Last weekend at Camp Jitterbug I had the pleasure of being part of a lunchtime lecture about "pushing your dancing to the next level", whatever that means. We ended up talking a good bit about what got us started and what inspired us along the way.

When I started dancing there where "old timers"- original dancers from the swing era, the teaching/cool dancer set- about 15 years my seniors who had apprenticed the old timers, and the rest of us- fumbling around and having a great time of it. So there where dancers to watch and marvel at, but they were in such a different place altogether. There wasn't one set example among the younger group of what was "cool" and "right" for us to do.

What I realized from talking about it was that we were so free when we started almost ten years ago to make the most ridiculous and horrid mistakes. To go through these embarrassing growing pains, to go to the extreme of things and let the pendulum swing back the other way. I think many current day lindy hoppers who haven't been around as long would balk to see footage from 2001, scratch their heads at 2000, laugh out loud at 1999. Sometimes I scratch my head and laugh too but there's a love there, I understand we had to go there to be where we are today. It all gets woven into the fabric of the current scene. I think it would be different to start dancing now, to have such a dogmatic example to follow. Maybe that's why I watch contests these days and see so much of what is "cool" and "right"- already tried and tested by others, and not a lot of venturing outside that comfort zone. And here is what really concerns me: what if
no growing pains = no growing

Its like we were in middle school back then (not far from it actually) and one week we'd show up with our hair dyed pink (Nina reference), and the next week we'd wear bedroom slippers every day, and the week after that our nails would be black and we'd hate the world. Growing pains are a good thing, they may provide some embarrassing class photos, but they help us figure out what our true style is, who we are and want to be. Right now I look at the dance scene in middle school form and almost everyone is wearing the exact same god damned ensemble straight off the urban outfitters mannequin and its driving me kookoo.

Why are only a handful of young dancers innovating? Maybe cause there are only a handful of dancers in a certain mindset. They are willing to try something different if thats what they're feeling, and this is the important part- they are willing for it to not work out, to look dumb, or to come in last place, as long as they are proud of it. They are willing to look at that 7th grade class photo/dance clip and say "what the hell was I thinking?", and then smile and shrug and know that went into making them individuals today.

So take out your middle school yearbook, dust off the cover and find your pictures amidst the pages. Cringe a little and have a laugh, and know that that time was good for you. Don't be scared to not follow the self-enforced blueprint of the current scene. It may work, it may not, I can't promise you anything except that there will be less baby-fat and voice-cracking involved. No, but seriously, you're better equipped then you were back then, you can already move around, and you may look pretty good doing what's tried and tested, but its time to step out of that. I've got some shameful stuff on video but I can laugh at myself and love it for what it was. Plus, trying different things when I was less able to express them makes me think that I could try different things now, do a better job of it, and not be "wrong".

So when it comes to your growing pains just remember: rain or shine, all the time, we've got each other sharing the laughter and love.

I couldn't resist.