Swing and Big Band Station (click to listen)

Let’s face it, swing and big band music has all but disappeared from the airwaves. For years, I searched online for good stations, and was mostly frustrated. Well, not to sound cliche, but the Internet has changed all that. Pandora is perfect for those of us who love niche or “dated” genres such as swing and big band.

In case you are behind, Pandora uses the music genome project to build custom stations tailored just to you. Basically you tell it the music you like and it finds music similar to that to play along with it in a station. In a nutshell, it compares your music tastes to others and “magically” makes a playlist on the fly. This is great for people like me since I want to hear the music I like, but I also want to hear “new” music (or at least music new to me) in the playlist as well. I mean iTunes and iPods are great, but I also love to hear different tunes in the same genre as my collection. After all, that’s how I find great music to put into my collection in the first place.

Pandora is all this and more. Best of all, you can share your stations with others. For example, click on the icon (above right) to hear one of my stations. It’s tailored to my tastes, so it’s mostly classic swing artists. However, I left it open enough so I get to hear stuff new to me every so often. As a result, it’s more of a “listening” station and not necessarily a “dancing” station. Feel free to use it as a starting point for your own station.

I don’t claim to be an expert on the genome project by any means, but I have learned a few things about Pandora over time. It is very possible to narrow down a station too much. If you do, you tend to hear the same songs over and over again. There seems to be an art to creating a station that both encompasses your tastes, sticks to a genre, but plays a variety too. Here are a few tips:

• When starting out, don’t give Pandora just one artist or song to start with. Make use of the “add variety” feature on the station. Add in other artists and songs within that genre that you like too.
• Don’t overuse “thumbs up” and “thumbs down”. If you rate every song, your station will just get more and more narrow until it only plays just the songs you like. Might as well just pull the iPod out at that point.
• Having said that, make sure you do rate the songs you really do or don’t like.
• Think twice before you hit the “thumbs down” button. Just because you don’t like a particular song, you don’t send the wrong message to Pandora. For example, I don’t like bebop jazz. However, it occasionally pops up in my swing station. I don’t give a thumbs down to, say, a Count Basie bebop tune, but I will give a thumbs down to an artist more known for bebop like Max Roach.
• If you want a good “genre based” station, treat it like a regular radio station. You are going to hear some songs you don’t like or don’t like as well as others. You wouldn’t call and complain to the station for that. However you would if they strayed out of format (time to use the “thumbs down”).

Hope this helps! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and I’ll post some of my stations there every so often.

You only have a few days left to register at the early registration price of $60/person. After that the price goes up to $70/person so hurry to reserve your spot now! Both six week series classes start this Sunday, May 1st and run to June 12th (no class on Memorial Day Weekend).

Swing Dance - Never danced before and want to get started? The Swing Dance class is perfectly designed to give you all the fundamentals of swing dancing, plus some great moves and variations. The class will feature the 6-count swing dance basic and progress into a variety of moves, turns, and combos. As with most all of the series classes, no previous dance experience or partner is needed so don’t let either one stop you from signing up! Click here to register online.

Lindy Hop 2 – Are you ready to take your Lindy Hop to the next level or maybe you just want to cement in what you’ve already learned? From the Lindy Hop basics to intermediate moves and variations… Lindy Hop 2 is designed to make you a stronger dancer. You must know the 8 count basic Lindy basic to take this class. Click here to register online.

To further help those in our Swing and Lindy Hop classes, we’ve compiled a list of “online” songs for you to practice to. This playlist consists of songs we found available on Grooveshark and are playable via the widget on the right. Now all you have to do is setup your laptop near your practice space (or better yet, hook it up to your stereo) and and press play.

These songs were specifically selected because they have solid beats and steady rhythms. This is especially good for beginners. The tempos in the playlist are mixed, however, all the songs tend to be on the slower side so they should be easy to use for practice. Jump around in the list and find something that inspires you.

If you enjoy the music, be sure to pop by your favorite music service (or music store) and make a purchase. It’s good to support swing music! We’ve also compiled a list of suggested practice music specifically available on iTunes.

In order to further help those of you taking our Balboa class, we’ve put together an “online” practice playlist. Now all you have to do is set your laptop next to your practice space at home (or even better, hook it up to your stereo) and press play on the widget on the right.

