After attending Swing Era, Bangkok in Thailand, FMF Scholar Fedora Cotta of Goa, India reflects on her experience and shares insights in deepening her relationship to Lindy hop, swing music, teaching dance, and building community.
I am Fedora Cotta, a recipient of the 2024 Frankie Manning Scholarship. Firstly, I would like to thank the Foundation for this wonderful opportunity. I am extremely grateful for this experience and I hope this report will highlight the depth of insight I took back from it.
I run a growing community of lindyhoppers in Goa under the platform Lindyzai. Having run this platform for the last two years, I am now faced with the challenge of how to see it through to the next stage and the following are some of the questions I was looking to find clarity about through the scholarship.
• What does a swing community look and feel like on a large scale?
• How have other leaders advanced their communities?
• Who can I meet that can relate to this stage of my growth?
• What does it feel like to be amongst a group of seasoned swing dancers?
• What is missing in the quality of dancers in the community and how can I address that?
• What does it feel like to dance with advanced leads from different swing dance backgrounds?
• What does it feel like to dance to a live swing band?
• How are the classes structured in the festival?
• What can I learn about teaching better?
• What will I learn that I don't already know?
1. ASIA SCENE
a. My first impression of the event was its scale. I noted the size of the ballrooms and the fact that the floor was packed each evening by a majority of Asian dancers. There were communities from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Thailand (and perhaps others I can't recall) participating in large numbers in the city battles.
b. I learnt that there is a healthy network of communication happening between a lot of these communities with respect to festivals and exchange programs. I could see the possibilities of plugging into this already existing network of swing dance communities all over Asia.
c. I was invited to an Asian leaders meet-up organized by Sing Lim one morning of the festival. Here I got a more clear perspective of the Asia swing dance scene, from hearing leaders share stories about their communities. Being able to represent Lindyzai myself, was a small but important step in introducing Goa to the Asia swing dance scene.
2. ENERGY
a. Being immersed in the experience of a swing festival, I was able to perceive the energy of the dance. This was something I couldn't pick up from watching videos. The sense of heightened energy was a general feeling each evening of the festival. This aspect of the dance has been an intangible but important observation that I've been trying to understand and share ever since I came back.
b. At the class with Ramona Staffeld and Nathan Bugh, when I briefly danced with Ramona I noted the power and energy in her dancing. More impressively I felt it even when I watched her perform amongst hundreds of people. This helped me understand the energy of a swing dancer on a more individual level. It has been a useful lesson to take back and it has improved my dancing.
3. LIVE MUSIC
a. I learnt on arriving at the festival that most of the festival bands were local to Bangkok and were trained by the Jelly Roll Jazz Club. It was impressive to see and experience their efforts to introduce the culture of the swing era not only from the dancing perspective, but also the music.
b. In addition to the swing bands, The Thailand Jazz Orchestra, a 16 piece orchestra, was put together by the organization as well. I learnt later that the experience of dancing to a jazz orchestra was generally rare in a swing dance scene. This made me value the experience so much more. Hearing them amidst the other swing bands allowed me to appreciate the different types of sounds that can influence the atmosphere and energy on the dance floor.
c. The Carolina Reapers Swing band were experts in engaging and sharing their musical energy with the crowd. I could understand more clearly how the musicians and dancers have a symbiotic relationship with each other.
4. MUSICALITY
a. It was only through dancing with different leads that I was able to get a clear sense of musicality that I haven't been able to fully experience back home. When I tried leading the dance, I could see how the followers too were actively participating and expressing their musicality. This was a powerful revelation as I had unknowingly gotten used to the lead initiating and suggesting the musicality and the follow responding to it. I got to experience and observe the actual conversation the lead and follow can have on the dance floor.
b. During the history talk, Sing spoke about how Frankie Manning taught them what it actually meant to dance and more specifically how it was more about the feeling of the music than anything else. I could understand this more clearly in her class with Lennart, where they got us to go deeper into the rhythm of the music through the repetition of simple moves.
c. This lesson in musicality got cemented during the open class with Ramona where we paired up and took turns initiating a solo step while getting our partner to engage in our movements. This class made me braver about expressing myself and that evening at the socials I had some of my best dances of the festival because of it. I saw how much more creative the dance was when I dared to explore my own musicality both as lead and follow.
5. DANCERS
a. I was able to experience various dancing styles through my dances with people from different musical and cultural backgrounds. This experience expanded my creativity on the dance floor.
b. Dancing each evening at the festival helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses as a dancer. This gave me some clarity and insight to improve my own dancing.
c. I observed the different connections I had with various leads, because of our personalities, comfort, connection and energy in the dance. To me the best dancers seemed to be alive in a way that made them stand out.
d. It was interesting for me to note that my favorite dances were the ones with better connection rather than complex steps. My dance with Chester Whitmore made this point evident as it was my most memorable dance despite being the simplest. I have tried to consistently bring better connection to my dancing since then. I would like to be able to give someone else the experience he gave me.
CLASSES
a. I was pleasantly surprised to see that even at a basic level there was so much I could improve on. I appreciated the simplicity of the class structure that allowed more time to work on concepts to get those moves technically sound.
b. I observed the different teaching styles. Some teachers focussed more on
technique to improve a step and others focused more on feeling the music. Sing
Lim and Lennart Westerlund's class was an example of the latter. I was surprised to find how much value there was in repetition and trying to go deeper into
the music. On the surface it seemed like all we were doing was repeating the
move, but in hindsight I understood the kind of energy it took to consciously connect with the music, the rhythm and your partner, while getting the step correct.
