Contents

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A few of my most popular posts:

A BASIC INDEX OF CLASSIC CLIPS
The Heavy Follower
Oh, the Dances You Will Have!
Savoy Style vs. Hollywood Style: A Fight to the Death (Hopefully?)
Savoy vs. Hollywood Footnotes
The Old Timer Essay
A Few of the (Many) Reasons I Love My Partner
Implied in the Contract: The Hidden Implications of Professional Dance Instruction
The Definition of Jitterbug
A Quick Note on Floorcraft
A Way-Too-Brief History of Balboa
Pride and Pretzel-Turns
Notes from the First Jam Cellar Town Hall Meeting

REFERENCE

A BASIC INDEX OF CLASSIC CLIPS
Savoy Style vs. Hollywood Style: A Fight to the Death (Hopefully?)
Savoy Vs. Hollywood Footnotes
Cab Calloway’s Cat-Alogue

THE ORIGINAL JITTERBUGS

GENERAL
Al Minns: A Dancer’s Dancer
Long Live the King: Frankie Manning Homage
A Way-Too-Brief History of Balboa
The Definition of Jitterbug
The Deal with Stripey Socks
The Deal with Keds
The Story of Mata Hari
Random Balboa Geek Discovery: New Information on the Venice Beach Clip
Savoy Style vs. Hollywood Style: A Fight to the Death (Hopefully?)
Savoy Vs. Hollywood Footnotes
Pinning Down the California Routine
Random Lindy Hop and Balboa Geek Discovery: Bal, Swing and Lindy from the Waist Down (and Something Possibly Amazing)
UPDATE: New Discoveries on the Waist-Down Dancing Clip
A Few Random Clips
For Hal (Tribute Article to Hal Takier)

“THE OLD TIMER” ESSAY
Part 1: A Classless Dance
Part 2: A Release of Energy
Part 3: Inside and Outside the Box
Part 4: “The Only Count I Know is Basie.”
Conclusion: Making Noise

INCREDIBLE FOLLOWERS NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT
Mildred Pollard AKA Sandra Gibson
Irene Thomas, sassy brunette.
Special edition: Swing Memories: Calling Irene Thomas
Willa Mae Ricker, patron saint of respect for Lindy Hoppers.
Genevieve Grazis, the lost follower (AKA Jenny Gray)
Joyce James AKA Joyce “Little Stupe” Daniels ISDFNKA #5

“DISCOVERIES” & RANDOM RESEARCH
The Definition of Jitterbug
Random Balboa Geek Discovery: New Information on the Venice Beach Clip
Genevieve Grazis, the lost follower (AKA Jenny Gray)
Pinning Down the California Routine
Random Lindy Hop and Balboa Geek Discovery: Bal, Swing and Lindy from the Waist Down (and Something Possibly Amazing)
UPDATE: New Discoveries on the Waist-Down Dancing Clip

MODERN SWING CULTURE, TEACHING, & THE LIFE OF A PROFESSIONAL SWING DANCER

GENERAL
Long Live the King: Frankie Manning Homage
A Few of the (Many) Reasons I Love My Partner
The “Heavy” Follower
Finding Out A Team Name
The Jam Cellar Guide to Practicing Aerials.
Inspiring Neo-Swingers to Lindy Hop
The Deal with Stripey Socks
The Deal with Keds
The 2010 Swungover Year in Review
Oh, the dances you will have!
Things I’ve learned about dancing and having a bad back.
Anatomy of a Choreography: “Chimes at the Meeting”
The Etiquette of Stealing
So we made some DVDs for Balboa followers
Implied in the Contract: The Hidden Implications of Doing a Professional Dance Instruction Gig
Josh Collazo on Swing Drumming
A Word on Swing (1): “Lonestar!”

LOVE & SWING
I: “To Meet Boys.”
II: Non-Dancing Significant Others vs. Dancing Significant Others

ON JUDGING
On Judging (Introduction): A Few Questions
Part 1: The Basic Competition Blueprint
Part 2: Watching and Note-Taking Technique
Part 3: Judging Philosophy 101

SWING MEMORIES
My First Lesson
Frankie Manning’s 85th
The Sewanee Swing Society (Building a College Swing Club)
Calling Irene Thomas

THE GREAT DEBATE
#1: Should Lindy Hop be danced to non-swing music?

