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Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollmann have become the most celebrated Swing Dance couple in the world over the past several years. Here are just a few of their many achievements:
+ Over 120 West Coast Swing Dance
Championships + Won the US OPEN Classic Championships 6 times since 2001
+ Won
the USA Swing Net "Couple of the Year" for six years running We all know they're talented, creative, smart, hard working, and likeable. And we all know they have the good looks of movie stars who might have easily come out of Hollywood Central Casting. But it's much more than that. Jordan and Tatiana have achieved much of their competitive success for two key reasons: they know how to pick exceptional music and they know how to create cutting-edge moves.
The USA Swing Net has written a number of articles about dance competition strategy. In them we have pointed out that there are many talented couples on the Swing dance circuit who have enormous talent but often seem to fall short when it comes to music selection and the choreography to match it. Jordan and Tatiana never do. They always seem to have that "special sense" in choosing music that is entertaining, complex and well-suited for competition.
Before they even step out on the floor, Jordan & Tatiana have already secured an advantage over most other couples by way of the music they've chosen. As Simon Cowell of "American Idol" has stated often, song selection is everything.
Jordan and Tatiana have never selected mediocre music that would limit their ability to showcase their full range of skills and outperform the rest of the field. But we, like you, continue to wonder what magical, strategic process is used by this world-class couple to select their music and create phenomenal choreography. So we asked them - in detail - and now we share this information with the rest of the Swing dance community in the hopes that it will provide valuable perspective for everyone's future routines.
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USASN: OK guys, spill the beans! You're two of the most successful, most respected, most entertaining Swing dance couples of all time - and you're only in your early twenties. What's the secret? Let's take it step-by-step. First of all, how do you go about finding a great song to use in your competition routines? Are you actively looking for a certain musical artist or style? Do you rely on radio, sample songs on the internet, talk to deejays, or watch MTV? What are your key resources and how long does it take?
J&T:
It's a never-ending search. We are always looking for the next great song
for our routine. We will search I-Tunes, listen on MTV, check out the CD
singles section at record stores, ask Deejays, etc. We've never hear a
good song where that we haven't immediately gone and found out the name of
the artist - whether it's on TV, in a store or on the radio. Some of the
songs chosen for our routines were in the hunt months before competition.
Others have been held onto for years - waiting for the right time to dance
to them.
USASN: What makes a "great" competition song? What do you look for MOST - tempo, lyrics, rhythms, breaks, transitions, musical style? Do you always agree on song selection and choreographic approach in regards to the music you dance to? J&T: There is definitely a strategy in picking the right competition music. For us, this is the first qualification: Is it different from last year? We always try to dance to completely different music from previous years, whether it's changing tempo or an entire genre. Many years we'll feel comfortable dancing to a certain style, but force ourselves to change it up to keep things new and fresh. We feel certain couples can be type-cast by dancing to a certain style of music year after year. To us, changing styles of music really helps us create new choreography.
What we look most for in music is the overall "ride". We want to take the people through highs and lows while making sure that there are strategically-placed moments in the beginning, middle and end of the song. No matter how much we love a song, if it goes too long without one of those moments, we would keep looking.
We usually agree on the final song we dance to - both loving it equally.
We never force the other to dance to a song they don't LOVE. That's a
part of selling the song. There have been times where we had to bring the
other around by showing them ideas, bits of choreography - or performing
to it as a "lead and follow" dance at workshop weekends to get a "feel"
from the crowd. USASN: Do either of you have any previous musical background, dance background or athletic background that contributes to your musical interpretation or choreographic abilities?
J&T:
I (Jordan) played sports all my life, from age 5 in T-ball to Varsity &
Club Volleyball. I (Tatiana) had 8 years of gymnastics training which has
helped me tremendously. We feel that the discipline of competitive
sports definitely has helped us strive to become better and better. Even
when we have a winning routine that we are dancing with confidence, we
will still practice before every competition - always looking for
improvement and always trying to keep that edge.
USASN: Generally, what type of music suits your personalities and dance styles best - R & B, Funk, Soul, Hip-Hop, Pop, Jazz? What form of music do you draw most from?
J&T:
Even
though I (Jordan) love Hip Hop music, I enjoy dancing to all of the
above. It comes down to the fact that some songs move you and some songs
don't. My two favorite songs could be a rap song and a blues song. Just
depends on what the music does to me.
USASN: How many hours does it take you to choreograph your year-ending routine for the US OPEN? How far ahead do you start? Are your practices intense, or are they generally fun? Do you both like to rehearse? J&T: Since 2003, when Tatiana hurt her foot right before the US OPEN, we have danced our new routines in February. We told ourselves that if the routine held up competitively all year, we would try taking a well-rehearsed performance to the OPEN, rather than starting a new routine. That has worked well for us.
Our last routine involved approximately 40 hours of choreographic work. We have a different style than some couples when we choreograph. We will rehearse as we are choreographing, while others will finish choreographing their entire routine before they begin rehearsing it. Personally, we like to see the routine building at its best, rather than going back later and trying to fix it.
By the time we are finished choreographing a routine, we are usually about
ready to perform it. These times are always intense. We always have the
stress of an upcoming deadline, but more than that, we have the added
pressure of being better (and different) than our last routine. We don't
love rehearsals, but we are addicted to the clean, finished product - so
whether we love rehearsals or not, they are a necessity. USASN: When you choreograph a song, do you start with the beginning and work your way forward, or do you review the entire song, create moves for the most interesting segments and then back-fill the rest? Do you use a worksheet with lyrics, counts and detailed notes about the moves you're doing, or do you work entirely from memory? Who edits your music? J&T: Our usual approach is to begin choreographing right from the start of a song. We don't like to get too choppy in terms of our choreography - bouncing from place to place and then later trying to fill in the gaps.
When we choreograph, we always film what we are working on and review it many times a day to see the effectiveness of the material. We will also jot down moves we create throughout the year in our travels in hopes of finding a place for them in our next routine.
Deejay Jack Smith has always edited our music. He is a big part in the
creative process and is extremely dedicated to cutting and re-cutting our
music until we're completely happy with it. USASN: What basic philosophy and strategy do you use when you select, edit and choreograph a song? Do you prefer to prepare an arrangement that incorporates multiple song transitions? Do you do a lot of detailed editing of the music? Do you actively try to travel the routine across the floor, change altitude, use lots of tricks, and maximize the degree of difficulty - or does it just kinda develop on its own based on the nature of the song? J&T: We've used as many as 3 songs in a routine - but, frankly, we're always looking for a single song with enough good music for an entire routine.
Yes, the editing is quite detailed. Jack has created endings that weren't even in the song. As far as floor craft is concerned, we definitely move our routines forward and across the floor to hopefully get everyone involved in the performance.
USASN: How do you create "cool" moves? More specifically, how do you make them more interesting, more intricate and more difficult so that they show off your elite skills and get a rise out of the audience? J&T: We try to get inspiration from other "dance influences" other than Swing. We often spend many hours in the studio banging our heads against the wall until we come up with new material. In some sessions, we will finish choreographing 45 seconds of a song in only an hour, while for others, a set of 8 counts will take two hours. If the song has a special moment, we will never settle and, sometimes, we will create ten different versions of the same six beats.
USASN: Is it a 50-50 thing, or does one of you tend to be more responsible for picking the music and designing the routine? Who wins most of the philosophical debates in practice? J&T: I (Jordan) would have to say that Tatiana has been more successful in finding our music. There were years where I would spend weeks downloading everything I could and still end up dancing to a song from a CD that Tatiana grabbed on a whim at the record store. I would say that because of my being the "leader", I design the skeleton or flow of the routine - but many of the ideas could not be accomplished without Tatiana's willingness to try and use her daredevil spirit.
USASN: After you finish choreographing a routine, how much time do you spend tweaking it? Do you change it much after the first draft?
J&T:
We spend a lot of time reviewing footage on camera, but it is hard for us
to change a piece of choreography once the original idea is drilled into
our head. At a certain point, that is all we see. USASN: In the past, have you collaborated with any Pro coaches to provide choreographic insights or to critique your initial effort?
J&T:
In the early days (2000 and 2001), we were coached by Mario Robau. Now,
the only people that ever see our routines before they hit the floor are
Parker & Jessica (and our moms, of course). It is nice to get feedback
and ideas from great friends who you are not in competition with. We are
able to do the same for them, also. USASN: What was your greatest thrill, your greatest moment as dancers? J&T: Dancing on television and film are some of the best memories we have, but my biggest moment was winning our first Adult Classic Division Title at the US OPEN in 2001. You can never get that moment back.
USASN: What was your most disappointing moment as dancers? J&T: We are very good at finding the positive in everything, especially being blessed with this life of travel and excitement. However, our most disappointing moment was having to leave "Star Search". We had such a great time on the set and TV has a way of building you up to make you feel like you're going all the way. And then it ends in a moment. Being on that show was our everyday life for a few weeks, but when it's over, you are thrown back into reality with no warning.
USASN: Any closing thoughts? J&T: We want to thank all the people who have supported us throughout the years. That is why it is so rewarding to keep doing what we are doing.
* * * * Bonus: Click here to see a video clip of Jordan & Tatiana's hot dance routine on FOX's "30 Seconds to Fame"!! |
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