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Name
Neil Figuracion, Lindy Instructor
Contact Phone:
no phone inputted yet
Contact Email:
fad23@hotmail.com
Location:
East Los Angeles, CA, United States
Hometown:
East Los Angeles, United States |
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My Story:
I was part of the "Post Swingers/Pre Gap" generation of dancers. I had indeed seen Swingers, but forgot entirely that there was any swing dancing in it. For several years before my first night, I had planned to go to the Derby with a friend, but delayed until she turned 21, by which time we weren't really hanging out anymore. A college friend had invited me to check the place out. I remember being sad that I found the place because I had to work the rest of the week and couldn't go. Then I spent the rest of the week getting there late after work.
That was the East Coast Swing days, the period when dancers at the Derby frowned on someone doing swingouts. Looking back on it now, it seems like just a clash of beginners' paradigms, like the soon-to-come (and quite lame) Hollywood/Savoy war.
I remember one day while walking my dog, thinking about the way I knew before then how important dance was to me. I had always danced mostly without technique, since I was a child. The periods in my life when I didn't dance were among my darkest. However, I wouldn't ever be a great modern dancer and I was having trouble finding a tap class that I liked. Those communities seemed a bit alien to me, anyway. Lindy Hop was a perfect fit. It had elements that I hadn't found in the dancing I had done before, things that were important to me: interaction, improvisation, playfulness.
Soon I learned the 8 count swingout from a number of sources. I picked up the Frankie Manning and Erin Stephens video, took Erik and Sylvia's Derby class, went to the Harvest Moon Swingout for Frankie's class all in one week. When I took the beginning Lindy Hop class and mentioned to my partners that I had only started the previous week, I initially got frowns, but then was told that I understood the dance better than expected. Then a week or two later, I drove up to Santa Barbara for a workshop with Ryan Francois and Jenny Thomas. Part of the cool thing about when I had started, there was a bunch of information available and also a hunger to the dancers that was palpable. There's much more information available now, but the dancers who want it are fewer and farther between.
My first competition was a jack and jill at Monsters of Swing. Those were dirty, dirty times, and we need more of that nowadays.
A group of friends were Erik Robison and Sylvia Skylar's first private lesson group. I remember that they still hadn't figured out what they wanted to teach. Again, a hungry bunch of dancers stretched themselves.
I wrote down all of the advice and compliments that I got in a journal. I filled pages and pages of that thing until the book was lost on Catalina Island. I remember most of it, but if I hadn't written it down, I don't know how I would have processed it.
I started teaching soon afterward. That was the spirit of '97. Dancers would learn and then a few weeks later they'd be teaching. That's part of why there were so many dancers, with lines out the door of the Derby around the corner. It was just that much more accessible then. I taught at places like the Hollywood Athletic Club and Suzy Q's. Years later people would tell me that they first started Lindy Hop in my classes and that I was a reason they stayed in the dance. That's sort of a mission for me when I'm teaching. If one beginner sticks around because of a good teacher, then the teacher isn't working hard enough.
There was a Sunday afternoon at the 3rd Street Promenade, when I noticed things that many beginning dancers lacked: an understanding of their center, of breathing, of balance. Their connections seemed inefficient and I had a lot of ideas about how to change that.
I remember boycotting the first Camp Hollywood, because of that stupid war. All my friends were going, but I just couldn't get behind choosing a side. I have always been an iconoclast. I could easily be credited with being the first dancer to fuse Hollywood style to Savoy style, but that seems mostly useless, so I don't claim it anywhere but here.
Since then, I've become a part of the Camp Hollywood landscape. I still compete most years, and have a traditional spot DJing. My name never got big enough for Hilary Alexander to consider hiring me. At least not yet.
A lot of years went by, and barring the occasional week of illness, I've never stopped dancing. Even when I can't get out of bed, I'm dancing. That's an important thing to understand about me.
For the last few years I have been a regular teacher at LindyGroove. As usual, I'm working hard to shift the paradigm there. I'm the old school jazz guy in the room. I'm the one who pushes his students to learn to dance at a variety of tempos, to dance stylishly, about hunger.
Instructor Bio:
In a world where rock stars reign, Neil is a folk singer.
After studying movement, theatre and dance at UC Santa Barbara, he learned Lindy Hop from international instructors and local southern California legends. He was also among the Los Angeles dancers who hunted down the vintage dance clips that are taken for granted on YouTube today. Since then, he has devised many innovative techniques for teaching the Lindy Hop.
At venues such as Memories, Suzy Qs, the Hollywood Athletic Club and Lindy Groove, Neil has taught hundreds of dancers their first steps in Lindy Hop, Now he is pioneering the LindyGroove techniques class. He is often seen generously giving his advice in random corners of the room. He often gives away his instruction for free. He's just built that way.
He's engaging, charismatic and occasionally controversial. He has a love for the Lindy Hop that he plans to share for decades to come!
Website:
http://lindygroovetechnique.blogspot.com/search/label/1) Start Here
Additional Questions
When/where did you first start doing Lindy Hop?
September 1997, The Derby
Why did you first start doing Lindy Hop?
It felt like a good fit.
What is the size of your local Lindy community?
Thousands
How often do you go out dancing or take lessons?
2-5 times a week
What is your favorite thing about Lindy Hop (both as an activity and as a community)?
Big numbers, high average level of dance, decent folks
What do you do for a living?
Instructor
Male/Female:
Male
Year you were born?
1971
What bit of non-swing info about you would the Lindy community find interesting?
I get paid to teach board games.
How has Lindy Hop changed your life?
It solidified the things I needed to learn about communicating with people and really grew my social skills
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