SWING ANALOGIES
A dance floor is like a glacier
A good lead is like shouting in a library
A student is like a bad juggler
Balboa is like a poem…(cough)
A good follower is a proactive passenger
Follow up: Random Notes on Leading/Following
Your voice will probably be like a stew, and you probably don’t want it to be a ransom note
Moves are like legoes
Lindy Hoppers are 22-to-25-year-olds
Dips, tricks and small aerials are risque jokes

SWING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Interview: Eric Bertrand
Gallery: Eric Bertrand
Interview: Hilary Mercer
Gallery: Hilary Mercer

DIAGRAMS & GRAPHS
Venn Diagram #1: “Friends”
Venn Diagram #2: “Neo-Swing”
Venn Diagram #3: “Leader’s Clothing”
Venn Diagram #4: “Balboa / Blues”
Venn Diagram #5: “Non-Dancing Significant Others”
Venn Diagram #6: “Partnership”
Graph #1: Dancing Ability & Drinking

P-LINDY-X
(Basically, a lot of workout reviews)
Complete P90X Blog (Part 1 of 2)
Complete P90X Blog (2 of 2)
Bobby’s Complete P90X Plus Blog (All 4 of 4)
P90X2: Post 1
P90X2: Post 2

THE ART OF VINTAGE MANLINESS
Introduction
Shaving with a Safety Razor, Lather, and Soap
Ties

INTERVIEWS
Interview with Hilary Alexander of the Campus Five
Interview with Paul Cosentino of the Boilermaker Jazz Band
Interview with Jonathan Stout, Leader of the Campus Five
Interview with Valerie Salstrom, Mastermind of the All Balboa Weekend
Interview with Lindsay Longstreth, Organizer of Alternative-Education Swing Events
Interview with Glenn Crytzer, leader of the Syncopators Swing Band
Interview with Kyle Smith, Master DJ
Interview with Tim Vail, Deaf Lindy Hopper

RANDOM NOTES
Light and humorous swing dance travel essays

Random Notes from the 1950s
A Quick Note on Floorcraft
Random Notes from Salem, Mass.
Random Notes from Seoul Korea (June, 2010)
Random Notes from the Balboa Experiment
Random Notes from Reading and Gloucester, UK
Random Notes from Sydney, Australia
Random Notes from Wellington, “New Zillund”
Random Notes from the Airport (Part 1: Economy)
Random Notes from Melbourne, Australia

STRICTLY HUMOROUS

GENERAL
Pride and Pretzel-Turns
Notes from the First Jam Cellar Town Hall Meeting
News Headlines: The 2000s: A Decade in Swing
The Case of the Dancing Stud (Complete Story)
The Ballad of the Oxford Baggies
My top secret plan for ILHC next year (Muppet Hellzapoppin)
News Briefs From Yesteryear (Part 1)
The Haunted Jam Cellar: “The Sketchy Guy”
The Haunted Jam Cellar: “The Clown in the Woods”

JUNK DRAWER

Barren Wasteland of Forgotten Posts
A junk drawer of projects that are currently not in motion
A YEAR OF CLIPS
1. After Seben
2. Nick and Carla at ILHC 2009
3. Todd and Naomi routine at ULHS 2005
4. Rhythm Hot Shots at Can’t Top The Lindy Hop in 1994.
5. Start Cheering (original Balboa clip)
6. Lady Be Good (Collegiate Shag)
Insanity! #1
Insanity! #2
Insanity! #3
Insanity! #4 (Abort!)
Cab Calloway’s Cat-Alogue

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The Fine Print (As announced in this giant font)

All writing material on this blog is copyright 2009 and 2010, and 2011 by Robert White. Though links and pingbacks to this website are welcome, you must have authorized permission before republishing any of this material in any form.

Basically, I appreciate greatly when you like something enough to send people to my site or link to an article. But please do not republish things without asking first.

About the Photo on this Page…

The photo of my shoes and socks was taken by Eric Bertrand, an amazing photographer (and dancer). To see more of his photos, please visit www.bertography.ca

The picture of me solo dancing was taken from a mysterious person–mysterious person, come forward!