Exciting Events: Swingvitation 2013 Teaser Trailer

Here it is! Presenting the official teaser trailer for Swingvitation 2013. I don't know about you but I think I shot out of my seat when I first saw the video. What's a Media student got to do when they see a nicely edited video? 
The video pretty much covered all the highlights that will be happening in Swingvitation 2013 from 25th to 28th April. I've previously written a blogpost on Swingvitation that covers more details on what's happening. The price for the full event pass is $435, and individual workshops are priced at $55. More info for the different party prices are coming soon. 
In the meantime, be sure to practice all the techniques and concepts in West Coast Swing to give yourself an edge for the J&J!

Reflections: 2012 Wrap-up

It's been my most eventful year thus far. Other than the fact that I started this blog around the end of May this year and got into a dance scholarship, it's also the year where I forged new bonds with people I have least expected to have as well. From the salsa team to my current dance scholars, this is a year I won't forget for sure.

Major events in 2012:

February-
My first salsa dance class and salsa social, ever. I had a good time dancing with guys who were beginners like me (or maybe even advanced guys disguised as beginners just to make me feel better.) I was warming up to a supportive community of dancers in Jitterbugs Swingapore, a dance studio that is versatile in dance styles, pioneers of Lindy Hop, and possibly Singapore's biggest dance studio ever. You can't miss it, it's at the Basement level of The Grand Cathay. While movie goers are upstairs enjoying their date, dancers are downstairs plotting to take over the world practicing hard for performances.

April-
I was introduced to west coast swing during March, but only started taking lessons in April. I recall getting my first west coast swing social dance either at the end of March or early April, and of all the details I could remember, I remember dancing in close hold to the song Hate that I love You by Rihanna. After that I was slowly introduced to the idea of tension in west coast swing, and they felt different than salsa. Usually salsa's tempo is really quick, so the push and pull is always easy to miss, whereas in west coast swing, you have a lot of stretch in order to feel the lead and follow. Then again, it was my beginning months into partner dancing, so I was still trying to grasp the concept of lead and follow, and how the feelings are completely different in both.

May-
Watching Jitterbugs' Wanna Dance Recital got me pumped to get better in both salsa and west coast swing, and it also got me excited to perform and chip in a few choreography ideas for my tap dance recital. The highlight was definitely the ballet-jazz number with Zelia, Nicholas, Wei Cheng and Yee Shan. It was  hilarious to watch, yet they displayed technical prowess in dance too. A special shoutout to Fen for the awesome choreography.

September-
I revisit my love-hate relationship with solo dances outside of tap as I step into my first Jazz class with Jitterbugs. All I can say is that the teaching here is much different than what I had experienced 5 years ago. But that's maybe because I was in the kids class, and the teacher was probably more focused in fun choreography rather than technique. I probably wasn't that good, technique-wise, in the advanced kids teens class, and I doubt there was any across the floor work back then. This jazz class was a big sucker punch, as I found myself face to face with a crunch routine that lasted for 3 and a half minutes, and to top that off, planks...I was trembling by the end of that class, and I even suffered from delayed onset muscle soreness. But thanks to the support I got, I decided to audition for the Developing Artiste Programme 2 days later, and I got in!

November-
The Dappies before me perform their graduation show this month, and the fresh Dappies and I were backstage helping them out. Initially, I was quite pressured by the fact that their 10% looked like my 60% - their dance technique seemed like an external limb for all of them! But then I took the time to digest and dissect each of their moves, and decided maybe it can be done with practice during a year or two's time. Needless to say it was an inspiring show as well, and I can't wait to go out there to be like them, or better than them. You'll never know, as aesthetics are generally subjective.

December-
This was the month I had most fun with - performing a tap number, bonding with the salsa team, swinging around with the Mosaic people, and then ending it off by putting on weight and losing my hard earned abs. Damn, I had too much fun for 10 days, and I have to get back in shape for 2013. Oh well, at least I think my demi pointes are getting better. My feet still needs to support my weight though, because my arch looks good on tendus, but not on releves. However, I'm still glad to say that I've definitely lived my life fully in 2012.

Here's to 2013, everyone. Keep swinging on!

5 Dance Dares To Try Before You Die

**I'm going to make an important disclaimer here. I am not responsible or any injuries that occur on the dance floor because of you attempting these little stunts. Use dares with caution.

