Dancing in Toronto
Posted by: litui in Dancing, Travel, tags: bal-swing, balboa, design exchange, frankie manning, lindy hop, sylvia sykes, toronto, toronto swing dance society, workshop
Last Friday (April 25), Heather and I flew to Toronto to attend a Lindy and Balboa workshop taught by Frankie Manning and Sylvia Sykes. This is the first dance workshop I’ve ever attended and believe me, I was overwhelmed. For those who are unaware (and too lazy to click on the links), here are both bios in short:
Frankie Manning
Swing dancer extraordinaire Frankie Manning was a leading dancer at Harlem’s legendary Savoy Ballroom where, in the mid-1930s, he revolutionized the course of the lindy hop with his innovations, including the lindy air step and synchronized ensemble lindy routine. frankiemanning.com
Sylvia Sykes
Sylvia, an internationally recognized authority on most types of Swing Dance, has been teaching and judging for 20 years throughout the US, Europe, and Australia. sylviasykes.com
Needless to say, some excellent teachers. Yes, that does say that Frankie Manning was a Lindy Hop dancer in the 1930s. He was born in 1914 making him almost 94 years old. He continues to teach and dance, his schedule already booked for 2008. In this workshop he taught some of his favourite sequences of moves in Lindy Hop. The man has a wealth of experience and knowledge and I couldn’t help but be inspired while attending his workshop.
Sylvia was also exceptional. She had a shining sense of humour while still managing to give us the facts plain and simple on how to execute certain moves. She emphasized social dance, proper leading and following, and simplification so that moves could be executed with the least amount of needless work. She taught not only 8 and 6 count Lindy dance but Balboa/Bal-Swing as well.
Stay tuned for longer descriptions of individual parts of this weekend’s event.
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