ATHENS NEWS FRIDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2011 33ATHENS NEWS FRIDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2011 16

Spreading the passion for rockin’ good times

Eye on the city

By Despina Pavlaki

EORGE Bernard Shaw once said that “there aretwo tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’sdesire. The other is to gain it.” But as long as itremains at arm’s reach you’ll make out all right.Which is exactly why Mariangela Salichou (aka MissCherry Pie) gave her heart away to Lindy Hop.Because no matter how much she practises, theSavoy Ballroom glory days are never coming back.

“I’ll be the first to admit I’m easily charmed bythe nostalgia of the past, but Lindy Hop has got thekind of beauty that’s transcendental. That’s why itstill feels so modern.” In fact, if she knew her life

would be permanently glued to the dance floor, shewould have never quit those ballet lessons in favourof French. “The pursuit of knowledge had somehowbeen drilled into me from an early age, I thoughtacademia was the only way to go. Arts were neveran option.”

But you can’t stop a girl from dreaming. As longas she can remember, Salichou was alwaysmesmerised by Busby Berkeley’s kaleidoscopicmusicals, Esther Williams’ films and Fred Astaire’smoves. “And of course I went nuts about Grease,”she likes to point out. The 50s and the 60s impressedher deeply, even before she knew what they wereall about: “My aunt was an actress and I used tocollect her clothes, so when I was little I alwaysdreamt of owning my very own costume shop.”

At 17 Salichou became a vinyl junkie andstarted listening to rockabilly music in a oncevibrant scene that by the time she hit high schoolwas slowly dying. Its popularity “went into a serious

recession in the mid-90s and it really made me feellike I was out on a limb. I was on my own,” sherecalls. The 80s were a rockabilly paradise, but theGreek bouzoukia-store scene and the growingelectropop movement slowly killed it. “There wasno one to turn to. There were only a handful ofpeople that could feel my pain, so I’d round up myfriends and dance it out. I had done a stint ofballroom dancing but it was more of a privatecrusade, I was trying to figure it on my own.”

Salichou would get her kicks anywhere shecould: black-and-white movies,old music videos, she madeevery last thing count. “Therewas this one bar that playedrock’n’roll, so on New Year’sEve and Greek carnivalweekend I’d wear my fancycircle skirts and rock out. Itwas the only time I got to bustout in my costumes. I wantedto dress like that all the time.I was totally in my element.”But it was a matter of timebefore the tide would turn.

After graduating from university with a degreein communication and mass media she decided toexpose herself to a real cross-cultural experience:she would pursue a postgraduate degree inAmerican studies at a British university on a Greekpassport. “It was the best year of my life! I got tostudy everything I always wanted, I learned how toswing, I’d go to gigs, balls, vintage bazaars, the wholenine yards. It was a cultural, consumerist andacademic education all rolled into one. I was livingthe dream.” Which is exactly how she met Maria-Nefeli Ambatzis, her current business partner andswing soulmate.

“I knew England had a big swing scene, but I

didn’t know anything about it. I had my rock’n’rollmoves down pat, but swing was another thingaltogether. I’d see it in the movies and I’d just gocrazy.” After settling into her new life, she startedlooking around for dance schools and eventuallydrifted into the crowd of Ambatzis, an experiencedswing performer born and raised in London. “I tookclasses, joined a group, met a lot of people, went toa lot of dance parties, I just felt totally vindicated.”But all good things come to an end and Salichoueventually had to go back. Athens was a rude

awakening. “Back home, peopledidn’t have the slightest idea whatI was talking about. I wasdesperate. I asked dance teachers,people on the scene and stillnothing. It was like I was the onlyperson who had ever danced theswing.”

Lindy Hop revivalMoving on with her life, she

eventually got involved with eventsorganising and even worked with

music promoters who would fuel her passion bybooking the occasional swing band, but she was stillalone on the dance floor. Everyone else would justsit and stare. ‘Three years went by and I just couldn’taccept it was the end of the dream. I could alwaysdance when I went back to London, but that wastwo nights a year, tops. Something had to give.” Soshe decided it was going to be her.

Next thing she knew she was writing toAmbatzis, a casual acquaintance that turned out tobe a life raft. “We weren’t friends or anything, wejust moved in the same crowd, so I thought I’d askher to hook up if she ever came down for theholidays. I had no one else to turn to.” To hersurprise, Ambatzis announced she was moving to

Greece, a risky decision, considering shehad never lived there before. She was anexperienced dancer, she had workedas a teacher and a professionalperformer and no way was she tomove house without takingLindy Hop with her. At thevery least, she andSalichou couldalways gettogether to bustout a few moves.

But they did alot more than that. “Wewrote to each otherevery single day forthree months, hatchingour very own teachingpartnership. I was goingto look for an availablespace and she was going tolend me her teachingexpertise.” They eventuallyteamed up with anotherLondon-based couple to createthe Athens Swing Cats in 2008 butonly came into their own as theAthens Lindy Hop a year later.Salichou’s experience as an eventspromoter meant the team hit thelocal dance scene like a tonne ofbricks: “I knew exactly what to doto make people relate to this ‘newold movement’, and the presspicked up on it really fast. Peoplewere instantly curious. It’s veryvisual too, so I can’t say I wasparticularly surprised at how wellit was received.”

Lindy Hoppers Miss Cherry Pie and her cohortMaria-Nefeli add a new swing into Athens and turn their dance dream into reality

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IN CASE you were wondering, LindyHop is the original swing, the one thatstarted out in Harlem at the end of the20s and flourished until the late 40s.

“I imagine it became known as ‘theswing’ because it was instantlyidentified with swing music, and theEuropean ballroom circuit happened topick up on that,” explains Mariangela.“But in the States it was Lindy Hop allalong.”

According to legend, it actuallyowes its name to Charles Lindbergh,the first pilot to cross the Atlantic soloand non-stop. It is believed that when aHarlem dancer was first questionedabout his flashy moves by a curiousjournalist at the Savoy Ballroom, hiseyes wandered over to the newspaperheadlines about Lindbergh and he readout loud “Lindy hops the Atlantic”.And that’s how Lindy Hop was born.What he didn’t know at the time wasthat he wasn’t just starting a trend, hewas building a community.

People were instantly curious about

Lindy Hop. It’s very visual too, so I can’t say I was

particularly surprised at how well it was received

ONCE you become a member, connecting with like-minded people is easy: you’ve got your hangouts,your meetups, your festivals and, most importantly,a safety net all over the world. “Let’s say you wantto go to Melbourne,” explains Salichou. “You lookup the local Lindy Hop community, put the wordout you’re looking for a place to stay, and they’reguaranteed to set you up as long as you’re a LindyHopper. That’s how deep the feeling runs.”

Just don’t expect everybody to look like they’vejumped out of a 50s girdle commercial!

“A lot of folks buy into the stylistic side of ittoo, but just because you’re not wearing the vintagegetup, doesn’t mean you’re not serious about themoves,” she laughs. “I can see why outsiders are sotaken with the retro look, but if you ever decide totake a class, you’ll realise it’s not that convenient.Freedom of movement is where it’s at - you wantyour flat shoes and your stretchy fabrics, so you’llfind a lot of hardcore dancers would rather skip therestrictive wardrobe.”

Doubling as an alternative reality, this high-energy dance scene doesn’t always attract the kindof people you’d expect to see skip to the beat:

“Strangely enough, a lot of my students are intothe sciences,” says Salichou. “There’s lots of IT

guys, math teachers and science majors, becausein reality Lindy Hop is kind of geeky. It’s notparticularly sexy and you’ve got to count yourbeats. We recently got a German guy here on

a science convention who made sure to trackus down before he even left his country. Youcan be a surgeon by day and a Lindy Hopperby night.’

Thankfully, the Jekyll and Hyde years are overfor her. Not only did she rid herself of the day job,as of September 24 she is the proud co-founder ofThe Swing Lounge, the Athens Lindy Hop’s firstpermanent residence at 24 Fthiotidos St,Ambelokipi. Besides, working a day job was alwaysa problem. Unable to clock in the inevitable credit-crunch overtime thanks to her teachingcommitments, she slowly allowed what was once aflight of fancy turn into a full-fledged career.

Dance classes and workshops aside, AthensLindy Hop have taken part in several major festivalsand outdoor events while they also regularlyperform on stage and elsewhere, throw partiesaround town (frequently free of charge),choreograph, DJ, style clothes and even appear inthe occasional music video.

Any recession qualms? Apparently not. “LindyHop can really take over your life if you let it to thepoint of losing touch with reality. I guess that’s whyI probably decided to start my own business in themiddle of the recession.” But then again, she alwayssubscribed to the Oscar Wilde school of life: “He’smy biggest hero,” she admits readily. “Some of hisaphorisms appear deceptively simple - evensuperficial at times - but they really distil the trueessence of life. Take Illusion is the first of allpleasures, for example. It might sound simple butit’s all we live for. I really believe that illusions arethe secret to happiness. Once you’ve conqueredyour dreams, you’ll realise that maybe they weren’tso great after all.” And Salichou with partnerAmbatzi still has a long way to go.3 For more information on Athens Lindy Hop, visit:

www.athenslindyhop.com

M a r i a n g e l a ’ s L i n d y H o pp l a y l i s t :l Splanky - Count Basiel Opus 1 - Tommy Dorseyl Love me or leave me

- Sammy Davis Jrl The Suits Are Picking Up the Bill -

Squirrel Nut Zippersl Honeysuckle Rose - Louis Jordanl Sing Sing Sing - Benny Goodman

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What is Lindy Hop?

Skipping to the beat of a beautiful illusion