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The Whip is a sexy Swing partner dance that originated right here in the
heart of Texas. The Whip is quite similar to the national dance known as the West Coast
Swing. This is no surprise since basically the Whip and the West Coast Swing are
long-lost brothers, born in California, but separated at birth.
The Texas Whip is basically an offshoot of the West Coast Swing. The
Whip traces its roots to Texas-born GI's who returned home from California after the long
struggle of World War II. They brought home with them an interesting dance they had
learned out in California during the war. However once they mixed the California dance
with Texas blues and Texas women, the dance changed dramatically (for the better, of
course!)
After the war, the Whip was spawned in the dives, bars, western joints,
and honky-tonks that surrounded the Texas oil fields and refineries back in the late 40's
and early 50's.
Back in those days you had dark, smoky lounges with plenty of cheap beer and a rough
crowd looking to let off steam after a hard day’s work. The jukebox played a steady
stream of Texas Blues with a raw, angry sound and rhythms best described as Stripper
music.
Legend has it the Whip started as a "pickup" dance that fit the suggestive
"get down & dirty" lyrics like tight pants clinging to a well curved woman.
The man would lean against the bar drinking a beer or smoking a cigarette with one hand
while a woman would grab his other hand for balance. Inspired by the music, she would
start to roll her hips, then glide back and forth to the beat. As she strutted her stuff,
the man would act cool and pretend to ignore the performance, but no doubt the corner of
his eye tracked her movements like a hawk measuring its prey !
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Whip, spelled as it is with the word "hip" in it, has always emphasized hip
motion as part of its Basic. West Coast Swing traditionally has favored more emphasis on
flashy footwork. For 50 years, the two dances stayed separate. Modern technology has
changed all that. The Internet, the availability of dance videotapes, national dance
magazines, and the ease of travel (allowing teachers and students to overcome the handicap
of distance) have brought about the change.
In the 90's the barriers that separated the two dances for 50 years
faded
faster than you can say "Berlin Wall". West Coast Swing dancers
saw the
awesome hip roll of the Whip and decided on the spot they gotta have some of that.
The Whip dancers saw those flying, prancing, dancing feet of the WC Swingers and wanted a
piece of that action too.
Today you don't have to choose. The modern trend is to merge the two dances together
and constantly interweave from one style to the other. The long-lost dances have
been reunited. You can have them both !
Trivia Question 1 :
What Texas Park is given credit for spreading
the legend of Whip across Texas ?
(answer below)
Beginning,
Intermediate,
Advanced,
and Lunar
Whip and West Coast Swing
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Whip and West Coast are considered the ultimate social dance challenge. These two
dances are not learned quickly.
They both depend on excellent timing and precise footwork. Many dancers take up the
Whip after they have had some success at learning other dances such as Swing, Western, or
Latin. These other dances are not prerequisites, but serve as testing grounds so you can
gauge your dance aptitude.
To be honest, even experienced dancers find Whip and West Coast tricky to learn. I have
found that the single most important predictor of how well you do is your willingness to
stay after class and practice. No matter how well you do in class, if you don't stay to
practice, the dance will never get under your skin.
You have to soak in it to succeed.
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Beginning Whip covers the basics like the Bump Step, the Basic, Hip Motion, the Bump
Exit, the Passing Step, and the Swingaround.
Intermediate Whip introduces the Whip Step, Whip arm tension, the Walkaround, and the
Twister Step.
Advanced covers the difficult Hammerlock double turns, the Snaparound, the Hook Step,
and a variety of intricate patterns.
Lunar Whip, also known as Super-Advanced Whip, covers the Walkaround Reverse Turns, the
Stray Cat Strut, and the Cold Shoulder.
Trivia Question 2 :
What is Whip called up in Dallas ?
(answer below) |
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There are 12 levels of Martian Whip. Taught by
Rick Archer on
Thursday and by and Jack Benard on Friday, this course covers the many
complex patterns of higher-level Whip.
Unlike other dances where you can take one or two courses and become good enough to hit
the dance floor running, Whip and West Coast Swing have a prolonged maturation time. The
joke is to western dance at your Christmas Party, start class after Thanksgiving. To Whip
at your Christmas Party, start class at Easter. It isn't quite that bad, but the truth is
once you decide to become a good Whip dancer, you have chosen to join a small and very
elite group. There are probably fewer than 700 active Whip dancers in Houston which may
surprise you since Houston is one of Whip's original spawning grounds.
