(Part 2) Top products from r/SwingDancing

Well I can speak from personal experiance. I am one of those you would call "beat-deaf". If you dig my post history you will see that I posted here before asking for help. So here are my tips on how I did it, and then how to make it better:

How I did it:

1. I put on HOUSE and soft house music. Yes you read that right.
   
2. You cannot miss the beats of house music - it is so prominent that the next step up would be a metronome app.
   
3. Anyways - I practised walking to the said beats for a month.
   
   How to make this better:
   
   
4. Teach them charleston! This is much more fun to dance to, and play something around 120 bpm.
   
5. I recommend electroswing. (or even soft house, who cares?)
   
6. Teach some solo jazz - jump charleston to be precise.
   
7. Once they are getting the hang of it, start with moves like a sendout. Keep the electroswing music.
   
8. Gradually mix songs with really clear beats - and then go on with tuck turns, swingouts, frisbees.
   
   You can have nice and smooth songs playing too, but make sure people get the hang of the beat. Look, my dance teacher started with 5...6..7..8..
   ..but I had no idea what the fuck that 5 was? Why 5? Why not 1? or 2? (Yes I had no clue about music).
   
   
   Take a day to teach them what the 8 count is. Play some popular songs (katy perry would do as well!!!) and show them how this 8 counts of repeating beats are present in many dance songs. Get them to recognize the pattern. A good book to read (which I did) is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Every-Survival-Guide-Ballroom-Dancing/dp/093025144X
   
   (yeah ... that isnt a survival guide - it teaches musicality).
   
   Above all - ask them to forget the technicalities and enjoy it! :-)

One need not look very far to see that blackface is a sensitive issue in many countries outside of the U.S., Wikipedia breaks it down by country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface I am sad to read these words that you write - that the world does not care about degrading black people. I would encourage you to read more about the history of this dance, perhaps you will appreciate more the roots of the dance and develop more empathy for your fellow humans. I'll even give you a recommendation - I am enjoying this book right now, because it gives a lot of context to set up the story of how the Charleston came to exist as a dance and because the author writes with genuine interest and excitement for this topic: https://www.amazon.com/Doin-Charleston-American-Popular-Orphanage/dp/0615852033 Thanks to Bobby White for the recommendation via the Swungover blog. In spite of what you may believe, this issue is bigger than the US, it is not a self-contained issue, and I would encourage you to look outside of yourself, Russia, or whatever seems to be holding you to this unwavering opinion for more information.

> When you have so many young people swing dancing, why not throw in some younger music every now and then?

You're right! Let's!

Here's some standard music played by modern bands with great sound quality:

• Michael Gamble & The Rhythm Gamblers: https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Gamble-Rhythm-Serenaders/dp/B01GQZD5SG
  
  
• Jonathan Stout & His Campus Five: https://www.amazon.com/Rhythm-Jonathan-Campus-featuring-Alexander/dp/B0006A4KNM/ref=ntt_mus_dp_dpt_1
  
  
• Gordon Webster: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/gordonwebster22
  
  
• The Rhythm Gamblers: https://therhythmgamblers.bandcamp.com/album/the-rhythm-gamblers
  
  You might say: Those are modern bands, but they're still playing all the songs I knew! What I really want is new songs altogether. Okay!
  
  
• Glenn Crytzer's Savoy Seven: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/glenncrytzerssavoyseven3
  
  
• Jonathan Doyle Quintet: https://jonathandoyle.bandcamp.com/album/the-fed-hop
  
  
• Joe Smith & The Spicy Pickles: https://joesmithandthespicypickles.bandcamp.com/album/high-fidelity
  
  
• Jeremy Mohney: https://jeremymohneymusic.bandcamp.com/album/smile-a-while
  
  No you still don't understand /u/AFistfulOfAww, what I really really want to do is dance to music that doesn't swing, but with the same-ish shapes that I learned in Lindy Hop classes!
  
  
• You'll fit right in at /r/westcoastswing! The dance shares our origin, and it is danced to all kinds of different music. Last I heard they even have some Zouk influence these days!

For outdoor dancing I like something like this. If you do a little searching you can often find these Not Rated oxfords (and there are a couple of similar brands) for pretty cheap. The soles are a very lightly textured rubber that's actually pretty smooth to dance on, especially once you wear them in a little. They're similar to but smoother than the normal Keds sole, which I find too sticky. They're not shoes that are going to last long in any case, so if you don't pay much for them, you won't feel too bad about giving them rough treatment.

Beyond that, don't try to spin on concrete -- you're going to have to step through turns in a way that won't be as smooth as normal. You'll have to pick up your feet more between steps. Swivels may not work well either. You just have to compromise a little for the sake of your knees, which you don't want to mess around with.

