The KC Swing Scene
What follows is meant to serve as a response, though not necessarily a rebuttal, to this Facebook note. Feel free to read that before continuing. You don’t necessarily have to know all of the people involved, and my rantings and ravings thoughts on the situation are independent enough that you don’t have to read that note if you don’t feel like it.
The swing scene in the Kansas City area (including Lawrence), is hurting. In the 8 years since I started dancing, I have seen a serious decline in the amount of cooperation between dancers and studios alike. I attribute much of this to bad blood between specific dancers. However, the symptoms affect everyone.
Our biggest problem is this: we have too many of what I call “dance snobs”. These are people who, justified or not, have determined that the dance they prefer is the “best” and anyone who dances anything else is a worse dancer. I have seen this from people whose primary dance is East Coast, West Coast, Lindy Hop, ballroom, and just about every other dance out there. I know that I have been guilty of this in the past, and I think just about all dancers have done it at one point or another. I emphasize this because I don’t want anyone to think that I am trying to single out one individual or group of people. However, I strive every time I go dancing to push the envelope of what I know and what dances I do.
Are some dances harder than others? Absolutely. Anyone who claims that all dances are the same is just being naive. However, simply because one dance is harder than another doesn’t make that dance “better” or “more fun”. One of my favorite dances is East Coast, and it is probably one of the easiest to start on. That’s why lots of beginners start there. But that doesn’t mean that I am a beginner dancer.
I know that a lot of things have happened between individual people, myself included, over the years. And I know that makes things that much more difficult to overcome. Even so, I believe that the swing scene in KC is worth saving, and I think it is within our ability to do so. The down side of this is that a lot of people will need to learn to put the past behind them and make attempts at moving forward. People need to stop flinging crap around at studios and individuals who they don’t like. Honestly, I don’t care whether you like a particular dance, but that doesn’t mean I want to hear you tell me how “stupid” or “boring” or “easy” that particular dance is. And if I had to guess, neither do most other people.
I am taking steps to try and blend more of the swing scene in KC. I will be teaching Lindy Hop at the Louis & Co studio starting on June 28th. I know that Geoff Crawford is trying to revitalize the old Swing Bombs that we used to have, where a couple dozen dancers would converge on some random location and just dance to the music of a boombox for an hour or two. These two things aren’t enough, though. By themselves, they will just be two more events for people to go to and complain about this or that. What we need is a combined effort from *all* of the dancers in the Kansas City area to consolidate and promote our art.
I want this scene to remind me of what I have experienced when I danced while traveling. I have discovered that other swing scenes are far more tolerant of newer and more inexperience dancers as well as people who prefer different styles. Granted, no place is going to be perfect, and I have run into “dance snobs” elsewhere, but they are in the minority in those places. They should be the minority here as well.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:44 am
You know the sad thing about all this is that even since I “joined” the swing scene at the end of 2004 it has shrunk considerably. I will not attribute it to certain individuals but I do think that the drama in general (as there is drama in all of the groups of swing dancers) has affected this scene terribly. I think perhaps that that is why we have so many groups at this point. One person, or a couple, get upset with someone(s) in their group for one reason or another and they split off. That’s why at one time there were about 6 swing nights a week happening in KC. We by no means have enough people for that many nights but people’s emotions run so high in this hobby. I have to say, though I’m sure you know this, that in any activity like this, where you personally express yourself and your emotions every time you do even one dance, there are bound to be conflicts. It is stupid and I wish we could all get past this stuff (I agree that I am guilty of it but I try to make it to most nights at least once in a while) and at least not hold grudges that impact an entire event. Anyway, I really should quit now before I go on all day… but those are my 2 cents.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Unification of forces is the only way to keep anything living. If we continue down this road of destruction the swing scene will be completely demolished. Seasoned KC dancers are moving to get away from it and I believe that if we mend some broken bridges we can bring the KC swing scene almost back to its glory years. Some one said “good fences make good neighbors” however I believe that sometimes tearing down those fences is the only way to create a community.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:54 am
A few weekes ago I was thinking about the old scene when I started dancing. I started dancing in 2002 in Lawrence where it was mostly east coast swing at the time. The Sunday night dances were well attended until it started to turn into mostly Lindy Hop. This was was hard for those of us who didn’t know how to do lindy. It was as if “we” who had been dancing there (as 11th and Mass and the ECM) were being pushed out. Ed and Jenny were good about teaching classes before the dances on Tues night but I and others could not attend those classes. So dancing was not much fun. Then that summer Kenny started his swing bombs which had free lessons. Different people taught the lessons. That is where I learned to dance.(I think I’m just rambling now). So after all of this…when the scene was an east coast swing dance scene there wasn’t near as much arguing because the focus was to dance and have fun. It was not to become a great dancer.
June 21st, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I got into swing dancing in high school around 1998 and was glad to be part of the swing scene when it started to gain more popularity in the early 2000s. I really enjoyed going to Sunday nights at 11th and Mass and Tuesday nights at the ECM when I could fit it in. Slowly, the scene started to change, and before long, nobody ever seemed to want to ask me to dance. Yes, I asked guys to dance, but it seemed they did it because they felt they had to. A lot of times I’d go and just sit there, watching, for several hours. I might have danced a song or two, and it was rare that anyone talked to me. Finally, I gave up on going because of this. It seems like the scene has had this downfall coming for a long time. I don’t know what to do to fix it, and I’m in no position to do so (as I currently live on the other side of the state). I wish all of you the best of luck in trying to revive this situation.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I know the feeling. It feels like the scene has been shrinking since I joined in 2000. I realize that there are times when things pick up a bit, and I have seen a little bit of an upswing (no pun intended) lately, but overall, the scene needs a *lot* of help.
June 20th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
So how do we unify?