Forget lines! Next time a shim-sham is played at your venue of choice, or better yet - when a shim-sham isn't played - throw down and stand where ever you wanna stand!

I have to say, I don't know where this line thing started exactly. And I also have to say that lines are a very comfortable tool for those wishing to learn of knowing who to watch - but it's time for change! It's time to bring social dance into the Shim Sham! Make eye contact, dance it in a circle, do you Boogie Backs in some other direction than back! Take your Tacky-Annies in a circle! Shorty George it right up to another dancer.

We all know the Shim Sham, now it's time to own it. I say, forget those lines, forget what we know, forget dancing in neat little rows like good little dancing robots! Join me in my virgin quest to pump some life back into the Shim Sham.


Thank you!

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"What is within shall now be without. / Don't just dance - you must throw down."

| Sarah |

Blasphemous! That's almost as bad as starting the Big Apple with the break step at the BEGINNING of a Phrase! A Circle? You want to dance the Shim Sham in a Circle?!? Then there would be no front row! How would you know who the show-offs are? There wouldn't be "leaders." That means we'd all be equals. Are we communists now? Are we living "Back in the USSR!" No more hippy propaganda! I believe in World Swing Domination where we all follow the same set of rules. Steps must be taken. There must be patterns followed. We must conform or we will have complete chaos! Down with anarchy. Down with peace, love and happiness. Come join the nation of.....

....on the other hand, why not?

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I don't do Blues but I'll Shag with anyone.

I scream with laughter at you during the midmorning silence! You are a wit! An extraordinary wit!

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"What is within shall now be without. / Don't just dance - you must throw down."

| Sarah |

You guys need to quit shouting.

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See ya, boys. Have fun stoimin' the castle!

Hey Dinn,

In your honor I disrupted the traditional lines last night at the onset of the shim sham, and it quickly evolved into a shim shammy circle. People were boogie walking every which way, it was great! It worked out really well when we all Shorty Georg'd, we all were coming right at each other to the center of the circle.

Ah good times!

YES! HA HA HA HA! Well done, Matt! You are a true revolucionista! I can't thank you enough. Our group (Tim, Mary, Tim & I) had mixed results in Omaha. Even though we all stood every which way and had a good time with it, I think the locals were confused and just lined up behind Mary. It was funny and awesome. We will keep trying.

It was super fun, though. I charge you all to try this and report your results to me. Viva la revolucion!

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"What is within shall now be without. / Don't just dance - you must throw down."

| Sarah |

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"What is within shall now be without. / Don't just dance - you must throw down."

| Sarah |

Yeah, last night was definately a blast! The jam was so cool, even though I flashed everyone, and the band did an awesome job. I gave the trumpetist a shout out on Dinn's behalf. Also, the Revolution went over pretty well and there were no injuries produced from "the swing".

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Dear Baby, Please be independent. Love, Mom -SAC

Pssst...I've had my own teeeny shim sham revolution in Omaha. It's a ton of fun, and frequently requires me to move to the back of the group because I confuse the hooey out of anyone standing behind me...

I do the entire thing starting left instead of right. It looks awesome when you're standing next to someone who starts off right. Backward is the new forward.

Just sayin.

Wow. That's crazy talk. You sound kinda like Dinn.

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See ya, boys. Have fun stoimin' the castle!

It seems that our revolution is no longer alone! Shout for the cause, we have a parallel cell operating in Omaha: The Reversal Squad under Colonel Becks. I commend you!

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"What is within shall now be without. / Don't just dance - you must throw down."

| Sarah |

After mixing it up in Omaha a couple of weeks ago, I thought we were well on our way, but we took a step backwards to the line again at First Saturday Night Swing. A lot of new people wanted someone in front of them to watch. Still fun, but we will try to continue to mix it up at different events.

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Nobody puts baby in the corner.......

It makes sense when there are a lot of people learning the steps to stand in front of them. I think when I was learning I liked to watch people in front of me. Viva La Revolución!

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Dear Baby, Please be independent. Love, Mom -SAC

We will have another chance at Java Joes tonight. Maybe a shim sham frenzy.

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Nobody puts baby in the corner.......

Yes! Shim Sham Jam circle. We cut it up last night a Java Joes. It was a blast. Matt was the leader in Shim Sham Jam! Way to go Matt! You should have been there to share in the explosion.

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Nobody puts baby in the corner.......