1. Swap your roles.
You heard me. Leads will follow, and follows will lead. This is going to screw up both you and your partner's coordination badly, like how the leads are supposed to step with the left foot first for both salsa and West Coast Swing, whereas the follows have to step with their right foot first. Let's not forget that leads have to be the one holding the weight of the follower's hands, and that anything wrong that happens is the lead's fault. So girls, if you're really thinking about doing this dare first, I respect your imaginary balls, now panic and run! Either way, it'll help you respect the other party's role in making the dance look good.

2. Dance blindly.
I would take that phrase literally. Blindfold yourself, or at most squeeze your eyes shut and don't peek. Let the feel of your partner guide you through the dark abyss that is blindness. Pay special attention to the tug, the cushioning, the spins he guides you to, and note every signal you get from your arms properly. Be sure not to auto-pilot...or crash into any object or person for that matter.

3. Be a major chatterbox.
It can be a very distracting thing. Mutter a tongue twister, keep talking about your day. We'll see how much focus can the lead or follow have in a dance while having external distractions such as an annoying voice. It'll be hilarious to see the screw-ups!

4. Get dizzy.
Before a dance, turn on the spot 7 times (without spotting!) And then dance like you've downed 15 shots of booze. All the better for you to move around and adjust to your environment when you realise that your slot is really tiny at the dance floor.

5. Lose a limb
Whether it is by holding a crutch as you dance, or using only one hand to lead, this would help you appreciate the fact that you have all four limbs to dance and express yourself with. I know there are some people who can lead with one hand throughout a dance, but let's see if the follows could do the same!

Fashion Fiesta: A dress to fly for!

I want this dress badly ;_; It's so vintage, slim fitting, and would look good on a regular day out in Singapore. You won't look overdressed, but it's still good enough for a party if you dress it up, and would especially look good on a West Coast Swing and Lindy Hop dance floor. Dresses that are versatile for day and evening events are the best.
The reviews of the product are pretty good, and it is even stated that the dress has pockets! How practical is that? The dress comes in 6 different patterns, but I'm vying for the red with black polkadots :) I won't hesitate to buy this again since I like shopping online, but I should start saving up again so that I can afford this. Anyway, the picture links to the shopping page on Amazon, if anyone is as interested as I am in buying the dress, you can go ahead and take a look. I've updated the aStore to include this dress under dance apparel. 

Trite Trivia: Dance Progress 1

Couple of techniques I keep doing wrong:

1. Taking big steps. Waaaay too big. Social dances aren't supposed to have a lot of room, unlike solo dances like tap. So I have the tendency to step out more than I should. I should focus on taking small steps within a small slot that I'm allowed to dance in. Maybe entering a simulation of walking a small corridor might help lol.

2. In west coast swing, I either slide my foot, or take them off the ground too much. I have to practice moving elegantly. Someone I met from socials was nice enough to point out that I need to walk the basic moves for sugar push and left side/underarm pass in front of a mirror and determine which movement makes me look the most elegant, and aim to walk that way all the time by practice.

3. I still have the tendency to break the frame with moves that require a back to back and having my arms raised. This causes me to feel inconsistent with different guys, I'll feel too soft then too hard, with one guy I'll feel too relaxed or soft, and then another I'll feel too tense or noisy. I should inquire more into this with my dance instructors.

4. In salsa, its really easy for me to go off beat and step the shines step instead of partnerwork steps. Especially if I went too slow for some difficult combo, I'll fall back in tempo and then step the footwork wrong.

Alright, next entry I'm going to blog about socials again.

Trite Trivia: Play the Piano?

Oh hey look at that! I found a video that shows you how that Love Story + Viva la Vida song is played. You know, the one that was danced by Benji Schwimmer and Torri Smith? Figuring the song out can keep me occupied while I recover from my cold.

Video Vault: I take it all back

Do you recall that I said it'll be really silly to west coast swing dance to Sexy and I Know It? After watching this routine, I'm taking it all back:,about how you're not getting a second date, scaring people away, and the potential need to strip. This choreography just made it cool.
As of January 4, 2013, I have danced to Sexy and I know it (NOT Noah Guthrie's cover.) Turns out it isn't as bad as I have put it in my previous blog post.

Reflections: Last WCS 1 class!

Alright, I'm finally done with our beginner classes for West Coast Swing! Here, have a picture of my classmates and instructors.

