helped me SO much today... I am probably intermediate dancer, but with so much time off, it's been hard to get back on the dancefloor... and like everything with how my style has ended up, being in a newish city and starting into the social dancing scene again, is daunting... especially when everyone here knows everyone else... but your statement resonated with me SO much "don't let external sources invalidate your progress".. ha and yeah I know from experience too, that just getting out there again and on the floor is what I need... your video helped me today! and gave me another nudge to just get out and do it ! ha thanks! (new subscriber!)

[@LauraGlaess]

Yes! Just get out there and DO IT! And play music. What and advantage!

[@lilypstudio]

I learned the Lindy in college back in the late 90's and got to learn in person from Frankie Manning when he came for a workshop. It was such a highlight of my college days that I feel even more so now looking back. I learned the way they taught in that video you saw in New York. Those were such fun days!

[@LauraGlaess]

What an amazing experience. I'm so happy you got to learn from him

[@calebraysilcott9471]

Found it!!! This is the video with the classic clip of the group of swing outs in a row on different beats!

[@andyduran3725]

Thanks so much Laura for your comments to my question, you're so kind & sweet. Bye bye

[@LauraGlaess]

You had such an amazing question!

[@andyduran3725]

@@LauraGlaess Jajajaja. Kisses Laura

[@davidlarson2770]

Great video! .... it’s easy, it’s jazz.

[@ElMagnumy]

Thank you for featuring and the lovely answer Laura!

[@LauraGlaess]

Thank you for the lovely question!

[@amyhatch3761]

I think of it as an 8 count dance with three patterns of moves that repeat rock step, triple step, triple step, rock step triple step, triple step, rock step, triple step triple step, rock step, triple step, triple step and back to the beginning

[@joshuakirschbaum]

I love you Laura!

[@richsim9701]

great video , thanks Laura

[@tecoberg]

This part about your cat was very funny! 😂

[@LauraGlaess]

Lol - thanks. She's asking again right now.

[@tecoberg]

@@LauraGlaess 😂

[@eckdavid2472]

Thanks for the video, really interesting! I was particularly interested in the six-count thing. I actually imagined it was something especially popular among amateurs because you don’t have to worry so much about where the 8 is and all that; never imagined it was the broth that makes the soup! 😄 Interesting discussion on feedback. That has a lot to do with effective communication and how people take things. Sometimes you can say something with the intent of helping someone, but they take it as an attack on their person. Ya’ have ta be careful! Again, thanks for all the videos and keep up the good work! 😀

[@LauraGlaess]

Totally about the feedback. And then if THEY take it badly, YOU might be mad that they took it badly because you intended to be helpful, blah blah. Like I said, I've done it all wrong and learned a lot. You can never be too careful with feelings - especially with someone you care about

[@segugio]

love you, thanks a lot

[@armynurseboy]

That's why I dance in sets of 2.... 😉 Also, I think "practice" and "rehearsal" are not synonymous. From what I was hearing in the video, it sounded to me that what you were describing was more "rehearsal" than practice. I always considered "practice" as just hanging out and dancing....just like back in the Trinity days. It was informal; we played around on the floor, trying new and different things, while we burned the movements of the dance into muscle memory. This idea was formalized for me when I started learning Tango, where Practicas were formatted as casual "dances" where the idea was to simply get out on the floor and build proficiency by just dancing. "Rehearsal," to me, were always more structured with specific goals in mind.

[@Rainbowdancefactory]

6 Count is rhythmically more open and challenging especially for the leader creating the progressions. If there’s NO aligning to the form of the music ( a break that you hold on the 8 th bar maybe ) and a restart at the beginning of the next section then I would definitely miss something. That’s why I teach a lot of music form

[@me-lg1yw]

Loving the jungle!

[@LauraGlaess]

I love my jungle!

[@wesley907]

I enjoyed that talk. :-)

[@KlavierKannNichtMehr]

Think of the music as in 12/8, but then swung - that fits with the six count.

[@LauraGlaess]

lol!

[@zethodderskov]

Great video!! But I don't know... Am I the only one who wished she would have a little more plants and flowers in the background?

[@LauraGlaess]

Ha!

[@niaraselah]

Hello! I am truly enjoying your channel. One question. Is there a reason the older clips seems to show dancers moving at lightning speed? I know there were variations as the dance aged, but is there more to it?

[@LauraGlaess]

Man, that's a good question. The older clips of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers are super fast and frequently have a lot of air - I'm assuming because it was almost like seeing acrobats at the circus. A lot of other dance acts had crazy stuff, too. Nicholas and Barry Brothers were constantly doing jump splits and sliding through each other's legs and stuff. From what I understand, as time progressed, there were more white dancers on camera -- presumably because they learned Lindy later. They danced to more mid-tempo songs, and didn't do as many aerials. I have no idea why this is. Is it a NY vs CA thing? Is it a fashion has changed thing? Is it a race thing? An ability thing? I have no idea...

[@niaraselah]

@@LauraGlaess Well, thank you for sharing! Your channel opened doors about my history that I didn’t know were closed.

[@davidziff2591]

Isn't 6 count more chill because the foot movement is slower. Two of the steps (side, side) are two beats in length whereas none are in 8 count.

[@LauraGlaess]

I do think that six count can be more chill. There's a kind of holding pattern in six count where you don't move a lot. Most of the moves in 8 count that I know of travel a LOT. However, I think depending on how you count it, the step step and triple step in six count and eight count are rhythmically all the same. It's just how much travel you're expected to do while executing them.

[@davidziff2591]

@@LauraGlaess I never used a triple step for 6 count (which we also called East Coast). the triple step always felt too cutesy and not rock-n-roll enough for me.

[@fabriciomail]

ok. I have always love yor videos, but... the "feed me move cat"??? ..... oh my... that broke my internet.

[@LauraGlaess]

It's funny as long as you're not trying to get something done after feeding her ONE MINUTE AGO!

[@paulgraf5259]

There is no 1 is like “there is no spoon” from the matrix

[@LauraGlaess]

Haaa!!!! I love that.

[@davidlarson2770]

Thanks again.... apology first, why do people spend time getting jacked and being a good dancer, a good leader, a good follower, what is your perspective about The balance and feel of your partner? No one ever talks how about the Harmony within a beautiful partnership. I.e. walking out onto the floor with a new partner and knowing exactly how they’re going to dance by the way they feel. Isn’t leading and following more about sharing the balance and flow? Some people have said that it’s reading the essence of your partner. Isn’t jazz about the feel of the music and isn’t that what we’re sharing may be discovering the balance and flow of all our partners. ... Really, and truly, just saying. Thanks again this was a great video you really are wonderful source of all kinds of perspectives.Happy trails

[@LauraGlaess]

Some deep stuff. Ellington always said the most desirable quality in a musician was the ability to listen -- which could be thought of as reading the essence of the other musicians in the band. I think dancing is the same.

[@triinluik4304]

So true about the listening ☺ I am quite a beginner dancer and beginner lindy dancer, but in the beginning of my beginning it felt really like I didn't "hear" what my dance partner and the music were telling me. Now I hear already some whispers... 😁