#Swing Dance

[professorcalculusstanaccount]

the most anticipated comic from this blog: White Boy Goes Dancing (follows directly from this)

Everyone's been sending me asks for this! I have a second part to this planned for the future. Watch this space!

[gleafer]

The fanfic where Crowley dares Aziraphale to go swing dancing so they sneak out incognito and have an absolute BALL.

I need nice things like this to muse about while I’m in storyboard frame HELL.

[laomelettedufromage]

One of my pet peeves after having gotten very into swing dance as an aroace is seeing videos of people swing dancing or really doing any type of partner dance and over half the comments just being stuff like “how are they not in love😳” or “friends🤨” like please free yourselves, you can have a lot of chemistry and fun dancing with someone and it doesn’t have to be anything more than that!! Just fun!!! I’m not saying a little bit of lighthearted friendly love can’t be involved but it’s not always that deep, it’s just having fun!!

[ullilya]

Rock it for me! 💜💙

[beggars-opera]

IT'S LINDY HOP TIME AGAIN

[underratedgrapeju1ce]

binge listened to caravan palace while drawing these

[narcissistcookbook]

okay not to put my people on blast or anything, but why are so many poly people into swing dance?

[hauntingpackart]

I love that 1940s swing dancing era.

Here’s some pen and ink 1941 Aziracrow to hold you over until the next GO Horror post.

[d-llahanspade]

I love swing dancing, it looks like so much fun- so obviously, I drew the girls having the time of their life on the dance floor!

This barely took me an hour, I just find them so easy to draw. PLUS, I didn’t forget Wednesday’s freckles this time!

(Beastmore AU by @Sweettea_art25 on Twitter)

[myaxolotlaristotle]

Couldn’t stop thinking about swing dancer Tim Stoker, I present to you: Swing Stoker :D

[professorcalculusstanaccount]

Time for a pretty obscure character, it’s Miss Martine! In the Rodier version of Alph-Art everyone is incredibly 70s, while I love 70s fashion I thought I’d do my own design of her that’s rooted in the 30s. I was very much inspired by Miss Lemon from ITV’s Poirot.

Tintin absolutely needs some female friends, and friends that are more his age. I can imagine Martine, Chang and Tintin forming a chaotic trio and tearing up Brussels!

Martine is left in a predicament after her former employer was murdered. The case of his death may have been solved and her name may have been cleared, but she is now left in unemployment during an economic depression. 

She reluctantly goes to Tintin for help; things are a little awkward as he previously turned her down when she asked him out at the end of the last case. At Marlinspike she meets Chang who is just moving into his room, and she bumps into Ramo Nash, an artist who worked with the art gallery she was formerly employed at. Nash has been secretly seeing Captain Haddock so has been around Marlinspike more frequently.

Nash informs her of a new exhibition he’s working on at the Museum of Art and History and suggests she applies to work there as a curator. Chang helps break the awkward tension, leaving Martine intrigued about Tintin’s friend from Shanghai.

Martine decides to follow Nash’s advice and applies for work at the museum. Chang and Tintin tag along as Tintin wants to show Chang around the city. Before the interview Martine has a panic attack - Chang manages to calm her down and gives her encouragement. She later gets the job and quickly forms a friendship with Chang, the two often going out in the evening to dance at local jazz bars and dance halls.

In between cases the three of them meet up to hang out. Tintin isn’t used to spending time with his peers so is a little socially awkward. He also still feels guilty for accusing Martine of murdering her former employee, as well as for not reciprocating any feelings for her.

To smooth things out and to thank Chang for his help Martine decides to invite them to the museum’s archive for a behind-the-scenes tour, before Chang is due to return to Shanghai to see his family for the Lunar New Year. Chang’s excitement quickly turns cold when he sees artefacts that have been stolen through colonial force. He quietly laments to Tintin, who impulsively decides to steal an ancient Chinese whistle to return it to its place of origin.

