A little of lindy and a little of blues, the Balboa (born in Jazz Age California of a bit of dancefloor pragmatism) and its Bal-Swing variant can in some ways be the best of all worlds: closed hold and connections, quick tempo and (in the swing style) a few flourishes — and even, perhaps, a…
Category: Quick Steps
Short takes on the world of dance
Dance, Quick Steps
Happy National Dance Day!
Given National Dance Day‘s origins in 2010 as the brainchild of dancer, television producer and director, and Dizzy Feet Foundation co-president Nigel Lythgoe, we’re paying tribute here with a look at a few times Lythgoe’s So You Think You Can Dance brought social dance to the stage with some success: 1-2. Heidi Groskreutz and Benji…
Quick Steps
Wednesday Watch: Four Quicksteps
In the spirit of dance as a bit of joy in the midst of darkness, one traditional mood-lifting quickstep — and three in variation. 1. 2010 Blackpool British Professional Final, Quickstep Your standard-bearer. 2. “Ballroom Blitz,” Iveta Lukosiute and Nick Young (So You Think You Can Dance) In its later original-recipe seasons, So You Think…
Dance, Quick Steps
Wednesday Watch: Celebrating the US and Canada
In honor of two upcoming national holidays — the Fourth of July in the U.S. and Canada Day on July 1 — this Wednesday Watch is dedicated to some truly North American treasures. Few composers are more quintessentially connected with America than Aaron Copland, and Martha Graham’s choreography for his Appalachian Spring is a foundational…
Quick Steps
Wednesday Watch: An American in Paris at the 2015 Tonys
In honor of this past Sunday’s Tony Awards — where Hamilton was a deserving victor in 11 categories, including Choreography — we’re revisiting last year’s event, where Christopher Wheeldon’s masterfully balletic work for An American in Paris took home 2015’s choreographic honors. This performance from the 2015 ceremony showcases the pas de deux featuring stars…
Quick Steps
Wednesday Watch: Blues with Campbell and Chris
Today’s watch is also a preview of sorts of our coming first magazine issue! Enjoy these blues and fusion pieces from social dancer, social dance instructor, and interviewee Campbell Miller and Chris Mayer:
Quick Steps
Wednesday Watch: 2016 Blackpool Dance Festival Highlights
May 26 marked the start of the 2016 Blackpool Dance Festival, concluding this Friday. While it’s not always easy to follow results and performance in real time short of a subscription to DSI TV, DSI London also provides a taste with some free highlight footage, including these terrific clips from the Amateur Latin Championship: And…
Quick Steps
Happy Birthday, Frankie Manning
Today’s Google Doodle pays tribute to the 102nd anniversary of the birth of Lindy Hop legend Frankie Manning — responsible in some measure for helping to develop and innovate the dance into a true genre beyond a social descendant of more traditionally ballroom-based styles. As a choreographer, he also helped expand the style’s public presence,…
Quick Steps
Wednesday Watch: The Blango
For fans of both blues dance and ice dance, the fusion concept is both familiar and — perhaps for some in the latter group — occasional cause for consternation among purists. A perfect meeting of worlds comes in the blues tango: the blango. While blues is a mandatory rhythm and style to be skated by…
Quick Steps
Happy Birthday, Fred Astaire
While Astaire and Rogers got the nod in our inaugural Wednesday Watch, the anniversary of his birthday on May 10, 1899, provides a wonderful excuse to celebrate a fair quadruple threat in Roberta‘s “I Won’t Dance” sequence, by turns comedic and virtuoso: Befitting a renown for technical purity and concern with the absolutely correct, Astaire…
