"I just attended a wonderful workshop weekend in Charlottesville, VA, complements of Swing Cville. I received a scholarship and a wonderful person, Andy, housed me. It was great. Even though I'm on a tight budget, I was able to truly enjoy myself and bask in the glory that is College of Swingology.

I took the Int/ Advanced Lindy Hop courses with Dax Hock and Sara Deckard. They were amazing. Dax's teaching method is about rhythm and movement. There are many catch phrases I picked up from him this weekend. "Anything you do once, you can do twice." "Connecting to your body," "Frame-Matching," How do you lead it? -- DO IT!" He has philosophies that are very similar to what I think dancing should be. I got to talk with him Friday night and savored every minute of it. He is very big into rhythm, so much so, he's taught himself rhythm guitar and is also teaching himself to play the C trumpet.

He describes body movements as two colors... blue and red. Red movements are tight and concentrated and tense. Blue movements are loose, natural, relaxed, and easy. According to Dax, your whole body needs to have one color... don't make your frame tight and "red" while you're lower body is loose and "blue." Own what you do... if you're a follow, match your partner on the dance floor. If you're dancing with a guy who's very loose and natural, become loose yourself (**not in any sense other than body movement, mind you**).

Instead of counting the beats, one two, etc... He had us sing them... oom scha oom scha or doo wop doo wop. In doing this, you need to move on each note you sing. He had us "groove walk" around the room... and this entails walking heel toe to the rhythm of the music. In order to groove walk, you must be blue and let your arms swing, naturally from side to side, sometimes letting them hit your thighs and keep the beat of the music.

He had us work on a lindy circle... and make it a lindy oval. An oval is a more natural shape... and lends to much more 'blue' dancing. We also worked on swivels a lot. UGH. I'm terrible at swivels. I was so frustrated and tired by this point I almost gave up. I tried and tried and tried... finally, after class, Dax and I talked and he led swivels and he said I was too tight and wasn't using my entire body. I must have looked ultra defeated or super pitiful, so he led them again, and forced my core to do the work. DUH! Now that I've felt that, I will work on it... and will have the best daggum swivels, ever. I won't lose them this time, either. Practice does make perfect.

I love his style of teaching. I love his passion for authentic swing music and movement. Taking 4 classes from Dax and Sara this weekend changed my entire realm of thinking. Wait, that's not true, I've always thought this way... I've always thought swing dancing should be less effort and less thinking and tightness... and more relaxed fun. I just never knew what I needed to do to make it happen. It sounds really dumb, when I write it, but it's true. Dancing and making sure your entire body is relaxed, changed my life! I've been told to relax my arm or my frame or my shoulders... but always one part of the body, not the whole thing. Try it, next time you're on the floor. It'll change your life too. "

We promised this year would be better than last year. We weren't kidding. If you haven't checked out our About Hockwarts page, you don't yet know that we have hired the top four Lindy Wizards in the known universe to take your dancing to a whole, magical new level.  Here they are:

Professors Hock & Breck:

Professors Pitruzzella & Trudeau:

photo courtesy of Alexandre Racine

That's right. Comin' to C'ville. Registration opens May 1. Only thirty leads and thirty follows will be accepted this year.  Sign up for Hockwart's Mail if you want to be the first to know when registration opens! 

Scholarships!

You know we love to hook people up. This year, two full scholarships are available, and you can submit your video application now.  Click here for more info.