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Beginning to think about imitation in dance

At some point I’m going to write up some thoughts I’ve had about imitation in dance. I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit in reference to cultural transmission (specifically appropriation). I’m also obsessed with the idea of genderflex and women pretending to be men or dressing up as men… or whatever it is that’s going on. But the post I’m really bored of seeing the same thing over and over… at Lindy Hop Variations for Followers has kind of given me a starting point for my actual, concrete ideas about imitation in dance.

I think I’m going to talk about how I think imitation is a good thing. Firstly, there’s that whole ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ idea, where people imitate – try to be – people they really admire. In dance, this means trying to dance like someone you admire. Sometimes this is a deliberate thing: “I want to be Skye”. That’s nice. Especially if that person you’re imitating is a total gun. Or a jolly good person. I mean, I noticed a whole little gang of young women pulling out Ramona type movements at MLX. Because they luuurve her. And who wouldn’t? She’s a gem. And a great dancer. And this is often how we work, particularly as young people – we imitate people who are important to us, who embody what we most admire or want to be.

Sometimes, though, (and more interestingly) imitation is a part of learning to dance. You just learn to move in a particular way from copying your teachers in class. I think it takes a truly brilliant teacher to turn out a class full of people who look nothing like their teacher. If a teacher’s pulled it off, it means they’ve clued people into the fundamentals of biomechanics and posture and whatnot, rather than just drilling their ideas into them.

…incidentally, I’m beginning to really figure out that it’s not what you say in a dance class that makes the difference. When I was teaching at uni I was always trying to talk less. I’d begin the semester by doing some talking, but really only to model how I wanted them to interact with each other (polite, interested, collaborative discussion rather than rude interruptions and lecturing). Then I’d ease it off and aim to just be a facilitator for their discussion. But in dance classes it’s even more important to talk less, dance more. Students don’t learn to dance by standing and listening to someone talk. Same as they don’t learn to discuss or explore ideas with a group by sitting and listening to someone lecture. So expressing ideas simply and concisely is as important as how you move your body when you’re teaching.

Yeah, so imitation in a pedagogic context is kind of interesting. On the one hand, it’s not ideal (discover your own self!), but on the other, that’s how we learn – we learn to talk by copying, we learn to write by emulating our favourite authors, we learn to sing by singing along with records or friends or whatever. And having a hero to admire and strive to be gives you a goal, it gives your work purpose and structure. ‘Just being yourself’ is a hard thing to do when you haven’t figured out how you move, yet.

This is where that post on Variations for Followers caught my attention. I can understand the frustration in looking at a crowd of dancers in competitions and seeing the. same. thing. over and over. Unless you’re looking at a highly codified dance like ballet or whatevs. I get really tired of the same twirly arms, the same pointy toes, that one jazz step… I guess I get crankiest when I see people imitating dancers I don’t like. :D Like what I like! Get it RIGHT! :D

Lindy hop is cool because it requires self expression to really work. I mean, I was just watching this clip of the solo charleston comp at Lindy Focus 2010. Listen to the crowd when Hurley brings his big smile out onto the floor. Peeps are responding to his personality.

But at the same time, learning to imitate someone exactly makes you experiment with movement and really figure out what you’re doing and how they’re doing it. Close observation, lots of experimentation. That’s all good stuff. Hopefully, though, this isn’t your end destination. Sure, I do like the thought of dancing like Skye, but I’d actually like to dance like Sam… wait… no, I’m pretty sure I’d rather bring my own flavah flave. Pretty sure. But learning from Skye will help me figure out my own limitations (what?!) and my own strengths. And pushing myself to realise his high standard will help me improve. Most importantly for me at the moment, imitating a male dancer helps me understand how gender is communicated in dance. As an example, at the moment I’m trying to shift my focus from my hips to my shoulders, because male lindy hoppers tend to create lines and points of interest through their upper bodies. I hadn’t thought I was so gendered in my own dancing until I started trying to really ‘dance like a man’. Becoming aware of this is really helping me understand how I move when I’m dancing. It’s also kind of blowing my mind to see how Al Minns screws with this idea of gendered movement.

