[Dixielandjazz] Young Folks Dance was What turns the young on?

[Steve Barbone]

Funny how our views about young people not knowing how to dance seem to
develop. Usually from afar, not from the gig scene where the kids are. Aside
from today's very viable swing dance scene, consider the following

Remember, last year I posted about a High School girl's graduation party
Barbone Street played at a local Country Club. She'd heard us in concert at
her high school earlier that year and demanded that her Father hire us.

Lots of kids there. We started to play and they were all hanging around the
edge of the dance floor tapping their feet. I went though my usual routines,
brought a girl on the stand, sang to her, flirted etc. We connected.

Then her boy friend came up and said "What kind of a dance do we do to this
kind of music?" I said; "Free dance."

Now, he, and the other kids in their teens knew exactly what that was. "Free
Dance? Yeah, of course," they said.

Quick as a wink we had a bunch of teenagers on the dance floor free dancing
to OKOM. Easy a falling off a log, to get the kids up. Just say Free Dance.

"FREE DANCE". What does that mean? Simply "Do what you feel like doing to
the music", is the correct answer should anyone ask what FREE DANCING is.

You will find, however, that in this part of the world, most all the kids
know exactly what Free Dancing is without having to ask and a simple
announcement from the band leader like; "This next tune is great for Free
Dancing, just dance like nobody's watching," works wonders.

I suspect that most kids all over the world know how to sway in sexy fashion
to OKOM. If in doubt, just check the archives and re-read the posts about
the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel and how The Ambassadors of New Orleans
turned those kids on. And how they danced . . . and . . .

Or, check the upcoming November Issue of American Rag. It will be there.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone