Things I Like About Lindy Hop

I mentioned swing dancing as one of the five things I like in my first post, alongside carbs and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. But this post isn't about eating pastries with Colin Firth; it's about Lindy Hop.

If you know me, you've heard me talk about taking lessons at Boulder Swing Dance. There are several reasons I keep going back for more, outside of the fact that it's my one guaranteed responsibility-free window every week. For one, I love my instructors. They have the class organized well, keep the mood light, and are able to distill the dance enough that a person like me can do it. That's another thing I like: I can do it. Despite being overweight, out of shape, and without rhythm (think Navin Johnson), I can do it. It's not full of stunts that involve me tossing myself up in the air or, even worse, my partner catching me. I like that it's old timey. I like the music we dance to. I like the clothes, the shoes, the hair and makeup. I like it's roots, it's spunk and it's spirit. I like that the point of it is to dance with as many people as you can instead of trying to find someone to take home. I like just about everything about the Lindy Hop, right down to it's name, which brings me to my current favorite part: the names of the moves.

I'm not certain any justice would be done to these great names if I bury them in paragraphs, so here's a plain ol' list of my favorites:

Shim Sham
Tranky Doo
Shorty George
Boogie Back
Sugar Push
Texas Tommy
Swango
Tacky Annie

How anybody could not get excited about a move called Tacky Annie is beyond me, even if transitioning out of it in the Shim Sham is the hardest thing I've ever done, save Long Legged Charleston, which got embarrassingly close to killing me. But that's another story for another day.*

Madly,
Molly

*Actually, the story is pretty short. Once upon a time, I tried Long Legged Charleston and was really, really bad at it. The end.