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Connecting
You To A World That Swings
By Amy French-Merrill
This
edition of Cyber*Kool origionally was featured in the Spring 1999
issue of ATOMIC Magazine.
The
new sing movement may be a throw-back to a bygone era, but thanks
to modern technology, the lindyhop will last into the new millennium.
In the premiere installment of Cyber*Kool, we've included a
round-up of websites that offer details on the dance scene,
both locally and globally.
www.yehoodi.com
Billing
itself as the "website for the hardcore hep-ccat swinger,"
this NYC-based site serves up swing-related information with
style. Log on to get the lowdown on local clubsreviews
include the price of water, crowd skill level and attitude,
and Yehoodi rating. Read feature articles and music reviews,
peruse the calendar of events, or listen to audio recordings
of interviews with bands, dance instructors and swing personalities.
Also be sure to check out the photo callery, chat room, list
of area dance classes, and links to other sites. Cool graphics
and retro lingo make this site fun and informative.
www.noctirne.com/swing/swing.shmtl
Easy
to navigate with nifty graphics, this Los Angeles-area site
offers up lots of fun fare, including a long list of vintage
stores in La-la Land, an up-to-date band and workshop calendar,
and information on local classes. Be sure to check out the very
cool photo essay on how to achieve hairstyles from the 1940s.
This site was awarded a Times Pick by the Los Angeles Times
in 1998 and definitely merits a bookmark.
www.savoystyle.com
This is the archive of early lindyhop, with an emphasis on the
origins of swin (including photos of the dancers and clubs of
the past). Check out dancer biographies, classic film clip summaries,
a rundown of the different styles of swing. The dance sop hawks
instructional videos, Blyer shoes, retro-inspired T-shirts,
and swing CDs. You can also connect to more than 60 national
and international links.
www.jitterbuzz.com
Sending out the swing vibe to the greater Washington, DC area,
Jitterbuzz is a solid retro source with news articles, interviews,
and a social notice board. Frank and Carole's Lindy Hop Travel
Guide fretures websites, venues, and vintage/antique shopping
for 100+ cities nationwide. Cruise the top ten picks of the
week for local events, view the photo gallery, or scan the archives
for articles and reviews. It helps to visit when you're feeling
melloe; this iste is slow to download.
www.intheswing.com
Created by two swing dance instructors, this San Francisco-based
site promotes lindyhop and East coast swing. Components include
a schedule of dance lessons (including wedding and corporate
event specials), Swing Kids! (a list of swingers in the West
coast area), and Events. There is also a unique section devoted
to dance sequences, and articles on hot to get past a learning
plateau, dance etiquette, and jam sessions. On the negative
side, the links are mostly to sites around the SF and NY area
and are not too extensive, and the site is difficult to navigate
and outdated. In addition, the text is often broken or runs
over photos.
www.anyswinggoes.com
This San Diego-based site has a clean design, making it
fast and easy to navigate. It's also chock full of great information.
Peruse the news library (with headlines that go beyond the San
Diego ares), reviews (with links to band and record label sites),
and radio archives (with playlist and guest band schedule).
Shop online for swing merchandise, bid on item in the online
auction area, hang a while in the lounge chatroom, or follow
the links to clubs and dance societies, venues, clothing sites,
and personal homepages.
www.hail.icestorm.net/chicagoswing
As a guide to the Chicago swing scene, this site incorporates
interesting graphics, complete event listings and band schedules
(Chicago and national), as well as a club calendar for Chicago
and 15 other cities nationwide. Parts of the site are still
under construction, but what is already ip is focused and fast,
with lots of good links.
www.eSwing.com
www.ncls.com/graphisrich/index.html
These two URLs comprise the electronic presence of the Northern
Califormia Lindy Society. The old site at ncls.com is currently
being transformed into eSwing, a fun and punchy page that includes
a national listing of workshops and dance events, as well as
write-ups of bands and venues. But you still have to go to the
old site for the extensive links list, which take you to sites
in foreign lands, such as Hungary, England, Sweden, Mexico and
Australia. The discussion rooms are surprisingly easy to navigate,
considering the information is straddling two sites. The people
behind the scenes are fully aware of th edifficulties involved
with the transition and have included information on how problems
will be fixed and tips on how to muddle through.
www.swingdance.com/dance/swing
Despite the drab fleshtone wallpaper and uninspired text treatment,
Raper's Swing Dance Corner is a prime resounce for siwng tips.
The site includes a Who's Who in the world of swing, information
on music, film and television events, and links to clubs and
swing associations worldwide. You can also read about the origins
of various swing styles and the differences between them. A
few problems with broken text and limited dance listings are
the only major drawbacks.
http://simon.cs.cornell.edu/Info/People/
aswin/SwingDancing/swing_dancing.html
Okay, the URL is ridiculously long, so you're going ot have
to bookmark this one. But definitely stop by the U.S. Swing
Dance Server, an excellent source for links to dance sites all
across the country. Although graphically uninspired, the clear
text displayss lead you to pertinent information on events,
clubs, dance styles, choreography,, competitions, videos, terminology,
and essays on dance. You can even listen to musical audio clips
or view a Quicktime movie of a Broadway show. The site was recently
on the People's Choice Website 500 and was also named Best of
the Web by www.snap.com.
www.5-6-7-8.com
Also available in print form, 5-6-7-8 is a national directory
fo social dance: swing, country, hustle, shag, line dance, ballroom,
and sulsa. Ther e are lots of photosm a chat room, information
on awards for various competitions, and nationwide listings
of events, clubs and dance instructiors. (Th elistings are not
divided by type of dance, which is a nuisance if you just want
swing stats.) Some sections are still under construction, and
the site is very slow, which is frustrating. But this is a relativly
new site, and the kinks will probably be worked out in time.
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