The Dance Primer

Today, Naomi is put on the spot, giving advice to dancers new and not-so-new:
Amberlynn: What’s the number one piece of advice you would give to a beginner dancer?
Naomi: (thinking) uhhh….
A: I guess it doesn’t have to be number one, but-
N: Yeah, that’s so broad! Um. I guess it would be to be careful when […]

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You’ve been reading what she has to say, but have you been watching her dance? The link you can’t really see under the YouTube logo is for lindylibrary.com, where a lot of great contemporary footage of the Lindy Hop scene can be found.

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Here’s more of our interview with Naomi Uyama. In this part, she has some pretty inspiring things to say about performance and competition. Read on!
Amberlynn: So what’s the best thing you done to really improve you dancing?
Naomi: The most effective, or the more rewarding?
A: Both.
N: I really think the thing that helped me […]

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I’m back in town and back online. Sorry for the long hiatus. You can look forward to daily posts again. Thanks for your patience.

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Meet Naomi Uyama is a great dancer based out of the Washington DC area. I tracked her down because of the wonderful things she has to say on her own blog. Naomi is obviously more than just a dancer. She’s a really nice person, with an inspirational vision for what Lindy Hopping and social dancing […]

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Sorry for not posting yesterday. I’m traveling in California for the week, which is a good thing for dancing (traveling, I mean) but not so much for blogging.
As long as I’m able to get internet connection this coming week, I have a special treat for you. The Meet a Dancer spotlight will be shining bright […]

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Almost every site that has anything to do with social partner dancing will have an entire page dedicated to etiquette. The Dance Primer doesn’t yet, but I’m sure given some time, it will. It’s not that dance floor etiquette is so much different than the rest of the world, but when you’re in close physical […]

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Have you ever closed your eyes while dancing? I mean while practicing. I find for me, it helps refine my ability to follow. It makes it so I have to trust what my lead is doing, and I can’t anticipate. In a closed embrace dance, I love to close my eyes and feel the subtleties […]

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Alain Wong wrote a great post on how to prepare for a swing dance competition. Much of what he said relates to other dance competitions as well. For example:
“I explained that contests can be a motivator in working on your dancing, but that the results should not be taken personally. Sylvia Sykes will […]

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Every dance scene has its organizers; the folks who book the dance hall, hire the DJs, book the bands, promote the instructors, bring in workshops, etc. There are two main types of organizers: for profit and not-for-profit. Now, I’m not saying one is bad and one is good, but they are different and impact the […]

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