#blues dancing

He pulled Stede closer, chest to chest. The fingers of his right hand found the hair at the nape of Stede’s neck, tangling there as his left hand moved down his back to rest between his shoulder blades. His breath caught as Stede’s fingers tugged at his belt loops, palming heavily at his hips before moving higher to grip at his waist, broad palms fitting neatly into the dip between his ribs and hips.

MIX & MATCH by bonnetsearring

Performed by: Nicolas Naman and Alina Vysotskaya

Number: “Georgia on my Mind”

Improvised by: Nicolas Naman and Alina Vysotskaya

Style: Blues

💭 please!!

aw, hi, darlin’!!! yes, more stories i want to write but don’t have the time for yet (besides the one you already know about 😅):

Here’s another New York one (surprised yet?). It starts with Ginny, in the back of a tile shop in Chelsea, surrounded by strangers who are blues dancing, and she’s trying to remember what it was that her sister-in-law had said to convince her that this would be fun. She meets and dances with Tonks, who teases her for back-leading* too much when it’s just not necessary.** Cue close-embrace and flirting while cheek-to-cheek and feelings and other feelings. 

In my head it’s moody, smutty, never too trite about relating the collaborative lead/follow dynamic in blues to relationships in life, and actualizes my headcanon that Harry and Ginny eventually split up and live out their best queer lives as best bros. And until I have time to make it all those things, it will stay in my head, and just float up to the forefront every time I hear “I Found My Baby There” by Ray Charles.

background information: I grew up in Georgia and I go to school in Idaho, I blues and swing dance regularly, and my boyfriend has tourette’s syndrome (his most prominent tic is shaking his head)

Though I had known of my local scene for a few years prior, it took me until mid-October 2018 to actually start going regularly. Before that, I had done one short crash-course-style beginner intro lesson and had immediately fallen in love, even though I had no idea what I was doing. I spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos of Lindy Hop finalists and champions showing off all the amazing things they could do. I fell more in love. And, more than that, I wanted to try twirling and spinning and flying across the dance floor like that.

I was...not an athletic child and sports didn't interest me much; reading was far more my style. And honestly, still is. But seasonal depression is the worst and since I have to trick myself into exercising, it's gonna be with something fun!

So, east coast swing (or Lindy Hop, which is the more advanced version with 8-counts instead of 6-counts) is a partnered dance with a lead and a follow. Though these used to be pretty traditionally-gendered roles, they're moving away from that kind of rigidity and honestly, it's 2019 so just do whatever you want. But as is implied, the lead leads the dance and the follow, well, follows. The leads are the ones deciding which moves to do, where to move on the floor, and indicating to their follows what is going to happen next. Follows are responsible for doing their best to go along with what the lead is suggesting while adding their own flair to the steps. Many dancers learn both roles. Personally, though this may change in the future, I love following. I'm not a decisive person and following saves me from having to plan a lot in advance or even worry about it -- I'm just trying to do what I'm told! It's always a surprise and is a great way for me to de-stress, get out of my head, concentrate on not falling over, and just go with the flow.

As I said, I started dancing regularly mid-October and instead of taking any kind of proper beginner lessons, I just showed up to the weekly social dance (non-choreographed, mix-and-mingle style dance where the goal is to dance with lots of different partners and if you mess up, no one cares -- the focus is on socializing and having fun rather than perfect steps) and just...started doing it. I don't think I stepped on too many people though I know my footwork was probably a mess! But I learned so, so much on the fly (literally, I was learning steps as I was doing them for the first time during a song) and it was honestly addictive. The more I went, the more fun I had, the better my footwork got, the more I loved it.