Tuesday, August 19, 2008

What is Lindy Hop?


For as long as I can remember I have been in love with Big Band music and the dancing that goes with it, but growing up in a blue collar town did not allow me to take any swing dancing (line dancing yes, swing..no). It was not till I moved to Toronto that I found out that there is tons of dancing to be had not only IN Toronto but all over the world! So after that, the rest is history I started with West coast (my other love) and moved onto Lindy Hop.

For those who don't know what Lindy is or have seen it before, I am going to attempt to give you a brief overview.

According to Wikipedia:

Lindy Hop is an African American dance that evolved in New York City in 1927. It is a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based on jazz, tap, breakaway and charleston. Lindy Hop co-evolved with jazz music and is a member of the swing dance family. It is frequently described as a jazz or street dance.
In its development, Lindy Hop combined elements of both solo and partner dancing by using the movements and improvisation of African dances along with the formal eight-count structure of European partner dances. This is most clearly illustrated in Lindy's basic step, the swingout. In this step's open position each dancer improvises alone; in its closed position men and women dance together — a practice usually forbidden in African dances.
Revived in the 1980s by American, Swedish, and British dancers, Lindy Hop dancers and organizations can now be found in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

Here are some links to some great Lindy Hop. From the original Lindy Hoppers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTg5V2oA_hY

To some Lindy today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg2yd-xD5RA

Enjoy :)

Thursday, August 14, 2008

First entry into my new blog

Hi Everyone! My name is Liz and this is my blog. First off welcome and thanks for reading. My goal with this site is too give you some insight into my world of swing dancing, vintage clothing, music etc. I want to use this blog not only as a way to tell you about my loves but to promote events and other sites that make my life the vintage world that it is.

My ultimate goal is that maybe this site will interest a person or two to take dancing lessons or buy that Glenn Miller CD from the discount rack at HMV :)

Enjoy!

So to start off, I have exciting news. A week from Saturday I am posing for a vintage pinup calender shoot here in Toronto (where I live). The inspiration (Gil Elvgren). Want a great site to see all his pics? Check out http://www.elvgrenpinup.com/ Awesome site!

Anyways my shoot will revolve around my picture on this blog. I can't cook to save my life, so I thought it would be fun if we did my pictures around Liz burning something in the kitchen hahahaha. My boyfriend when he heard that was the inspiration could not stop laughing, since he is the cook in the relationship (by desperation I think.LOL).

I can't wait! For this shoot. It will be great pictures too look back on when I am 80 and remember how hot I use to be! "grandma..wow you were one pretty lady" is what I can hear now. hehehe

Once I get the pictures in my hand, I will post some on this site for all to see.

Ohhhh did I tell you that I am excited!!! hehehe