Swing Exchanges

[Sagitta]

One thing that I always associate with swing is "lindy exchanges". What has been your experiences with them. Also are there exchanges for other types of swing, or is lindy the only one that has these?

[jon]

One thing that I always associate with swing is "lindy exchanges". What has been your experiences with them. Also are there exchanges for other types of swing, or is lindy the only one that has these?

They're largely a Lindy culture phenomenon up til now, with a few exceptions.

[swinginstyle]

The only exception that I know of was a recent west coast exchange that happened several months ago in Orange County. I heard about it through http://www.westiemonkey.com Overall, my experiences with exchanges have been good. There have been some exceptions, though. Definitely, one should go to an exchange that would match them. Some exchanges orient their musical offerings toward blues, fast lindy, or mid-tempo. I prefer those that offer a good musical mix, provide excellent information, take care of their out-of-town guests, and are large. Small exchanges are nice, but the quality of dancers rise the larger the exchange and the larger the city's scene. That's my $.02 for now.

[LindyKeya]

I actually prefer smaller exchanges. As has been noted, larger exchanges tend to attract better dancers- including rockstars and people who are very cliquish- if they don't know you, they won't dance with you. At smaller exchanges, on the other hand, you get the opportunity to meet and dance with everyone. It is a lot more personal.

Overall, my experience with exchanges has been great! I've organized three exchanges now, and am getting excited about our third, coming up in just over a month!

[pygmalion]

I hope you posted in ads and announcements,LindyKeya.

I've often wondered why other swing and even other dances don't sponsor exchanges. What is on the "menu" at a typical exchange, anyway? Some classes and workshops, plus lots of social dancing, right? Any performances? And how come the cost is generally so low? (I can't see any ballroom organizer charging so little for so much. LOL.)

[Spitfire]

The only exchanges I've heard of were for Lindy Hop. One was held here back in December 2000 and Phoenix has had one in each of the last two years.

It's a great idea for other dances.

[Sagitta]

That's actually what prompted my questioning. I've never gone to a lindy exchange, as I never felt good enough, but would have loved to gone to other exchanges. What is unique about lindy that results in these fun filled weekends that we rarely have for other swing dances or other non-swing dances?

[Spitfire]

That's actually what prompted my questioning. I've never gone to a lindy exchange, as I never felt good enough, but would have loved to gone to other exchanges. What is unique about lindy that results in these fun filled weekends that we rarely have for other swing dances or other non-swing dances?

Actually I think the idea originated with the lindy hoppers and I've actually wondered myself why such events for other dances haven't been thought of enough to get one organized.

These events also include non-dance activites such as tours and hikes. This was done in Phoenix.

[SwinginBoo]

We just had the first CT Lindy Exchange 2 weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. I got to dance with people from all over the country. I think there is something so magical about this dance. You can meet someone for the first time and share an experience of dancing. You can dance with this person whom you would otherwise not know if you both did not share common ground. And when you get those dances where you are connecting with that person and you're on the same wavelength...there is just no greater experience than that. It is just magical.

[pygmalion]

Cool! Swingin Boo. Sounds like you're still in love with lindy hop! Excellent. :D

[voilsb]

That's actually what prompted my questioning. I've never gone to a lindy exchange, as I never felt good enough, but would have loved to gone to other exchanges. What is unique about lindy that results in these fun filled weekends that we rarely have for other swing dances or other non-swing dances?Well, it's not about whether you're good enough or not. Going to an exchange will leapfrog your dancing to a new level.

But what's unique about lindy is that we don't care how good you are. We care about much fun you are and how much fun you try to have. Lindy exchanges are about having fun, not about being or getting good.

larger exchanges tend to attract better dancers- including rockstars and people who are very cliquish- if they don't know you, they won't dance with youI've personally never noticed this. I'm really not a dancer who would stand out and have people say "Wow, did you dance with him yet! You've got to!" but I've had no problems dancing with rockstars like Carla or Sylvia Sykes, or Jason Christodoulou, or Sharon. I'd say you just have to ask them to dance. They *seem* cliquish, because since everyone wants to dance with them they don't have to go out of their way to find dances, and therefore tend to not ask others to dance, but if you ask them I'm sure you'd get yoru dance in.

What is on the "menu" at a typical exchange, anyway? Some classes and workshops, plus lots of social dancing, right? Any performances? And how come the cost is generally so low?In general, a typical exchange involves an afternoon social activity which might be linked to dancing, and social dancing from dusk until dawn. Usually there aren't classes or workshops, and perforances are more of a "sometimes" thing. And that's how they keep the cost down. They're really all about getting together and having an awesome swing party for a weekend.

[pygmalion]

That sounds like such a blast! I'm going to sign up for the Orlando Lindy exchange here in October. Better take some lessons first. LOL.

[SwinginBoo]

When in October is your exchange Jenn?

[swinginstyle]

If you're interested in the history of lindy exchanges, check here: http://www.yehoodi.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=65484

[pygmalion]

That's a cool link, swingingstyle. For some reason, I thought exchanges had been around forever. 1998 isn't all that long ago. The concept has spread pretty far, pretty fast. 8)

[Amy2BRNO2B]

The Orlando Lindy Exchange is October 1 - 3. Come out!! I am one of the directors of Orlando Lindy Exchange, Inc. so you're getting this from the source. You can go to www.orlx.com for more detailed info, but keep in mind that the site is not totally complete yet. But registration is open! It's going to be fun, we're soooo excited!!!

