Category Archives: lindy hop and other dances

blackface


blackface.com is a useful resource for people who’re into African American dance and music of the early 20th Century (ie, us).
If you’re thinking about using some characters from 1930s or 40s films for your choreography, you may want to read up and avoid offending folk and looking like an insensitive (ignorant) clod.

(NB this image is the logo for the blackface.com website)

small group time

I love small swing groups, and Riverwalk Jazz are doing a show on them this week called Goodman, Shaw & Dorsey: Big Band Leaders and Their Small Combos. It features a few of my favourite small groups, most of which make for good (though fairly precise, and dare I say it, uptight) dancing.

That Riverwalk Jazz show reminded me of an 8tracks I did a while ago, which is mostly small groups. I’m really a fool for a small group, I think mostly because I dance to small groups more often IRL. But also because I like the way you can hear every instrument in a small band, and the smaller format lets musicians work together in a team, yet still as individuals:

songs by singers with small bands from dogpossum on 8tracks.

The Riverwalk Jazz discussion of small groups has also made me think about the Ozcats, who’re a very good Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats tribute band in Sydney. I’ve only seen them play twice, and not for over a year, but they were the best Australian band I’ve ever danced to. A heap of older blokes staring at their scores from seats on the stage, rocking out. I’d love to have them at a dance event again. They play this sort of music:

(linky)