Mr. Jonathan’s World

The plan was to have the first ever DJ battle in the history of Ballroom/Latin/Swing Fusion. A monkey wrench has just been thrown into the works…The DJ (Matt) who was the other half of this friendly battle has come down with something and can not attend tonight. Does this mean I win by default? No, but it does mean we all win! My sets where going to be crossover songs that can serve two dances and where for half the night…now we can party ALL night!  Matt assures me we can go head to head sometime in the near future but for tonight its a one man show so strap your self in for a great time of high energy music that will make you dance your socks off!!! Tonight $15 Lesson 9:30-10:10pm Dancing till 2am Ryles 212 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, Ma  Tomorrow Night  $10 6-6:45 2-Step lesson 6:45-7:30pm WCS 7:30-? California Mixer Longfellow’s Club JoEllen 524 Minuteman Dr off of Boston Post RD (Rt 20) Wayland, MA

This week Ryles welcomes West Coast Swing coach, performer, and DJ Mr. Jonathan for a night of crossover excitement! The lesson will be beginner friendly with a couple of cool tips and tricks for the more advanced. Then Mr. Jonathan and DJ Chris will share the helm as they put you through the paces with their mix of Latin, Tango, Hustle, and Swing. Mr. Jonathan will be playing sets of ALL crossover music so you can drift from one dance style into another. This will be one night you will not soon forget!  This Friday  (Pizza Party and Class Critique feat. Constructive Criticism) $10 Lesson 7:30-8:15  Dance 8:15-? DNE School of Dance 78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, Ma Saturday Night $15 Lesson 9:30-10:10pm Dancing till 2am Ryles 212 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, Ma  Sunday Night  $10 6-6:45 2-Step lesson 6:45-7:30pm WCS 7:30-? California Mixer Longfellow’s Club JoEllen 524 Minuteman Dr off of Boston Post RD (Rt 20) Wayland, MA Leadership is the manipulation of energy. Following is the embodiment of energy. Connection is the tie that binds the two together.

It is said that public speaking is the most nerve racking and scary thing for most people. The reason for this is that dancing in front of an audience isn’t given as a choice. I am fresh off of my “Dancing with the Teachers” fund raising event in Georgetown. While going through the competition I noticed how much better the teachers did on the night of the show than they had done in practice. Everyone rose to the occasion and had the dance of their life! This got me to thinking.

Even though each of the competitors where dancing for the very first time in front of a live audience, even though their palms where sweaty, their knees where weak, and their mouths were dry, and even though they were scared to death they would forget the routine and disappoint their coach…They ALL where so happy they did the event! Not one of them would go back in time and trade with someone else and every single one of them wishes they could get picked to do it all again next year. 

Performance (not competition) makes you a better dancer. It is a fact! Public speaking makings you a better speaker…Public nudity makes you a better nudist (sorry couldn’t resist). There is just something about putting it all on the line for one performance that solidifies where you are at in your dance. From that point forward you have a new high that you can’t drop below in your learning curve. 

 This Friday we are going to get as in depth as you want to get, as dancers volunteer to go under the watchful eye of the video camera and the rest of the class to have their dance coached up by my self and anyone who can offer an opinion from a constructive place. The dancer will get better through the constructive offerings, watching the video, and hearing the feed back. The folks watching will also get better because you will be watching the dance with the responsibility of offering your point of view.

We are all friends in class so their should be no worries that someone is going to say something hurtful like “You should try growing some hair cause then we wouldn’t be blinded by your baldness Mr. J” (although I do love a good bald joke) We all want to get better which is why we report to class every week. We all dance at different levels so the coaching will be for your level and not for the one above or below you. None of the videos will be viewed outside of class. 

This is being used a an exercise to make us all level up and dance better. No one has to dance on camera if they don’t want to. You may chose to dance with me instead of a fellow student (this means I will also be evaluating your connection as well as your appearance). You can even chose to be someones partner so they can be critiqued while you stay out of the hot seat. The question is:

Can you step out of your comfort zone for 1 full minute, let your self be vulnerable, and hear what people think about your dancing?

It certainly looks like I am not alone in my love for music that swings! The response I got from that last email was a little unexpected. Several emails, Facebook messages, and texts later the count is in and the vast majority of you voted for C when given these choices: A. Pop 0% B. Blues 5% C. It doesn’t matter as long as it swings 90% D. I have know Idea what the hell you are even talking about 5% Some of you were not sure what “Swing” is but voted for the most of the music you hear on Friday nights. This is not to say that you can’t have a great time on a Saturday night…of course you can. Most of the Boston DJs play a “mix” of music so if you don’t dig a certain song you can sit it out and wait for the next one. What is missing in this “Mix” takes more time and effort to develop than the average DJ is willing to spend which is time spent “digging” for new music. Gone are the days when night club DJs would “break” new music. In the late 70’s and early 80’s DJs in the night club would spend 3-4 hours a day “digging” through crate after crate of records to find that one song that would take the crowd to the next level. Crowds had longer attention spans back then and were conditioned to enjoy new music. The radio stations would call DJs to see what was hot in the club so they would know what to play on the radio. By the time music hit the radio the people that went clubbing all the time, were sick of that song and were hungry for the next and different tune. As technology improved and musical mediums got smaller and lighter (Tapes, CDs, Mp3s) the work it took to find the new music dropped dramatically and music producers began to bribe the radio stations to play the songs that the DJs in the clubs wouldn’t play. This caused a huge shift in how Jon Q Public became exposed to his weekly dose of music and it changed dramatically what people ended up considering good music.  When music broke in a club it was because it deserved to be played and earned its spot in the rotation. A good DJ would try out new stuff early on in the night and if it worked he would move it later and later into his set until it landed in the “peak hour”. If a record company could simply buy its record onto the radio and be heard by the listener 20-30 times a week, the song would eventually catch on for no other reason than everyone knew all of the words and could sing a long. Really lousy songs made it to the radio and charted very high in an Emperor has no cloths kind of way. If it could get on the radio it must be good. How does this effect West Coast Swing music? If a DJ that is playing a dance tonight, wants to guarantee a successful evening, he can simply download every song on the top 40, walk in, and play the set of his life. He no longer has to spend hours of his time “digging” for new music. Nor does he need to “test” out new music because “Westie” dance to “Contemporary” music. In fact 2 years ago, one of the better known Boston DJs asked me to lone him my collection of Top 40 music for an event that he was DJing that weekend.  Right now the “Westie” movement is pushing for “Pop” because they “…want to attract new and younger dancers”. For any of us that have been dancing West Coast Swing for more than 10 years we remember when you couldn’t wait to go dancing to hear what the DJ played that was new and exciting. You rewarded these new gems by rushing the floor and experimenting with your footwork, patterns, and partners. Ten plus people would rush the DJ’s table to ask what “That” song was so you could all try and hunt down the CD and practice to it at home. Music was the drug that drove us into the venues. My questions are: What will keep these new and younger dancers coming back if they can get their musical fix anywhere out side of West Coast Swing?  If we are all going to play the same music over and over again and only have something new when the radio introduces new music, then why do we need all of these DJs? This Friday  (Pizza Party and musicality 102) $10 Lesson 7:30-8:15  Dance 8:15-? DNE School of Dance 78 Princeton St. Chelmsford, Ma Sunday Night  $10 6-6:45 2-Step lesson 6:45-7:30pm WCS 7:30-? California Mixer Longfellow’s Club JoEllen 524 Minuteman Dr off of Boston Post RD (Rt 20) Wayland, MA

On one hand I am a very easy going guy who rarely lets anything bother him. Show up late to my class…no big deal…Dent in my fender from a run-a-way carriage…I am unfazed…Throw my cigar away before I am done and I will likely buy us each another one. There is one thing that puts the fork in my shrimp cocktail and that is people who refuse to edjucate themselves about what they are complaining about. Never be the person who requests “Stairway to Heaven” while its already playing…In fact never ask any DJ to play that song EVER!

Recently I was called by a promoter (who will remain nameless) about DJing for a local West Coast Swing event. Everything was going well until they voiced their only concern: They heard that I only play blues when I DJ. When I asked who this person’s “source” was (because they have not been to something that I have DJed in more than 2 years) they mentioned that it was another promoter and gave me the run around, ending the call before I got a definitive answer as to whether or not I am in fact DJing for said event. 

For the record I play several genres of music when I DJ but it did get me thinking that perhaps I play so much blues that someone could misconstrue the data, so I began to look through my play history and I discovered something. I don’t play nearly enough blues! On an average night only 10% of my music falls into the genre “Blues”. Most of it falls into R&B or Soul and its not me naming the Genre its the record company putting their best foot forward to try and sell as many records as possible as they try to nail down what the listener might be searching for. I did find a similarity in the music that I choose for West Coast Swing…A vast majority of it swings! 

Without getting too into the long history of BS that has plagued this dance for the last decade I do want to let my readers know about a fracture that has happened musically in West Coast Swing (WCS). WCS is being split into 2 major camps: The “Westies” and the people who still refer to themselves as “Swing Dancers”. Sometime I will write out the difference in the actual dancing, but for now lets just say that 4 out of the 5 dances that happen on Saturday nights in the greater Boston area are starting to refer to them selves as “Westie” events and are leaving the “Swing” out of more than just the name of the dance. 

Regardless of what the song’s genre actually is, I think that the dancers that are coming up through the “Westie” program are hearing swing rhythms in the music and thinking it must be blues because it doesn’t sound “contemporary”. “Westie” dancers often use the word “Contemporary” when they are describing the type of music they dance to. For some reason it has become misconstrued as a genre of music when it actually refers to a time period. For example Elvis would have been considered contemporary music in the 50’s, as well as the Beatles in the 60’s, Hendrix in the 70’s, Blondie in the 80’s, Toni Tone Tony in the 90’s, Timbaland in the 2000’s, and Pink now. What ever music falls in the top 40 at any given time is that time period’s “Contemporary” music. The Genre they are looking to describe is called “Pop” (short for popular aka top 40). 

The question I have for you is what do you prefer?

A. Pop

B. Blues

C. It doesn’t matter as long as it swings

D. I have know Idea what the hell you are even talking about

Saturday I am the DJ at NHABDA’s Monthly Dance

Pinkerton Academy, Derry, NH

Lesson at 6:30 

Dance at 7:30

Details at: http://www.nhabda.com/

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