I think this is why I’m so impressed by the generosity of teachers and dancers who redirect their students and fans to historical figures, or to hardcore masters. It takes a fair bit of humility to say “Hey, it’s nice that you like what I’m doing, but really, you gotta get into X. She’s the real stuff.” It must be really tempting – if you’re the sort of person who needs to be reassured by other people’s adulation – to just say “Oh, thank you. You’re too kind. Would you like a private lesson so you can be a bit more like me?”

Yeah, anyway, so I did plan to write something clever about imitation. But I don’t really have my brain on right this second. So these are just some starting points for my ideas, which I may (though probably won’t) return to later. I’m for imitation – it’s an exciting, useful tool. But I don’t think it should be the goal of your dancing.

8track: Speakeasy Superchunk

(linky)

I did another Speakeasy set on the weekend, and it was fun. I’ve written about the Speakeasy gigs a few times before, describing the way it’s run in Speakeasy Superfun, how it works as a late night/after party in Everything I did was funky: Cell Block Swing and Spekeasy and listing a past set list in Speakeasy superbad.

This Speakeasy was a bit quieter than the last one, but still had decent numbers. And pretty amazing cake. I had a fun time, though I was utterly frustrated by my inability to dance. I’m trying to fix another annoying knee problem – patella something something – which is basically caused by lazy glutes, and lazy muscle-along-the-inside-of-my-thigh-from-my-knee. I’m fixing it with major glute work and some quad work. This means that my arse hurts all the time and my knees KILL me if I dance. I was allowed to do some ‘disco dancing’, but not lindy hop, as lindy hop is the harshest of the dances. But I found just three dances killed, so I had to settle for standing about talking shit. Which was good, but not as good as hanging with the ladies. The Ladies included a couple of hippity hop sisters who were teaching us bits and pieces. They are AMAZING. They are also nine million times cooler than lindy hoppers.

Anyways, I DJed a fun set and really enjoyed it. I love DJing for this crowd because I’m right in the guts of the crowd and feel really connected with people. People also clap songs they like, and generally interact with me while I’m DJing, which I love. And I like it that we stop regularly to make announcements or to talk to the crowd. And the crowd like it. I’m too shy to do much talking, but I like the way Tom and Jase do it, and I like it that we stop to thank people and to welcome people to the Speakeasy. That’s fun stuff.

So let’s talk about the music. I’ve been thinking about this a bit, particularly in reference to talk about ‘fusion’ or ‘blues fusion’ events and the popularity of ‘swing and soul’ nights. How do I think about these Speakeasy sets? Well, firstly, I talk to Pete who’s the ‘boss’ or leader for this gig, and I ask him what he wants from me. I get quite specific, and say things like “Last time I played a lot of soul – do you want that again? Or more slower blues? Or more chunky songs for lindy hop?” Pete’s interest is with blues and soul and funk – so we tend to lean towards his preferences. Which is ok with me. I make sure that I touch base with him about the music before each gig, and after each set, just to be sure he’s ok with what I’m doing. Then I try to work with his suggestions, and I also try to pay close attention to what’s happening in the room on the night. I mean, if the kids are ready to party, I don’t play some 8 minute super serious low energy boring cuddly 50s Oscar Peterson action.

I think events need to have a proper theme or ‘style’ so people know what to expect. Speakeasy isn’t a hardcore lindy hop gig. It’s a party. So the music is party music. I like a gig with a clear ‘vision’. I wouldn’t play any of this soul or funk or modern stuff for a proper lindy hopping gig, or even really for a blues gig. I play it at this night because that’s what Speakeasy does.

There’s a bit of swing/soul cross over in different lindy hop scenes internationally. There is of course a big Swing and Soul event in the US, run by lindy hoppers with serious interest in soul music as well as swing. Here’s a clip of a performance from Swing and Soul 2008:

There used to be an event held here in NSW called ‘Soul Glo’, but it’s run irregularly and hasn’t been on for a year or two. It’s a combination of soul and blues music and is held in a big old nunnery in the country somewhere. I haven’t been. There’s also an event in Perth, which I’ve only heard about in bits and pieces, and I think it involves swing dancers, but features soul music… actually, I don’t really know anything about that event, so better not take my word for it.

