Becoming an advanced dancer takes years of practice. That much is obvious. But what does it mean? How do you know when you’re there?
Do you suck this hard? Find out...
Being an advanced lindy hopper is about so much more than technique or even artistry. Advanced is a mindset, maturity, breadth and depth of study. It takes time and hard work to develop a deep partnership with the music and an intuitive understanding of biomechanics.
It doesn’t mean everyone wants to dance with you, or that you’re winning all the competitions. Those are the fodder of fantasies.
Instead, I’ve compiled a list of 31 Signs You’re Not an Advanced Dancer Yet, drawn mostly from my own experience. Ready for a reality check? Even if one of these applies to you, you’ve got something to work on.
You might not be advanced if…
- You’re still concerned about what level you are.
- You’re still taking your follow’s feet out from under her when you dip her.
- You’re still dipping your partner at the end of every dance.
- You’re still wondering whose fault it is when a move doesn’t work.
- You’re still bothered that you can only remember 6 moves at a time.
- You still think you lead with your arms.
- You’ve never obsessively listened to and dissected music.
- You don’t have impeccable rhythm.
- You don’t add your own creative ideas to the dance.
- You’re still wondering how to make your free arm look good.
- You’re still afraid of “messing up the lead” with your ideas.
- You still complain about not being challenged enough.
- You’re still bumping into people on the dance floor.
- You still can’t identify basic genres of swing and jazz music.
- You still can’t tell when a song is about to end.
- You still have the urge to blame your partner when you go off balance.
- You still don’t practice by yourself.
- You refuse to dance with newer dancers because you can’t have fun.
- You’re still bothered when other people say no to dancing with you.
- You’re still hitting every break and musical element in a song.
- You’ve begun to think you no longer have much to learn from classes.
- You’ve never seriously studied a dance other than swing.
- You’re bothered that people don’t realize how good you are.
- You still think winning a competition validates you as a good dancer.
- You never doubt your favorite instructors’ teachings.
- You constantly doubt every instructor.
- You think the music is your servant.
- You think you’re a servant to the music.
- You can easily tune out the music and still dance.
- You still get really sore after a weekend of dancing.
- You still don’t know who is the most important person in the dance.
Great, I suck. Now what?
You probably only suck this much.
You may be feeling irritable or down on yourself after reading this list.
I wrote this to stimulate your curiosity and discomfort. You should have more questions than answers. The world of movement is bigger than you know—bigger than I know.
We don’t start lindy hopping because we want easy popularity. We take the journey to becoming lindy hoppers because we crave challenge.
What challenges do you have after reading this post? Let me know in the comments.
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Rebecca, you are brilliant. Every article is better than the last. Please never ever stop writing them!
Thank you! I have every intention of writing forever. :-)
I concur.
Once again every bit as relevant for Westies even though it says Lindy. Keep writing it and I’ll keep sharing it.
Rock on. We’ll do.
Finds he has no desire to be an advanced dancer. ;) I focus on being a FUN dancer, that is enough for me.
Heh, good call! Although at least half of these could be renamed “Signs You’re Not a Fun Dancer Yet.” Bumping into people, blaming your partner, yada yada.
Very true, but I think I am a ‘good enough’ dancer who doesn’t have some of these bad habits. I guess my point is I’m not a dancer who is driven by a challenge, I got into swing music because I love the way the music makes me feel and move, and Lindy was a great way to express myself to the music. Was it a challenge to learn it? For me it was a HUGE challenge, because I have absolutely no rythm and timing what so ever, in fact in more subtle music I still get lost.
I know I’m not an advanced dancer, but I’m a good dancer, and I know enough to express myself to the music and hopefully provide a fun experience for my follow. I do find, that more ‘advanced’ dancers don’t enjoy my style, because I am so simple in my dance. I’m ok with with that. ;)
Here is how I fall into the list:
Yes = 3, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 17, 20, 31
No = 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30
27, 28 = I have no idea what these mean.
A few things that make me never want to be an advanced dancer:
3 – Oh hell yeah, I love dipping! In fact, I need to learn some varations to mix it up, but my favorite is when it is really in sync with the music. Some times I dip DURING the song.
5 – I don’t even ‘count’ how many moves I know, because I don’t care, I try to just make stuff up half the time.
7 – Crap, who has the time? I work 60 hours a week and I am a single parent. I like to MOVE to the music, not disect it like a squint.
12 – I’ve NEVER complianed about there not being enough challenge.
14 – I would love to see a blog on this, but in my mind there are the kinds I like (Jump Blues, Retro Swing) and all the other kinds I don’t (Elevator Jazz, Charestonie, Brassy, etc). Does that count? :)
17 – Read my answer to #7.
20 – I wouldn’t say ‘every’ break, but alot. Crap, I’m happy if I can follow the music well enough to even DO this.
22 – I’ve never seriously studied swing!! Why would I spend time on other dances who’s music doesn’t make me want to get up and dance my heart out. I have taken classes in other dances mind you, becuase I think it can help add flavor to my swing, but STUDY, yuck.