Somehow I regret not going to last Friday's socials because I couldn't remember the cue for a whip while in class, which was pretty stupid since it's quite basic. Eventually I caught up to it, and we finally were introduced to the idea of extending patterns and us ladies can have tons of fun adding more styling before finishing off with an anchor. Along with that, guys can also add 2 extra counts before the anchor  so it can act as a breather before leading the next step, which is pretty awesome so you're not caught doing the sugar push all the time.

Phew, 2 hours of class, and then due to the lack of girls in the 2A class, I stayed back for another hour, so I get to pick up some intermediate stuff while I wait for 2B to begin, muahahahahahaha!

Some sparse West Coast Swing 2A class spoilers:

1- overstretched + understretched anchor styling, free spin + left side spin
2- shoulder & hammerlock wrap (there was another one I forgot its name. Goldfish memory after 3 hours of dance classes.)
3- girl & guy baskets, guy's sugar push variation.

Unfortunately this is as far as I will go in spoiling classes for you WCS1 people, so sign up for 2A classes after 2B anyway :P Learning the technique is important.

Video Vault: Tuck Pass/Turn + Additional Annotations

**Once again, this isn't supposed to replace one's dance instruction, whether it is from a personal/private dance teacher or learning with a group. It's for the convenience of anyone who happens to have learnt the steps and require a few reminders on the technique. And again, if there's any input that you have, please don't hesitate to comment.

• Jitterbugs WCS1 students: Tuck Turn with Left Side Pass equates to Tuck Pass for us.
• 0:23 - Girls take note of your frame. Remember to shrug and lock your shoulders back.
• 0:30 - It's important to also have a compression going on during the counts 3 & before pushing off at 4. Guys don't cushion too much, so the girls don't end up having too much force and too little inertia to push of into the turn. 
• 0:54 - If I'm not mistaken, guys should cushion by tilting their body leftwards a little bit, but it looks like this guy doesn't. 
• 0:57 - I remember otherwise: the guy just pushes off, but it would look like the hand is going around the girl's head like a halo, but not intentionally flicking your hand around her head like a halo.
• 1:04 - Take note of this exercise all the way to the end of the video. Remember that both must exert an equal and opposite amount of force on the other (and if it helps, that was a reference to Newton's 3rd Law of Motion.)

Tips: Compare & Contrast the Simple Right Turn (Salsa) and Tuck Turn (WCS)

Salsa and west coast swing are both partner dances, but uses different counting and technique in order to lead and follow. The two techniques discussed here look visually similar, but are very different in terms of the connection, feel, and timing. It is always important, as dancers who wish to become versatile, to tell the difference between two different dance styles that may look similar.

Simple Right Turn - Salsa
Overview:
1. Every salsa move has to have the counting 1 2 3, 5 6 7.
2. The movement has to appear sharp, but gentle enough for the follow to balance and end off the turn well.
3. The leader gives the signal to follower by raising hand at count 3, then push follower into a turn. It should look like a halo is drawn on her follower's head. While executing the move, the leader may opt to do the side step or stationary basic steps without getting in the way of the follower in time for 5 6 7.
4. The leader's hands should be in a "high 5" position during count 3 to give a push, but only 2 fingers should be used when leading the turn so that the follower can maintain the C-hold.
5. On count 5, the followers step forward, steps back and turn quarter way through in count 6, and then bring their feet together and completes the turn at count 7. It is this move at count 7 that makes the turning look sharp and abrupt. Leaders will help the followers to complete the turn when at count 7 by resetting the hands at waist level again before moving on to another technique.

Tuck Turn - West Coast Swing
Overview:
1. West Coast Swing has 2 types of counting: two steps and triple steps. Two steps are done with counts 1 2 (a downbeat and upbeat), whereas triple steps are counted as 1 & 2 (downbeat, an in between beat, and upbeat)
2. The tuck turn is a 6-count pattern with counting 1 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6. The movement should appear relaxed and soft. The additional counts "& a" is meant to give a fluid feel to the dance.
3. The leaders pull their followers like in a push break on count 1 & a 2. At count 2, the hand should already be raised to give the signal for a tuck turn to the follower.
4. On count 3 & a, the leaders bring their hand slightly back to allow the followers to compress into them like in a push break. The leader just pushes the follower off to allow her to turn 180 and step back. There's no need to circle your hand around the follower's head.
5. The followers finish off the turn during counts 5 & a, while doing so the followers introduce tension gradually before reaching maximum tension at 6 & a. This is where both lead and follow will anchor and finish off the pattern.