These are a list of songs we found on the Grooveshark service. We purposely picked songs that have a clear beat and a steady rhythm. This should make it easy for those starting out with Balboa to practice to. For the most part, the playlist starts slow and gets faster with each song you progress to.

If you enjoy the music, we encourage you to drop by your favorite music service (or music store) and purchase them. It’s great to support swing music! We’ve also compiled a list of suggested practice music that is available specifically on iTunes.

The Lindy Hop class is very close to reaching capacity, but there are a few spots still open so hurry now to secure your spot! There is also still room in the Charleston class so reserve your spot now before that class reaches capacity. If you are not sure what Lindy Hop or Charleston look like and/or want to see a snapshot of the moves we’ll be covering in the classes, take a look at the video clip on each class page. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

We hope to see you out at the 2nd and 4th Saturday night dances! Don’t forget about the new start times!

Update - Our Sunday afternoon series classes are starting this Sunday (January 16th)! Hurry and sign up before Saturday night at midnight to secure the early registration price of $60/person (day-of price is $70/person). Calling all ladies…..we are short on follows for the Swing Dance Series Class! There are more leads than follows registered. If you are a follow/lady with no partner who is interested in taking the class, please sign up! It’s a rare situation to have more leads than follows so take advantage of it ladies.

Looking to get started with swing dancing? This is your chance! Our six count Swing Dance series class takes you from scratch and teaches you all the essential basics and moves to have you out on the dance floor having a good time. You will learn the 6-count swing basic and then progress into a variety of moves, turns, combos, and variations. This class takes you step-by-step, week-by-week to make learning easy!

Ready to learn Balboa? This is the perfect dance to look and move smooth from slow to even the fastest of tempos. With slick moves and fancy footwork, this dance is seriously addictive! Our Balboa series class will start out by teaching you the basic footwork and connection of the dance. It will then progress into turns, moves, and styling. There will be a strong focus on technique as this dance has a connection and flow like nothing else. It’s a favorite amongst dancers!

I just came across this great article that talks about how you can use modern shapeware/foundation garments to achieve a vintage body shape with your clothes. The author interviewed the stylist for the show “Mad Men”, a modern show set in the 1950′s. She talks about how to measure yourself to get accurate measurements and how to achieve the smooth, curvy shape of decades gone by. I personally know there are many many shapeware options available these days that help us achieve what ever body shape we desire.

For those of you wondering about the roots of Lindy Hop, here is some footage from the 1929 short “After Seben”. It is some of the earliest known footage of Lindy Hop and features one of the original innovators of the dance, “Shorty” George Snowden. You can see the strong roots in Charleston and the very early swing outs.

Our next set of series classes, which start in January, are now open for registration so be sure to reserve your spot in the Balboa class and/or the Swing Dance series class now!

In the meantime, we will continue to offer private lessons throughout the holiday season. If you are interested in getting some quality, individual instruction during the holidays, be sure to contact us. If you have never danced before, we encourage you to drop by the beginner dance lesson before the 2nd & 4th Saturday dances. They have some great events planned for the holidays, and we occasionally guest instruct the lessons there.

Be sure to sign up for the email list (on the right) or follow us on Facebook for the latest updates.

Instructors: Joe & Tabitha Robinson
Date: Saturday, October 23rd
Time: 7 to 8pm
Location: Whirl & Twirl
Price: $10 (seperate from dance admission)

This special class will be held before the regular beginner swing dance lesson at the 4th Saturday special Halloween Swing Dance.

Come out and learn some killer flashy moves to add into your dancing! Joe & Tabitha, originally form Orlando and now residing in Washington DC, are widely known for their fantastic tricks and amazing aerials. In this special class, they will be teaching a few tricks to make your dancing pop. These will be socially danceable and you won’t be flying through the air… however, they will be eye popping and attention grabbing! Easy to do with high wow factor… that’s why they are called tricks!

You must be comfortable with swing basics to take this class. No partner is needed.

The regular beginner swing dance lesson will follow the class, but stick around for the annual Halloween swing dance featuring a costume contest and live big band music!

Check out a few videos of Joe & Tabitha: