Category: Dance Thoughts

Preparing for Frankie 110 & World Lindy Hop Day

Mandi Gould

We’re coming up on World Lindy Hop Day and Frankie 110 on May 26th and I’ve been reflecting a lot on Lindy Hop in general, but especially about my time with Frankie.

This dance was very special. Even though I had danced with Frankie before and assisted him in workshops, I remember as we danced thinking I’d never felt anything like this leading before. He completely turned on to perform and his clarity of lead and his rhythmical emphasis were so pronounced. It was an amazing experience. Love the verbal “Shake Time” queue too.

Notice that Frankie starts to swing me out on 5. People who worked with both Frankie and All Minns mentioned that when they first started to teach Lindy Hop in the 80s, they would start dancing usually on 7 or sometimes 5. It was only after teaching newbies that they switched and began to start dancing on 1 of the music. I think, as an experienced dancer, there’s a lot of freedom to emphasize different parts of each move when you shift where you are within the phrasing. Frankie always knew where he was within the musical phrase and played within that. That’s really shown well here.

I remember we danced a bit longer than the cameras show here. Too bad the rest was cut off but I will always cherish this opportunity and the memory of how he felt to dance with on that day.

10 Year Throwback to Frankie 100 & Swinging Frankie’s Way at Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theater

Mandi Gould
One thing I absolutely love about being a bit older is that sometimes I suddenly remember something really cool that I once did but have completely forgotten about.
In this video I helped Chester demonstrate the choreography for his modified California Routine for all of the performers in the “Classics Club” to learn to perform at Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theater. (When I signed the contract with the Apollo, they were very adamant that it should always be described that way in full; Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theater. I like their dedication to upholding the historic brand.) This was almost exactly 10 years ago.

And here is the final performance at the Apollo! The ensemble with the California Routine choreography begins at 4:33:

Nice memories and such an honour to be part of the demo for this iconic group of dance legends!

Learn Online

Mandi Gould

I’ve just returned to working behind the scenes on iLindy again after a break. It’s great to return to this online learning platform run by Jo Hoffberg and her team. AND they’ve just launched a new course by Chester Whitmore! Check it out!

Here’s our affiliate link, which you can use with code TAKE10 to save $10:

iLindy: use code TAKE10

For free beginner and intermediate foundational practice and review videos, also see the resources here on my blog: dance.mandigould.com/practice-videos

New Blog: Stepping Out Vintage

Mandi Gould

In the last year, I have decided to step away more from direct leadership in the Lindy Hop community. Now that I’m finally starting to truly understand feelings of cultural appropriation, I want to step back from that kind of work, and particularly from profiting from Lindy Hop. I will not be teaching Lindy Hop and when I do contribute to the community, it will be with a mission for better Black representation, history, respect, inclusivity, and with an eye towards passing more of the leadership to aspiring BIPOC community members. I will probably end up helping to get the Toronto Lindy Hop community back on its feet after the dust from the pandemic has settled, but beyond that, I will be channeling my efforts elsewhere.

One thing that I do want to continue to pursue, however, is vintage style events which might sometimes include dancing. For a long time, my husband Geoff and I have talked about merging some of our efforts so we’ve joined forces with the launch of our new blog: steppingoutvintage.com. Please give us a visit and also be sure to also follow us on Instagram: @steppingoutvintage.

 

 

My resignation from the board of the Frankie Manning Foundation

Mandi Gould

Message of Resignation from Mandi Gould from the FMF Board

https://www.facebook.com/237836633010762/videos/1092912114506467

After many years, I am leaving the board of the Frankie Manning Foundation in order to make room for new Black leadership. I recorded this message a couple of months ago and would like to share it now as I wrap up my work.

I’m very excited to see the the next phase for the Frankie Manning Foundation with participation from the new board members; Julia Loving, Marie N’Diaye, and LaTasha Barnes. Let’s continue the cultural shift that our Lindy Hop community began in 2020 and carry this shift into 2021 and beyond with better learning, education, respect, and representation.

Best wishes to everyone.
Mandi Gould

Lindy Hoppers: We benefit from a Black dance.

Mandi Gould

We benefit from a Black dance.

“You should try Lindy Hop, it’s super fun!”
“You’ll join an amazing community!”
“It’ll change your life!”

We hold dances for entertainment. We teach classes for our profit. We run events that perpetuate the carefree atmosphere that we’ve told ourselves is part of Lindy Hop.

The rewards that we enjoy from Lindy Hop are endless.

And just look at what’s going on around us.

Things have got to change–in the world and also right here in our community. We are all responsible for making change happen and when you stop to think about it, maybe Lindy Hoppers should be taking even more responsibility than the “average” person because we’ve benefited SO MUCH for years. We need to step up.

 

Lindy Hop music *needs* drums

Mandi Gould

I posted this in a Toronto discussion after hearing a new band play at our Saturday dance in Toronto.

***

POSTED ON MONDAY, JANUARY 6th – 

I enjoyed hearing the new band on Saturday. They are very good and my following comment is not a reflection at all on the quality of the band…

But we *need* to have drums.

In Lindy Hop, you need to be dancing based primarily on the rhythm section and bass alone is not enough. At minimum you need bass and drums and piano is also considered part of the rhythm section even though the piano jumps between the melody and the rhythm. It’s even better to also have rhythm guitar when it’s a bigger band. But at minimum you need drums and bass.

For an occasional themed event, not having a drummer can work as a novelty, but there’s a real danger to getting in the habit of dancing to music that isn’t primarily based in the rhythm section.

We had this problem in the early 2000s and the dancing all turned into what became known as “wiggly hop” where we started to dance so much in the melody that we lost the rhythm section and the dance morphed into something else.

>>>Great band. I hope they’ll be booked again, but next time with a drummer.

***

ADDITIONAL COMMENT:

I had the privilege of helping out with a musicality class with Lennart Westerlund. I wish there was a recording of Lennart Westerlund talking about the rhythm section but you can see when it zooms in on the board what I’m getting at. And at its core, it’s critical that Lindy Hop is based on the rhythm section first and then “decorates” with the melodic instruments. Otherwise, the dance changes –

In case you missed the music lesson and you find his chart boring and hard to read, here is Lennart walking us though Flying Home’s musical structure. Edit: if FB muted the clip for you, just play your own Flying Home by Lionel Hampton and follow along! Interactive post!

Posted by Sing Yuen Lim on Sunday, March 17, 2019

AND A QUICK SCREEN GRAB:

Bryan Vandenberg reminded me of this terrific video, and has also voiced his rightfully strong opinion that rhythm guitar, in addition to drums, is a key foundation to swinging music. Note Wynton Marsallis, “The drummer provides the shuffle that is the foundation of the rhythm of swing.”

 

Wishing whoever reads this some extra rhythm-based Lindy Hop this week!

~Mandi

Swedes in New York City

Mandi Gould

Somehow I didn’t get around to doing any kind of recap of Swedes in New York City here. I was just too busy!

The event has come and gone. It was a lot of work but very rewarding. Being able to connect students with some of my very favourite dancers in the whole world is so gratifying. The fact that the event also coincided with Norma Miller’s funeral was unexpected, emotional, but also cathartic.

This is my personal thank you message from the Swedes in New York City website:

It feels strange to write the usual thank you note about what we just did in New York City.

When we lost Norma Miller, everything changed.

All of the other stuff that happened the last few days was very nice but I would rather keep the emphasis on Norma and her legacy.

10 years ago we lost Frankie Manning and now we’ve buried Norma Miller just a short distance away. The parallels are uncanny. Now the “World Lindy Hop Day” title that we established 5 years ago on Frankie Manning’s birthday takes on new meaning.

Norma was an amazing woman and a part of our history. We will never forget her.

But it’s important to say some thank yous so here they are on a high level:

Mickey Davidson, John Biffar, Cynthia Brown, Lisa Jacobs, Daphna Harel, Krister Shalm, Barbara Bronx & The Harlem Swing Dance Society, Paolo Pasta Lanna & Spencer Weisbond & Swing ReMix, Julia Loving, Ronald Jones and swingwithusnyc.com, Chris Lee, Jennifer Hempel, Chachi,Jocelyn Hassenfeld & family, Cynthia Millman, Lana Turner, Buddy Steves, Elliott Donnelley, Jeff Liu-Leyco, Amy Winn, Judy Pritchett, Daniel Heedman, Lennart Westerlund, Ewa Burak, Åsa Heedman, Mimmi Gunnarsson Bringlöv, Fredrik Dahlberg, Denise Minns-Harris, Sandra SchulzCameron & Larry Schulz, Paul Grecki, Margaret Batiuchok, Zita Allen, Sing Yuen Lim, Chazz Young & Michellene Young, Olivia and Jill at Lincoln Center…

…and most importantly Norma, Al Minns, and Frankie for giving us all purpose.

 

Panel: The Pivotal Role of Al Minns on Modern Day Lindy Hop

In partnership with Lincoln Center

Friday Teacher Introduction

Saturday Performance

Sunday Tribute to Frankie Manning

Videos of the panels coming soon…

**Norma Miller honored throughout the weekend**

For information about Norma Miller’s viewing, burial, and celebration of life on Friday, May 24th, click here

 

Dance Organizers & Gero Hajek

Mandi Gould

I’ve been thinking a lot about community organizers since Gero Hajek passed away.

In the dance community (and I’m sure in most communities) organizing is a labour of love. It’s not “thankless” but the level of thanks that you receive is never equal to the amount of work that you put into it. And that’s ok because people who organize are rarely motivated by that kind of attention. It’s not about being thanked. It’s about the deep satisfaction you get from creating something beautiful for other people to experience.

When you’re an organizer, you don’t experience events in the same way. To one degree or another, there’s always some level of pressure on you. You absorb that stress and you carry it with you out of love for the community and for creating magic for other people.

Every individual dancer in the community benefits from the work and the pressure that a small handful of organizers are shouldering. When you experience joy on the dance floor, someone has fostered the circumstances that have allowed you to experience that pleasure.

In Toronto, whether you’re a newer dancer or you’ve been around for a very long time, you are benefitting from work and love that a wonderful man named Gero Hajek put into dancing in this city.

What I’m trying to say is that in Toronto, we are all part of Gero Hajek’s legacy.

Thank you Gero.

February 14th, 2019

It’s with a heavy heart that I share the news that Gero Hajek, longtime president of the Toronto Swing Dance Society, passed away on February 8th.