For partner dancing, it's always vital to maintain a connection with your partner so that you can communicate to them. These simple steps should be mastered so that more advanced moves can be communicated in the social dance floor without having to explain how a pattern should be done to your partner. Leaders should remember that most movements have to be suggested to your partner before they can respond, and followers shouldn't autopilot and anticipate before a pattern is executed.

To those who have more experience or currently teaching partner dancing, feel free to add in what other details I've missed in this blogpost that compares the two patterns in the comments section below.

Tips: Technical Details you May have Missed in a Sugar Push

**I'm writing this mostly for my own convenience, but my readers can use these tips if they like. Take note that the tips here may be tailored more to followers instead of leaders since...I'm a girl. Also not everything I mention here is accurate so you may want to check with your dance instructors if I missed anything out/made a mistake describing something somewhere.

A deceptively simple move to a beginner, but this move is riddled with technical details that can be overlooked even for the seasoned dancer. I'm going to list the things that a West Coast Swing dancer has to keep in mind while practicing this move.

Overall:

-Train tracks. Keep your arms & shoulders parallel to each other. In other words focus on only your partner and don't look/turn elsewhere. Handhold should be at the lady's waist level. Ladies, trust your gentleman and rest your hands completely on his.

-3rd position footing. For guys, the right leg should be behind the left and pointed outwards slightly. For girls, the left leg is behind the right leg and pointed outwards slightly as well. Think ballet, except that the respective front foot is pointed parallel, facing towards the partner. This should allow better anchoring at the end of the move.

Count 1 & a 2:

-Guys step back at count 1 & must already keep foot at 3rd position at count 2. Root yourself before the girl crashes into you. Bend your elbows in preparation for the compression at count 3 & a 4 to redirect the lady back to her original position. Keep hands at the lady's waist level.

-Girls, as soon as the gentleman pulls you, just follow with two steps forward. Imagine following Newton's 1st law of motion literally (An object is either at rest or moving at a constant speed unless an external force is applied.) Don't hesitate or anticipate anything, even if an awkward moment might ensue.

Count 3 & a 4:

-Triple step, stay in 3rd position on counts 3 & a. Then leader steps forward on 4, follower steps back on 4 as soon as leader gives the push back with his arms.

-Guys must provide cushioning/compression for the girl. Still keep in mind that the hands are at waist level (some of my classmates tend to forget that and lift their hands up into what my teacher calls "ladder position") The elbows bend, but lower arms are still parallel to the floor. 

-Girls should still keep in mind the literal Newton's 1st law of motion, and only stop if the guy gives you that compression before count 4 (or you can choose to stop yourself by placing your hand against the guy's chest) Your arms should bend a bit like the guys during maximum compression, which should happen at count &. Also, it isn't necessary to bend your knees further as you compress (Yes, Amanda. You're the guilty party for this one. Please don't ask why I'm talking to myself in third person.)

-As girls step back, try not to introduce tension at count 4 already to allow some styling before the anchor step (which may not necessarily be at count 5 & a 6)

-Keep looking at your partner and not on the floor to avoid headbutting.

Count 5 & a 6:

-Anchor step. Introduce tension to arms, but don't overstretch them.
-Guys, rock backwards to your centre so that the girls don't pull backwards too much.

-Keep elbows pointing downwards to the floor, and don't break the frame whereby the shoulder collapses forward. 

-Stationary triple step on 3rd position on all counts.

-Maximum tension should be at counts 6 & a... (right before another move is executed)

I have a feeling this is going to be difficult to digest for some of these readers. Don't be overwhelmed by them and keep your kitchen sink drills! Most importantly, keep having fun. My instructor even said that WCS is a fun dance, but the first 4 weeks will be a pain, just to master the basics.

Reflections: Entries on Socials archive 1-6

I have discontinued the entries on socials series. I have now compiled them into an archive for future references.

26th May
I felt that I could've done better on the dance floor last night. Especially in WCS, where I kept on breaking my frame for the whip, and traveling out of my slot. One thing I also realised while dancing both salsa and WCS in the same night is that I find it hard to move back into the basic step for salsa and kept on finding tension from the lead right after dancing WCS.