24 – I have never entered a competition, never will. I enjoy dancing for fun, I don’t find competition fun. I do enjoy watching other people with ‘advanced skills’ though, it is very impressive.
Yeah, it definitely sounds like you’re not interested in becoming an advanced dancer. :) And that’s OK. But if you want some tips on how to practice by yourself with minimal time, here’s a good article: http://www.jaminjackson.com/2012/03/20/how-to-master-lindy-hop-as-a-part-time-dancer/
(Pardon me, Rebecca, for referencing another blog)
Levi, I think Bobby White’s article, “On Having Fun” in lindy hop is a direct response to your comment, “I have no desire to be an advanced dancer; I want to be a fun dancer.”
http://swungover.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/on-having-fun/
For some people, (like Rebecca, like Bobby, like myself, and others) find, dare I say it — fun in analyzing their dancing in this way. Seeing the benefit of your hard work pay off in a social dance setting is also incredibly rewarding.
I think what this list shows is that it’s as much about attitude as it is about quality of movement or rhythmic ability.
Right on. Attitude is SO important.
Good list. I haven’t ever considered if I’m an advanced dancer or not (I’m definitely not advanced), so I haven’t thought of what other criteria could or should be included.
I do take exception with one statement, though…
“We take the journey to becoming lindy hoppers because we crave challenge.”
Really? I dance because I enjoy it–not because I crave yet another challenge in life.
Challenge can be fun. :-)
yeah, I enjoy the challenge part, too, but I do lindy because I love to dance, in whatever type of dance it is. I just plain love dance, period. Watching it OR doing it.
People dance for all sorts of reasons, different with every individual. I think it would be inaccurate to make the generalization that lindy hoppers dance primarily for the challenge. Maybe it’s what grabs or motivates you, but extrapolating that to all dancers would be faulty.
I’m talking about people “on the journey to becoming a lindy hopper.” Not all dancers are on a journey—for some people it’s just an activity, not a process.
Find me a person slogging their way up that mountain who hates to be challenged. I’ll tell them to switch to new hobby. (And then I’ll quote some research about how important manageable stress is to finding happiness.)
I completely agree. The process of learning lindy has been a challenge but that’s not what attracts me to it. I dance because I love it, its fun and it makes me happy.
Is the challenge part of what keeps you going, though?
I used to contra dance. I quit when it stopped being challenging and switched to lindy hop. There’s so much more to learn in our genre!
I think that second “challenge” part was meant to illustrate the first – that Lindy Hop is not generally something people take up to become very popular very quickly.
(and that to do so is not in the spirit of the community)
Well put. Yes. That’s what I was saying.
Yes. To me, lindy hop is a nice hobby that breaks the typical “go see a movie or a club or a restaurent” night. I’m happy as an intermediate. I don’t want to become an expert at it; it would be way too much work when you got other interests and projects. Also, I don’t understand what you mean by “people take up lindy hop to become popular”… lindy hop is not mainstream (in my city at least). So why would people take this to become popular?
Brilliant! That is all.
I like that you promote humbleness on the dance floor. :)
I love that I get sore after dancing for a weekend but that’s cause I never dance/exercise until I go to a dance event. Damn you senior thesis!!
10 = me.
11 = also me.
Here’s a response blog post to #10 that’s pretty helpful: http://sweetheartsofrhythm.org/?p=582
Rebecca, this is great. We frequently wonder what separates “Intermediate” and “Advanced” dancers because there are no clear level distinctions. Thanks for sharing this rather flexible but so, so helpful compilation.
Thanks Rebecca! ;) I shared it on Facebook.
Thank you!!
Hm. Although I really like the sentiment behind this, I’m not sure it is 100% accurate. There are a handful of things on this list that you could do and still be an advanced dancer. In fact, I know quite a few advanced dancers who do a lot of these. Are they things to work on? Maybe. But that doesn’t make them not an advanced dancer. Or maybe we have a different definition.
I think you’re right, Jenna. The one…
“You still can’t identify basic genres of swing and jazz music.”
…in particular, jumps out at me. There are genres of jazz…basic genres of jazz…that are tremendously ill-suited to swing dancing. One of the things I find amusing is how the majority of swing dancers really have such a limited scope of what is included under “jazz”, but use the term in a way that indicates they *think* they know what “jazz” is. Swing dancers don’t really need to know all of the basic genres of jazz. Jazz is such a bigger category, continuing over over many more decades (and still alive and well, and evolving) than what most swing dancers comprehend when they say “jazz music.”
How many swing dancers even know who Miles Davis is? How many know that Miles Davis’ album, Kind of Blue, is widely considered (by jazz aficionados) to be the best jazz album of all time? How many know that Miles Davis was a leading figure in multiple genres of jazz, let alone be able to rattle off some of those genres?
In other words, someone can be a very advanced lindy dancer and know very little about the big wide world of jazz.
