Video Addendum

July 7, 2009 at 7:00 pm (Dance, Lindy Hop, video)
Tags: Andrew Thigpen, Dance, Frankie95, Karen Turman, Lindy Hop, Silver Shadows

I was just reading over my previous post on self promotion because 1) I’m a self centered, ego maniac who likes the sound of his own voice reading his words, and  2) I’m a terrible editor, and have to catch errors after the fact when I’m in mode 1.

In the process, I noticed that I didn’t do a very good job of covering the fact that I dumped bunch of stuff because, contrary to the claim in my post, I was mocking quite a few dancers.  I thought better of starting off my blog with that kind of tone, and besides, it was running a bit long anyway.

In the process I deleted two video’s that were part of my-favorite-routines-of-the-past year-list.  So because I have some time before checking out The Boilermaker Jazz Band at The Jam Cellar tonight, I present those videos here to keep Paul busy until my massive update later this week.

Karen Turman & Andrew Thigpen at Lindy Focus (Then later at Lindyfest and Frankie95)

Karen & Andrew’s routine stands out because it’s funny without being stupid.  Not just the moves, but also the movements right down to their facial expressions.  They’re clever without resorting to lowest common denominator humor.  They also do a good job of defying expectations at various points (like the moment at 2:24), while still doing something in keeping with the spirit of the routine.

The Silver Shadows at Frankie Manning’s 95^th Birthday Festival

In the pole position of the biggest event in the history of our scene, the Silver Shadows decided not to deliver a big Hellzapoppin’ like aerial-fest, but instead concentrated more on Frankie’s contributions to the social side of our dance.   They opted to remind us of the dance’s emotional appeal to us.  It’s still not an easy choice one to pull off especially after the spectacular routines that preceded it, but it was still an incredible crowd pleaser.