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Song Parody: "Le Jazz - NOT!"

Bob Boross, a protege of the great jazz pedagogue Matt Mattox, said in the 2019 Dance Teacher Summit, "The term 'jazz dance' is used and misused in so many areas. Dances that have little or no jazz dance qualities are routinely (and inaccurately) described as jazz dance. When a media outlet has great or highly influential visibility (such as reality TV and social media), the audience begins to believe the inaccurate description, and in the process the truth of jazz dance is ignored. What often is called jazz dance will have minimal jazz dance characteristics." I am not against tricks, BUT as long as dance studios, its dancers, and its dance judges are kept in the dark about the full education and honor towards the African-American and African roots of jazz dance, they would believe that the dance genre would be about tricks. For great effect, I used the 1995 version of this Victor/Victoria banger heard frequently at dance competitions, mostly with highly gymnastic choreography.

(Instrumental intro plays.)

Male singer: 20-plus years ago in studios worldwide, A group of teachers saw a new kind of dancin' An’ they decided to call it…

Male singer and male ensemble (exclaim): NOT JAZZ!

Male singer (sings): No good technique is what this dancin' has Before they knew it, it was trendin' ‘round the world The stage was taken by a… New kind of movement, An’ now they'd stretch it from Sofia to Baku.*

Male singer: There were those stories that segued with those dance comps - About the judges who rewarded all these tricks They fell completely in love with…

Male singer and male ensemble (exclaim): NOT JAZZ!!!

Male singer (sings): No one had scored it like these judges have They say today the kids train beyond their limits; “You’ll only place if you’d display all those movements!” That’s why they’ve seen them from Sofia to Baku - Tricks as their focus, giving artistic poo!

Female singer: Oh baby, won’t you stop this Le Jazz NOT, dance kids And don’t encourage this trend I tell ya, friend, it’s really harmful to see Oh - I can’t sit still when there’s a child bent in three -

(Short instrumental interlude plays.)

Female singer: Also, baby, Le Jazz NOT, maybe… What's breakin' young bods forever! Don’t know whether it’s dancin' or gym; Only know it’s crackin’ limbs So please refrain from doin' Le Jazz NOT, baby, ’Cause I hate your splits -

Female singer (speaks): Forced!

(Short instrumental interlude plays.)

Female singer and ensembles (sing): Before they knew it, it was trendin' ‘round the world The comps were taken by a new kind of movement!

Female singer: An’ now they stretch it from Sofia to Baku!

Female singer and ensembles: Won’t you stop with… Jazz NOT, dance kids! Please! Make! It! End! I tell ya, friend -

Ensembles: I tell ya -

Female singer: It’s really harmful to

Ensembles: It's harmful to -

Female singer and ensembles: See!

Female singer: I can’t sit still when there’s that -

Female singer and Ensembles: Child! Bent! In! Three!

(Instrumental interlude plays.)

Female singer: ’Cause I hate your splits -

Female singer (speaks): FORCED!

(Instrumental interlude plays.)

Female singer (sings): When you do this Le Jazz NOT - dance kids! You’re breakin' young bods forever!

Female singer and Ensembles: Don’t know whether it’s dancin' or gym - Only know it’s crackin' limbs!

Female singer: So please refrain from doin' Le Jazz NOT, dance kids! Let's make OLD-SCHOOL JAZZ HOT!

Female singer: Le Jazz…

Female singer: STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!

Female singer (speaks sarcastically): Le Jazz - NOT!

*Sofia, Bulgaria, and Baku, Azerbaijan, have both hosted at least one major FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics event, creating a direct link between the criticized dance practices and the gymnastics world that has influenced them.

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And of course, we Filipinos have heckuva been setting Chris Hookie’s Wild, Wild West Boogie to this 1991 Daniela Romo banger ever since!

BRB as I practice the steps…

hip-hop dance crazes (2000s)(part 2)

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This video is shared via Reddit in response to a ballet teacher’s question:

Whenever | teach variations, I like to have my students watch a video of a pro dancing it first to see how it looks in the wild and be inspired before we dive in.

For Harlequinade, though, I can only find YAGP videos. While the dancers in those are of course talented, I would prefer a video of a pro ballerina if possible. I know ABT did a production in 2018 but I can't find footage of it besides promo stuff.

Anyone know where I can find a video? Or know where that variation fits in the storyline of the ballet? Thanks in advance!

A huge shoutout to Korean National Ballet prima ballerina Sim Hyunhee for filling in that gap! Wish more ADULT PRINCIPAL ballet dancers will do that (now viral) variation in the near future! (To see it in full, scroll to 24:25 in the above video.)

Oh, and here’s a tutorial on it for my ballet lambs out there:

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Took me LONG ENOUGH to seek out a video on the web of a rendition of Sam Harris's cover of "Satan's Li'l Lamb" danced in CHARACTER SHOES! So many dance competition routines, to this dance history buff, remind me of this:

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Shoutout to Ryan Francois for doing a vernacular jazz dance take on “This Business of Love!” I need more like this as a jazz dance history buff!