The museum descends into chaos. Nash’s exhibition is cancelled. There is a huge police investigation. Martine is a prime suspect yet again. Tintin is, suspiciously, missing. She and Chang work together to track him down to clear her name. Rather conveniently, Tintin turns up in China having “retrieved” the missing whistle, but when she inspects it closely she can tell it’s a fake. She confronts Tintin about this, but Tintin tells her if it becomes known the real whistle is gone she may lose her job. Martine is horrified at his betrayal.

She decides to stay quiet but cuts ties with Tintin. She remains friends with Chang but warns him to be careful, and not to get too close to Tintin or his work. 

[gleafer]

Sepia toned for old photo aesthetic!

[britcision]

Got to the MBMBAM bit where Griffin compared swing dance to human nunchucks and I have never wanted to learn swing dancing more in my life, and I have always thought it looked awesome

This is the exact opposite of what he was hoping to achieve the whole bit is about not learning swing dancing but sorry dude you made it sound too awesome now I gotta

[hidefdoritos]

I just went to a swing dance for the first time! I really, really recommend it.

-The crowd was mostly homeschooling families and middle aged couples, so exactly what you'd expect in the American midwest.

-Everyone was SO nice and polite!

-What we did is called "called" dancing, so there's a person (caller) at the microphone the whole time.

-Before the music starts, everyone lines up. The caller announces the moves that are about to happen, and everyone walks through them as a practice run.

-Once the band strikes up (did I mention the live music??!), the caller still announces every motion before it happens.

-What we did was technically contra dancing. You start off dancing with a partner, and you're neighbors with another pair. You go through 4-6 motions that all take about 8 beats of music, and then you move up/down the line to another set of neighbors.

-My swing-dancing brother and SIL, who invited me, said it's a wonderful easy introduction. Less footwork than proper swing.

-Asking someone to dance isn't a romantic thing. Can be, but not necessarily. I found a confident-looking guy there by himself, told him I was new, and asked him how it worked. Danced like three dances with him, and it was fun! He taught me a lot.

-Bring a BIG water bottle. It gets sweaty and hot SO fast.

-Everyone else is also very sweaty. I was self-conscious about a guy putting his hand onto my sweaty back, but putting my hand onto his soaking wet shoulder was reassuring. And gross, but still fun.

-Also bring your inhaler. I didn't. I was fortunate to be spared an attack, but I had to sit out the last dance.

-Due to the general shortage of men, there was a little table with pre-tied neckties. Girls who were dancing the guys' part just slipped one on for distinction. Sure, your partner knows which role you're taking, but by the time you two have moved down the entire line, your inattentive neighbors could be confused.

-This one was in a church. I imagine they're also in gyms and community centers.

-I can't guarantee they'll all be this good, but in my experience it was easy and fun and welcoming. There was a mathematical precision to how all the couples moved, and also an artistic fun to swinging around and twirling a lot!

-It was all by donation, and it went to the caller and the band. Support your local arts!

-Highly recommend wearing a big swooshy skirt. :D

[it-happened-one-fic]

Dancing with Visions - It Isn't Unusual - Charleston - Venti

Author Notes: I forgot how difficult it was to write the Charleston and writing it with Venti (a character I have written very little with) made this doubly hard. But that's what I get for randomizing the matches between characters and dances. I wrote this fic will listening to the song "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones. The performance in this fic was inspired by a couple Charleston by Sondre and Tanya, viewable here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmY_QNOFvRY. Just like the rest of this series, reader is female. I hope you enjoy!

If you would like to read more of this series, the fics can be found here: Dancing with Visions Masterlist.

Type: Female reader/ dance/ fluff/ platonic or romantic/ sfw

Word Count: 1036

Realistically speaking, I should have known something was going to happen when Venti, of all people, sat down next to me on a bench despite the festival that surrounded us. Because, for Venti, festivals were important. He could make a lot of easy money, get people to buy him drinks, and have a generally good time without anyone to really scold him about his alcohol intake. Because, bluntly put, a festival in Mondstadt always meant alcohol.

So for Venti, who could be argued to be the man of the hour, to abandon the festivities and instead sit with me on the sidelines was odd.

Even more so, though, I really should have known better than to accept his excuse that it wasn’t unusual for him to sit with ‘someone as dear as you’ as him flirting and taking a break from the celebrations.