Miles Davis? zzzzzzzzz……… Cab Calloway? Awesome!
I’m not a jazz buff by any stretch (in fact I hated it before I got into swing dancing and forced myself to start liking it), but I definitely know who Miles Davis is. But I think you’re right, that jazz includes much more than swing or blues music, so swing dancers don’t really need to know all of jazz.
I’m guilty about 31 (but I don’t care i’m a strong begineer – low inter).
So I’ll ask it straigth. In your opinion, who is the most important person in the dance? I always tough the follow because she makes the dance look better. And also because as a lead I have to make the dance fun for the follow and easier for her to follow.
By the way, I love the humor with the images (vacuum that suck) ! Maybe it’s because i’m french, english is my 2nd language, and I am childish at times…
The most important person is whoever you’re dancing with.
Yup!! Your partner.
Really? I thought the answer was that it’s a partnership and that neither of you is more important…
But if I had to choose one, it’d be my partner. Toooooo many people think their needs are more important. Examples: a lead who thinks the follow should do whatever he says, or a follow who think the lead should let her shine all the time.
What a great list. For me it was 21. about 6 years ago,there was a workshop target at different levels. I considered myself intermediate by then. So I joined the intermediate workshop (Saturday. 4 hours….)
Being curious, I went to the beginners workshop (by the way people who enrolled there were not beginners to the dance). To my amazement I saw a guy who I thought was a brilliant dancer. so I said to myself what this guy is doing here?…. summarizing 21. was the answer to my question. from there on i joined all levels.
Ah, the tough love. It makes me think, and I hate it, but I’ll be thanking you later. :P
Also, that TED talk was fascinating!
I would have hated this blog post if I’d read it several years ago. I would have thought the author was elitist and stupid.
But it would have stuck in my mind, just like all the feedback I hated when I was learning dancing. (Ask me about that feedback in person next time you see me!) And then I would have gotten better. And maybe years later I’d be thankful.
So I’ll understand if you kind of hate me for a while. ;-)
P.S. I love TED.
You make many valid points. I can only speak as a leader. Advanced leaders are able to make followers of any level feel comfortable on the dance floor, and enjoy the experience without being concerned they are not very good.
I think the real challenge is to be able to feel the dance vs doing it mechanically. Feel the music instead of just waiting for it. Feel your partner instead of just tugging on her.
The challenge is to be so good at steps and moves that you can just do them with out even thinking about them so your body can just feel the dance.
Its the switching over from doing things mechanically to doing things with feeling that makes a better dancer
I wonder if the dancers back in the day that are idolized by the modern advanced swing dancers ever worried about whether they were advanced or intermediate. My guess is that they didn’t think like that, but rather just went out to have fun on a Saturday night.
Nice to tease the thinking and discussion about it. I like. But I do think that this listing and thinking is very exclusive.
For me, at first there is fun, the social aspect… and not thinking about all this.
Then I also try the things listed up here, because of the passion for the music and the dance. But not as a goal, only as a way. Cause I’d like to connect and have fun with every dancer, with different music and in different situations. Not to be advanced. I think this doesn’t need any discussions if you are aware about which reference frame you use. In ‘the old days’ it was totally different then the frame the ‘mainstraim’ international Lindy Hop (I can only speak for Europe) has, then the one so many people in there town or the many individuals have. Don’t take it to serious; go out, dance, be open, let lose, have fun, be nice… and you’ll BE(come) an advance dancer.
:)
I think some of the left-brained, rational signs, especially those about music, are off the mark. For example, I’ve never “dissected” music (although arguably I have “broken it down”); nor do I “identify” the difference between jazz and swing (but my mind and body generally know I prefer to move to the latter and listen to the former). And honestly, I’ve found you either have “impeccable rhythm” or you don’t (it’s tough thing to learn, but it’s possible). Then again, maybe I’m not advanced!
This is a brilliant list for beginners to STOP THINKING about it. Keep watching. Keep moving. Keep learning. Just keep asking everyone to dance! If you can simply hear what Rebecca is saying about dancing through this list of signs and absorb maybe just half of them, you’ll be a better dancer. I, too, after dancing 15 years since I was 14 find I still think/suffer from a few of them. Perhaps this list should be retitled: “Signs you’re still not advanced yet AND a reminder that you’re always still a beginner.”
PS. I personally think number 31 is a trick question: contrary to what Frankie said, you both are! (You dance because you want to; your purpose is to make her look and feel good, and in making her look and feel good, she makes you look good.)
Good points. I wish I’d stopped worrying about getting the label of “advanced” in my first few years. Would’ve helped me work harder and have more fun!
I love your alternate title, “Signs you’re still not advanced yet AND a reminder that you’re always still a beginner.”
Beginner’s Mind is a beautiful thing. :-)
Woah, I think I hit like 13 of these (as much as I would not like to admit it)! Definitely good fodder for thought (and action). The challenge is definitely part of the attraction for me, so it’s great to see explicitly what I can work on.
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