Dance: To Travel or Not to Travel

Kelly Porter - Words to Lindy Hoppers
My html skills are lacking when it comes to embedding non-Youtube Videos, but the above video made the circuits this past week, and was posted, re-posted and discussed.

I have to say, she really hits home on this issue.

I moved to this city nearly 2 years ago, because I was visiting on a regular basis for any amount of dancing to be had. I felt that it was time to strike out for new professional and personal opportunities, and the dance community was a large part of that. But I was tired. I was tired of always racking up miles on my car, eating bad fast food en route to dances, sleeping in sleeping bags on floors, and having to choose between dance (in another city) and life. It's fun to be the unknown element for a little while, but nice to recognize familiar faces.


I love travel, I love meeting new people, but when it comes down to it, what I really want in a scene is to be able to call up a few dancers, and hit the local blues bar. We're inundated with good music, every single night of the week, so why should I need to travel to have a decent dance?

Yet, travel is seen as a sign of wanting to improve, of being 'serious' about your dance, which strikes me as true to a point. Dancing with better or different dancers will improve your overall social dancing, by allowing you to experience different styles of dance. However, lessons, practicing solo movement (hips challenge, solo jazz, etc...) or sitting down with a partner to analyze your swingouts will also improve your dancing.

Coming from a scene that lacked the infrastructure, I know that I'm fortunate to be in a location that affords me good, experienced teachers with a variety of perspectives.

And while I commiserate with a follow who wished for a practice partner to whip her into shape, instead of the other way around, I still think that investing in your own scene yields the best returns. I like practicing with the people around me, to get our scene to be the destination others want to visit, rather than perpetually fleeing for other scenes.