Shim Sham Shimmy

Last night, as Song and I waited in the hallway outside Studio B for our tap class to begin, we were watching the beginner class practicing a routine that they've been learning for the past few weeks. At the time, I thought that the steps seemed vaguely familiar, but I didn't think much about it. Then, Keira (our instructor) started calling out some of the new moves that had been added this week, including the "Tackie Annie" and the "Half Break." That's when my ears perked up. I'd heard those terms before, but not in any tap classes, and I knew them well. In fact, I'd used them as recently as Saturday when a few friends and I went swing dancing. They were a part of the Shim Sham, a line dance that I learned about 5 years ago.

I first learned the Shim Sham in College Station, when I was learning to swing dance (thanks to the Texas Aggie Swing Cats). It wasn't until I started dancing in other cities and states that I realized that this wasn't a local dance, but rather, a very well known line dance in the swing dancing community. In fact, it was the most well known (because yes, there are many swing line dances, including the Jitterbug Stroll and Smiley's Charleston, which may be my favorite). Over the years, I learned that Frankie Manning, one of the founding fathers of Lindy Hop and American Swing Dance, was credited with developing the Shim Sham when he was dancing in Harlem in the 1930s (at Lindyfest in Houston a few years ago, I actually had the pleasure of doing the Shim Sham while Frankie Manning himself called out the moves at the ripe old age of 94).

Frankie Manning in Hellzapoppin', which is considered
one of the quintessential swing dance performances of all time.

Considering how swing-centric this dance is, imagine my surprise when I realized that Keira was teaching everyone a tap version of it! Imagine my further surprise when she told me that it wasn't originally a swing dance at all, but a well known tap routine that's been modified over the years to fit a number of different genres (or I guess mostly just swing dance, whatever)! As this information was pretty jarring for me, I decided to do some research.

Apparently (according to an un-cited article on wikipedia and backed up by a conversation I had in passing with my instructor... so pretty legitimate sources all around... don't judge me), the Shim Sham was first choreographed by Leonard Reed in 1927 as a tap routine. What started as a comedic act entitled "Goofus" that Leonard Reed and Willie Bryant performed when touring through the South, suddenly turned into a beloved tradition once the duo moved to the Shim Sham Club in New York. At the end of each performance, everyone would go up on stage, dancers, singers, and musicians alike, to perform the Shim Sham Shimmy together (thus renamed on account of the chorus girls' penchant for shimmying). The tap dancers would be more technical in their performance, while singers and musicians could shuffle along at their best depending on how adept they were at dancing.



How cool would it be to
see him tap dancing?

 From there, it was adapted by a number of people (including Leonard Reed himself, when he performed it with the World Heavyweight Boxing champ Joe Louis in 1948 - they called that version the Joe Louis Shuffle Shim Sham), which explains why there is currently no uniform choreography for it (everyone has the same basic gist, but with individualized flair). Frankie Manning was the one who modified it for swing dancing purposes, turning it into a line dance. He also added 2 phrases of choreography (which equates to eight 8-counts of music) including a "Boogie Back/Boogie Forward" phrase and a "Boogie Back/Shorty George" phrase (named for George "Shorty" Snowden, who was another founding father of Lindy Hop, as well as the one who gave Lindy Hop its name).

Isn't learning fun?!

Though it was a little challenging trying to re-wire my brain to learn a more technically complicated version of a dance I've done hundreds of times, I really enjoyed tap class last night. The dance as a whole was more difficult (especially when we tried speeding it up), but learning some of the steps as they were originally choreographed (or as close to it as we can get now) helped make some things in the swing version click better for me. If nothing else, it's great getting to experience first hand how different dance movements influenced each other.

As a bonus, here is a video I found on the interwebs of the Shim Sham. This video was made for Frankie Fest (also called Frankie 95), which was a celebration of Frankie Manning's 95th birthday. Unfortunately, Frankie was unable to attend the celebration, as he passed away a month before it was to take place. Not only does this video act as a beautiful tribute to a man who spent his life doing what he loved, but it also showcases how different cultures and groups have been able to take the Shim Sham and adapt it over the years.