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Fortunately you can enjoy the dance right from the start. If you like Rhythm and Blues,
Disco, and Rock music, and you like to Freestyle dance as well as partner dance, chances
are you will love the Whip. More than any other dance, the Whip allows you get
to move your body and let it all hang out.
Whip is so fascinating that it can grow on you. After a few months, you can actually
become absorbed in its intricacies. You suddenly realize this dance is worth exploring
further.
In a sense, joining Martian Whip is like making a commitment. Martian Whip is the
important symbolic step you take when you realize that you would like to become an
excellent dancer.
A nice feature of Martian Whip is that the Friday
class is totally separate from the Thursday
class. By signing up for either night, you are welcome to come to
the other night for a complete different set of material.
Trivia Question 3 :
Where did "Martian Whip" get its name ?
(answer below)
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The SSQQ
Whip Superclass
starts every
January, March, May, July, September, and November!
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Once every two months SSQQ offers Whip twice a week instead of our usual once a week.
The course continues for four months. As an example, if you take Beginning Whip on on Thursdays
and Fridays in
March, you can take Intermediate the same two nights in April,
Advanced for two nights in May, and Lunar the same two nights in June. In other words, we
carry the idea through for 4 months.
Whip and West Coast Swing are difficult to learn. It is helpful to have the opportunity
to do makeups if you miss a class or even come twice a week from time to time to get extra
instruction. Many students report this is the trickiest class they have ever taken, but at
the same time the two dances are the most fun once they got the hang of it. Join us to see
what all the fuss is about !
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Trivia Question 1 :
What is Whip called up in Dallas ?
Answer :
The Push.
Apparently the Push was very popular in Denton, Texas (just north of
Dallas) at North Texas State University. As their students graduated, many of them helped
bring the dance to Dallas. If you ever move to Dallas, check out the Dallas Push Club !
Trivia Question 2 :
What Texas Park is given credit for spreading
the legend of Whip across Texas ?
Answer :
Garner State Park.
Garner is about 60 miles west of San Antonio and 20 miles north of Uvalde.
How on earth this spot became a Whip Mecca back in 60's is beyond me, but anyone growing
up in Texas in those days heard about the legend the Whip at Garner State Park. I hear
there is a group of older Whip dancers who still get together out at Garner once a year
for a reunion. Whether this is true or not, I am not sure.
One gentleman, Chuck Williams, sent me an excellent
story about the days at Garner. To read his story,
visit
Garner State
Park
I would be thrilled if anyone who knows more about those days at Garner
would email me with additional information so I can add it to the Web Page.
Thanks ! Rick Archer Dance@ssqq.com
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| Trivia Question 3 :
Where did "Martian Whip" get its name ?
Martian Whip was named in honor of Mike Fagan.
Mike Fagan is one of SSQQ's most interesting personalities.
A Rice computer professor by day (and most of the night and all year long),
he puts away his nerd pack, minimizes his brain, finds his dance towel,
and... poof ! ... he is transformed into one of Houston's best Whip dancers.
Starting with Whip classes here at SSQQ in January, 1984, Mike, a Foosball
champion,
a state Bridge champion, and a performing Break Dancer, immediately loved the music and
the dancing. He learned quickly. Not only did Mike have good leads, he had one particular
strength that lady Whip dancers love : he had perfect timing !
Soon Mike was asked to enter Whip contests. Every Sunday at the Four Palms, there
was Whip dancing to a live band called the "Soul Brothers". The joint was off of
Telephone Road and actually had a sign on the door that said, "Check your guns and
knives at the door" (compare that to SSQQ's "please turn off your cell
phone"). The Four Palms had a low-key Whip contest every week.
One night on the spur of the moment Mike decided to enter.
Well, Mike did fine by his standards, but in the eyes of his peers he
didn't do very well.
Mike preferred to dance his way. That included all his background from Break Dancing :
head rolls, jerks, twitches, body waves, Robotic-style arm movements.
The get-down-and-dirty old timers looked away in horror and disdain.
Mike was a rebel. He continued to do it his way. His partner was
encouraged to dump him. "Too weird", she was told. "Get a traditional Whip
dancer." After a few months of this, Mike decided to ask Mario Robau,
considered Houston's finest male Whip dancer, for his opinion. Mario replied without
hesitation, "Mike, you have great leads, great moves, perfect timing, but your
footwork is strictly from the Planet Mars."
Undaunted, Mike stuck with it. In 1986 with Debbie Anglin he won a Texas
State Whip Championship. Talk about someone who did it the hard way, Mike's
persistence and natural talent persevered in the end.
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