I am three days into a dance weekend. I have had blocks of sleep regularly, but they have been broken sleep, and I need lots of sleep at the best of times. My left knee aches and is swollen, my hamstrings are tighter than Benny Goodman’s trio and I haven’t eaten a vegetable in two days. I might also be teetering on the brink of irrational rage.
But I am having a very good time.
This is how dance weekends work. Just like a cult or a men’s warrior weekend. We go to one room, pound ourselves with noise, get our heart rates up, adrenaline pumping, endorphines flooding. Then we touch a whole lot of people while we listen to exciting, manically cheerful music. Is it any wonder dancers get the post-exchange blues when these things end?
I have had some really brilliant dances. I’m not entirely sure I was the one doing the brilliant dancing, but I felt brilliant. Because I was charged with adrenaline. And touching someone lovely, while we gave the music legs.
Things I now do while actually dancing on the dance floor:
- Shout out with excitement and joy. This is surely a continuation of my over-30-couldn’t-give-a-fuck maturation. I don’t care if people think I am a fool. When the music is right and I’m feeling it and I’m in motion, and I’m really with my partner, I can’t help it if I have to let it out. People do stare. But then, why wouldn’t they?
- Clap randomly. This began as adding claps to the rhythms my feet were making. Part of me is convinced that clapping randomly during a song makes me more Swedish. The rest of me just wants to make noise, to somehow get inside the music. I think that this is really a result of dancing to so many live bands at home, where I want to let the band know I’m paying attention. My hands get sore.
- Let out shouts of laughter, in a strange, manic way. I’m not sure why. It’s not as though I am always finding something hilariously funny. For the most part it’s simply that I am overcome by what I am feeling, and it just barks out of me. This usually distracts my partner and makes then wonder if perhaps I shouldn’t be out on my own. This is a bit like the shouting with excitement.
- Clap the band a lot. I’ve been quite surprised by how few people are clapping the bands this weekend. I’ve been blown away by how great the bands are. I look up at the stage, and the musicians are really watching the dancers, really emotionally engaged with us. So it’s a bit heart breaking when the dancers don’t clap the songs, or the solos. I do. I also yell out “yay!” because I want them to hear that I like them, that I’m really liking what they’re doing.
I think that I do this because we do see so many live bands at home, and that we actually get to know the musicians quite well. They’re the type of musicians who play that sort of interactive jazz where band members really interact with each other, so they’re already engaged with the people around them, through the music. We also see them in quite social settings – small venues, where the stage is very low and close to the dance floor, or venues where the relationship between audience and band is quite casual. The Unity Hall hotel: crowded, small, packed to the rafters. The Camelot Lounge: larger, but run by arty types who like to make every show a proper relationship between performers and punters. - Clap DJed songs. So I’m kind of trained to clap songs. I also have a policy of clapping songs I really like, even if they are recorded songs played by a DJ. I figure there’s no point being a shitty old grump and complaining about the songs you hate. That’s no use to anyone. So I like to applaud and cheer the songs I love instead. It makes me feel good. And I hope it lets the DJ know that I like what they’re doing. Sometimes I just like to applaud a good dance, to cheer it: “Hoorah! Yay!” I’m sure this mortifies my more image conscious dance partners. But then, I’m also in a safe, friendly, familiar environment. If I’m feeling quite wonderful, why not let it out?
I really am having a heap of fun.
Mike McQuaid’s Late Hour Boys have been my favourite band so far. They played at the late night dance on Friday, after the competition night. They played ‘My Daddy Rocks Me’, my favourite Jimmie Noone song. If not that song, then one very similar, which also provoked much squee on my part. There’s a little gaggle of us ladies nursing shocking crushes on John Scurry, caresser of banjos, guitarist of squee. He has mad skillz.
I didn’t mind the band last night, which had some of the same musicians, but I think I prefer the drummer from the Late Hour Boys. The band last night seemed to have some trouble connecting with the dancers until about the second set. I wondered if it was the sound or acoustics or something? I’m not a huge fan of town halls, as you tend to feel really far away from the band, and the sound is usually quite shocking, but the Collingwood Town Hall is better than many. But this lack of connection could just have been me. I wasn’t really with it, properly until a bit later as I had to do some annoying administrative stuff and solve a couple of minor problems.
I liked the way the teachers did a bit of dancing showing off to the band. That was a nice touch. Excellent thinking, Ramona.
Finally, I have to say something about the DJs this weekend. I’ve been the luckiest, luckiest person getting to work with these kids. This year I went for a smaller, leaner DJing team, offering the DJs more sets but using fewer DJs. This can be a bit difficult in Australia where we tend to use more DJs, for fewer, shorter sets (for a whole range of reasons). But MSF has a very band-heavy musical program, which is fabulous, as it means the live music is much more important than the DJed. It also means we have fewer DJed sets on offer. I’m going to have a talk to the DJs after the weekend and see if they found the extra work ok, what they’d have changed, etcetera. But from my perspective, it’s much easier juggling a smaller team of DJs, and to be able to work with a small team of very capable, reliable people who love DJing and have a real passion for the music they’re playing. We have preselected DJs for a particular musical style (MSF this year and last has really emphasised classic swinging and hot jazz by musicians from the 20s-40s, and by modern musicians), and while this isn’t always a win with newer dancers, or with dancers who don’t really dig historically grounded music and dance (I know, I know – wtf?), it actually means we can present a program of music which is consistent, and really contributes to the branding of the event in a productive way.
This year we also added in a proper blues session (last night at the late night), which was a slight deviation from the go-lindy-or-go-home vibe of last year, but really was a response to overwhelming interest from blues dancers. I was very happy with the DJs I got for those two sets. They’re good buddies, so they work well together, and they’re both very capable people who I knew would do a good job. Unfortunately I didn’t get to hear their sets as I was DJing the opposite room. This is of course one of the things we didn’t really want to do this weekend. Splitting a crowd is a bit of a shame, as it ensmallens your crowd, but also suggests, implicitly, that you aren’t offering a main room which everyone will like. I think, in retrospect, it was a good idea, though. The main room was really quite full on, exciting lindy hop, so the more chilled back room was probably a good alternative if you were feeling battered by the noise and intensity of the band and then later DJs.
Here, I need to pause and gush about Falty again. *fans self* He did a really popular, really excellent set for us last year, and this year he topped that with an even more exciting, excellent set. I danced a LOT and almost danced beyond the point when I was supposed to take over from him again (I did the first 30 minutes of the room to warm things up, he did a big block of an hour and a half or two, and then I did the last 45 minutes or so). It was brilliant. He plays exactly the sort of music I love, and I really like the way he combines new bands and old recordings. I like the way he really pushes dancers with higher tempos and high energy, then plays a few quite slower songs. He really works the whole tempo range, and a whole range of moods. Again, he’s besotted with this music, and I think this absolute devotion, as well as a real feel for the music make his sets top fun. I’m also suspecting his approach to dancing and interacting with his partner inform his DJing.
It was also really cool talking DJing with him. I learnt a lot, and I’m thinking new things about what I do when I’m DJing. YES.
…from here, I’m tempted to gush on about the other DJs individually, and in great detail. But I really need a nap and my laptop battery is running out. Think of me, will you, and wish me stamina. Because I’m going to need it.