It's a Dance-Off!
March 20, 2015 8:04 PM Subscribe
In 2014, the Montreal Swing Riot hosted a dance-off: Lindy Hop dancers vs street dancers. Teams introduced themselves with a display of their own styles, then traded off dancing in their own style for a few sets. The fun part, though, was the next challenge: each team had to dance to the other's music on the fly. The results are well worth watching.
Holy hip hop Charleston, that was a hell of a lot of fun! My cheeks hurt from smiling.
posted by Songdog at 8:52 PM on March 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Songdog at 8:52 PM on March 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh wow, that looks like a blast. What a bunch of fun people to take part in that. (Wish I had the talent and the nerve!)
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:52 PM on March 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:52 PM on March 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Watching this is making me absurdly happy.
Keep an eye out for a brief appearance of the Carlton.
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:15 PM on March 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Keep an eye out for a brief appearance of the Carlton.
posted by ursus_comiter at 9:15 PM on March 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Years ago I got big into my university's ballroom dance club. A few years after I joined, a rival group started up a Lindy Hop club. All of us ballroom dancers pursed our lips and scowled and scoffed because in the Lindy Hop club, you were allowed and even encouraged to do lifts. Lifts! Anathema to the type of ballroom dancers we were!
Oh man, now I wish I had joined the Lindy Hoppers though. So much fun!
posted by bluebelle at 9:55 PM on March 20, 2015
Oh man, now I wish I had joined the Lindy Hoppers though. So much fun!
posted by bluebelle at 9:55 PM on March 20, 2015
What a kick! Now I have to find out if there are any street dancers who perform in Spokane! I'll always be in love with the Lindy Hop - had so much fun dancing for so many years. There's nothing quite like fast dancing to cheer a person up.
Thanks for the post - this was great fun!
posted by aryma at 10:27 PM on March 20, 2015
Thanks for the post - this was great fun!
posted by aryma at 10:27 PM on March 20, 2015
Wow, I love seeing how much fun everyone's having.
posted by Sing Fool Sing at 10:28 PM on March 20, 2015
posted by Sing Fool Sing at 10:28 PM on March 20, 2015
I....I love this.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 10:52 PM on March 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mrjohnmuller at 10:52 PM on March 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I once somehow unexpectedly found myself (Lindy Hopper) a one-on-one Soul dance-off against a b-boy. There were judges. He soundly outclassed me on technical merit. He quite rightly won, but I maintain to this day downrock just doesn't work with the Motown sound...
All of us ballroom dancers pursed our lips and scowled and scoffed because in the Lindy Hop club, you were allowed and even encouraged to do lifts. Lifts! Anathema to the type of ballroom dancers we were!
Lindy Hoppers reserve our scowls for people who teach lifts to people who can't otherwise dance, and then do them on the social dance floor. It's dangerous for everyone else! Air steps are awesome, but... keep 'em off the social floor, kids. For all of our sakes.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:37 PM on March 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
All of us ballroom dancers pursed our lips and scowled and scoffed because in the Lindy Hop club, you were allowed and even encouraged to do lifts. Lifts! Anathema to the type of ballroom dancers we were!
Lindy Hoppers reserve our scowls for people who teach lifts to people who can't otherwise dance, and then do them on the social dance floor. It's dangerous for everyone else! Air steps are awesome, but... keep 'em off the social floor, kids. For all of our sakes.
posted by BungaDunga at 11:37 PM on March 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
The Final Fantasy VII remix threw me for a loop. I was not expecting that.
posted by darksasami at 11:46 PM on March 20, 2015
posted by darksasami at 11:46 PM on March 20, 2015
That was amazing!! Thanks!
posted by Stewriffic at 4:07 AM on March 21, 2015
posted by Stewriffic at 4:07 AM on March 21, 2015
Charleston does work pretty well to hip hop music, the DJs in the Cambridge swing scene occasionally throw a hip hop track in for variety.
On /r/SwingDancing, rikomatic found a few more and then the /r/SwingDancers added to the list.
I Charleston Nashville wins the internet (there are a whole bunch of "I Charleston Place" videos, that's my favourite).
(We don't do aerials on the social floor, though: they're reserved for performances or jam circles. From reddit I get the impression there are college scenes in the US where there are inexperienced people doing aerials all the time: this is considered a Bad Thing).
posted by pw201 at 5:06 AM on March 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
On /r/SwingDancing, rikomatic found a few more and then the /r/SwingDancers added to the list.
I Charleston Nashville wins the internet (there are a whole bunch of "I Charleston Place" videos, that's my favourite).
(We don't do aerials on the social floor, though: they're reserved for performances or jam circles. From reddit I get the impression there are college scenes in the US where there are inexperienced people doing aerials all the time: this is considered a Bad Thing).
posted by pw201 at 5:06 AM on March 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
I was moving my 83 year old feet. Couldn't stop. Great stuff.
posted by Old Timer at 8:16 AM on March 21, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by Old Timer at 8:16 AM on March 21, 2015 [11 favorites]
I was in kind of a crappy mood today - that changed fast. Loved this, so much fun - thanks for posting.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:52 AM on March 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by madamjujujive at 11:52 AM on March 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh, man, I love this so much, I want to write the script to a Step Up-type movie based on this concept.
posted by box at 3:36 PM on March 21, 2015
posted by box at 3:36 PM on March 21, 2015
Still not as good as this...starts at (:30) Featured previously
posted by Quasimike at 4:07 PM on March 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Quasimike at 4:07 PM on March 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Saw this on Facebook and loved it. I'm a swing dancer who's been on a multi-year hiatus, but when I was into it I was big into it, and read a great deal about the history of the dance form. Short story short, it shouldn't be that surprising to team it with street dance. They share a lot of similar origins - before swing caught on in the dominant pop culture, it was the dance of outsiders, mostly black and urban. There's a lot of very basic level crossover, even if street dance is a lot more postmodern.
posted by Miko at 8:28 PM on March 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Miko at 8:28 PM on March 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Quasimike, your first link is insane!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 3:17 PM on March 22, 2015
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 3:17 PM on March 22, 2015
I swear one of the Lindy Hoppers looks like he could be The Whelk's brother or cousin…
posted by Lexica at 9:11 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Lexica at 9:11 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
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