The Dance Primer

In my last post, I focused on critics and also mentioned how to deal with them specifically. I think it would also be helpful to take a look at the different ways people react to criticism. Doesn’t it make you cringe when you watch a performer on a reality competition show that gets super defensive […]

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Bernadette, blogging on “Just for the Halibut,” wrote a nice piece today about her Jack & Jill dance experience, as well as how she felt about getting critiqued.

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I can’t believe I haven’t posted a video of my favorite style of dance yet! I’ve heard it said that Balboa is a “dancer’s dance” meaning it’s much more enjoyable for dancers to watch than non-dancers. Or, it’s not your typical crowd pleaser. However, I’ve performed a crowd pleasing Bal routine (thanks to Russ at […]

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Not many states out there have an official State Dance, but in the Caronlina’s, Shag is it. I really regret not learning it when I lived in Raleigh. I was too busy salsa dancing, I guess. I love how smooth the movement is in this dance.
This video features Doug Silton and Ginger Pickeral.

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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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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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I competed in my third ever Jack & Jill competition a while ago. (I know, with 10+ years of dancing you can see I’ve been really competitive.) It’s not that I’ve suddenly become competitive, it’s that I have come to see Jack & Jill competitions as more of a game than anything else; roll the […]

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