Breanna Perry

Today's Youtube feature comes from ILHC 2010's advanced J&J division--yes, I know the event was more than a month ago, but I'm still doing my share of rewatching of all the videos, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites. Today, some follows (and their lovely partners) that didn't place in the competition, but whose dancing I particularly enjoyed. I'll give a couple reasons, below.

First up, Crista Seipp (DC) dancing with Patrick Szmidt (CAN). Patrick is responsible for some of the great HD videos that popped up so quickly after ILHC, and does all sorts of great stuff with his usual partner, Natasha Ouimet. Here, he provides some great structure for Crista to play around in!

I've always admired Crista's clean and compact dancing. She has great control over her movement and always looks like a great complement to her lead. Here, I'm pleased to see that she felt comfortable breaking out of the box a little--check out the interesting way she uses her whole body for the switches at about 0:59, and I LOVE the attitude in the little variation around 1:10. On top of all that, she looks like one of the most responsive, easy-to-move follows ever! These two didn't place, but I had a lot of fun watching them, and I wish I had been at the event to see it in person this year.

Next, we've got my faux-twinsie (seriously, it's kind of ridiculous how often I've been mistaken for her), Kate Hedin (DC), dancing with Andreas Olsson (SWE). I've only danced with Andreas once, at All Balboa Weekend in 2009, but I think I'll probably always remember that I had an absolute blast dancing with him. I think Kate did too--the two of them look like they're having a ton of fun in this dance!

I love the way they start off, with Kate immediately injecting some attitude into the dance that echoes the chill sassiness of the horns in the song. And she amps it up even more, with a cute little pose around 0:21! Check out the shape she makes right around 1:00--I adore the definitiveness and cleanliness of it, like it just makes so much sense and of COURSE that's what she would do there. Again, Kate looks all sorts of responsive and ready-to-move, a quality I would like to develop more in my own dancing.
Kate's definitely been featured, especially among follows, for her balboa dancing and stylings--I would say (although, of course, I'm no expert) that she is one of the leaders in follows-having-their-own-say in the dance. This clip, I think, is a perfect example of why she is a great lindy hopper, too, and all the work that she's put into her dancing over the years is totally evident. Compare this clip to Kate lindy hopping in 2007, and you'll see changes, but still with the same personality to it.

That covers my kudos to these underfeatured ladies for now. Maybe more later!

What is it, exactly, about dancers being so athletic? I'm talking about swing dancers here, although of course there are other dancers (ballerinas, modern, lyrical particularly) who are athletes of dancing and spend hours a day training their body for the "sport" and exertion of their dance. There is definitely athleticism in dancing, but that's not what I'm wondering about.

No, I'm talking about the common factor I've noticed among many swing dancers--lindy hoppers, especially. It would seem that every dancer I know is (or was) already athletically involved before coming to dance. I know soccer players, swimmers, cyclists, gymnasts, runners, and plenty of yogis (both amateur and professional). I fall under the categorization of the latter two, although my initial athletic background as a fastpitch softball player of twelve years is another underrepresented faction, along with baseball players. I picked up yoga about a year and a half ago and only recently--as in, January--started running, and both have since become more serious hobbies of mine (although I don't expect them to overtake dancing anytime soon).

I know why I was drawn to yoga, and the benefits I draw from running are easily applied to my dancing; I imagine that motivations are similar for other dancers. Just like taking up tap or African dancing, these sports are a form of cross-training that can be done to improve our body awareness, body movement, strength, flexibility, and other qualities so integral to our dancing. But what about lindy hop--or swing dancing, more generally--draws so many athletes in the first place? It's easy to speculate: high-flying aerials, energetic tempos, and charleston craziness are bound to attract (or turn off, in some cases) a certain type of person. I wonder, though, if there's anything more to it than that. Or further, I wonder if I'm just finding a pattern of athleticism where I want to. After all, lindy hoppers can't all be the nerdiest nerds and athletically-inclined, can they?

Let's see how many lindy hoppers we can get together at Warrior Dash Mid-Atlantic and test this theory. Last I heard, the count was 5 or 6...