You probably got your questions answered by going to that Yehoodi link, but in a nutshell, a lindy exhange is just a big swing party. "Everyone come to Orlando and hang with us and dance with us and see what it's like to dance in our town." No competitions, no performances, no workshops - just hours upon hours of social dancing for us crazy swing fanatics. That is what keeps the weekend so cheap. Usually the hosts are not looking to make a profit, but are just hoping not to lose money and have tons of fun. It's a labor of love! The underlying idea is the invitation of guests to come visit. Therefore the host city tries to get as many locals as possible to host the visitors so that they don't have to pay hotel costs. So the visitors not only get to dance with us, but see what it's like to hang out with us, see the city, play, eat, frolic, etc. They make friends that they in turn tend to invite to their cities for some dancing fun. I have friends all over the United States now that I'm hoping to see again when they come visit me in October.

In our exchange we'll have three bands, a few guest DJ's from around the country, and we'll use several different local venues over the course of the weekend, 7 dances total. It is an opportunity to dance and socialize with people you don't normally come in contact with.

I could go on and on. You just need to come see for yourself! :)

[d nice]

Actually the first dance to really do the exchange thing as far as weekend parties was Carolina Shag. Three times a year shaggers from all over the country descend on Myrtle Beach and do nothing but dance. These aren't just Friday through Sunday affairs either, they're like week long reunions.

[Spitfire]

They are not called exchanges, but there are a number of events like this one coming up in August in Carefree, Ariz. (http://www.shallwedancehouston.com/Arizona.htm)

Just might make it up there if all goes well. 8)

[Jmatthew]

I've often wondered why other swing and even other dances don't sponsor exchanges.

Lindy Hoppers tend to be young and poor. When we got into a discussion at the local west coast venue about exchanges the Westies thought the idea of staying in someone's house, sleeping on their floor, and basically "slumming" it was complete ridiculous. Hotels aren't THAT expensive!

They also mentioned that they just wouldn't be able to stand that much dancing.

There also seems to be a stricter heirarchy in other dances, about who should be dancing with who, and learning from who, etc. Having a world class West Coaster come to an event and NOT teach just seems like a waste, Lindy Hoppers seem to respect their elders less. :)

What is on the "menu" at a typical exchange, anyway?

Generally, there's a pre-exchange dance on Thursday night for people who get to town early. It goes from like 8ish to midnight or 1am.

Friday night there's dancing from early evening till 6amish saturday morning.

repeat for saturday and sunday, except add a noon-ish/mid afternoon dance.

There aren't classes in an exchange (if there are it's not an exchange), although sometimes there are enterprising persons who run some workshops on the weekend of the exchange to snag some extra business from the out of towners.

I've been to exchanges where there are demonstrations, but they're not the point, the dancing is.

And it's cheap because it's put together by volunteers, people who want to do it for the joy of it and not for the cash they can make. In fact, MOST exchanges LOSE money. I heard the Vancouver BC exchange lost a few thousand dollars last year, and the Hawaii exchange lost tens of thousands of dollars. And remember there are no businesses putting these on, the wonderful volunteers who put the event together in the first place end up paying that bill themselves.

Lindy culture is just a very different culture from the rest of the dancing community. It's been lucky to avoid a lot of the business side of things, so things tend to be done by volunteers for the love of the dance, not by organizations looking to make a big buck.

[pygmalion]

I've often wondered why other swing and even other dances don't sponsor exchanges.

Lindy Hoppers tend to be young and poor. When we got into a discussion at the local west coast venue about exchanges the Westies thought the idea of staying in someone's house, sleeping on their floor, and basically "slumming" it was complete ridiculous. Hotels aren't THAT expensive!

They also mentioned that they just wouldn't be able to stand that much dancing.

There also seems to be a stricter heirarchy in other dances, about who should be dancing with who, and learning from who, etc. Having a world class West Coaster come to an event and NOT teach just seems like a waste, Lindy Hoppers seem to respect their elders less. :)

What is on the "menu" at a typical exchange, anyway?

Generally, there's a pre-exchange dance on Thursday night for people who get to town early. It goes from like 8ish to midnight or 1am.

Friday night there's dancing from early evening till 6amish saturday morning.

repeat for saturday and sunday, except add a noon-ish/mid afternoon dance.

There aren't classes in an exchange (if there are it's not an exchange), although sometimes there are enterprising persons who run some workshops on the weekend of the exchange to snag some extra business from the out of towners.

I've been to exchanges where there are demonstrations, but they're not the point, the dancing is.

And it's cheap because it's put together by volunteers, people who want to do it for the joy of it and not for the cash they can make. In fact, MOST exchanges LOSE money. I heard the Vancouver BC exchange lost a few thousand dollars last year, and the Hawaii exchange lost tens of thousands of dollars. And remember there are no businesses putting these on, the wonderful volunteers who put the event together in the first place end up paying that bill themselves.

Lindy culture is just a very different culture from the rest of the dancing community. It's been lucky to avoid a lot of the business side of things, so things tend to be done by volunteers for the love of the dance, not by organizations looking to make a big buck.

Holy cow! The way you describe it, exchanges seem to be the way to go! (Which reminds me, there's a lindy exchange in Orlando in October. Better check up on that)

A whole weekend of just dancing with little shots, big shots, and everybody in between sounds like a total blast. 8)