All about the history, culture, and dance related to blues music
A common cultural miscommunication that alienates Black people within our dance communities is the love of the past and time travel. I don’t mean Doctor Who time travel. What I mean is the the common idea that people who do these dances desire to go back in time. They say things like “I feel like …
For years there has been an ongoing debate about the importance of dressing up at social dances. Understand that dressing up is a part of the culture if you are doing an African American vernacular dance. I’m going to explore why dressing up matters, how it shows up often in Black Culture as a means …
5 current blues artists you should know Most fan of blues know of the classic artists of the genre, think BB king, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, and Koko Taylor. Many blues fans also know of their local favorites but don’t know the current, young and talented blues musicians around. When many of us think …
Luckily I feel like this question is fading away but I’ve heard it’s floating around still, “why are there no Blues dance elders” The answer to me has always been obvious. White people never picked it up. Yeah, I said it. I bet many of you are confused. What does white people liking a thing …
Why are There no Blues Elders in the Dance Community? Read More »
I’ll be frank. Organizing, sucks. If you haven’t done it and you think you are going to change everything, sit down. This is common knowledge. What’s not as often said is that Organizing sucks because of dancers. There. I said it. To quote a friend, “Organizing is cleaning your house and only to open your …
As a instructor one of my many, many jobs within my classes is to inspire. To, ignite a flame inside the student who having not taken my class may have simply found another hobby to pick up and not continue on to inspire others. I’ve been thinking about this role on and off for the …
It’s 6 am, I’m slightly hung over and already thinking…. What IS it that Lindy hop has that Blues Dancing doesn’t? A few hours ago I sat at a party filled with Lindy hoppers, sweating and breathing hard in Boston in the middle of the night. Their faces were a glow with happiness and wonder …
What is blues dancing? How do I explain blues dancing to people? Is it just doing whatever you want? So, it’s like free-style? As a professional blues dance instructor and ex-organizer, I get these questions all the time; and on Obsidian we have never taken the time to answer them. What is blues dancing? Blues …
Blues is an old genre of music and often, with our current ears and sensibilities, some songs’ content sounds creepy, in poor taste, or even simply dark. It happens so often that I have a playlist of songs that I only share with others in very specific contexts. To be honest, I’ve felt mildly ashamed …
“Good Morning Little School Girl” – Creepy or Sweet Read More »
A few weeks ago, I was writing down some notes of ideas I want to do within my local dance scene to help us get past some issues we have been having. When I wrote them, we were going through a hard time, I was having a hard night and left early accidentally leaving it …
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