I’ve never been moved to tears by a WCS performance until this one. It is so compelling and beautiful. Every time I watch it I am so moved. True champions.
I remember how good of a dancer you were on SYTYCD, your swing dancing was amazing and all styles of choreography, I am so glad to see you are still dancing away and you still blow me away.
Cant expect nothing less from mr. Benji. I remember the first time I saw him years ago on sytycd. I was think of the west coast swing today and instantly remembered him dancing with his cousin. I believe she was a blonde girl but danced just as beautifully. Found memories.
This video and others like it make me think all children should be offered and encouraged to take dance classes. Perhaps they should even be part of a regular school curriculum, adjustments and accommodations made when necessary. Among many other things, dance clearly teaches cooperation and trust, which in turn fosters respect and confidence.
Once again, your brilliant words touched my heart, spirit, and soul! You are one very special human being. Stay well. Stay kind and you will be found (always).
First of all, from a perspective of a dancer, I liked what I saw and I love the choreo!!! But now I need help. What does that has anything to do with "Swing"??? What do I misunderstand here???
am i the only one that thinks he looks absolutely nothing like he did on sytycd. i kept trying to see any part of that guy, in this guy. i would never have thought it was benji in any way shape or form.
Yes, you could say that. Since jive is a modern version of boogie/LA style Lindy Hop for tournaments (danced to rock n roll) and that comes from lindy hop (danced to jazz/swing music). Simply put: those are the basic steps of the swing dances: lindy hop, boogie woogie/jitterbug/la style lindy, west coast swing and jive (except for bal, charlston or shag). Tho I will say that jive or east coast swing is a dumbed down latin ballroom version of swing. It is technique intensive, but as with the entire latin ballroom dances: fake. fake as fake can be. I danced it competetively and I cannot stress enough how much I dislike it since I got to know what real musicality, improv and social dancing is about. I will never again let go of that freedom of expression.
@@markfrinch7865 Wow I wasn't expecting a dissertation but thanks for the info! My comment was based on what I've learned in 3 years of social dancing in my western german dancing school, where that is thought as the jive basic and really nothing else, although it's very similar to the lindy hop basic except for the difference in technique. I probably mixed it up since lindy hop isn't really thought at that school. Also from what I've been thought westcoastswing doesn't really have a basic step except for maybe the sugarpush, but that could be a matter of tradition/semantics or simply on how dancing is thought at my particular school. I will not deny that it's derived from the swing dances/blues, it's just the way we've been thought. I do not claim to be an authority on any of that though, so thanks for the heads up!
@@michaelkpp7285 Relax. Blues is seperate from the swing dances and is danced way differently tho we do switch easily between blues and slow lindy. Maybe you mean basic patterns, because the sugar push is a pattern usually danced with 2 basic steps: rock step or step step and two tripple steps - but you can make it an 8 or even 10 count if you wanted to. If you mean pattern, than we have 8 count basic patterns like the whip for west coast swing and the swing out for lindy hop. Basic steps? There are A LOT and you can interchange them as you wish: steps, groove walks, run run, tripple step, kick bal change, kick stes, charlston basic step, hitches, kick hold ... whatever you can come up with that fits. That is the beauty of a dance that evolved from actually just dancing it (lindy hop) in contrast to a dance that was "made by dance teachers" like east coast swing.
That's an interesting thought. The choreography does depart quite a bit from traditional WCS. It is a Showcase routine though and it may meet that category's requirements.
It was really incredible!!! My only comment is Benji seemed as if he wasn’t engaging with the music; he had the “smile” that you typically see on a Broadway dancer… other than that it took my breath away.