// , This sounds like the most flexible solution, although I do eventually want to buy a dance shoe.


I've found suede stick-ons on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/YAVOUN-Friction-reducing-Self-Adhesive-High-Heeled-Protector/dp/B07G116VL2/

​

I've considered adding these to something like the Merrell Vapor Glove or the vivobarefoot.com shoes mentioned above.

​

Vibram soles are pretty good for adhering, but I'm willing to keep a few spare pads of suede just in case.

I could totally relate. I wrote this in response to Rik's blog post and have written several blog posts about my experiences since moving to a small town south of Austin:

​

I too, took a break from dancing weekly, (kids, move across country, knee surgery). As I get older, it's harder to feel relevant.

To fill the void when I couldn't dance, I wrote about it. I wrote one novel, THE GIRL IN THE JITTERBUG DRESS, and then couldn't stop (writing several more with dance as a central character/theme), along with a blog about vintage and everything 1920s-1950s.

Because I couldn't dance, I tried to capture those feelings of when I first learned, and the thrill of a skirt wrapping around a warm thigh on a crowded dance floor. The excitement when you follow a lead you've never danced with before and get most of it right. I lived vicariously through my words.

Since my knee surgery, I've gained a lot of weight and am afraid to go out to well-known dance venues. I'm afraid of being ignored. Afraid of not being like the characters I write about. 

I'm trying to find my way back to the dance floor. I don't want to just write about it. We've started a small group of dancers in my little town. They only know the fat/old Tam, not the girl in the jitterbug dress I used to be.  

Starting a scene is different than coming back to an old one or even integrating into a new one. I  moved from SoCal to Texas eight years ago and barely ventured out.  I hope starting small will lend me the confidence to go out to the bigger venues again, but for now, I take beginner steps.

I recommend these in the strongest possible terms. The light protection is enough for most live band nights and still lets you have a normal conversation. (I play brass and I can play with the light cores installed.) I have two sets because I lost one.

https://www.amazon.com/Alpine-MusicSafe-Hearing-Protection-Musicians/dp/B000VO8PR0

You could buy the CD here for $19.99. That whole album Goin' to Lindy Land by Peter Davis was very popular in the Lindy world and created specifically for dancers. You could hear an interview with Peter Davis on the Sept 2006 Mister Jesse podcast.

Check out Spirit Moves. You can start here and search from there, though it is copyrighted and therefore gets taken down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcqYQC0_t3I

​

This Book Jazz Dance by Marshall Sterns

https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Dance-Story-American-Vernacular/dp/0306805537

​

Ken Burns Jazz is a good start too
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Film-Ken-Burns/dp/B000BITUEI/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=ken+burns+jazz&qid=1562692802&s=gateway&sr=8-2

​

Remember no history is definitive, there's always other perspectives, revisions, corrections and new information. And also only about 10% of the documentaries, movies, etc out there ever made it onto the internet, and about 5% or less of the researched history has been converted to digital form, so go to the library too if you're serious about getting accurate info.

From Delovely,
Elvis Costello's Quite Awesome : Let's Misbehave

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00157HUBO/ref=sr_1_1_rd?_encoding=UTF8&child=B00157NRX4&qid=1495123054&sr=1-1</a>

Spacey's Beyond the Sea
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00124HRE0/ref=sr_1_1_rd?_encoding=UTF8&child=B0012487EY&qid=1495123129&sr=1-1</a>

Reposting my comment from yesterday:

If you like that, there's a whole series of similar songs compiled into albums like "Those Dirty Blues", "Copulatin' Blues", "Eat to the Beat", "Reefer Blues", etc.

• https://www.amazon.com/Those-Dirty-Blues-Various-Artists/dp/B002ZZHGXW
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Reefer-Blues-Vintage-Songs-Marijuana/dp/B002ZZRNXA/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Copulatin-Digitally-Remastered-Sidney-Bechet/dp/B002ZZHGXC
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Eat-Beat-Dirtiest-Dirty-Blues/dp/B000GLL1S8

There's this compilation that's almost exactly what you're looking for for Frankie: https://smile.amazon.com/Really-Swingin-Frankie-Mannings-Favorites/dp/B000006FDD?sa-no-redirect=1

Yes Indeed by Tommy Dorsey (in Stereo)

• Breakfast in Harlem - Buck and Bubbles
  
• You Are My Moonshine - New Orleans Moonshiners
  
• Introduction/Jeep Jockey Jump - Tex Beneke & The Glenn Miller Orchestra

Would I be getting the right thing here? http://www.amazon.com/THE-SPIRIT-MOVES-History-1900-1986/dp/B001M3X5GU

the information listed on the youtube video leads me to Amazon or iTunes

Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop