SHOUT!NG [some History]

Part 1: by Heidi Fite.

I can't count the number of times I've been asked that question. …I also can't count the number of times that, when I am finished describing what I think bluesSHOUT! is, I'm jumping up and down in my seat, ready to bust out stomping, clapping, praising, and dancing.

In short, bluesSHOUT! is not so much a "brand new event" as it is that we've taken what dancers loved most about Cheap Thrills and added a few new twists to make the best Blues dance weekend in the country even better.

Cheap Thrills All Blues Weekend was the first dance exchange and workshop weekend focused completely on Blues dance. It wasn't long before other amazing Blues weekend events followed, but as the first one of it's kind and the first to offer multiple instructors for the weekend and multiple tracks for the Blues dance classes, Cheap Thrills had arguably become the nation's most well-known Blues dance workshop weekend.

Never content to rest on their laurels, many of the event organizers became inspired to push that even farther, creating an event that went beyond workshops to become the most highly-anticipated, cutting-edge Blues event around: a weekend of amazing live Blues music, mind-blowing Blues classes, sweaty competition, jaw-dropping performances, & a whole lotta kick-ass social dancing.

BluesSHOUT! is meant not only to draw Blues dance closer to the roots of its past but to send it bursting into the future. BluesSHOUT! is meant to be the place where dancers are inspired to take chances, to invent new movement and styling, and to push the envelope of passion and intensity in Blues dance. The BluesSHOUT! bands will Blues hard. The bluesSHOUT! DJs will keep the floor packed. The bluesSHOUT! instructors will push their students to the limits. The bluesSHOUT! competitors and performers will throw down their very best, and the bluesSHOUT! attendees will inspire each other to new heights of creativity in dance.

Part 2: by Heidi Fite.

Much of my inspiration for bluesSHOUT! came from a quote from Roger Abrahams, an anthropologist and former director of the African and Afro-American Research Institute known for his research on performance, festival, and ritual. In correspondence with Jacqui Malone, who was writing Steppin' on the Blues, Roger Abrahams said:

"Cutting, jamming, breaking, and shouting mean getting up against and competing through artful imitation, going beyond the last performer in his or her own terms. We tend to think of shouting in the standard English sense of referring to noisemaking, but it means a holy way of moving the whole congregation, whether through vocal or movement vocabulary. ...Through moving together while playing apart, the entire universe is animated for the moment, as the spirit descends on the group, even when the spirit can't be called holy. This is the center of the aesthetic of cool."

After reading this quote I realized that the Blues dance community (unlike the Lindy Hop community) had been lacking in a spirit of competition and "one-up-manship" that we could use to inspire us to push the dance further and be more creative in our dancing. And not only that, this spirit of competitiveness was an integral part of Blues dance history that we were not acknowledging. His use of the word "shout" (as derived from "ring shout") hit directly at what I was aiming for: a way to inspire the community to a level of dance that is so animated, so intense, so otherworldly, that it might even be considered "spiritual."

Add to this some inspiration from Steven Mitchell's gospel solo jazz routines, some African dance (and drum circle) jams, some of the top dance and competition weekends in Lindy Hop (such as Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown and Rhythmic Arts Festival) and the amazing skill and knowledge of some of today's top Blues instructors and historians like Damon Stone, Charlie Fuller, and Mike Faltesek, who are interested not only in preserving the historical essence of the dance but in filling it with new life, and my enthusiasm for a new kind of Blues dance event was beyond containment. From the humble beginnings of Cheap Thrills, bluesSHOUT! was born.

Part 3: by Heidi Fite.

I decided to give some of the ideas that I had been mulling over in my mind about a new Blues dance event a try at the last Cheap Thrills (2006). Two of the major changes to the event were incorporating live music for the first time at the event and adding performances and competitions. The positive responses were overwhelming. To quote at few attendees from last year's event:

"The energy throughout the weekend was phenomenal, and different from any dance event I've attended." - Lindy Trollop, Yehoodi post

"This weekend may be my favorite one-weekend-event ever. All the classes were amazing. The dj's were fantastic. …I don't think I've been anywhere in the states where there was such a "tuning" of energy. … the spontaneous outbursts of singing, stomping, clapping, jamming! The level of dancers was way beyond my expectation, and the community was utterly approachable." - Mike the girl, Yehoodi post

"Can an Exchange change your life? If you were at Cheap Thrills 2006, you wouldn't have to ask! Bless Heidi and Charlie for starting this in the first place and for making this year SO amazing!" - Karen Maria, Yehoodi post

"This was easily one of the highest concentrations of talent in one place at one time of any event I've attended. And if you know me, you know that's an insane amount of events. p.s. my body hurts.- Holly Thomas, Yehoodi post

"So I've been to three of these now and wow, do they just keep getting better and better. …the music, better every year; the dancing, better every year; the teaching, better every year. Energy, creativity, innovation, styling, and all of the things that you want to see at ANY dance event (no matter if it's Lindy, Bal, Charleston, Blues, etc)….more and more and better and better, every year at Cheap Thrills. Only so much of that can be attributed to the teachers, staff, organizers and DJs. A huge part of that energy, creativity, and drive to make next year even better, comes from the folks who attend, compete, attend the workshops, ask great questions in classes, and generally dance there arses off over the course of the weekend. You can put all the right elements in place and have a good event, but it takes people coming to the event who are willing to let it all hang out and try to take their dancing to that next level to really make something incredible happen." - Ogden Sawyer, Yehoodi post

"This weekend was amazing. …Most of us felt a spiritual component, and I certainly danced on a higher level than I ever have before. It was awesome to experience: the partner blues competition where people kept dancing without music, the swing walk class that burst out into song (and harmony, too), the cage match, the solo blues competition. I think Cheap Thrills 2006 was overall a ring shout in and of itself, and I think that's exactly what it was supposed to be and what we wanted and needed. I am truly blessed to have been a part of it just as I am to be a part of this community." - Megan Adair, Yehoodi post

"You are not the only ones to have experienced this spiritual component. No wonder my voice is so hoarse from the week-end. I don't think I've clapped and cheered more for anything in my life. The metaphor as shout-circle fits perfectly. I joked on Saturday that we were all tricked into thinking we were at a dance workshop, when really we were being roped into a religious revival. …By Sunday night, the sense of the revival made its full resurgence. There were several spontaneous jam circles in the evening with clapping, cheering, and some of the most passionate dancing I've seen. …The demands of the judges on dancers to take chances, to invent new moves, to push the envelope is what will change blues. I don't know that it will look anything like the "authentic" blues dance that is espoused. But I do think that the people who were at Cheap Thrills will pass on the passion and intensity in their dancing to create what is authentic for us in this era, rather than mimicking what was done long ago. Blues dance has been changed by this week-end and I'm blessed to have ridden that wave." - Ruby, Yehoodi post