I should also start finding YouTube videos to link here for some west coast swing styling. It's not fun when one is unable to express your interpretation of the music because of the lack of dancing vocabulary. Gonna keep you all posted!

2nd June
Yesterday's socials also happens to be my birthday (not that it's important for my readers to know, but I'm just pointing out that due to this reason, social dancing was more fun and I got to stay past my curfew.) Yep, this swinging salsera's got her game on, but before I talk about my socials, I'll be a shameless promoter and say I've signed up for this.

Hang on Amanda, you haven't been dancing salsa for more than 4 months and you already wanna perform? Well I figure that I should step up my game first before university sinks in. So yeah. I'm going for it. All I gotta worry about is if there'll be equal number of guys who are interested. During salsa socials I also managed to figure out that not all raised hand signals equate to a turn. Strange, I know, but I break my frame and end up doing turns from anticipating the move. I'm probably thinking too much about doing the pattern rather than leaving it up to the leader's discretion.

As for West Coast Swing, I managed to be more brave with styling, and received compliments on that. Less thinking and more feeling works! That and I got a bonus "private" lesson from my instructor on how to maintain my frame on my fingers. So I'm tensing less now, which also means my arms aren't sore (thankfully. How will I type if my arms feel like I've been suspended on pull up bars for hours?) One of my classmates are also brave enough to add his salsa leads into WCS. Great experimental work, really.

To conclude it all...my legs hurt (wish me luck surviving Tap classes today.) But dang it was fun (and tempting to do this every social night.) It's also a wonder how I'm up now typing this away, I should catch up on sleep. Catch you all later!

8th June
Note to self: RELAX! Even if salsa auditions are coming up tomorrow, RELAX!

I can't remember how many spins I done during the salsa socials. I'm still told to relax, but I'm not really getting how relaxing will help me hold my frame. Perhaps it is one of those things where I need to keep on practicing before I can finally get that feeling where I can balance both a relaxed posture and a good frame. One of the main highlights of the night was dancing with a guy who could style like mad while I let my hands get tossed around, and I'm left with that flabbergasted look. I wonder when will JBugs teach the guys to style like that?

I didn't do much swinging last night. But I did try to do some leading moves with a salsa classmate of mine and it's pretty hilarious. While she was able to follow my signals, I think our footwork was messy, but we still had fun.

All in all, I wish I could spend more time during socials last night because I didn't manage to feel that same level of enjoyment as before (please tell me that this isn't the start of a bad addiction.) I had so many things going on: choreographing for my tap dance recital, my internship, and just preparing for the auditions. Why do Fridays always have to end so soon?

23rd June
FINALLY! A SALSA DIP! And I don't mean the sauce dips for nachos, I'm finally lead to the actual move itself. Speaking of which, the lead was really strong. From close hold, he was even able to guide me to do side steps and double back breaks. How awesome is that?! Another awesome part was I also managed to get to know a few girls during yesterday's socials as well, which is quite a rare occurrence, since most of the time I'm paying attention to the guys instead. This sounds politically incorrect. I feel quite rusty with some spinning techniques though, wearing west coast swing heels forges a bad habit of relying on the heel to turn. That's really bad, I need to stop neglecting my actual salsa shoes.

West Coast Swing didn't fare too good with me either. My shoes were annoying while I was swinging, the strap kept on unbuckling, and my constant paranoia of tripping over the strap spoilt a bit of the fun. I should get more holes punched through it, or safety pin it I guess...While I did have tons of fun styling (especially since being introduced to extensions and the 2A class sneak peek,) I've neglected the basics - the flashlight, train tracks, and anchor, oh my. My WCS instructor's words ring true in my head, "You can never practice your anchor enough." Getting critique from him made me realise where I stand - can look good grooving, but totally messing up the footwork LOL. I love critique, seriously. It acts as a good motivator.

Along with that...I unintentionally showered holy water upon one of my leads. (It was accidental, I swear!) I don't recall exactly how it happened, but I think I was anticipating too much and when it didn't go as I expected, the waters flew. Luckily enough it was with one of my established friends. If it had been with that cute stranger I met, I would've died and not update this dance journal/blog!

To end it all, I have no idea how I managed to wake up at 7:15 in the morning, and I still have this funny churning feeling in the stomach like I have some sort of motion sickness. My fingers are crossed that I don't puke out my breakfast during tap class today.