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Glad to see a rendition of "Hey Pachuco" done in character shoes! Why - at the time of posting - has this video garnering south of 500 views since 2012? It really deserves more!

Oh, and some competion takes - to thei jazz dance history minded brain - look like this:

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“For most young Indians, the initial settings for learning informally, are family settings, especially weddings. The family, a gaggle of aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, nieces, nephews, especially grandfathers and grandmothers, as preservers of culture, encourage the younger generation profusely. I remember being the first on the dance floor. All the songs to which we would dance, appeared to us as ‘fun songs.’”

“It was only when I became a dance scholar, and developed a critical lens, that I started being troubled by the content of the songs to which I was dancing. Of course, I was having fun and my dancing was ensuring that my 642 muscles would get fired regularly and that my confidence was soaring. Social integration was a byproduct and my ability to pick up patterns, innovate, create, improvise, were honed. These were all qualities that have been very useful in dealing with challenges of adult life.”

“My issue, as I looked critically at my own dance journey, emanated from the disturbing content of the songs, which would be depicted visually rather graphically but in a stylistic manner. It was evident, that I really didn’t figure out what I was doing as a child.”

“Further, that it was happening with the approval of the adults in the family, who were not just supportive but positively encouraging, misled me. It stopped me from even suspecting that there could be something wrong.”

To Dr. Arshiya Sethi, I’m saddened this time of year that the youths here in the Philippines as well as those who are children of OFWs are repeating the same mistakes as you did as a child.

To be honest, I lost count of how many fellow millennials and Generation Z kids here danced to songs by the OPM - Original Philippine Music - all-girl group, ominously named the SexBomb Girls, during their family Christmas parties in their youths. Yup. The group’s name is the SEXBOMB GIRLS - I kid you not.

As a budding entrepreneur (Zazzle creator and affiliate marketer via Pinterest) and investor in residual wealth like real estate, I want to invest in high quality AND age-appropriate dance education here in my current country.

Stateside (where I was born), the pop music used for jazz dance education isn’t only limited to competition/recital routines. Children are also subject to those suggestive, immoral lyrics when they do floorwork, body isolations, and across-the-floor progressions.

Plus, I want to suture the gaping maw between jazz dance and jazz music that has been widening since post-WWII. (Not to mention - sexualized movements aside - that mainstream youth jazz dance education has lost so much of its African roots anyway.)

Hence the case for live music in jazz dance classes.

Ballet schools/companies and modern dance classes in higher education institutions have PROVED that having live music hones and boosts dancers’ musicality. But having organs and “workstation” keyboards like the Genos 2 in jazz classes adds the benefits of liberating children from the messaging in the lyrics of songs they would often hear during their leaps and turns classes at many youth studios.

Am showing this video in case you want to know what a Genos 2 does.

The last thing the children here in the Philippines - AND ALL AROUND THE WORLD - wishing to take those classes need to hear is a suggestive hit song sung by the SexBomb Girls when they’d do grandes battements or practice their surprise leaps across the floor.

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UPDATE!

Big shoutout to Kendall of BodyKinect for helping me out! I wish her one of the happiest Thanksgivings!

Yes, I asked this.

And I want the steps (with proper jazz dance terms, not the sounds Brandon O’Neal makes) AND counts listed in the reposts.

Thank you!

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Philippines, Lemme Count the Ways You are Ripe for Age-Appropriate Dance...

Ah, the Philippines. They are known for the itik-itik, tinikling, cariñosa, pandanggo, and the Cagayan Valley's version of the jota. And the resources here to fund and establish a NUVO or 24 Seven-esque dance comp are scarce...

And for parents; dance studio owners and faculty; pastors; and EVEN child welfare agents concerned about the hypersexualization and exploitation in youth dance education, the paucity of resources needed to create such dance comps is a VERY GOOD THING!

Dance adjudicator Jamie White ranted about what she saw at a competition past. She saw a mini dancer who was clad in a bra top and booty shorts doing a knee slide that ends with her thighs open. She also saw her twerk in a front split, with her facing upstage.

Granted the high Catholic Christian populace here in the Philippines, those movements and costuming in routines that include those elements in their choreography are better suited for the shady bars lining Fields Ave. in Barangay Balibago, Angeles, Pampanga, than school auditoria (which are often outdoors).

"Filipino culture, deeply influenced by Catholic values, emphasizes modesty and appropriateness," Copilot noted, "Choreography that includes provocative movements, such as kneeling open-legged, and revealing costumes can be seen as disrespectful and inappropriate for young dancers. This can discourage organizers from hosting multigenre competitions that might feature such content."

"Parents in the Philippines may have strong objections to their children participating in routines that they perceive as overly sexualized. This concern can reduce the number of participants willing to enroll in multigenre competitions, thus limiting the demand and feasibility for such events."

The only dance comps here that might be tolerable for concerned individuals advocating age-appropriate dance are the streetdancing ones. Costumes are more modest than not. Choreography - of which the routines are often performed on concrete ANYWAY - often doesn't warrant youths to twerk, pose promiscuously, or go grind dancing on each other.