7. TEACHERS
a. I was curious to see the difference in quality of dancing from the teachers to the other dancers. I saw how it was their confidence in the dance and their musical skill that made them stand out on the dance floor. Observations like this were useful for me to understand the subtlety of what makes a good dancer.
b. I had various interactions with the teachers that gave me perspective for the journey ahead. Sing was my point of contact through the event, and encouraged me to keep pursuing my efforts to grow the community even though the path ahead may be challenging. It was impressive to see her energy on and off the dance floor.
c. Lennart Westerlund gave me valuable insight about how it is important for dancers to understand the music by having them listen and dance to the rhythm section of the songs. On sharing my challenges with different musical preferences at a time when music is so easily available and swing music itself is evolving, he suggested I be a better salesperson of swing music. He stressed the importance of knowing what I stand for in my teaching style and my choice of music so that I could attract dancers accordingly.
d. I enjoyed watching the performances of Sakarias Larsson, Frida Haggstrom Gerdt, Nathan Bugh and Ramona Staffeld. I loved seeing how even though they were all strong dancers, they each carried the dance differently. Ramona briefly chatted with me about her journey as a swing dancer. I learnt that she and Nathan shared a long history of dancing and practicing together. More importantly I realized that her impressive skill on the dance floor was refined over many years of experimentation and practice.
e. During an impromptu musical jam session one evening, with Sakaris playing the drums and Nathan playing the piano, I could see how their background in music surely contributed to their skill on the dance floor and vice versa.
f. I was impressed by the amount of technique I picked up in Chester's solo jazz class. The strongest lesson I learnt from him however, is the attitude you bring to the dance. I loved watching him dance even when he wasn't on the dance floor, whether it was doing a little move outside the steps of a cafe, or the jump in his step as he walked down the street. He seemed to embody rhythm and it was a joy to see how that translated in his dancing.
MISCELLANEOUS
a. As a representative of the Frankie Manning Scholarship I was able to peek behind the curtain at how the event was run, going as far back as how to understand the vision and the growth through the years.
b. I was able to sit in on the Musicians track which were classes in the festival program specifically for the musicians. It was interesting and inspiring to see how the
musicians as well, were learning how to listen and talk to each other.
c. Through all my observations and interactions with different members of the organizing team I was able to get a more cohesive understanding of how a Swing community functions. I noted the shared vision that everyone on the team was working towards and the shared effort between a large number of people to make an event of this scale possible.
d. Meeting the previous scholars Cecillia from Indonesia and lylia from Malaysia has been beneficial in forming connections that could help me strengthen the Goa community going forward. It has been inspiring to dance with them and see how good they are. They have also been extremely kind and helpful and I feel less overwhelmed by the journey ahead knowing I can lean on them for help and advice.
e. It was humbling to meet Joycee from the Philippines who in turn found inspiration in me and my story. I was able to give her insights from my experiences that I hoped would help her start the Lindy-Hop community in the Philippines.
f. I have always made it a point to talk about the African American culture of this dance when I teach, because I know how important the culture is to the dance. This is why I was so excited to attend the history talk with Sing, Chester and Lennart. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their stories and
memories and it gave me fresh perspective about the history of Swing dance as compared to what I have learnt about it online. I took notes on specific aspects about the dance and dancers that I wanted to research more about.
g. I loved the concept of the posters made by the KL Swing community for their festival last year. It reminded me of the importance of showcasing these Lindy-hop legends to new swing dancers.
h. I was very inspired by all the tap performances, particularly seasoned performers like Ramona and Nathan. Hearing Sing talk about tap dance as a way to refine musicality and rhythm, encouraged me to purchase my own set of tap shoes.
CONCLUSIONS
• I have understood, in a way only experience can teach you, how I can improve my own dancing. More specifically, I have started implementing intention, presence and energy in my dancing and it has already made me a better dancer in subtle, but important ways.
• I have understood that the dancers in my community would greatly benefit from attending festivals themselves, as a lot of the useful aspects of my experience are hard to theorize. With this in mind I have shared with them a list of festivals all over Asia as well as resources to find Swing dance festivals across the globe.
• I have understood how musicality and personal expression are something we as a community need to work on. I have seen how the confidence in my own musicality can help me dance and teach better. I have understood the power of repetition and focus as a way to get deeper into the music. Having shared the exercises I picked up at the festival, it's been great to see how this was a much needed concept that was missing in our dancing. Musicality is now, even more so than before the central point around which I teach and talk about Swing dance.
• As a result of my own experiences at the festival, I have been talking to the community about the importance of good connection rather than complexity of steps, as a way to enhance the quality of the dance. I continue to try and find ways to explain this better.
• From my observations in the classes, I have seen the benefit of introducing a series of simple steps as a way to explain technique. This insight has been extremely useful for me as a teacher and community leader, as I had a feeling we were focussing more on the visual of the step rather than something more important. I've understood that this is the result of learning only through watching and ever since I came back, I've begun to correct this by focussing more on technique.
• I plan to put together a detailed report taking information from the history talk and share it here in Goa. From my experiences at the festival, I have been reminded of the importance of repeatedly sharing the history and African-American culture of the dance with a new swing community. I have already put up posters of the swing era legends in our dance space and I plan to find other ways to engage the community with this information.
• I have seen how connecting to other swing communities in Asia can help strengthen the community in Goa and I've already started planning online classes with other community leaders to begin with.
• I understand that to grow the community and achieve bigger goals, I need a larger team of helpers that work towards a shared vision. I have begun to initiate this process by inviting community members to be more involved in planning and discussing the way forward.
• I have seen the benefit of having local musicians be part of the dance community. While this was always part of my vision, it was really useful to see how the Jelly Roll Jazz Club achieved this. Even though I'm yet to find a path to implement this in Goa, I am more positive about the possibility.
• Lastly, I have seen how much richness and depth there is in this dance form. Even though I came back with so much insight and clarity that will help me level up in my dancing, I am sure I will continue to find new challenges to work on every time I do.
留言