30th June
WOOWHEE another dip! This time in WCS socials, aww yeah. While I was able to have that adrenaline rush (albeit underwhelming when compared to a roller coaster ride) socials didn't feel as fun because my WCS classmates aren't there, le sigh.

However, I came across a new group of people, one of them did ballroom dancing before, and the rest are there just to hang out. So I showed them the ropes of west coast swing, and boy was it hard to explain all the technical details! So I stuck to teaching them footwork and paying attention to the tension (hah, that rhymed.) I felt that I could do a bit better with my anchoring though, along with the styling, I felt like a dancing drunkard.

Along with that, I also tried shutting down my brain for salsa socials, to try and be a zombie that follows what the guy wants you to do, but I guess that gave the impression of me looking really lost to one of my guy friends LOL. I didn't think I was making that many mistakes as I danced that night as well, but I wouldn't be too sure about that.

It was nice meeting new people and showing the ropes. It helps test my patience, and makes me a bit more confident in being a potential dance teacher too. I'm also quite hungover, but I didn't even drink anything more than Coke.

7th July
Yesterday was a big blur. I only recall practicing a Salsa 3 move with some of the Salsa Swingapore team, and it was really complicated - the spinning has to be really quick in order to execute the move and now I can't remember how the hand gestures are done either.

Was I also mixing up salsa with swing yesterday? I guess so. I couldn't even remember the 123, 567 counts yesterday after swinging and then moving into salsa. This is bad. But I can sort of forgive myself for that because my Orientation Camp left me disoriented anyway. I'll try not to be this bad the next week.

A Proper Introduction

Hello, world! Since this is supposed to be my first blogpost, I should introduce myself, but firstly, thanks for stopping by to read my blog at the first place!

I'm a relatively new salsera and west coast swinger. I started salsa on February and West Coast Swing on April. However, the world of dance isn't a stranger to me, as you can read in my dance background page above.

So why am I blogging?

Don't I have some dancing to do? Of course I do, but my dancing takes up my weekends by a few hours only, which leaves plenty of time to do my second favourite thing - to write!

This blog would consist of my journey through salsa and west coast swing - as of October 2012, this blog would document every dance genre that I'm trying out from my dance scholarship with Jitterbugs which will include ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and definitely not forgetting tap dance! - which includes tips I learnt from class, browsing and sharing videos, online products to purchase and wear, and my blood, sweat and tears.

It's good to know I'm probably not the only dancer that jots down their progress. David Wilson of DaveTriesBallet documents his ballet progress, so why not do one for partner dancing? After all, the dynamics of partner work in social dances differ greatly from theatrical dances as they are improvisational in nature rather than choreographed.

What inspired me to take up salsa and west coast swing?

Many of my classmates in my first salsa class commented saying I'm too young to pick up salsa and left comments like, "Aren't people your age taking up hip hop or stuff like that?" I saved them from my sob story of being in a really disorganised street dance club in my high school and just said, "I just wanted something different."

I knew a few friends to does ballroom dancing too. Back then I thought to myself, "There isn't a need to look so flamboyant to appear attractive as a girl, I'll just keep on being my quirky artistic self." However, after a while, I had to give my stubborn mindset a revamp. Plus, watching videos of my friends' performances in school made me even more curious. Excitedly, after my International Baccalaureate exams are over, I inquired about the start dates for salsa dancing at Jitterbugs Swingapore. Even though I was initially deterred from the fact that they needed to postpone classes because of the lack of signups, I got hooked after staying on my first night of socials.

I remember coming home around 11 pm gushing to my mom, "OMG there are university students on social dances and I even managed to catch up to patterns that wasn't shown in class before and there's this cute guy can I stay late on Fridays?" in which she promptly commented on my excited state and that I need to calm down so I don't scare people, and then granted me permission to stay late.

Thus begins my perilous journey through the complexities of social dancing.

What about west coast swing?

West coast swing socials would happen concurrently with salsa dance socials, so after much coaxing from a salsero to give west coast swing a shot, I decided what the heck, there's nothing to lose. So I tried it and I am loving it so far. However, I am tuning in especially around this time when I'm just beginning. My dance teacher made an observation during socials that there are swingers who attempt complex patterns, but completely dismiss the fundamentals of swing dancing, thus appearing really messy. So it is vital that I pay extra attention during the intro classes so that I don't lose the basics as I go into more advanced partner work.

Stay tuned to see more of what I can collect so far. Until then, keep dancing!