Love that Swing Style!

It’s that time of year again. Time to change the wardrobe from summer fashions and get spinning into fall (See what I did there?). Warm colors, more layers, closed-toed shoes; you name it. As an avid consumer of all things vintage reproduction, I would love to share my input on where to shop for those new or new to you styles. Especially for those of us who dance.
As a swing dancer, I find myself asking a few questions before I make any purchase. Will I have any wardrobe malfunctions? Is it spinny? (Yes, that’s a very frequent word in my vocabulary) Will these shoes stay on my feet? All pretty standard questions. I tend to find that these questions not only answer to my dancing side, but also my attempt to remain as vintage styled as possible.

Just around the corner (Saturday, October 22nd), Grease Rags Clothing Company is hosting a  ‘Fall Vintage Clothing Swap and Sell’ in their parking lot. This is done often during the change of seasons. It’s an event where people bring their old clothing (in this case, vintage style) and set up a table, where all in attendance can swap or sell. It’s like getting an entirely new vintage wardrobe for super cheap, or no money spent at all. You can find the link for information about the event here:

Vintage Swap and Sell

Some brands you might see during this event: Hell Bunny, Retrospec’d, Pinup Girl Clothing, Steady Clothing, Trashy Diva, just to name a few brands. These are all amazing vintage reproduction clothing companies that cater to the classy gal in all of us. You’ll find colorful patterns on full circle skirts (which look amazing on the dance floor), a variety of amazing necklines and sleeve lengths, and Mary Jane shoes to die for. Don’t forget to throw in a cardigan for those layers we talked about.

Grease Rags is the premier destination in Jacksonville for all of your vintage style clothing needs.Owned by Cindy Platt, this is 3 years in a row winner of Best Clothing Store in Jacksonville through Folio Magazine. And the reason is because of her personal touches, the earrings, the vintage hats strewn about, and that fabulous makeup. She gives time and care to all her customers; allowing each to try on different clothing styles in her dressing rooms and finding their vintage dreams.

That Poor Girl Vintage is another great spot with honest-to-goodness real vintage clothing and accessories. There’s also Subculture Corsets in the Avenues Mall which has a selection of vintage style dresses. If you aren’t ready to check out these stores in person, I have a few websites to recommend which will be listed below.
I can’t wait to see you out on the dance floor in your new dancin’ garb.

-Victoria!

Dance Store.com - Modcloth - Unique Vintage 

Blamebetty - LadyvLondon - Pinup Girl Clothing

The Dancing!

So once you've got those fab new clothes come
swing dance with us at the Volstead Sunday Nights!

Swing Dance Sundays!

Or check out any of these great dance opportunities on the

First Coast Blues and Lindy Society on our Meetup Site! Click Below!

First Coast Blues and Lindy Meetup

And if you don't get enough check out these two great classes where you can: 

Learn Lindy-hop and How to Balboa!

See you on the Dance Floor Sunday Night!!

Rockabilly & Vintage Car Culture

You’ve seen them at your local dance events. Girls that wear high waisted dresses with big curls in their hair, bright beautiful makeup and winged eyeliner that flies off their faces. Boys wearing slicked back Elvis-hair, rolled up arms on their white t-shirts and jeans with boots.  The girls are pinups, the boys are greasers, and they all fall into the Rockabilly family. 

Some Rockabilly and hard core devotees of the Lindy-hop scene “drive vintage cars, carry long-chained pocket watches, and listen to “real” swing music (original big band music from the golden era).”  These two great sub-cultures span the vintage eras of the 1920s -1950s. Few places other than a dance floor that you can find where these genres bare their colors in such glory is that of a Classic Car Show. Today this article is going to be about the Hot Rods that grace the roads of North Florida and where to find them.

These last two weeks in October we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to see two amazing carshows!  If you missed it the Amelia Cruizers Car Club just had their 20th Annual 8-Flags Car Show on Saturday October 15.  Here is a short video of the event!

