Articles

Swing with New Moves from Loz Yee

by Tan Pei Ru (28 May 2010)

The local swing dancers were treated to a fantastic workshop by Loz Yee of Swing Patrol, Melbourne, who taught them to swing like they've never swung before!

Watch out, Tuesday nights! KL Swing! has jotted down some pretty fine moves in their books after a fantastic workshop on Wednesday, 19th May 2010.

Swing dance regulars gathered for a two-hour workshop conducted by Swing Patrol’s Loz Yee. There was no mistaking that the swing whiz from Down Under oozes pure rhythm as we caught her doing her little moves while she prepared the music selection for the night.

The night started off with discounted healthy eats courtesy of For Fresh People. After much difficulty by ringleader Ming in getting the group to leave their delicious meals, Loz led the participants onto the dance floor for a warm up with a bout of Shim Sham- the line dance that brings every swing dancer together.

The first bit of the workshop revolved around styling, pulse and musicality. To start, partners learned how to feel each other’s pulses by applying a variation of light and heavy bounces in different positions. This helps create an understanding and matching rhythm among partners when they dance. The group then applied this basic to a selection of songs- some pretty straightforward, some with the odd stumble-inducing beats. Our musicality was then put to the test when Loz encouraged the dancers to channel the emotions of a variation of songs. It may be sensual, gleeful or even plain fun but dancers must feel the song, follow the rhythm, slide with it, hold a beat or even roll the body to it!

A few fun and practical styling tips were then thrown into the mix. After a few rounds of practice, dancers managed to incorporate the “kick-ball-change”, the “heel-heel-toe-toe” and the “cross-steps” into their basic 8-counts routines. You’ll definitely be seeing a lot of these in their upcoming socials at Sid’s Pub!

The second bit of the workshop was tailored for solo dancing. A sense of excitement started making its rounds on the dance floor as not many of the KL Swing! members were accustomed to dancing alone to swing music. Dancers were first taught how to spice up their jazz moves with a bit more “pow” to something more familiar- the Shim Sham. There was a hike in body awareness when dancers learned how to “Shorty-George” and “Boogie-Back” with a change in directions, bigger gestures or heck, no hands at all!

Loz then taught the group a little jazz sequence that will get us by many Charleston-friendly songs. Through this, the dancers were reintroduced to the “Charleston”, the “knee-slaps”, the “double-kicks” and for some, a lesson on brand new moves such as the “Scarecrow” and the “Fall-off-the-Log”. After a few extremely fun practice rounds of the choreography, music was played freely for the whole dance floor to string the moves together and improvise to the music to their own liking. Despite the lack of space, no dancer hesitated to throw out their strongest and biggest moves!

The group was then divided in two for a dance-off from each half of them dance floor. Fortunately, they were spared the jitters as both groups led by the dynamite Loz herself. The session then ended with a Charleston jam where the excited (albeit exhausted and red-faced) participants would form a circle and take turns to bust out their moves while the rest cheer them on.

To wrap up the night, For Fresh People kept its dance floor open for another hours’ worth of social dancing. A few KL Swing regulars who couldn’t make it for the workshop and guests from Russia took this chance to join in the fun! All in all, it was probably one of the more fun-packed guest workshops organised by KL Swing! and all participants went home bopping to their cars.

A big shout-out to Loz Yee and the Swing Patrol in Melbourne! Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

[Dancing with the fantastic Loz Yee!]