Have you ever Shim Shammed? Should I have been so surprised that tap dance and swing dance use similar moves and dances even though they were both part of the jazz movement? Does anyone want to watch Hellzapoppin' with me later?

Back into the swing of things...

Yes, you are correct, I just made an extremely lame pun about going swing dancing... and it was totally called for.

Last night, my friends and I donned our finest poodle skirts and cardigans, pinned up our hair, and lindy hopped the night away at a local weekly swing dance venue. (Note: we didn't actually wear poodle skirts and cardigans, nor did we pin up our hair, but we did dance.)

I was decidedly nervous about going. I hadn't danced in the better part of a year (unless you count trivia night at the bar this past Tuesday, when Kirsten and I decided to showcase our skills with an impromptu performance... which I will assume all the bystanders appreciated), and I hadn't been to this particular venue (or for that matter, danced in this city) for nearly two years. I hadn't done Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, or the Shim Sham in months! I was afraid that I would hate it, that it would be too crowded, that no one would ask me to dance (except for the usual creepers), and that I would realize just how much I'd forgotten since my last dance session. I was afraid that this outing was going to raise my hopes and dash them, quite expertly.

To my utter relief, none of that happened (well, I did dance with a couple creepers, but that is really unavoidable, and it was just a couple)! It was a fantastic night! In fact, I don't think I have ever enjoyed dancing at this venue as much as last night. Of course, I would usually only dance there during summer break, when it is extremely packed with kids home from school, so that might explain it. I even tried (and succeeded) dancing in my new dancing shoes (I say "new," but I bought them last summer... I just hadn't worn them yet). 

Best of all, I was able to follow. I was able to follow some unfamiliar moves, and other moves that I've never been good at executing properly. I won't venture to say that it was one of my finer nights of dancing, but I had been genuinely afraid that I would have lost everything in my time away, and that simply wasn't the case. I felt confident when I left last night, and I wholeheartedly look forward to next time.

*The photo is of my friend Stephen and I dancing at Austin Blues Party 2009

5 6 7 8...

Throughout high school, I was a member of the drill team. In addition to the extremely stylish boots, flashy hats, leotards with fringe, and sequined overlays, drill team also involved some dancing. We would practice 10 out of 12 months a year, only taking breaks only over the  Christmas holiday and in the middle of July. We had practice up to 5 days a week for hours at a time. We marched, we leapt, we spun, we ran, and we kicked. I especially remember the kicking.

We had our try-out kick routine, our boot camp kick routine, our football season kick routine, and one final kick routine that we ended our spring show with. If we were late, we kicked. If we wore the wrong uniform, we kicked. For every demerit, we would do high kicks up and down the length of our gym. Considering my penchant for being fashionably late and my tendency to forget everything, all the time, I got to kick a lot.

Then, I graduated. I kept dancing, but not in an organized, performance sort of way. I switched to social dancing: swing, blues, ballroom, etc. East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop replaced turns and leaps, and the Charleston edged out high kicks. I don't think I've really kicked since April of 2006, right before the three seniors took our final bow and exited the stage for the last time.

One thing I miss about drill team is the sheer muscle training of it. Social dancing can work up a sweat and be a great cardio, but nothing tones your legs quite like hours of kicking. In an effort to reclaim the gams I donned in high school, I decided to pull on my old white boots (not literally) and try my hand at an old routine. Given that it has been nearly 5 years since the last time I'd done this particular routine, I'm actually surprised at how well I remembered it (I have an extremely selective memory; I cant remember what I had for breakfast this morning, but dance routines from 5 years ago? No problem.) What did not surprise me was just how bad I have become at high kicks. I guess a 5 year break will do that. I was panting after only a few 8-counts. I kept at it, though. And do you know what? Four days later, my legs were still punishing me. Perhaps I should have stretched first.

Were you ever on any sort of performance team? Have you ever tried picking up an old hobby after a long break? Did else's older sister break her nose once from some too-high high kicks?

Photograph of a Kilgore Rangerette