There’s always been a bit of soul/blues cross over, and plenty of lindy hoppers dig soul music. I think it’s because soul really takes up where swing and jump blues finish off. Instead of heading off towards rock and roll, kids get jiggy with Motown and Stax and so on. I approve of swing and soul events that are advertised as such. But when I go to a solid lindy hop event, I don’t really want to hear soul. It’s a different animal.

I don’t have a lot to say about ‘blues fusion’, other than ‘yuck’. I haven’t seen a lot of ‘blues fusion’ dancing that impresses me. What am I talking about? Well, basically, ‘blues fusion’ events involve playing a combination of blues music and modern music that works for ‘blues dancing’. There’s a bit of it here in Sydney, but to my eyes it just looks like kind of lame, overly intense west coast swing without the hardcore, badass technique. Frankly, I find a lot of blues fusion dancing really earnest and decidedly unselfreflexive. Too much hair swinging and serious sexiness. Yuck. Also, it’s kind of lame. So I won’t be going to any ‘blues fusion’ events any time soon. But I totally support your right to run a blues fusion event and to dance… well, whatever it is you need to dance to that music. So long as I don’t have to go, and I don’t have to DJ it. Yikes.

But I will do the Speakeasy gig. I’m not a terribly good soul DJ, I don’t think. My strength is really in music for lindy hopping. I’m ok at blues, but that’s not my real strength either. I don’t have enough music and I don’t know enough about the music to really call myself a soul DJ. And I kind of struggle with blues. If I had to DJ it every week I’d be a bit screwed, as I just don’t have as much music as I’d need to rock a set each week. Or even each fortnight. But I do like dancing both, and at cross-over events.

Would I call Speakeasy a crossover event? I’m not sure I’d bother. It’s a party. With free food and fun music in a fun space. Bring your beer, dance if you feel it.

Well, then, if I am DJing at the Speakeasy, how do I decide what I’m going to play? This is a tricky one. The Speakeasy crowd is a mixed one – lindy hoppers, blues dancers, rock n roll dancers, some hippity hop people. People in a mood for a party, really. It’s not a hardcore lindy hop night. I wouldn’t play 90% of the stuff I do for a lindy hop night. Because it’s a mixed crowd, I try to move around between the styles quite quickly, so that everyone gets a chance. There are a few hardcore lindy hoppers who want to come and hang out, but don’t really feel ok dancing to soul or blues (for whatever reasons). There are some rock n roll people who don’t really know what to do with soul or blues. There are some hippity hop people who are happy with soul and funk, but confused by swinging jazz or slower blues. And there are people who’ll happily dance to anything (that’s me – I’ll dance to anything if it’s good).

Moving between all these styles can be really hard. I don’t always do it very well. I aim to play high energy songs that make you feel like you’re at a rowdy house party. I actually take most of my inspiration from the telly series Treme, which presents the wide range of New Orleans music as existing side by side quite happily. The musicians play in all sorts of bands, and the telly series presents the city as really being about live music. There are lots of scenes where musicians and punters are jammed into crowded, grotty venues shouting and drinking. That’s what I’m thinking about when I do these Speakeasy gigs. I’m not sure I get there, but that’s what I’m thinking about. In fact, a lot of the songs I play I find in the Treme soundtrack.

I like this idea of ‘New Orleans music’ as a varied, robust culture of ideas and interaction (and I’ve written about it before in ‘New Orleans Jazz?’). My favourite dancing gig here in Sydney is Sunday afternoon at the Unity Hall Hotel in Balmain. The usual band is a jazz band – a hot jazz band that feels like New Orleans stuff, but is’t always. I was interested by Dan Barnett’s comment last week that his big band plays once a month where they “Play jazz”, as though the music the Unity Hall band plays isn’t jazz. I’ve heard this sort of comment from dancers before. ‘Jazz’ is that toodly oodly modern stuff. I’m not sure what they’d call Unity Hall the other three Sundays of the month. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t call it ‘jass’, though I think I would. This nomenclature catches my ear because it reminds me of the positioning of jazz generally in musical culture – it’s not ‘popular music’, it’s ‘art’. Which I think is rubbish. Nothing is more of the people than shouting along to a song while you dance about on the dance floor with friends and strangers.