If you want to follow their Facebook page so you don’t miss another amazing show you can find them here:

  Amelia Cruizers Car Club

But don’t be bummed out! There is another Classic Car Cruise just around the Corner!! Come out and Support Jacksonville Beach at their Jax Beach Art Walk on October 18 and get a little treat as they share it with a Classic Car Cruise.  The Classic Cars will be parked in Latham Plaza while artists are set up along First St.  The event details are listed here:

Jax Beach Art Walk/Classic Car Cruise

Come enjoy the vintage cars, and let it take you back, or imagine a different time and place when swing was the thing, or Elvis and Rockabilly was king!

And lastly if you just can't get enough here is a great link for all of Florida's car shows!

FlaCarShows.com

Feel free to comment on the Facebook post of this blog for any other great Florida car show groups, cruizers, or car organizations that you think others may be interested in!

-Jen

The Dancing!

Find us out on the Dance floor at the Volstead every Sunday Night! No Cover, 21 and up! Free Lessons 7pm -8pm and DJed by the First Coast Blues and Lindy Society 8pm-11pm! Be Sure to tip your Bartender!!

Join Our Meetup to Find Great Music, Swing Dance Lessons and Dance Events Throughout the Week!

Click the Link Below!

First Coast Blues and Lindy Meetup

The Lessons!

Click Here for More About Learning Lindy-Hop!

Click Here for More About Learn to Dance Balboa!

Sources:
I See America Dancing: Selected Readings, 1685-2000
Rockabilly Verses Greaser

Hurricane Blues

Hurricane Matthew was a devastating hurricane. For many it will live in their hearts as a day they would soon wish to forget. For others, it was a near miss and a reason to spend time hugging their loved ones and celebrating that it was not worse. 

Swing dancers within and without the First Coast Blues and Lindy Society are a community, when we are happy we dance for joy, when we are sad we blues dance, and when we need to help each other we rebuild and then we dance to celebrate our triumphs. You are never alone when you are a swing dancer. 

As for me and my family we will head out again today to our neighbors homes to offer to help clean up and listen to the crooning Blues musicians creating melodies that sooth our troubles away. Below are a few songs we think you may enjoy. We hope that these songs will help bring you comfort, peace and solace in your Hurricane recovery efforts. If you need to find a place to dance away those Hurricane jitters look below for a place to congregate, share stories and just dance. 

-Jen

The Dancing!!

First Click Here to Join our New First Coast BLS's Meetups Page! It includes many local swing, jazz and blues musicians' events where you can dance.

Sunday 

First Coast Blues Society's IBC Competition 

2:00pm-10:00pm 

Sunday Night

First Coast BLS Swing Dance Sunday

Thursday's Lindy Hop Lessons & Learn to Dance Balboa!

The Music!!

Jimmy Ogden and the Muddy Waters - "Florida Hurricane"

(credit Leanna Lindyboppa)

Ruby Gowdy - "Florida Flood Blues" 

Lightnin' Hopkins - Hurricane Betsy 

about a Louisiana Hurricane in 1965

References The Blues Encyclopedia 

It's the Shim Shammiest!

"And you push it and you push it and you… cross over…"

The Shim Sham!  If you've been around the lindy hop scene for a while, chances are you've had this happen to you at a dance: a medium-tempo swing song comes on, but by the time you've picked out your target partner in the crowd, they and half the dance floor have lined up haphazardly in the middle of the room and are doing crazy dance moves you can't even hope to replicate.  Then you go home and watch a YouTube tutorial on repeat until you've got your crazy dance moves perfectly in time, and hope that that great song comes on again at the next dance!

But that's just the moves; what about the heart?  What makes the Shim Sham the shim-shammiest?

It turns out, the Shim Sham got its start as the Goofus, a choreographed tap dance routine invented in

the late 1920s.  It has remained a staple in tap dance, with a few variations created by different dancers.  Lindy-hoppers at the Savoy Ballroom picked up the dance, without the tap shoes, and created some of their own variations, but the dance didn't become hugely popular until Frankie Manning created his version in the 1980s.

The Frankie Manning Shim Sham takes the original Goofus Shim Sham's moves -- double shuffles, crossovers, Tacky Annies, and half breaks -- and adds to them boogie forwards, boogie backs, and Shorty Georges.  After the choreography ends, the dancers grab a partner to finish out the song, sometimes with "Freeze!"s called out in the music.

Today, the Shim Sham is often danced to "Tain't What You Do" by Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra or "The Shim Sham Song" by The Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra.  A version of "Stompin' at the Savoy" with the George Gee Band features Manning himself calling out the moves.

