Hopping Towards Confidence

Originally from The Nanyang Chronicles - 13 Aug 2018

Two years ago, second-year School of Art, Design and Media student Muhammad Shaherfi Haidi watched his friend’s Lindy Hop performance at a dance concert by NUS and was intrigued by how different Lindy Hop was, as compared to other dance genres.

Inspired, the 22-year-old decided to try his hand at the dance when he entered university last year.

Lindy Hop is a dance form that originated from New York City in 1928 and combines swing and jazz. It emphasises social dancing over performance-based dancing.

he Lindy Hop team rewatches their performances in order to learn from their mistakes. PHOTO: LI XU DO

“Lindy does not require dancers to have a dance background so there were no auditions, which I am afraid of,” he said.

As he had no dance background, Shaherfi  struggled with keeping time and counting the steps.

“Lindy involves jazz, so the counts shift randomly during the performance. It was rather disorientating in the beginning,” said the second-year School of Art, Design and Media student.

He would also tend to look at his feet to ensure he was making the right steps, because he did not like looking at himself in the mirror.

However, he has since stopped doing that as he realised the need to check his dance moves in the mirror to get a clearer sense of whether he is dancing correctly or not. He has also become more acquainted with the genres of music used in Lindy Hop, which has helped him count the steps better.

For the Lindy Hop performance at JDC, Shaherfi was asked to take on the role of the follower.

The role of the lead is usually taken on by a male, while the follower is performed by a female. However, due to a lack of female dancers, one of the males in his dance group had to be the follower with another male lead.

The lead gives signals to the follower, who has to know how to read these signals and follow the lead’s cue.

“Many people think that the lead’s role is more difficult because they have to do all the thinking, but the follower has a tough job too, learning how to read signals,” said Shaherfi.

“Though I had to take on the role of a female, it wasn’t awkward for me at all. I guess it’s because I was pretty comfortable (being) in the club by then and everyone was really supportive as well,” he added.

He also had to learn how to make himself lighter, so that it would be easier for his partner to lift him during the dance.

He does so by engaging his core muscles to lift himself up as well, instead of solely relying on his partner.

“It took a lot of practice and trust. I’m still rather stiff (when dancing), but I think I’m getting better,” said Shaherfi.

“It’s difficult to pick up new things because we will be aware of how we’re not good at it. But no one starts out good at something, so I’m glad I wasn’t afraid to take the first step,” he added.