At any rate, the Unity Hall band play a mix of hot jazz, blues, latin-influence numbers, a bit of cajun, etc etc. This is what I think of as ‘New Orleans’ music.

So when I do that Speakeasy gig, I’m aiming for the feel of Unity Hall on a Sunday afternoon, or of Treme. Grand designs, I know, but you gotta have a dream, no?

Yeah, yeah, so what did I PLAY?

Speakeasy 29 July 2011, 12:30am – 1:20am or so

It’s Your Last Chance To Dance Preservation Hall The Hurricane Sessions 179 2007 4:31

Waitin’ and Drinkin’ Di Anne Price 88 Steps to the Blues 126 2009 3:16

Hound Dog (alternate) Big Mama Thornton American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1965 (disc 05) 120 1965 3:34

The Clapping Song Shirley Ellis Because Of Winn-Dixie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 168 3:11

Here I Am (Come and Take Me) Al Green Greatest Hits 95 1975 4:15

Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky Lee Dorsey Working In The Coal Mine / Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky – S 135 3:11

Save Me Aretha Franklin Greatest Hits – Disc 1 122 2:19

Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean Carrie Smith acc. by George Kelly, Ram Ramirez, Billy Butler When You’re Down and Out 163 1977 3:35

On Revival Day Lavern Baker Lavern Sings Bessie Smith 144 1958 3:16

Keep On Churnin’ Wynonie Harris Wynonie Harris: Complete Jazz Series 1950 – 1952 146 1952 2:56

Black Rat (take 4) Big Mama Thornton (with Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Otis Spann, Sammy Lawhorn, Luther ‘Guitar Junior’ Johnson, Francis Clay) With the Muddy Waters Blues Band, 1966 101 1966 2:53

Tightrope (Feat. Big Boi) Janelle Monáe The ArchAndroid 169 2010 4:23

Love And Happiness Al Green Greatest Hits 99 1975 5:04

There’re a lot of familiar songs there, songs I’ve played before. I do this deliberately. Dancers like new songs, and dancers at exchanges or irregular gigs are more open to new and unfamiliar songs than dancers at their regular weekly DJed dance. But they also like to hear songs they know. And if you played a song last time and people loved it, they probably wouldn’t mind hearing it again, dancing to it again, getting a little more into the groove this time. Especially if no one else is playing that song. So I like to add in songs that people have heard before.

I began with Preservation Hall doing ‘Last chance to dance’ because it’s a good lindy hop song. It’s one I’ve played a few times, and which has been overplayed a bit in the last couple of years. But I like the feel of it. I was also moving from a DJ who’d just played a bit of straight ahead lindy hop. I also wanted to get everyone on the floor, and a familiar, high energy lindy hop song does that. It’s also got a nice high energy sound and it feels the way Speakeasy feels. People like yelling along. It was a bit long, though, for that crowd at that time.

Next, Di Anne Price doing ‘Waitin’ and Drinkin”, a song I play quite often. It’s a good mid-point between lindy hop and blues, and it has a dirty, chunky feel that works at Speakeasy and transitions nicely from Preservation Hall. It’s hi-fi as well. I didn’t play anything lo-fi at Speakeasy, and I rarely do. I think because I’m going for a 50s-70s sound with these sets, rather than my usual 20s-50s lindy hop vibe.

‘Hound Dog’ has been getting quite a bit of play around the traps, and I like this version because it’s an alternative recording, so it’s very familiar, but it’s not quite the same as the usual version. It’s not live, but it’s from that brilliant series of live albums, and the band is beyond amazing. It’s also a little slower than ‘Waitin’ and Drinkin”, so it lets the bloozers get a bit into the groove. I was riding a wave down from Pres Hall to the slower stuff, as well. But it’s not low energy slow. It makes you want to drop your hips waaaay down and really shake it.

