The Hips Don't Lie

He Goes:

Well, yes, ummm... hips. It's entirely possible (although not really) that the reason I favour Lindy over my ballroom dances is that hip action isn't quite so necessary. I get it - hip action is great in some dances, there's no getting over seeing some ace hip work in a Rumba or a Cha-Cha - but as a traditionally-constructed man I'm not sure I could point out my hips if I saw myself in silhouette. Instead there's a straight line that descends from my armpits to my ankles.

Don't get me wrong - they're in there somewhere. I just think I'm better at a dance where they provide utilitarian rather than decorative function, where to quote Jeffrey Murdock: "Hey, it's just your basic hinge".

For more on male hips, I pass you over to my colleague....

Hey Baby, where are your watermelons now?

She Goes:

I've figured it out. I *finally* understand why a lot of lindy hopping follows are often lost to The Dark Side (aka blues dancing!) It's because follows are able to dance with leads who know how to use their HIPS! (This is where I'd normally make some sort of smutty remark or at least imply it. I'll leave that to you this week.)

I'll use myself as an example. Picture me as a young teenage spoon, heart still unwounded by the cruelty of this word, eternally optimistic, and being ruthlessly conditioned by the dark cinematic arts into believing that men can be sensational dancers, everything will come good in the end, and life can have a happy ending.

Yes. I'm talking about Dirty Dancing.

The film that has turned generations of young women into puddles the moment *that* Solomon Burke track comes on. It's called 'Cry To Me'. You know, the one where she goes to his cabin, he's all moody and shit, she asks him to dance and they end up gettin' dowwwwwwwwn. Aw yeah. For the guys out there, if you don't know it, get thyself to youtube right now. You're welcome.

This is why I love blues dancing. Not because it makes me feel like a young teenager who hasn't quite cottoned on to what feeling hot-under-the-collar means- it's because I grew up wanting to be able to convey the idea of a deep and earnest emotional connection through the medium of dance.

(Disclaimer: I'm not saying I don't have elements of that in lindy. I'm just saying I find a lot of emotional depth in the blues)

Having also had an amazing all night blues-fest on the Sunday of EBI (a contributing factor in the late arrival of this weeks post, my apologies) I have also come to the conclusion that blues dancers seem to be, for the most part, a whole lot more relaxed about musical genres compared to my hopping brothers and sisters.

I understand this may enrage some of you. I'm sorry. But the fact of the matter is that I have lost count of the times I've heard someone make disparaging remarks about a lindy DJ's particular taste in music. The only thing I have come close to in similarity from a blues dancer was on Sunday when, after an hour of dancing to electro-dub-blues (or blues-step?) he gave up and had a nap. See? Super chilled!