US OPEN Observations 2002 By Skippy Blair 12-12-02

What a fantastic event! Great dancing - Wonderful camaraderie - Seeing folks you only see once a year - and now the event is over. My voice is gone - but my brain wants to chronicle some thoughts while they are still fresh in my mind. Bear in mind that this was the best US OPEN event to date - Fantastic show! My random thoughts are always geared to "How can we add to the performance of those on their way up?"  Based on the results of my Critiques, there are three MAIN "elements" that come to mind:

#1. Mugging the camera and the audience - Swing dancing is an "intimate conversation" between two people. It is a mini-drama, where the audience gets an inside peek at the interaction between two people playing a fascinating game with music. He tries something - She tries something - each reacting to the other's creativity. They laugh between themselves. We laugh with them. We are caught up in the interplay. We appreciate this connection between the music and these two people as they play their game - and we even get to hear the same music. FACT? Several performances included at least one partner who was looking straight ahead - or at the camera - or at the audience - and left us with a feeling that their partner was just not important. (This usually comes from inexperience - fright - or simply misguided direction.) - but the result is the same. Inappropriate focus can even put your "center" in the wrong place - actually lessening the impact of the performance.

#2. Singing the Song - Once in a while there is a pause in a song - or a specific phrase in a song that NEEDS to be shouted out - or at least draws attention to words being said - because it was important to the dance! Otherwise, there is a feeling that these two people are just mouthing words like a Karaoke and it detracts from the dance. Mouths are moving and most of the people in the room do not know the words. It's like an "inside joke" and sometimes people laugh because they know the words too. Not funny - unless you understand the words - and the words add significant meaning to the dance. Seeing two mouths in constant motion is a distraction - and occasionally the dance seemed flat because all of the energy was going into words that we could not understand. There is a "Word Rule" that works: When the LEAD INSTRUMENT in the band becomes the VOCAL - there is probably something that the dancer should do to become part of that action. Most "mouthing" I observed did not contain that element. Song and Dance men (and women) always sing - AND dance. The focus is on one or the other. The focus here is the DANCE!

#3. Centering to a partner is an element that was missing quite often. I saw some great dancing - but I also saw dancing that could have been much GREATER if there was more control taking place in the "Center Point of Balance - with the man's center moving on the "&a" before count "1" of a new pattern. Several people involved in the certification programs were asking questions that I thought were brilliant. "How come some of the performers looked so good and yet it seemed like they danced too long?" That's a question right out of the text book - and so is the answer. I tell both teachers and judges that if they feel that the dance is going on too long - look for the element that is missing. It is usually a combination of one or two of the following:

A. Lack of "Action/Reaction" - Action/Reaction can only take place when at least one partner tightens the "&a" at the beginning of every new move. (BOTH is even better and can be exhilarating.)

B. Lack of a "Pulse" that is visible in the partnership. Pulsing can add dynamics to the dance, creating electricity that is exciting.

C. Lack of "Connection" - either in the way they follow each other with their head and their eyes - or perhaps the way they connect from center to center that creates a "Point of Connection" that makes each couple truly a partnership - rather than two people, simply joined hand to hand.

This article will "expand" as we receive questions and insights from others.  Always check for the last Update date - at the top!