The Difference in Austin Lindy's Teaching

We are not a Ballroom Studio

Lindy Hop is not a Ballroom dance, and Ballroom studios or teachers that teach Swing dancing frankly do not teach the same way that we teach. The style of movement, posture, athleticism, and the approach toward music and dancing is different. Historically, Swing and Lindy Hop also developed as a "street dance," not a "Ballroom" dance. It emerged as part of the Swing Era revolution against conventional, European attitudes about music and dancing, in general. Swing music was more energetic, animalistic, and lively than any European form of Ballroom music, and Lindy Hop arose out of the party ballrooms of Harlem (not Europe or even Manhattan) to reflect that fact. In its modern form, Lindy Hop is more athletic, more funky, more sensual, and (we submit) more fun than traditional Ballroom dances as a result.

And vive la difference! Lindy Hop has evolved into a truly musical, improvisational dance that emphasizes the connections between partners and the love of music, not showing off to an audience or a panel of judges. To be honest, if it were just another Ballroom Dance, most people who Lindy Hop across the country would probably not have learned, and certainly would not have become as obsessed and enthusiastic about it. There are also plenty of Ballroom dancers who similarly do not enjoy Lindy Hop for the converse reasons. (Too loosey-goosey, you sweat too much, different style of movement and music, etc.). Thus, although we respect Ballroom studios for teaching Ballroom dances and teaching them true to form in the grand Ballroom tradition, a Ballroom Studio honestly is not the right place to learn how to Swing Dance.

The only other studio in Austin that teaches Swing and Lindy Hop in its authentic, musical, improvisational form is Four on the Floor. They have been teaching Lindy Hop for years in Austin, are a large part of the reason there is any Swing/Lindy Hop scene here in Austin, in the first place. The owners and instructors are also friends of ours, on and off the dance floor. If you do not take dance lessons from us, we strongly encourage you to take lessons from them.

Still, there are other good reasons for choosing us.

Cost

Austin Lindy's classes are priced to encourage people to learn how to dance, not for us to make money off our students. While other local studios price classes at $10-$15 per class, Austin Lindy's classes cost only $7 individually, and just under $6 each when you register for an entire six-week session ($35). We also have discounts for repeat customers and for people who help recruit new students for us. (Click here for more pricing details). Although we have just as good if not better instructors with years of experience behind our reputation, we are by far the least expensive professional place to learn how to dance in Austin, if anywhere. We are in this to spread the gospel, not to make money off of it. Our teaching is professional, our prices are not.

Fun

The ultimate goal of the whole thing is to have fun, and our classes reflect that principle without compromising on quality or effectiveness. Our classes are not effective at the expense of being fun, nor are they fun at the expense of being effective. Instead, they are fun in large part because they are effective, and they are effective in large part because they are fun. Our students "get it" quicker without "getting" bored or dismayed. We consider it a privilege to teach our students how to dance and share with them our love of Lindy Hop, and it shows. Like professional ballplayers should feel, we sometimes can't believe that we get paid to do this.

Experience

Austin Lindy was founded by dancers with extensive Lindy Hop experience. This experience not only comes from repeatedly training with the best instructors in the world---Ryan Francois & Jenny Thomas, Steven Mitchell and Virginie, Frankie Manning, Paul Overton & Sharon Ashe, Chris Yee, David Dalmo, Ann & Krister, Rob & Diane, The Rhythm Hot Shots, among others---but also from years of experience beyond that training teaching Lindy Hop and seeing what works and what does not. This experience has helped us develop better teaching methods, which produce better results.

Teaching Methods

There is a big difference between being able to dance Lindy Hop and being able to teach it: not so much in the old saw that "those who can't do, teach," but more so in the contrary: that most people who can dance well unfortunately do not know how to teach well. It is not an automatic transition. Instead of improving upon old methods when they teach, most good Lindy Hoppers tend to merely mimic the slow, imperfect, albeit comfortable and familiar way in which they or others have been taught. Many of them end up reflecting only an imperfect approximation of those already-flawed teaching methods. They continue to extensively lecture and verbally describe how to do a fundamentally physical activity. Instead of shortening the learning curve, they end up extending it even further.

In contrast, we noticed years ago that traditional Lindy teaching methods throughout the country had little to do with producing great dancers. Social dancing did. Far too many Lindy Hoppers learned a few nifty "moves" in classes, but only ended up really "getting it" after a few years of social dancing and traveling for instruction in other cities or workshops. This "delayed epiphany" results partly from the obvious need for practice, but even more so from ineffective teaching methods.

As opposed to the traditional teaching method of simply teaching moves with a bit of guidance on the fundamentals of social dance (often misleading guidance at that), our teaching emphasizes these fundamentals in a way that not only makes you a better dancer, but also makes it much easier to learn those same moves, more effectively, in less time. Out teaching also emphasizes enjoying the music and the dance more. We focus on not just teaching steps and lecturing the class to death about those isolated steps, but instead use the steps to physically teach more general concepts about dancing that extend beyond those isolated moves. As a result, students tend to learn much quicker while getting less bored or frustrated or even misled.

Less talk, more dancing

In our constant vigilance to bring you the best instruction possible, we are committed to do less talking and more dancing in our classes. Dancing is a physical activity, not an intellectual one, so actually doing it, not listening about it, makes it work. That does not mean we give no guidance because many of our students have complimented us on how in-depth we teach material so that you are able to really "Get it right" and understand moves, styles, and principles that only confused students elsewhere. It merely actually ensures that our guidance and explanations will be more efficient by putting the onus on us to not waste your time with a bunch of jabbering.

While you still learn more than just how to "do" moves with us, you will do so with less talk and more dancing.

Training

We actively and thoroughly train our instructors how to teach Lindy Hop, as opposed to merely recruiting good Lindy Hoppers to teach and assuming that they know how to do so.

Results

Our students not only start off better, but also develop better. We have taken arrhythmic, "never-gonna-git-it" beginners and turned them into very competent dancers. If you can walk, we can teach you to dance. We have also taken frustrated intermediate dancers who have reached a "plateau" and developed them beyond those plateaus. And we have tweaked the subtle blotches of some of the best Lindy Hoppers to help perfect their dancing. Our students also learn how to develop their own "moves" and learn how to express their own personalities or styles in their social dancing instead of just repeating worn-out moves and becoming our clones.

These latter points do not miss the ultimate point that it is all about having "fun," and, yes, it is still fun to learn nifty moves and do them while still not completely "getting it" or not caring about looking that great. However, the point is not to just look good. We do not focus on teaching people merely how to look good so they can show off (although they certainly will be able to do so). Instead, the result of "getting it" only enhances the fun of social dancing, and allows you to enjoy the music and the dance on a higher plain and in ways almost unimaginable before you experience it for yourself. It provides the indescribable "UMmph!" that makes this dance an obsession for so many people.

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