Then I shifted gears. ‘The Clapping Song’ is one of my favourites, but I’ve never played it for dancers. It went down medium-well for this crowd. It was the first real deviation from familiar lindy hop or blues music, so it required a bit of solo stuff. Or perhaps 60s type partnered stuff. I don’t know the year it was released – I bought it from emusic from a soundtrack album. But it’s super fun and has lots of energy, so it makes the room feel good. I’m not entirely sure it worked in this room. It went down well with people who are ok dancing alone, and with the hippity hoppers, but not so well with the lindy hoppers. The rock n roll guys gave it a good go, but it doesn’t really suit the sort of tighty whitey rock n roll Sydney dancers do…

From here I followed the vibe towards more soul type stuff. This song is a favourite with people into blues dancing, and it’s such a great song generally. You can partner dance to it, but you can also work your solo thing. It also has a more chilled out vibe. I had wanted to go to Janelle Monáe here, as I think ‘Tightrope’ is a brilliant follow up to the Clapping Song, but I didn’t quite have the guts as I haven’t played it before. I wanted to play a safer recovery song.

I played ‘Everything I do Gonh Be Funky’ after that, as I was pursuing the soul/funk thing. I played it last Speakeasy and it went down a treat, so this was my capitalising on that familiarity. It’s a bit chillaxed, though, so I picked it up a bit with Aretha Franklin. I love ‘Save Me’. Franklin has the familiarity factor, so she’s pretty powerful.

From here I needed to pick up the hardcore lindy hoppers who weren’t too comfortable with this much soul/funk/whatevs. So I played a very familiar song – ‘Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean’ – but a different version to the one most people play. It moves well from Franklin as it’s quite groovy/funky, and is a real 70s songs, which is useful in that particular context. It’s a bit more chillaxed as well, so it doesn’t feel as scary. That got people back on the floor in partners.

Then I played an overplayed favourite, ‘On Revival Day’, the Lavern Baker version. This is a good shouting beer-and-fun song. It’s a very easy tempo, it’s familiar, it has lots of shouting. Sure fire winner. It filled up the floor with lindy hoppers and shifted gear. But it still felt right for the mood I wanted.

Then I played another overplayed favourite – ‘Keep On Churnin” – which went down a treat. More shouting and clapping. Pleased the rock n rollers and the lindy hoppers. Confused the hippity hoppers, but they’d just danced a heap of songs, so they weren’t cranky.

Back to Big Mama Thornton. I’d played this song last Speakeasy as well. It’s loud, shouty, excellent fun. Good for partner dancing or dancing alone. Proper uptempo blues. I was kind of happy with the way it built on Wynonie Harris.

Then my real taking a risk song. I know quite a few of the Speakeasy crowd like Janelle Monáe and ‘Tightrope’, and I suspected it’d turn up in someone else’s setlist that night. So I got in before them. Yeeaaah. I think it would have worked better after ‘The Clapping Song’, but it wasn’t shit after the Big Mama Thornton. It’s modern, but it feels pretty old school. It doesn’t really compare well to old school stuff, though. Big Mama and her band really leave Monáe’s band looking a little weak in comparison, and the actual song itself isn’t terribly amazing. It just has a fun vibe.
This song divided the room a bit. The floor was full of women dancing in circles, and the next DJ who was setting up said to me “This is what a real night club looks like” and we laughed. It was kind of cool to have the floor full of ladies getting down, but I don’t like the whole night club thing where people dance in a big circle with an open space in the middle. Wasted space. Also, a bit lame.

From here I eased back off the energy a bit. I wasn’t really in the right brain space, and had thought I was swapping over to the next DJ a song or two before, so I played another Al Green song, which I wouldn’t have done ordinarily. I think this was a bit weak a song to end on, actually, and would have played something more ‘neutral’ (ie not so soul/funk, more towards lindy or blues) to set up the room for the next DJ, but I didn’t. Oh well. It wasn’t shit.