When it comes to Lindy Hop competitions, I'm a sucker for a fast strictly. For those that aren't familiar with competition types, a "Strictly" means that you enter with a partner of your choice and know roughly how long you'll be dancing (i.e. everyone dances a warm up together, then two rounds of "spotlight" individual couple features, then swing out to the end), but you don't know what songs will be played.
Generally for faster competitions like this one couples will improvise the warm up song (called an all skate), but choreograph part of their spotlights ahead of time while improvising adjustments on the fly to fit the music.
This competition is at the "All-Star" level, aka the awesome dancers just below the Professional / Invitational level. The South Korean Lindy Hop scene is well known for its incredibly talented and technical dancers, and this competition really put that on display. Check it out, and then see my favorite moments below!
Wasn't that awesome?!
Unfortunately I don't know many of the dancers' names, but I particularly enjoyed the dancing of the follow with the red shirt + leader with the black shirt and white pants, and the follow with the orange beret + leader in the full black suit & black shoes.
I loved how the red shirt couple played with stretch & momentum. Their swingouts were loooong, and the way they spun around reconnected so quickly yet so smoothly made the dance feel like lightning and Laffy Taffy. I swear that's a compliment.
The orange beret couple was clearly having the most fun, and that wins my heart over in seconds. From their playing to the crowd in the warm up, to their trucks into their first solo, to their energetic spotlight exits, I never stopped smiling while watching them. Plus, they were just so solid in their rhythms. 10/10
There were at least four moves that I immediately knew that I wanted to play around with (read: steal & modify for my own use):
4:23 -- Side-by-side charleston spin > sendout spin > swingout
5:32 -- Solo breakaway
5:55 -- Reverse circle > sendout super spin > hand-to-hand charleston
6:42 -- sailor kicks > wrap spin > swingout
I actually worked a few of those movements into a practice session with my good friend Lauren, which you can view by tapping the image below!
If you enjoyed this, send it to a friend to get them inspired too! Maybe even plan a practice to put your own spin on some of the awesome stuff these folks put together for us. See you on the dance floor soon!
Swingin' out,
-Nick
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