SHOUT! Swing

Hey Everybody!

We wish we could invite the swing dance world community to our wedding… but we can’t.  So instead we will be holding a free swing dance on Saturday, September 25th, 2010! Two weeks before we say our “I do”s, dance the night away with us!

Details

• 8:30pm-12am
• Saturday, September 25, 2010
• UCF Multipurpose Room in the Education Complex
  • 4000 Central Florida Blvd.
  • Orlando, FL 32816
• Dancing to the sounds of DJAustin & DJ Albert.
• FREE! So tell your friends…
• RSVP at the Facebook Event

Location

View UCF – Education Complex in a larger map

Hey Everybody,
Sheila and I just held our Big Apple workshop this past weekend and let me tell you, 4 hours of the big apple is actually pretty tiring.  Still, it was lots of fun and we appreciate everyone making it out. If you would like to see what was covered in our class you can take a look at our review.  It includes a steps cheat sheet!

SHOUT! Swing will be holding a Big Apple workshop June 26, 2010 at the UCF Multipurpose Room in Orlando. If you’ve ever seen any vintage swing clips, The Big Apple is probably one of them. If your’e a jazz enthusiast or simply enjoy integrating jazz moves into your standard swing repertoire, this class will impart a handful of vintage moves that can be enjoyed by everybody.

Pre-registration has ended. But you can still register at the event!

Hah! ‘Sola’ in Spanish can be translated to ‘alone’. However, the UCF Swingknights’ SOLA stands for no such thing. It is an event that brings dancers together from the surrounding areas and attempts to encourage friendly competition between everyone from the scene.

Why is SOLA Awesome?

A bunch of reasons. For one thing, the competitions are free, so they’re super accessible to all dancers. They are also incredibly informal. I remember right before one of the competitions running around like a chicken with its head cut off looking for someone to partner with. There are no sign-up sheets, no numbers on anyone’s back; from the dancer’s perspective, everything is very off the cuff. Just walk up and start dancing.

Another thing unique to SOLA is that competitors are not allowed to dance with the same partner more than once. SOLA is the only event that I know of which does this and it really helps emphasize a feeling of community. The categories this year were: Medium-Slow, Medium-Fast, Ludicrous Speed, Jack n’ Jill, and Balboa.

Why was SOLA a Bummer?

Sadly, there was no Solo Charleston this year. I think that Solo Charleston really helps promote musicality. On top of that, I dance it almost neurotically; so when it’s missing from any competition I always feel somewhat slighted. Other than that, this event was pretty fantastical.

So how was Orlando’s exchange any different from all of the rest? Well for starters the price began at $40 was capped at $55 making it one of the cheapest events that I’ve been to thus far. How did they do it? They put the focus on djs instead of bands. I for one am a big proponent of this. Djs offer a wider variety than even the best band can. Also, I don’t know a single dj who isn’t a dancer; even if I don’t like a djs style I know that they’re playing for dancers too.

Freedom

Included in this event were two free dances. While out-of-towners probably didn’t see a direct benefit from this, it is a direct service to the community. Anyone who didn’t have enough time or money to pay for the entire weekend, ie poor college kids or someone with a weird work schedule, had a chance to make it out and join the party. Both free dances were held at beautiful locations. The free dance on Saturday was held at Lago and included an uphill shim sham-off. The dance on Sunday was at an outdoor amphitheater on Lake Eola.

Lake Eola

Lake Eola didn’t have a hill or an uphill shim sham-off but it did have a farmer’s market where you can get some fresh squeezed lemonade.

Main Dance

The Saturday night dance featured DJ Natch and DJ Amy in between the sets of Terry Myers and the Swingsations. I mostly enjoyed the band with the exception of a few songs they played that were long and fast. I don’t have a lot of good things to say about most bands so I will just say that their music was danceable and I enjoyed myself. Around 10′oclock SHOUTSwing performed two quick routines to Apple Bottom Jeans by FloRida and Do Your Thing by The Basement Jaxx. In the video are: Ember, Hurley, Sheila and Austin. The first was a slow lindy and the second one was a rework of the original “Big Apple” dance.

Late Nights

Pretty much every self respecting exchange has some sort of late night food service. ORLX brought Gourmet pizza the first night and tiny quiches the second. Both nights they had plenty of sandwich making materials and enough gatorade to hydrate a few hundred people. Apart from food on Saturday ORLX boasted a sing room, a blues room, and a contemporary room.

A friend of mine once told me that when he goes to big events he often wonders where it is that his money goes. At the orlando exchange every dime you spend comes back to you somehow.

SHOUT! Swing Productions is a two person team of passionate dancers, teachers, DJs and performers: Austin & Sheila. Stay tuned for coming workshops and performances.

Sheila and I went to Southern Belle Swing Bash this past August 23rd. This was my third year going and her fourth and it is one of our favorite events.

In a world of workshops dedicated to leads, this is the first event that we’ve been to that is geared towards follows. Leads get in for free under the guise that since they have to volunteer, they gain nothing from the classes, something that I completely disagree with. I find that often times I learn more things indirectly in these classes than I do directly in others. As leads a lot of what we learn is taught to us explicitly. Rarely is time spent on listening to what is happening in the dance.

This weekend was full of good dances and far away friends. Also, Sheila got second place in Solo Charleston, (she’s the one in pink). They held the competition at 1:00 am in the morning. Craziness. After a day of classes and dancing, I’m surprised they could even still move let alone dance.

• Next month: Planning A Workshop, Fighting Crime
• October: ULHS here we come.