Shuffle Projects

Swinging Projects for Lindy Hop & Balboa Dancers

Balboa

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #31: At A Dixie Roadside Diner

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The voice of Ellington

Ivie Anderson (1905-1949) is thought to be the best singer Duke Ellington ever had.

From early on she worked at the Cotton Club, in 1930 she found work with Earl Hines.

Duke Ellington heard her the first time while appearing with Hines and hired her in 1931. She stayed for eleven years, before she had to retire due to chronic asthma.

She sang in some of the band's most memorable tunes of the era: »I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good,» »It Don't Mean a Thing,» »Stormy Weather,» and »Rose of the Rio Grande.»

She was also featured in the 1939 Marx Brothers‘ film A Day at the Races, singing »All God's Chillun‘ Got Rhythm.»

After retiring, she ran her own restaurant «Ivie's Chicken Shack» in Los Angeles and continued singing in nightclubs on the West Coast, but her health condition limited her engagements and led to her early death in 1949.

At A Dixie Roadside Diner is a lightly swinging tune with some latin rhythm breaks in it. Ivie sings with a lot of vibrato. The tempo is medium and also great for Balboa dancing. I love this song!

Ivie & Duke - All God's Chillun...

Title: At A Dixie Roadside Diner
Artist: Ivie Anderson w/ Duke Ellington
Recorded: 1940
Tempo: 164 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop, Balboa

Click the link to download the song from: Amazon ･ iTunes

You can find the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist. Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw

Do you like the «Song of the Week» series? Share your thoughts below.

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How Does The Perfect Balboa Weekend Look Like? – An Event Review

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Two weeks ago (17-19 September 2010), the Sweden Balboa Weekend was happening in Uppsala.

We all had a really great time there. I especially liked the atmosphere of the weekend, so the idea occured to me to write a review about the event.

Some key figures (I consider this a small workshop weekend):

  • approximately 150 participants
  • 4 levels = 4 groups
  • 4 teacher couples

Time table of the weekend:

Friday
19.30-21.30 Registration
20.00-00.00 Welcome dance with live band

Saturday and Sunday workshop
09.00-10.00 Registration (only on Saturday)

10.30-11.40 Lesson 1
11.50-13.00 Lesson 2
13.00-14.20 Lunch
14.20-15.30 Lesson 3
15.40-16.50 Lesson 4

20.00-01.00 Evening dance with live band on Saturday
17.15-20.30 DJ dance & sandwich buffet on Sunday

What I liked:

  • The class rooms and the evening party location were close together in walking distance
  • The first lesson started at 10.30h – very good!
  • The student groups stayed in the same room: just comfortable
  • Every teacher couple were teaching two lessons in a row. I like this concept, it gives the teachers more possibilities to structure their lessons. Even the breaks could be done differently than on the time table.
  • «Fika» = (sweet) snack and fruit juice between lesson 1&2 and 3&4 – that was really awesome.
  • Live bands – what is better than dancing to live music!
  • Sandwich bar on Sunday. Another great idea. Usually there is not that much time during these weekends to socialise. This simple idea brought everybody together for a chat and some dances at the end of the weekend.

What I would do differently:

  • I would plan a longer lunch break: the classes rarely end on time, then you need time to walk to a restaurant and you need time to order and wait for the food
  • Schedule the Saturday evening party until 2h (and start it half an hour or an hour later), most of us were a little bit disappointed that it already ended at 1h – okay, eventually it was 1.30h 🙂

There was no:

  • … audition for higher levels, which was a courageous decision in a way but it suprisingly worked out pretty good. Well, there is still the possibility for a teacher couple to politely move a dancer in a different group if necessary.
  • … Jack 'n‘ Jill competition. I don't want to judge that. It's always a difficult decision whether you would like to give the opportunity to compete and therewith inspire the other dancers. On the other hand it divides the flow of an evening. I can live with both situations.

These are just my personal thoughts.

Thanks again to the organizers for this wonderful weekend!

Zürich Balboa Night am 1. Oktober 2010

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Nach dem wunderbaren Swiss Balboa Weekend folgt die Oktober-Ausgabe der Zürich Balboa Night – dem einzigen monatlichen Balboa Event in der Schweiz!

