swing dance camps and exchanges

Balboa on the rocks happens in September in Sydney, coinciding with the SJC (the Evil Empire's Sydney branch of their competition franchise). It makes me wonder about the saturation point for Australian swing culture, in terms of major 'events'. Prior to 2001 the country saw only irregular workshops with visiting celebrities which didn't feature social dancing in any significant way (unsurprising, considering the fact that many of said celebs weren't too keen on social dancing then - or now - and the swing dance community of Australia wasn't entirely interested in social dancing either.
Today, however, there's quite a different story. In 2005 we see the following major 'events':
Lismore dance camp in January.
The Australian Jitterbug Championships in Melbourne in April (the weekend before Hullabaloo - with customary disregard of any other swing dance organisation beyond the EE).
Hullabaloo in Perth in April.
Stompin by the Sea in Tasmania in July.
Canberrang in Canberra in August.
Balboa on the Rocks in Sydney in September.
A Sydney Lindy Exchange proposed for October.
The MLX in Melbourne in November.
The SwingMasters workshop in December.
The Dax Hock/Mattiasworkshops on the Gold Coast, named Beach Swing in April/May has been renamed the Gold Coast Lindy Exchange.
And the AJC in Melbourne at some point as well.

That's a truckload of major events in any one year. Especially when you consider the fact that most dancers will travel maybe once or twice a year for a dance thing, max. They do of course attract different types of dancers. The SJC and AJC are competition events (though the EE juggernaut does promote them so effectively even non-competitors turn up), the SwingMasters camp focusses on workshops (as does Lismore), Canberrang is entirely social dancing, and MLX and Hullabaloo are a mix of social dancing and workshops, though entirely possible as social-only events. A different market for each.

I do worry, though, that this sudden rush to brand events as 'exchanges', or to offer a major event, might flood the market a little. It also worries me that dancers place so great an emphasis on competitions like the AJC and SJC instead of focussing on social dancing. Social dancing seems to me to be the cornerstone of lindy hop and swing dance - vernacular roots and all. I'm also bothered by the blatent profiteering of some of the major events - SwingMasters, the AJC and SJC in particular reek of EE-type tactics. I know that the EE is built that way - they see classes as more profitable than social dancing. As they are. But it really concerns me that they match the running of these types of events with continual emphasis in their website and in their newsletters on competitions. Teachers and dancers within the organisation are continually presented in terms of their compeition placings (never mind that half of these competitions were run by their own organisation and the other half run by rock n rollers) or their membership in elite troops.

I have an ongoing problem with the emphasis on troops and competitions in swing dancing. Sure, they do offer particular dancing challenges, but it also seems to me that they offer a shortcut to 'elite' status which many swing dancers (with their continuing low self esteem and desperate need for publich adulation) seem to find so necessary. Again, a departure from vernacular roots. And while competitions and performance troops were a part of the afro-american dance culture of the 30s (to which swing dancers today harken), they were managed in quite different ways than the competitions and performances of today. Not to mention the clear distinction between dance - swing dance - and the actual vernacular of contemporary Australia.
Swing dance troops and competitions today are not accurately recreating a by-gone era, but rather reframing and re-presenting a history which is entirely ideologically driven and determined, presenting a sort of nostalgia which is more about justifying various community structures and organisations and heirarchies than it is about historical accuracy. Let's not even approach the race issue, though the term 'wigger' seems terribly applicable at this point.

But to return to the topic of camps and exchanges. This thread on the swingtalk board that I started yesterday as a sort of fact-finding mission reveals a few of the key issues surrounding the topic of camps/exchanges in Australian swing culture.
1. many dancers seem to regard competitions, workshop weekends, social dancing and 'camps' as interchangeable and equally important concepts.
2. there are disagreements about the definition of 'camps' and 'exchanges', terms which originally developed in the American swing community and which really aren't all that useful in the Australian context.
3. we can smell the vested interests at work - note which low- or infrequent posters chime in on this discussion. And also note the 'authoritative' style adopted by some posters.

I'll address those issues in a haphazard, rambling sort of way:

A brief explanation of the ways in which these terms are used/understood by swing dancers:
Exchanges - in the US - are weekend events where dancers from one city visit another to sample it's dance scene, and are hosted by local dancers. This site offers an example of an 'original' exchange.
Camps - in the US and and Europe - are weekend (or longer) events which focus primarily on workshops and teaching.
Workshops - are special 'classes' which are usually longer than regular classes and usually taught by visiting or 'celebrity'teachers.

Despite the regional definitions of these terms, they are not even as applicable as they once were in the USA. Exchanges now often also include workshops, and definitely serve as an opportunity for 'celebrity' teachers to promote their private classes. They also involve a range of carefully organised special dancing events, rather than simply showcasing the 'ordinary' local dance opportunities. Camps now also feature more social dancing.

As a historical note, MLX was the first and highest-profile event to be presented as an 'exchange'. It does not function as an American exchange - in the classic sense - it includes workshops as well as social dancing. While it featured a single international teaching couple in its first year, complemented by a range of Australian teachers who were intended to showcase Australian (and New Zealand) dancers and teachers, subsequent MLXs have increasingly depended upon 'celebrity' international teachers and spent less time on local teachers. The social dancing component of the event has increased, but workshops are still very much the greatest drawcard for the weekend.

Interestingly, Canberrang is often referred to as the only 'true' lindy exchange in Australia. My feelings on the issue lie neither one way or another: it doesn't seem relevent to argue about whether or not an Australian event fits neatly into an American category or not. I'm actually far more interested in the Australianness of the MLX/Hullabaloo/etc hybrid. I argue that it accurately reflects the interests of the contemporary Australian lindy hop community, as well as indicating the relative inexperience of most Australian dancers and the priorities of a nation of dancers who are relatively isolated from the vast pool of teaching and dancing talent in the USA/Canada/Europe.

This is not to suggest that Australia does not possess its own pool of talented dancers. While they mightn't rival the very best of Europe and the USA (most of whom have around 20 years of experience with the dance under their belts), they certainly do rival the general body of dancers in many 'ordinary' local dance communities in Europe and Canada, if not the USA as well. It is simply the case that they are not as prominent in the international swing 'media'.

My concern lies not with the definition of terms, but with the threatening decrease in diversity in Australian lindy hop and other swing dances. While I may joke about the EE, I do see them very much as a key factor contributing to the increasing mediocrity of Melbourne dancing - homogeneity at least - and their expansion into Sydney, while kickstarting a low-profile scene, does suggest a certain impending blahness and dissolution of state/local dancing originality. It's the McDonalds' factor.

I do, however, applaud a more communicative and connected series of local communities within an Australian context, where each city and scene maintains its local variance and identity, and yet also benefits from travelling to other scenes.

I see that as the most important part of these events: they encourage dancers to travel outside their own city and scene, and to experience the dancing styles and cultures of others. It is unfortunate that many EE dancers will only travel to other scenes when an EE enterprise beckons: the catch22 of the SJC. But who can blame them? After all, familiarity breeds comfort, and most dancers - as I've said above - prefer a safer, non-challenging environment where they know the rules and where they stand within a clearly marked heirarchy.

And yes, I am doing the current chapter on camps and exchanges. Why do you ask?

Posted by Dogpossum on May 3, 2005 06:48 PM