With the founding of Lindy Hop Philippines, I have been heartened since moving to the Cagayan Valley in early 2024 that there are homegrown individuals who are starting to expand the myopic scope of jazz dance from being a “sassy, promiscuous” genre to one that conveys a much wider range of characters and moods.

“By sharing the rich history of jazz dance, including its roots in African rhythms and its evolution through various cultural influences, educators can help elders understand that jazz dance is a legitimate and respected art form,” Copilot explained, “Highlighting the contributions of pioneers like Frankie Manning and Norma Miller can also emphasize the cultural significance of jazz dance.”

“Organizations can host performances that focus on the artistic and technical aspects of jazz dance, rather than sensationalized or provocative elements. By presenting jazz dance in a respectful and dignified manner, they can help dispel misconceptions about the genre.”

“Inviting elders to participate in workshops and classes can provide them with firsthand experience of jazz dance. This can help them see the discipline, skill, and creativity involved in the dance form, fostering a deeper appreciation and understanding.”

“Drawing parallels between jazz dance and traditional Filipino dances can help elders see the cultural value and continuity in jazz dance. Emphasizing shared elements, such as rhythm and community engagement, can create a sense of familiarity and acceptance.”

“Organizations can hold discussions or forums where elders can voice their concerns and have their questions answered by knowledgeable instructors and dancers. This open dialogue can help address any misconceptions and build trust. Featuring Filipino jazz dancers and instructors as role models can inspire elders and show them that jazz dance is a respectable and valuable art form within their own community.”

“Seeing local examples can help change perceptions and encourage acceptance.”

As for my stateside hypersexualization-in-dance-education-jaded mga kaibigan, DA:NCE Awareness unveiled a directory around the time Lindy Hop Philippines was established. It’s called – without a doubt – the Healthy DA:NCE Directory. In 2024, the first studios listed were located in the USA and Canada.

Hopefully more studios around the world will be annexed to the Healthy DA:NCE Directory in the next few years, especially those located in Australia. (Remember the RG Dance scandal?)

Given the high Catholic influence and marked emphasis on family values, the Philippines has a marvelous potential to harbor studios that are ripe to be included in the Healthy DA:NCE Directory. May St. Vitus pray that the government eases visa restrictions so that foreign teachers who value healthy dance education and age-appropriate dance for youth can relocate here.

May he pray that Lindy Hop Philippines – which is based in the NCR – will inspire my mga kaibigan all over the 7K-plus island archipelago to see jazz dance beyond tricks and promiscuity AND educate them fully about the genre; the iconic figures (BOTH Caucasian AND non-Caucasian); and age-appropriate styles of it.

The last 3 stitched clips in the link to the TikTok reel are taken by me in various dates in 2024. Music: "City Lights." Exzel Music Publishing (freemusicpublicdomain.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0).

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Yes, I asked this.

And I want the steps (with proper jazz dance terms, not the sounds Brandon O’Neal makes) AND counts listed in the reposts.

Thank you!

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Here's a fun experiment to do:

Play THIS SONG:

Over THIS VIDEO:

To this dance history hound - and due to the over-glorifying of tricks and Eurocentric-rooted skills like grandes pirouettes a la secondes releves done by females via mass media - this is what my brain REALLY sees whenever I'd watch footage of dance competition interpretations of the above cover of Duke Ellington and Don George's "Hit Me With a Hot Note."

And that brings me to my Christmas wish every year: I wear a size "Two-and-Four" video of a vernacular jazz interpretation of THAT COVER.

And many more.

I created a Spotify playlist for all the Lindy hoppers out there who are skilled in solo jazz. Introducing...

It's not just a listening-pleasure playlist. My intent is to share it with the Lindy Hop community so they can do their Africanist, vernacular takes on those songs listed, most of which are frequently-interpreted "hits" at mainstream multigenre dance competitions like NUVO or Starquest.

A dance history fan only can dream of the day when the late Natalie Cole's cover of "Orange-Colored Sky" looks like this (with character shoes with heel heights between 1-2" instead of sneakers, preferably):

And A WHOLE LOT LESS like these:

Speaking of Natalie Cole's cover of "Orange-Colored Sky," feel free to play it over above example of a vernacular jazz solo to see what I mean. (Also, feel free to play it over the video of a rhythmic gymnastics individual apparatus routine to help you envision what my brain would see whenever I'd watch whenever I'd watch footage of dance competition interpretations of said cover.)

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A post shared by TFBOTM-Gram! (@tfbotm)

And no, my pet Pomeranian Ash doesn’t do an ecarte devant 200-degree side layout in a bra top and booty shorts over bare legs.

Taken 11/9/2024.

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New York City ballet production of Midsummer Nights Dream

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YES! ABOUT TIME a university dance company (Momentum Dance Co. from Vanderbilt University in Nashville) does their interpretation of Tami Tappan Damiano's cover of "Hit Me With a Hot Note" in CHARACTER SHOES! It's such a change of pace from renditions done at dance comps that look like this:

Can't wait for a vernacular jazz dance take on this cover! I'm thinking something like this:

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It's a feeling. A heartbeat.

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MALIGAYANG PASKO!

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Tuesday, July 30th, 2024

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