{"id":313,"date":"2015-09-27T18:21:08","date_gmt":"2015-09-27T18:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/?p=313"},"modified":"2016-05-11T10:35:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T10:35:00","slug":"push-shove-how-lindy-hop-video-clips-can-be-a-blessing-and-a-curse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/?p=313","title":{"rendered":"Push &#038; Shove: How Lindy Hop video clips can be a blessing and a curse"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"youtube_sc  fluid widescreen\"><div class=\"inner block\"><noscript><style type=\"text\/css\">.youtube_sc iframe.yp{display:none;}<\/style><object width=\"560\" height=\"340\" class=\"yp\" title=\"Fast Lindy Hop\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/ey0amajXhvw?version=3&amp;hl=en_US\"><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/ey0amajXhvw?version=3&amp;hl=en_US\" width=\"560\" height=\"340\" class=\"yp\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" wmode=\"transparent\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\"><span style=\"display:block;margin-top:15px;\">The Adobe Flash Player is required for video playback.<br><a href=\"http:\/\/get.adobe.com\/flashplayer\/\" title=\"Install from Adobe\">Get the latest Flash Player<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ey0amajXhvw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Watch on YouTube\">Watch this video on YouTube<\/a>.<\/span><\/object><\/noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ey0amajXhvw?version=3&amp;wmode=transparent\" width=\"560\" height=\"340\" class=\"yp\" title=\"Fast Lindy Hop\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<p>When watching amazingly fast and energetic Lindy Hop clips on Youtube, it\u2019s easy to assume a number of things. For example, it can look as if the dancers with their ultra fast swingouts are forcibly whirling their partners round then pushing them out, using a lot of arm tension and strength to achieve the impressive results that often inspire us when watching these clips.<\/p>\n<p>This is all an illusion \u2013 in fact, it\u2019s the opposite of what\u2019s really happening. It\u2019s the followers\u2019 momentum and energy that is powering the move and the leader is simply using that momentum, redirecting it. It\u2019s this collaborative effort that makes the move feel and look impressive.<\/p>\n<p>So if we don\u2019t understand this basic concept of relaxing our muscles, stretching ourselves and releasing our partners at key moments, we can end up pushing and shoving each other. Pushing and shoving is exhausting compared with stretching and releasing.\u00a0So how do we unlearn the \u2018Push and Shove\u2019 habits and discover the exciting possibilities of the \u2018Stretch and Release\u2019 techniques that so many of the top dancers use?<\/p>\n<p>Learn your basics as well as possible. The skills are easier to learn than they look. If you do it by the right path and you practise it well, you will prevent rigidity from setting in. When a dancer dances with stiff, rigid and forceful movements, it can cause their partner to feel the same as we all try to match each other in our connection. Before we know it, we start developing habits that prevent us from dancing fast and limit our improvement.<\/p>\n<p>Where do we get this idea of pushing and shoving in the first place? When we watch amazing top dancers on YouTube, we feel inspired by them and try to imitate what they do. However, we can make the wrong assumptions that to achieve that impressive move these dancers are using a lot of tension in their arms and body when in fact the opposite is true. They are relaxed most of the time, stretched at times and yes, strong and with some tension when needed, but to use muscle tension all the time throughout a dance will limit our range of movement, and it will block our connection with our partners. By being relaxed and using the right techniques, top dancers are able to lead and follow with instantaneous creativity, focus on the music and enjoy the playfulness of the dance.<\/p>\n<p>If we want to look impressive like those dancers in those incredible clips, we need to start with the basics, and learn about the mechanics of what\u2019s going on with our own body, and the effect our movements will have on our partners.<\/p>\n<p>Learning and revisiting basics are key to improving our technique and maximising our enjoyment of the dance. That\u2019s why we encourage everyone regardless of our dance experience to continue seeking out opportunities to practise all the little things that seem simple but will make our dancing much easier and more enjoyable.<\/p>\n<p>Look out for ideas on how to &#8216;Stretch &amp; Release&#8217; in my next post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When watching amazingly fast and energetic Lindy Hop clips on Youtube, it\u2019s easy to assume a number of things. For example, it can look as if the dancers with their ultra fast swingouts are forcibly whirling their partners round then pushing them out, using a lot of arm tension and strength to achieve the impressive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[41,63,26,34,56],"class_list":["post-313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dance","tag-charleston","tag-lindy-hop","tag-swing-dance","tag-swing-dance-durham","tag-wedding-dance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=313"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions\/325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}