Look Magazine: Swing Issue, September 27, 1938

July 12, 2011

I’ve gone on a bit of a magazine collecting spree lately, and here is one of the spoils – the Swing Issue of Look Magazine from 1938. I’ll be posting some of the goodies in the days to come – you can learn some new jive-talk and dance moves!

The cuties on the cover are Rita Rio and Bill Furrow. Rita Rio was the bandleader for an all-girl swing band, and went on to have an acting career under the name Dona Drake (Rita Rio is also a stage name, her real name is Eunice Westmoreland!).

Here are a couple of clips of Rita performing – Enjoy!

Rita Rio & Her Orchestra – Feed the Kitty

Rita Rio – My Margarita

Roy Damron & Mitzi Mayfair

May 16, 2011

Do you remember Roy Damron from my post about the Rendezvous Ballroom? I came across a photo of him from The Milwaukee Journal, March 10, 1944. (Google News Archive is my new toy! 🙂

Roy Damron with Mitzi Mayfair, one of the stars of Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)

I haven’t seen Four Jills in a Jeep in several years (our copy is VHS, and we don’t have a player anymore!), but I checked on YouTube and there’s a clip of them dancing together! So far as I know, no one has attributed this clip to Roy previously — it’s not on his IMDB profile. Does anyone know how to add it?

Enjoy!

TCM Film Festival 2011

May 4, 2011

Last weekend was the annual Turner Classic Movies film festival in Hollywood, and on Friday night we attended a cocktail party/concert they held. TCM brought out Vince Giordano and His Nighthawks from New York to play the score for a Buster Keaton film and for the party, and they’re top drawer! They play only 20’s music, which is a little earlier than we usually listen to, but the band is so tight and well-rehearsed that it was a pleasure to listen to them. You know this band if you’ve seen The Aviator (2004) – they’re the band playing “Happy Feet” in the Cocoanut Grove.

Without further adieu, here are the pictures!

I took my anniversary purse out for it’s first outing! It’s the perfect size – I can fit everything I need for a nice evening out, and because it’s structured I don’t have to worry about my phone getting crushed. Not super-fancy and beaded, but I love it!

Chris looking dapper as always!

This dress is from a mid-40’s Vogue pattern, and it’s one of the trickiest ones I’ve made – the front princess panel wraps around to the back, and the back skirt is gathered to create a “bustle” effect. The back has a lot of visual interest, so I took the flower applique from a 50’s dress that was falling apart and added it to the front.

Our group of snazzy dancers!

I can’t figure out how to link to the video, but there’s a super brief clip of the dancing on the TCM website – follow the link and click on Festival Update Day Two if you’re interested. Doesn’t the weekend look amazing? I think I need to attend some movies at next year’s event!

6 A.M. Swing Party – Rendezvous Ballroom

April 12, 2011

In honor of last week’s post about the Balboa Rendezvous, I thought I’d share a 1938 Look Magazine article with you about some of the incredible dancing that used to take place there! The Rendezvous Ballroom was huge, roughly 1 city block wide and 1 city block long – but I think 5,000 kids in there would still have been crowded! No wonder they could only dance chest to chest. 🙂

5,000 Young Californians Rise at Dawn for a…

6 A.M. SWING PARTY

On June 18 in Balboa, Cal., the amazing swing music fad in the U.S. hit a new high. On that day some 5,000 “cats” and “alligators” rose at dawn to “cut rugs” and “kick out” at 6 o’clock in the morning. The occasion was a “jam session” or “swingaree” staged by radio station KEHE to celebrate the end of the school year.

The night before the party, “ickies” and “jitterbugs” started arriving. Many came in parties composed of members of local swing clubs. Most of them came by car, some by foot. One young man drove 396 miles from Tonopah, Nev. One came on crutches.

From 6 to 8 in the morning, the ballroom of the Balboa Rendezvous shook with their dancing of the Big Apple, the Varsity, the Suzie-Q while the orchestra and a phonograph “gave out” with “licks” and “solid senders.”

Those shirts! Those ties! So terrible, and so AWESOME!