If you want to learn the Shim Sham, there are plenty of YouTube tutorials available, or you can come out to the Monarch Ballroom on October 1st and learn it before the First Coast Blues and Lindy Society's monthly dance!

-Alison

And as always we'd love to see you this Sunday night at the Volstead! First time on the swing dance floor? The Dance shack will be teaching a free beginner East Coast Swing Lesson starting at 7PM sharp. There's always plenty of street parking available.

The Dance floor opens up right around 8:00 PM!
As always, there is no cover to enter! Swing Dance Sunday is 21+.

Address:
The Volstead
115 W Adams St, Jacksonville, Florida 32202

Frankie Manning YouTube tutorial:

Chaz Young and Frankie Manning Messing Around Shim Sham

T'aint what you do its the way you do it!

A funny modern spoof of the Goofus Dance

References:
The Short Story of The Shim Sham.
The Shim Sham.
History of Shim Sham.
Shim Sham. 

Jacksonville Goes to the Movies

"World's Winter Film Capital"

So movies have a wonderful history of using dance in film, but what I bet you don't know is that Jacksonville has a colorful and interesting history with the movie making business!

In 1908, Jacksonville had three years on Hollywood, CA and attracted 30 more studios in the next decade, including Metro Pictures, which would later become the film giant MGM. Check out the history of film making in Jacksonville here:


The Official City of Jacksonville Movie History


and this unique look-back at a different time in Jacksonville's past:


Florida Times-Union Article: "Action! A century of moviemaking in Jacksonville"


Of the many film studios brought to Jacksonville one stayed and left a legacy. Norman Laboratories was developed by Richard Norman in the 1920's and is now home of the only known remaining silent film studio complex in this area. The Flying Ace by Norman Studios was the only movie of the many that were made that was saved for posterity. The building has a rich history that has been preserved by Norman Studios and they still play silent films at a venue nearby with live music accompaniment to this day!


If you want to read more about the Studios check out this link here: Norman Studios


As for dancing the First Coast Blues and Lindy Society is offering Lindy Hop and Balboa lessons on Thursdays this month. The lessons are at Club Savoy in Arlington, directly across the street from a great white building with a sign for Norman Laboratories. If you come visit our classes take a peak across the street because it all a part of what makes Jacksonville great!

And as always we'd love to see you this Sunday night at the Volstead! First time on the swing dance floor? The Dance shack will be teaching a free beginner East Coast Swing Lesson starting at 7PM sharp. There's always plenty of street parking available.

-Jen & Amy!





The Dance floor opens up right around 8:00 PM!
As always, there is no cover to enter! Swing Dance Sunday is 21+.

Address:
The Volstead
115 W Adams St, Jacksonville, Florida 32202

Balboa the "dancers" dance!

Dance marathons took place here at the Balboa Pavilion on Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach during the Great Depression.

NEWPORT HARBOR NAUTICAL MUSEUM

"Come, and trip it, as you go, On the light fantastic toe." - John Milton, L'Allegro

In just over two years the Volstead Swing Dance Sundays has become an icon in the Jacksonville Swing Dance scene.  And what we love about it is the eclectic feel, the unusual prohibition inspired drinks, and the dancing! But as anyone who has ever been to the Volstead on a busy live show night can attest: you hope to find just the right spot to show off your moves. You dance and all the while a song blares that you love, and you've danced to before, but by golly, you are just exhausted after flying through beats that are up to 300bpm. In the end using all the floor-craft you possess, you find that sweet spot where a kick or a spin wouldn't bump someone in the chaotic flux of fun.  If you've ever felt this way on a dance floor, Balboa is the dance of your dreams! 

The origins of this dance are shrouded in history, some say, it originated in Southern California near Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach. In the 1920s and 1930s dancers only knew of this dance as Swing, but Balboa evolved to have its own unique look. Balboa came of the necessity to find an alternative to the Break-away, a dance that was banned in many halls due to the large crowds and massive popularity of swing dance (see video below). Just as swing dance branched mostly from the Charleston so did Balboa. 

Over the years the original dancers aged and continued with their passion. Sylvia Sykes and Jonathan Bixby in the early 1980's persuaded some of the old timers to teach them the dance to preserve it into the future. Maxie Dorf one of these original dancers was widely acclaimed as the 'King of Balboa'. Maxie danced and taught Balboa during the Swing Dance Revival into the late 90's before finally passing away in 2000.

There are two terms usually used when describing Balboa, Pure Bal, and Bal-Swing. Pure Bal is danced primarily in closed position, and is led with a full body connection. The art of Balboa is in the subtle movements or the pulse between the lead and follow, including weight shifts, which most viewers cannot see. Just a few of the steps involved are the Maxie Basic, paddles, scoots and pivots. Bal-Swing is a more open dance switching between the torso to torso lead to the lead in the handholds, this allow for more spins, variation in footwork and improvisation. 

Come learn Pure Bal and Bal-Swing with us on Thursday nights 8:30-9:30 this month at Club Savoy and take your moves to Swing Dance Sundays at the Volstead. During those fast paced songs you'll be the only dancer gliding over the dance floor without breaking a sweat.  

-Jen

The Breakaway

Venice Beach Balboa Dancers 1938

Modern Balboa and Bal-Swing Dancing to Sing, Sing, Sing

ILHC 2016

Links for more reading

Balboa: Depression-era dance halls left a footloose legacy from the Orange County Register

The Lindy Circle's History of Balboa

Weekly Events & Local Music

Friday September 9

8:00 pm Chris Thomas Band @ Hobnob/Brixx Pizza on the Unity Plaza in Downtown Jacksonville For more information Click Here!

10pm-1am Mikey Clams & the Daygos! @ the Beach

For more information Click Here!

Saturday September 10

4:30-6:30pm Rachael Warfield

7:00-9:00 pm Chris Thomas Band @ St Johns Town Center in Southside For more information Click Here!

Sunday September 11

7:00pm First Coast BLS Swing Dance Sundays @ the Volstead in Downtown Jacksonville
For more information Click Here!

Stormy Weather 1943

My my wasn't that wind something! Don't let the wind and rain from Hermine keep you from dancing! This weekend there are some great dance events happening! But first a little synopsis and history about Stormy Weather the movie:

"Bill Williamson (Bill Robinson), a struggling performer, meets a beautiful vocalist named Selina Rogers (Lena Horne). Bill promises her that they will be together after he becomes a success. However, he and Selina both skyrocket to fame and lose contact. Fortunately, Bill just might get one more chance to woo Selina at a huge musical stage show. "(IMDB)

 "This was one of the greatest and most entertaining of musicals - the 20th Century Fox film included the ravishing Lena Horne (as Selina Rogers), lent by MGM Studios to Fox, singing what would become her signature song in the lengthy sequence Stormy Weather; there were other great songs, dance and band routines from Fats Waller (Ain't Misbehavin'), Bill "Bojangles" Robinson singing I Can't Give You Anything But Love with Horne, Horne's There's No Two Ways About Love sung with Calloway and Robinson, the elaborately-costumed Diga Diga Doo , the Nicholas Brothers dancing duo (with an athletic dance to Jumpin' Jive), and the spirited Cab Calloway and his Orchestra." (filmsite.org) 

-Jen

Enjoy this clip of the amazing dancing! And don't forget to like, share and subscribe to First Coast BLS group and our page!

Enjoy your weekend dancing see you out there! If ever you see a band not listed please feel free to share on our First Coast BLS members site! We'd love to see you on there!

This Weekends Events!

Friday Night- September 2nd

Big Band Swing-

8:00pm Chris Thomas Band @ River City Brewery, in Downtown Jacksonville
For more information Click Here!

Blues-

9:00pm Toots Lorriane and the Traffice @ Mojo Kitchen in
the Jacksonville Beach area for more information Click Here!

Rockabilly-

9:00pm Mikey Clams @ the Volstead in
Downtown Jacksonville for more information Click Here!

Saturday- September 3rd

7:30pm First Coast Blues and Lindy Society Monthly Dance! @ the Monarch Ballroom in Southside for more information Click Here!

Sunday- September 4th

8:00pm First Coast Blues and Lindy Society Swing Dance Sundays! @ the Volstead in Downtown Jacksonville for more information Click Here!