I did, however, recognize my mistake for what it was when Venti’s hand crept over and across the bench to where mine rested. But that was far too late for my realization, though, considering I was barely able to even look down at where his fingers toyed with mine before I was being yanked up to a standing pose.

“Venti,” Despite his behavior, I found myself chuckling out his name as he looked at me with bright eyes.

“Come on, a day like this is made for music and dancing. Not for sitting off to the side all by your lonesome,” He pulled me further away from my now-abandoned seat and closer to the dancing people.

I grinned at him, tilting my head at the flirtatious young man, “Then shouldn’t you be playing music?” 

At my words, he grinned and shook his head, bowing at the waist as he gestured off towards the side at Six-fingered José, “A gentleman such as myself knows when to let others have their moment in the spotlight.”

I snorted at his words but shook my head. Surrendering easily to the grinning young man,  “Alright, one quick dance.” 

He looked all but diabolically pleased with himself as he twirled me lightly so that I was facing him, with my back to the crowd of dancers, as he interlocked our hands, “How does the Charleston sound, my lovely lady?”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t really complain as I laughed at him, “Figures you’d like a dance as fast as that one.”

He wiggled his eyebrows, causing me to laugh as he started to sway with the music, “Is that a yes?”

I nodded in lieu of responding, only lagging slightly behind him as he started dancing before I was matching his kicking motions perfectly. Grinning despite myself as we shifted around, trading off on who leaned backwards as our feet hit the ground in time to the upbeat rhythm of the music around us.

I could hear others laughing around us, and some even started clapping, making room for us as we danced. Matching the festive atmosphere perfectly as Venti’s sparkling, laughter-filled eyes continued to hold mine.

He pulled me towards him, and I laughed as we collided before I leaned back, letting him whirl me in a rapid spin before I was lowered once more so that I was in a limbo-esque position.

He tugged me back up with a carefree laugh, twirling me so that our bodies were parallel to one another with our arms extended across each other’s backs so that our hands could stay locked together.

Our footsteps clicking against the cobblestone path melded with the applause that clapped along to the beat of the song as we continued to dance. Spinning around so that we were facing each other and trading off on which side our arms were locked as we kept up our kicklike footsteps.

I was laughing out loud right now, knowing perfectly well that I’d lost to both Venti and the festival’s atmosphere of joy. Which was precisely what  the bard had wanted.

Because that was just the way Venti was. Always pushing me to relax and join in on his playful actions, even if I was usually more likely to sit off to the side and watch others’ celebrations.

I suppose that when it came right down to it, he simply couldn’t help himself.

He spun me out as the song ended, keeping a hold of my hand as he turned and walked with me away from the crowd of dancers who kept on going without us. 

“There. One dance, as promised,” I smiled at him, half out of breath from both having laughed quite so much and the raw amount of energy I’d just exerted.

He grinned back at me, tugging a flower out of one of the bouquets that filled the streets and holding out to me as if he were a magician who’d just whisked the blossom out of thin air.

I glanced smilingly at the Cecilia bloom before accepting it, causing his smile to only widen, “And I do thank my lady.”

I laughed slightly, shaking my head fondly and sitting back down on the bench before blinking in surprise as the bard sat down next to me, “You aren’t going to rejoin the festivities?” 

I leaned towards him almost worriedly, but he only shook his head. That usual smile of his on his face as he leaned towards me as if he were mirroring my motions, “I told you, it isn’t unusual for me to want to spend time with someone as dear as you.”

I blinked at him, twirling the flower in my fingers lightly as I held his wide-eyed gaze, “It is when there’s booze to be had that you aren’t going after.”

He pressed a hand to his chest, looking at me with a faux hurt expression, “If I leave you, you won’t be protected, and someone else will come by to make you dance with them!”

I hummed in response, not believing him in the slightest but opting to stay silent as I looked back out at the crowd. A slight smile on my face as I leaned relaxedly against Venti.

After all, it wasn’t unusual for me to be pleased that he was staying with me rather than leaving.

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