Kitty Von Paw
Dr Puss!
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« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2011, 01:33:35 PM » |
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Info on the Lindy Exchange for Newbies!
Short History & purpose of any Exchange:
The first lindy exchange, 'The Weekend', occurred on December 4–6, 1998, in San Francisco, California, between the cities of Chicago, Illinois, and San Francisco, CA. The purpose of this exchange was for 19 dancers visiting from Chicago to experience the dance styles of San Francisco by attending many of its established venues and dancing with the lindy hoppers there. As the popularity of the lindy exchange increased in the United States, the events became an open-invitational gathering of lindy hoppers from around the globe to one central city for a particular weekend.
What is a Lindy Exchange?
* hospitality
* cultural & social exchange
* international Lindy Hop Community
A lindy exchange is a gathering of lindy hop dancers in one city for several days to experience the dance venues and styles of that local community and to dance with visitors and locals alike. Traveling for exchanges has contributed to the development of an international lindy hop community. Visitors at lindy exchanges are often hosted by local dancers, staying in their homes for the duration of the event. Exchanges can vary in size. Some of the older exchanges, such as the Chicago Lindy Exchange and the D.C. Lindy Exchange, can easily attract 400 or more dancers. Exchanges in cities with smaller dance communities may have fewer than 50 people. Due to the social nature of the event, the themes of exchanges internationally are 'hospitality' and cultural and social 'exchange', on the dance floor and in the host dance community. A Lindy Exchange has absolutely no classes or contests, it is a social event with a large amount of social dancing.
What's going on to a Lindy Exchange?
The schedule of a lindy exchange varies with each exchange, but there are certain features that are common to many of them. Usually, there is an opening Friday evening dance followed by a late night party, which goes on into the early morning. On Saturday and Sunday, there are usually afternoon dances, evening dances, and late night dances. Some exchanges also have an evening dance on the Thursday before the event or a Monday evening dance, and the daylight hours are often filled with other, non-dancing social activities such as communal meals, shopping trips or games. Many cities also include various sight-seeing activities during the days of the exchange for the visiting dancers to get to know the host city. The venues chosen for each dance are often picked to feature the highlights of the dancing or culture of the host city. Live swing bands based in the host city are often chosen for some venues, particularly the evening dances.
Conclusions...
Okie Dokie Newbie Swing fellas, so now you've read all the above. Are you ready to Swing Out till you drop? Yeap? Good! Stay tuned by checking the Exchange's website and please do send us an email with all your questions. Email you can use is: info AT AthensSwingCats DOT com (NO SPACES!)
* The name ''Athens Swing Exchange'' was chosen as our Exchange will not only be focused on Lindy Hop but will include various vintage dances, such as Collegiate Shag, Balboa, Charleston etc.
(All info presented here is found on Wikipedia and is slightly paraphrased)
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