You probably didn’t know, but last weekend probably the biggest Australian Swing Dancing festival was held here in Melbourne. On the Friday was a competition – the Melbourne Lindy Battle. I competed and did pretty well.
Wren Stew (Teams event, 2nd)
Charleston Challenge (Solo, 1st)
Jack and Jill (Random partnered, 2nd)
Those last two links are fairly large AVIs, the first is on youtube so much more accessible. Came 4th in the other 3 events I went in (slow & smooth, strictly lindy, fast foot), which is pretty good for the first two but dead last for the fast :(
In case you’re unsure I’m the guy with the big hair and the RB tees…
I highly recommend checking out the other winners of the teams event, they’re pretty awesome.
SHAMELESS PLUG: I teach at the Golden Gate Hotel in South Melbourne on Tuesday nights – come along!
Jo O'Brien
,
4 months ago
Holy crap, you can dance
What a great excuse to throw people on the floor… repeatedly :)
Helen McLean, 4 months ago
Wren Stew looked quirky and fun!
Charleston Challenge & Jack and Jill are VERY large files… downloading them now and will watch soon!
Sorry couldn’t make it in Tues night, couldn’t get out of the house in time, and didn’t want to miss any part of the lesson…
Xavier Shay
in reply to Helen McLean’s comment,
4 months ago
Oh you missed out – Loz was filling for Jess and it was heaps of fun. We’re doing more partnered Charleston next week.
Helen McLean, 4 months ago
:o(
Sound only with the Charleston Challenge avi… no visuals :o(
Helen McLean, 4 months ago
No visual on the Jack and Jill one either – Doh!
Ben Ryan
,
4 months ago
Helen, you may need to update your codecs. If you’re on Mac and using quicktime to view the .avi files, go here (should also be able to update your player if you’re using something else to view the files).
Ben
Xavier Shay
in reply to Helen McLean’s comment,
4 months ago
yes, what Ben said I think
Helen McLean, 4 months ago
Cool, it worked, thanks! I liked Jack and Jill… random partnered – what style did you do? It all looked like swing to me…
Xavier Shay
in reply to Helen McLean’s comment,
4 months ago
Yeah it’s all swing (which includes a whole heap of subgenres – lindy hop, charleston, blues, balboa, shag, etc, etc). J&J is a comp where you register individually, then on the night you get randomly paired up with 3 different partners for the heats (and are judged individually), then another random partner for the finals (and are judged as a couple).
If that doesn’t make sense I’ll explain in it person next time I see you. Much easier with large hand gestures.
Helen McLean, 4 months ago
LOL – yes, wog talk is something I am good at too ;o)
I do understand though, and my god – I can’t believe that was a random partner – I thought it was choreographed!!
You’ll have to tell me what “shag” is though – sounds intriguing ...
Xavier Shay
in reply to Helen McLean’s comment,
4 months ago
Youtube 4TW
It’s mostly bal, shag is the crazy looking one they do at :25 and 1:25. I haven’t done much of it, but it looks really ace when done well (as in here).
Helen McLean, 4 months ago
That was fantastic, I LOVE that style!!
Will Hore-Lacy, 3 months ago
The Shay:
