I remember watching this clip of the The Nicholas Brothers as a child and I can’t say I  have EVER got bored of it. Enjoy

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If you haven’t seen this footage, I recommend you watch it! It’s the team form Swing Patrol London compteing on the Dance Off stage at this years Secret Garden Party. Swing Dancing in a boxing ring…yes, you heard me.

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It’s fair to say that the Andrew’s Sisters can do no wrong in my eyes, which is probably why this clip from the 1941 movie Buck Privates is one of my favourites. The Andrews Sisters perform four songs in this film: You’re a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,  [I'll Be With You When It's] Apple Blossom Time and this one – Bounce Me Brother with a Solid Four. The Lindy hop sequence features Dean Collins, Jewel McGowan, Ray Hirsch and Patty Lacey – which is amazing in itself…but not as amazing as the super daggy Shim Sham by the Andrew Sisters in the middle, I just love those flippy legs and the wierd sideways shuffles! My Shim Sham suddenly feels less comic…. next Swing Pit anyone? See you in the middle

Take a peek at this amazing video of Mable Lee, the sassy chanteuse and jazz dancer with the million-dollar legs! Mable is often called ‘Queen of the Soundies’ – an early version of  music videos three-minute musical films, produced in New York, Chicago, and Hollywood between 1940 and 1946.  If you’ve never seen a soundies have a hunt for them. There’s some great ones with Fats Waller, my personal favourites !

Anyway, after you’ve seen ‘the legs’ speed through the wooden looking white folks and straight to the jams at the end. There’s some pearlers!

I love clips like this…they remind you that dancing is just fun, done rhythmically

"Shorty" George Snowden and Big Bea

Shorty George Snowden is widely cited as one of the top dancers at the Savoy between 1926 and the early 1930s. He formed the first professional Lindy Hop troupe, the Shorty Snowden Dancers and is widely recognised for two things; the Shorty George dance step and coning the term Lindy Hop.

His famous dance step ‘The Shorty George’ – in which his bent his knees, swinging from side to side, exaggerate his closeness to the ground- is a parody of himself and his general tininess!

George was barely five feet tall. But he didn’t let that stop him. His dance partner Big Bea was huge in contrast and paired up they were considered comic dancing phenomenon. They often ended their routines in a comic move in which she carried him off the dance floor on her back.

Take a look at this clip from 1937 which shows George and Bea dancing…

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In case you hadn’t noticed the sun is out and we’re feeling summery. So in that great British tradtion of running to park and lying there all day with a beer why not get yourself down to Newington Green for a spot of Jazz on the Green?

To support the local area Swing Patrol will be attending this event and dancing and handing out flyers. It will run from 12.30 to 3.30pm and feature The Brass Volcanoes.   As the old saying goes, only mad dogs and Englishmen bask in the mid day sun. Buck the trend and come and dance instead The lovely Ashleigh is in charge of picnic location and would love your support!

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For more informtion check out www.newingtongreen.org.uk

Psssttt….don’t tell anyone but we’ll be at the Secret Garden Party this year.  Yes, rehearsals have been underway and planning is a go-go for an exciting array of classes and performances at one of the UK’s best small festivals. Among the acts performing are Caravan Palace and we’ve been getting very exciting about the prospect of swinging out to them in a field in Cambridge shire. Swinging out to electro-swing?! I hear you cry. Yes! That’s right. And just in case you thought it couldn’t be done, take a look at this amazing performance form the Ninjammerz at  with the very same Caravan Palace at Festival de Jazz de Montréal.

Next challenge…swinging out in wellies. Oh dear…
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We’ll be here…get involved

BUST, Summer Craftacular – Shop. Craft. Dance! Sat July 10 | 12pm – 7pm
An indie shopping mall in York Hall! With DJs, drinks, DIY and an alternative food court of sweet and savoury treats… and dancing with Swing Patrol.

SHOP at over 60 stalls of the hippest in handmade.

