I could have danced all night
27 April 2008 08:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
3rdragonNo, to be perfectly frank, I couldn't've. I'm also quite glad that the band called it at 11:00, because while I felt, when we stopped dancing, that I could have danced a little more, I was bone-tired exhausted by the time we finished putting everything away and the band collected all of their stuff and left.
Really, it was a very successful dance.
Considering that there was almost no advertising, either on campus or in the broader Swing community. (We had lovely posters which we mostly only put up within the past three days, and not terribly well at that.)
Considering that the timing was possibly the worst it could have been - Senior Ball was last night, and a thousand theater performances, and a bunch of other things that I don't even remember. On the plus side, I could go, which wouldn't necessarily have been guaranteed by a better-chosen date, given the number of Saturdays this semester that were occupied by fencing tournaments.
Considering that three out of five of the Smith Hooked on Swing Society board members couldn't actually go, and we didn't draw in many of the people who came to our lessons last semester, either.
The band was excellent, and at a guess I'd say that we had 15 people for the first hour or so of the dance, and perhaps 20 attendees overall. One of the advantages of poor advertising and not bringing in many beginners is that there aren't many beginners. While everyone I've met in the Swing Community is really happy to teach people things, and very understanding if you aren't very good yet, it's also really nice to dance with people who are as good as or better than you are. I learned two new moves last night, and saw another that I'll probably be able to figure out with Emily. I was showed several new moves that I don't have a dream of reproducing.
Cmoore and Toby were there, which is always fun, since they're both excellent dancers. I reminded them of several moves they had forgotten they knew, and they reminded me how to do them, which I figure is a pretty good trade-off. I became a lot better in triple-stepping over the course of the night, although I need to get cmoore to tell me what move it is that I can't remember that only works when triple-stepping.
I got to follow! You see, I originally learned to lead, given that someone needed to, and I've done a lot more leading, and so am better at leading than following. I like following, but only if I'm dancing with someone who's better than I am, because a) I'm not a good enough follow to be able to do it if my lead doesn't know what we're doing, and b) the amount of complexity that a couple can do while swing dancing depends on how advanced the leader is, given that s/he is leading, and it's more-or-less impossible to lead a move you don't know.
But cmoore and toby left shortly after 10:00, as did the batch of beginners and several of the couples who had showed up, leaving Emily and I, an intermediate couple (but really only the woman, since the guy's knee had gone unexpectedly wonky and he stopped dancing), and two guys who were quite good. I got to follow with each of them, and was also able to lead both Emily and the other woman, which is a kind of versatility which is really quite excellent, since it meant that I could dance with whoever I wanted to and never had to sit a dance out for lack of a partner I could dance with.
When Em and I were sitting around waiting for the band to finish packing up so we could go home, she expressed a desire to learn how to lead, which is an excellent idea because of the aforementioned versatility, and I suggested that it could be a project for this summer, given that we'll both be here. Height may be an interesting issue which didn't occur to me last night; I tend to forget that Emily only comes up to my shoulder. I think it'll be manageable, though, provided that she's VERY sure to get her hands up high enough. And it's not like it won't be something that she'll have to learn to deal with, given that many of the people she dances with are taller than she is.
Last night we also established that I have NO muscle memory for Lindy Hop. I went to two of the Lindy lessons a month and a half ago, and Zeke and I spent an hour just last week in an intensive review of Lindy, and last night I could do the first half of the basic step and one of the most basic turns. And that was not because my feet remembered; my head remembered and then I could manage to pummel it into my feet. I don't know why I have so much trouble learning Lindy; I never had that much trouble learning East Coast Swing. I didn't even have quite that much trouble learning West Coast Swing, for all that I like Lindy better than West Coast.
So overall, I had fun. And so did Emily. And that's what really matters, right?
Your student activity fee at work, folks; SHOSS hosts a dance and only a few students show up, but Miriam and Emily have lots of fun.
Really, it was a very successful dance.
Considering that there was almost no advertising, either on campus or in the broader Swing community. (We had lovely posters which we mostly only put up within the past three days, and not terribly well at that.)
Considering that the timing was possibly the worst it could have been - Senior Ball was last night, and a thousand theater performances, and a bunch of other things that I don't even remember. On the plus side, I could go, which wouldn't necessarily have been guaranteed by a better-chosen date, given the number of Saturdays this semester that were occupied by fencing tournaments.
Considering that three out of five of the Smith Hooked on Swing Society board members couldn't actually go, and we didn't draw in many of the people who came to our lessons last semester, either.
The band was excellent, and at a guess I'd say that we had 15 people for the first hour or so of the dance, and perhaps 20 attendees overall. One of the advantages of poor advertising and not bringing in many beginners is that there aren't many beginners. While everyone I've met in the Swing Community is really happy to teach people things, and very understanding if you aren't very good yet, it's also really nice to dance with people who are as good as or better than you are. I learned two new moves last night, and saw another that I'll probably be able to figure out with Emily. I was showed several new moves that I don't have a dream of reproducing.
Cmoore and Toby were there, which is always fun, since they're both excellent dancers. I reminded them of several moves they had forgotten they knew, and they reminded me how to do them, which I figure is a pretty good trade-off. I became a lot better in triple-stepping over the course of the night, although I need to get cmoore to tell me what move it is that I can't remember that only works when triple-stepping.
I got to follow! You see, I originally learned to lead, given that someone needed to, and I've done a lot more leading, and so am better at leading than following. I like following, but only if I'm dancing with someone who's better than I am, because a) I'm not a good enough follow to be able to do it if my lead doesn't know what we're doing, and b) the amount of complexity that a couple can do while swing dancing depends on how advanced the leader is, given that s/he is leading, and it's more-or-less impossible to lead a move you don't know.
But cmoore and toby left shortly after 10:00, as did the batch of beginners and several of the couples who had showed up, leaving Emily and I, an intermediate couple (but really only the woman, since the guy's knee had gone unexpectedly wonky and he stopped dancing), and two guys who were quite good. I got to follow with each of them, and was also able to lead both Emily and the other woman, which is a kind of versatility which is really quite excellent, since it meant that I could dance with whoever I wanted to and never had to sit a dance out for lack of a partner I could dance with.
When Em and I were sitting around waiting for the band to finish packing up so we could go home, she expressed a desire to learn how to lead, which is an excellent idea because of the aforementioned versatility, and I suggested that it could be a project for this summer, given that we'll both be here. Height may be an interesting issue which didn't occur to me last night; I tend to forget that Emily only comes up to my shoulder. I think it'll be manageable, though, provided that she's VERY sure to get her hands up high enough. And it's not like it won't be something that she'll have to learn to deal with, given that many of the people she dances with are taller than she is.
Last night we also established that I have NO muscle memory for Lindy Hop. I went to two of the Lindy lessons a month and a half ago, and Zeke and I spent an hour just last week in an intensive review of Lindy, and last night I could do the first half of the basic step and one of the most basic turns. And that was not because my feet remembered; my head remembered and then I could manage to pummel it into my feet. I don't know why I have so much trouble learning Lindy; I never had that much trouble learning East Coast Swing. I didn't even have quite that much trouble learning West Coast Swing, for all that I like Lindy better than West Coast.
So overall, I had fun. And so did Emily. And that's what really matters, right?
Your student activity fee at work, folks; SHOSS hosts a dance and only a few students show up, but Miriam and Emily have lots of fun.
