13: To Be Black and Snatched (w/ MICHELLE STOKES)

To Be Black and Snatched. Hair --- it's not only a cultural part of Black living, it's also a practical one. You might be surprised all the ways it plays a role in a Black person existing in a mostly Non-Black America, and specifically in a Non-Black swing dancing space. It's only one of the topics we discuss in today's action-packed episode.  In part I of this 2-part conversation, we talk to the renown event emcee, jazz dance instructor, and Lindy Focus meeting co-host MICHELLE STOKES about hair, how she first came into the dance, the swing scene as Michelle saw it through the lenses of being a Black woman, body types, the problems with  most modern swing dance classes, and the nature of swing dancing in the modern scene.  Next week, part II of this interview will cover her philosophy as an Emcee, and what an ideal scene looks like to her. 2:00 The realities of hair, and what it has to do with Black Women, dating, and the swing scene.  14:00 Going to dances searching for romantic partners  21:30 Walking into a swing dance as a Black person  25:00 Lindy Hop Body  33:30 Michelle's heavily-curated dance education  40:00 We naturally look to teachers, and ignore our prior knowledge, when introduced to something new  44:00 On teaching problems in the scene  52:00 Following a bunch of different leaders vs dancing for yourself   58:00 Collaboration and pretending to dance rather than actually dancing  --------------- Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things. In this episode... Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White Find us at your local podcast ap, or at: https://anchor.fm/integratedrhythm  Please donate to help keep us in business: Patreon: patreoncom/integratedrhythm PayPal: [email protected] Venmo: @bobbyswungover (Where applicable, lease put the note "IR" in it, so that we know it's for the podcast.)