Diesen Monat organisieren wir wie gewohnt einen Balboa Mini-Workshop. Die Registration ist ab sofort offen. Bitte meldet euch an, wenn ihr teilnehmen möchtet! Am liebsten gleich mit Partner/in, dies ist aber keine Pflicht, wir werden darum besorgt sein, die Klasse ausgeglichen zu gestalten.

Wir werden immer wieder gefragt, ob es denn noch Platz hat im Mini-Workshop. Die Antwort ist simpel: Solange die Registration offen ist, hat es Platz!

Host
Christian Bossert

MINI-WORKSHOP – Thema: Spielereien in Pure Bal

von und mit Ulla Wingenfelder & Tim Kask

Zeit: 19.45 – 20.45h
Level: Balboa Basics sind Voraussetzung
Registration: Bitte wenn möglich mit Partner/in anmelden, damit wir die Klasse ausgeglichen planen können.

DANCE NIGHT

Zeit: 21.00 – 1.00h

DJ Chrisbe & special guest DJ The Boiling Soup spielen die heissesten Balboa-Tunes für euch!

Ort
Downtownswing, Friedaustrasse 17, 8003 Zürich

Kosten
CHF 25/20 für den Workshop inkl. Dance Night
CHF 15/10 für die Party
Nächste Balboa Night: 5. November 2010
Die Zürich Balboa Night findet jeden 1. Freitag im Monat statt; ausser im August (Sommerpause)

DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #29: When I Take My Sugar To Tea

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Now, this week's song by the Boswell Sisters is a challenge!

The experts are generally agreed, this was the most talented and one of the all-time greatest jazz vocal groups ever.

The Boswell Sisters, Martha, Helvetia «Vet» and Connee, began their career in the vaudeville houses of New Orleans.

Gifted musicians as well as singers, the sisters started to work at a local radio station by 1925.

At first, they only played classical and semi-classical instrumentals. Their career took off when the station began featuring them as singers.

The sisters‘ harmonic vocals, dotted with scatting and numerous tempo and key changes, quickly made them popular in New Orleans and beyond.

Between 1930 and 1936 they were the hottest vocal group in the country. They appeared in several movies and were regulars on Bing Crosby's radio program.

Many of their hit recordings were made with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. In 1936, Vet and Martha retired from show business, while Connee continued her solo career.

Why is this song a challenge? Well, it's one for dancers. The song starts with a mellow feeling, swinging softly, when the tempo doubles at 1:50. Lindy Hop AND Balboa in one song is required, how great is that!?

Title: When I Take My Sugar To Tea
Artist: The Boswell Sisters w/ Dorsey Brothers Orchestra
Recorded: 1931
Tempo: 122/244 bpm
Dance: Lindy Hop, Balboa

Click the link to download the song from: Amazon ･ iTunes

You can find the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist. Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw

Do you like the «Song of the Week» series? Share your thoughts below.

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #28: Besame Mucho

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Recently, I was DJ'ing in a location in Zurich called «Besame Mucho». It reminded me of a song by Oscar Alemán and I decided to choose this song as our Song of the Week.

Oscar Alemán (20.02.1909-10.10.1980) was a wonderful jazz guitarist and one of the great unknown talents in jazz. He began playing guitar as a teenager in Argentina and during the 1930's he was living in Spain and Paris.

He was a regular member of Freddy Taylor's Swing Men From Harlem and he appeared on records with Bill Coleman, Danny Polo, Eddie Brunner, Freddie Taylor and others.

He also was the leader on eight selections he recorded during his three European sessions of 1938-1939.

His style was very similiar to Django Reinhardt's Gypsy Jazz and unfortunately, Alemán was overshadowed by Rheinhardt.

1941 he moved back to Argentina where he continued to record and perform with both a swing quintet, as well as with a nine-piece orchestra.

He spent much of the rest of his career in Argentina, remaining well known only in his native country.

Besame Mucho was recorded 1943 in Buenos Aires. The tune starts very unspectacularly but when the singing begins, it becomes very funny, almost cheesy. It's another great tune for Balboa dancing in a medium tempo (for Balboa dancers…).

Title: Besame Mucho
Artist: Oscar Aleman Y Su Quinteto De Swing
Recorded: 07.09.1943
Tempo: 190 bpm
Dance: Balboa

Click the link to download the song from: Amazon ･ iTunes

You can find the songs of the series also on my Spotify playlist. Official hashtag of the series: #djcsotw

Do you like the «Song of the Week» series? Share your thoughts below.

Now Check Out: