By WENDI WINTERS, For The Capital
Hop on over to Big Vanilla Athletic Club on Tuesday nights. The Lindy Hop has finally arrived on the Broadneck Peninsula. Again.
No doubt the Lindy was popular in the summertime dance halls that once dotted the Magothy and Severn rivers, but it hasn't made the scene in the 21409 or 21012 zip codes in decades. It did a "23 Skidoo" long ago.
Maybe you know it as the jitterbug, West Coast swing, boogie woogie or rock 'n' roll. George Matysek, 34, and his new partner, 37-year-old Ilhye Yoon, are hoping to turn the original Savoy Lindy into a hot new craze in this millennium.
Photo by Wendi Winters — For The Capital
George Matysek, 34, of Owings Mills, and his dance partner, Ilhye Yoon, 37, of Odenton show off the Swing Dance moves they’ll be teaching students. The two are red-hot Lindy Hop dancers, a dance form that developed at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in the late 1920s. The “Lindy” took its name from Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lind-bergh, the famed aviator.
Swinging Broadneck: Hot dance hits area - again
For a dance that got its start alongside the Charleston, the Lindy Hop is still as fresh and energetic as it was when it began around 1927 at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. A form of swing dance, it was named after Charles "Lucky Lindy" Lindbergh, after he "hopped" across the Atlantic in May 1927.
If you love "Dancing with the Stars," you'll love how Lindy can make a star of almost every dancer.
The two dancers are teaching two classes every Tuesday evening for the next seven weeks in the Aerobics Room at Big V. The beginner class jumpstarts the evening at 7:30 p.m. The intermediate class is held at 8:30 p.m. And, the icing on the cake - a DJ Swing Dance kicks into high gear at 9:30 and goes until 11 p.m.until 11 p.m.
Classes are $72 per person for the remaining classes for members of Big V, $96 per person for non-members. The DJ Swing Dance is free for registered Lindy Hop students; $5 for others. For $15 per session, "drop-ins" can attend the intermediate classes.
Mr. Matysek has taught the Lindy at other venues in the area. There were classes at Corky's Hard Bean and at St. Martin's In The Field, but Big V offers a large open room, great sound system and a cafe.
Big V member Bianca Lavies is a regular at Mr. Matysek's DJ Dances. She shot a video clip of Matysek and Yoon dancing up a storm and showed it to Group Fitness director Kelly Wojtowicz.
"Kelly liked what she saw and that's how we were invited to offer lessons at the Big V," said Mr. Matysek, resplendent in high-waisted, cardinal red zoot suit trousers with matching suspenders.
"We hope it will be a year 'round class. If there's enough demand, we'll continue right through the summer!"
A resident of Owings Mills, Mr. Matysek's day job is hopping on hot stories as an award-winning political reporter for The Catholic Review. He's been with the newspaper for more than 10 years. Long before that, he was a six-time National Polka champion. He jokes that no one at the State House knows about his "secret" life.
He recalled how his parents, avid Polka enthusiasts, would take him and his younger brother Greg to their adult dance classes at St. Clare in Essex.
"We would sit at the table and do homework and sometimes the instructors would pull us up and make us dance with the adults. We were about 6- and 7-years-old at the time.
"When we were about 8 and 9, my father put us in the car and didn't tell us where we were going," he laughed. "When we found out he had enrolled us in a children's polka dance class at the Polish Home Club in Fells Point, we were so mad that we sat on the opposite side of the room from him with our arms crossed and we wouldn't talk to him."
After a few lessons, the two grew to love it and quickly became lords of the dance.
"Looking back, it was probably one of the best gifts my father ever gave us. We later danced in the Polka Kids dance group at Blob's Park in Jessup and studied under Butch and Mary Kotowski of Annapolis. It was under their instruction that my polka partner and I won six national polka competitions."
With his then-partner, Rosemarie Kramer, Greg and Greg's partner, Norma Hurley, he formed a Polka group called the Fab Four that toured across the country for several years.
A few years ago, he encountered John "Psychoboy" McCalla dancing the Lindy. Mr. McCalla taught Mr. Matysek how to do the Hop. He also introduced Mr. Matysek to his girlfriend, Ms. Yoon, of Odenton.
She was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, and has been in the states for 10 years. Ms. Yoon came to obtain her master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language. She stayed when the county offered her a teaching position. Ms. Yoon works in the Board of Ed offices on Riva Road as an ESOL testing specialist.
Four years ago, she began doing the Lindy. A friend was taking lessons from Psychoboy, a moniker Mr. McCalla earned for his "over-the-top" air steps, and brought Ms. Yoon to a class. "Swing, Cha Cha and Latin dancing is popular in Korea," she pointed out.
"I never had any dance lessons before, but in America if you go to a party, you have to dance a little. I tried Country Line Dancing - once. Swing is very energetic. A good workout. I like dressing up in '30s style clothes and makeup."
Cyndi and Art Duke of the Wexford Community in Arnold were lacing on their soft dance shoes for the first class in the series. The Lindy was new for them.
"We love to dance!" exclaimed Mrs. Duke. "We've done Arthur Murray for a few years. We learned Ballroom and Latin dancing."
"Now we're going to do some Lindy!" said her husband.
"Dancing is a good way to have fun, exercise and meet new people with the same passion," Mrs. Duke added.
As curious gym-goers peered through the room's glass doors, 13 beginners moved eagerly through their first steps.
"People love watching them dance," enthused Big V employee Lee Sallusito.
"Step, step, triple step ... one, two, three and four. Five, six, seven and eight," Mr. Matysek counted out. Noticing the men weren't letting go of their partners on cue, he boomed, "Real men let go on five!"
During a break, Jean Shirk of Arnold observed, "Changing partners is a new experience for me. It's good to change partners so you don't reinforce a bad habit." Nodding to her husband, Jim, a USNA '50 graduate, she added: "We've been jitterbugging. It's fun to learn a new dance.
For more information, visit the Web site www.lindylink.com.
Published March 05, 2007, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2007 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Learn to swing dance with Champion Lindy Hopper George Matysek