Dancing in a hat and gloves…but no stockings. Those wild jitterbugs!

This photo has been one of my personal favorites since I was 16 years old –

I wanted to be her SO badly.

Still do. 🙂

Heel, Girl!

March 30, 2011

Betty Roeser, original (Balboa) Swing dancer,
often wore flats – but her feet flew!
Photo Source: LAPL Library

Over the last week, there’s been a lot of chatter in the Lindy Blogosphere about Women Dancing in Heels – Yay or Nay (inspired by Why Women Should Wear Heels by Sarah Breck). I’m not surprised that it created some excitement (although I did think it was going to center around the oppression of women rather than physical comfort! 😉 The other night a couple people asked me about dancing in heels, so I thought I’d write up a little sumpthin’.

For roughly the last 3-4 years, I’ve danced nearly exclusively in heels – not too tall, 2 3/4″ is my favorite heel height. But I don’t give it a lot of thought, my shoe choice is almost exclusively based on color…

Dancing only in heels wasn’t a conscious decision – back before that I only danced in sneakers or wedges, but my feet started feeling heavy and sluggish and grounded, and when I danced in heels it forced me to lighten up and pick up my feet more. It changes your posture because your weight is forced forward onto the ball of your feet, and it gave me a jolt to re-evaluate how I wanted my posture to look while dancing Lindy. The more I wore heels, the more I liked the look and the feeling, and now I feel clunky in wedges. (I still kinda like tennies.)

Nowadays, I rarely drop my heel to the ground, and when I do it’s usually to accent a beat or do a certain styling – I almost never put a lot of weight on it. It’s come a long way from my old flat-footed dancing!

Reasons I wear heels:
1) I’m lazy – I don’t like to change my shoes throughout the night, so I just pick a cute pair and stick with them.
2a) They’re loud. I know just enough tap dancing to make trouble, and it’s easier to add a little tap rhythm styling while wearing heels.
2b) I’m more inspired to do footwork in general – because I’m not as “grounded” it’s easier to move the dogs around.
3) I like the look of a tight narrow base (regardless of 1 foot or 2), and heels help focus your weight into the smallest area possible. Should I try pointe shoes next? 🙂
4) I only go dancing 1-2 nights per week, and that’s when I like to dress up. I’m super casual and wear flats the rest of the time, so I figure I have time to recover from the damage I do to myself. If I danced more, I’d have to switch it up.
5) Heels were popular with Original Balboa dancers.

Reasons to not wear heels:
1) They really do injure you, and make existing joint issues worse.
2) In general, Original Lindy dancers wore flats or wedges.
3) Because your weight is forced only the balls of your feet, it’s really really hard to pike properly in a swingout, especially to fast music.

Funny thing is, after talking about wearing heels, I want to get out some flats and experiment with them. I wonder what I’d discover?

Modern Swing Fashion

March 22, 2011

Back in the late 90s when I started swing dancing, vintage style was all the rage – high-waisted pants, gabardine skirts, the aforementioned long-sleeve blouses…it wasn’t enough to dance awesome, you also had to look the part.

Then the popularity of the vintage clothes waned – they’re expensive, fragile, and it’s hard to make or buy decent repros. Much to the chagrin of club promoters and brides-to-be, jeans and t-shirts were common at even the fanciest events and biggest competitions.

The last couple of years I’ve seen a real upswing (hehheh – no pun intended) in swing fashions. I chalk this up to 2 causes: among instructors there’s a new emphasis on performing choreographed routines, so costuming is being considered more, and the emerging Balboa dance culture prides itself on being Refined instead of Raw. I’m loving it – what you wear has a huge impact on how you move, so dressing the part can actually make you a better dancer!

A couple weeks ago we went to the Saturday night portion of Inspiration Weekend and saw the 30-Second Showcase. This is a competition designed for non-professionals to get their feet wet with choreographing and performing a routine – the dancing was great, but I was really impressed with some of the outfits! So many competitors managed to put together looks that were coordinated without being cheesy, using modern clothes that are dance friendly. I hope to see more of this! 🙂

All photos used with permission. To see more, please visit BHousePhoto.com