CRAFT a fascinator headpiece with The Make Lounge; screen-print a tote bag with Mr Wingate; colour-in jewellery with Tatty Devine.

DANCE to DJs The A-Maisonettes, The Vinyl Vendettas, She Runs With Wolves (Ladyfest Ten); learn to Lindy Hop and Jitterbug with a special beginner’s class by Swing Patrol from 5.30pm to 7pm.

Goodie bags for the first 100 through the door, raffle and more. Admission: £2. *Sign up for the fascinator-making workshops (1pm-2.30pm and 4pm-5.30pm) on the day, places limited.

York Hall, 5-15 Old Ford Road London E2 9PJ
1 minute from Bethnal Green Tube Station

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It could be worse...

Since I started dancing, I have witnessed few things that divide beginners like the Shim Sham. The moment the first few bars of Jimmie Lunceford’s ‘Taint what you do’ kick in…the room seems to instantly divide into two camps;

• People with big grins, enthusiastically arranging themselves into lines.
• Panicked looking people searching for the nearest darkened corner.

The fact is that some people just love routines. I guess the feeling you get from dancing in a big group is always just a little bit brilliant. It reminds you of watching old musicals as a kid, the ones where everyone just spontaneously bursts into song and dance. I wonder how many people secretly wish London were just a little bit more like the opening scene from Austin Powers.

And then there’s the other camp; people who have a memory like a sieve and find it impossible to remember what’s coming next. People who prefer to be lead and don’t want to have to go it alone. There are also the people who are just too self consciousness to enjoy it. These people are often, but not limited to, beginners.  If you’re one of these people, the Shim Sham probably represents 10 phrases of hell. In your head, you’re fumbling through the steps looking like the drunken uncle at a family wedding. From my experience, there are some people who look like they were born to dance the Shim Sham. And then, there are some people who look like they can’t wait for it to finish.

I am currently heading into the ‘dancing like bambi’ phase of my Shim Sham career. However, I’ve decided to embrace it. I used to hate the Shim Sham. Mostly because I am impatient and I want to be good at everything right away. But secondly because I have a memory like a gold fish, the attention span of a toddler and, at times, the coordination of a drunk. But then I thought about it, and here’s what I came up with…

1. Isn’t it great to dance a routine to a song that’s actually good? That song is great fun! I mean, when I think of all the songs I know that have routines, I think of family weddings, Saturday night by Whigfield or Aga Doo by Black Lace.  Not great moments in musical history. However, anyone who has witnessed such scenes will know how a routine can imbue even the most rhythmically challenged with a truly strange sense of confidence in their dancing abilities…
2. Isn’t it also fun to be in control? Learning to lead and/or follow is probably one of the biggest challenges for a new dancer. If it does anything, learning a routine tends to drastically limit the opportunities to make a tit of oneself. At least with the Shim Sham you have;

• Something you can practice by yourself – no partner needed.
• a welcome break from that perpetual worry about what the lead or follow is going to do next!
• Rows of people to hide behind

But also…it’s just dancing, it’s supposed to be fun. It’s an art form, it takes a long time to learn and trust me, you’re never going to improve watching people enviously from the bar.  So here’s an idea…Next Swing Pit…join me…I will once again be competing for the title of ‘lamest Shim Shammer.’ Maybe you can knock the crowns off my head?  Don’t be afraid to bust out your best beginner Shim Sham complete with forgotten breaks, fluffed kick ball changes and screwed up  Shorty Georges.  It’s all part of the fun.  I’ll be easy to spot, we’ll be the ones having a lot of fun being malco-ordination personified. Embrace the chaos. The only rule is…you can’t win the title more than four Swing pits in a row, that just means you’re not trying

By the way, if it helps, the Shim Sham was originally called “Goofus” and was done as a comedic farm dance to a song called Turkey in the Straw. Try taking it seriously now.

Laura Knight
‘Newington Green Suzy Q Faker’

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