WAR ZONE SURVIVORS

Well, I saw Norma Miler last year when she was a special guest at Ryan and Jenny's Camp Savoy in Guildford, Surrey, England. Like a lot of others, bearing in mind her age, I was expecting some nice little old lady, maybe a bit dodery, maybe needing a zimmer frame. Boy, what a mistake! I didn't attend her workshop, but people who did told their stories in the style of war-zone survivers.
"Well, there we were, and Norma started barking orders: "Do a rap!"  or some such thing. People looked at each other in terror. "A what?"  The American terminology wasn't immediately clear, so people, panicked by the force of her command just guessed and hoped for the best. Then Norma started ejecting people from the class for not being up to scratch! During the evening dance., the very drole Ryan refered to "bodies being strewn on the floor..."
Anyway, there were four surviving couples and they did a fantastic performance of the routine Norma taught them, so she does get results. And then she did a Vegas-style song and dance!
I shall never forget Norma Miller. However, I am looking forward to Frankie Manning's workshop when he visits England in May. Maybe they should get together and do a sort of good cop/bad cop routine.

From David Parsons, Kent, England
 
 

DRILL SARGENT

I first met Norma at the US Open this past year where she taught an introduction to lindy hop workshop.  She taught the class like a drill sergeant, pushing a class composed mainly of west coast swing dancers to dance moves they had never done to music that was at least twice as fast as they were used to.  The amazing thing was that through it all you could feel her energy, her warmth and her true love of swing dancing.  She was pushing everyone so hard because she had something very special to share and only one hour to share it in.  Not everyone could keep up but at the end those who had all seemed to agree that they had been lucky that day to have a chance to learn from Norma and to touch the original energy of swing dancing through her.

From JE, Midlothian, VA, USA

ONE ON ONE

A few yrs. ago i traveled by bus with Phoenix Lindy hop dancers (i'm from Tucson),
to LasVegas for a few days of workshops, dancing, and mingling with other
lindy people, mostly from SoCal.

Norma Miller hosted a 'Men's Styling Workshop' which i attended.
There were only a few other guys in Norma's workshop, so she did
  personal one-on-one work with each of us.

She asked me to dance with her so she could evaluate my lindy & styling,etc.
I thought we did pretty well together until Norma said:

"What's that you're doing with your feet boy ?"

i answered: "That's my triple-step ..."

Norma said: "Well, Don't Do That!  ok?"

i answered "ok" but was at a loss since i felt the triple step was
an integral & important part of the footwork in our dance.
And, she did not offer any alternative footwork or timing,
 just.. Don't Do That!

At the time i was abit uncomfortable and confused & another eval.dance
with Norma felt clunky & awkward as i supressed my triple-step, but i
received No further comments about my feet.

It was an interesting experience, to say the least.

From PI, Tuscon, AZ, USA

 

THE LOST DANCE

Years ago (I believe 1996), I was a brand new Lindy Hopper, having just partnered with England’s own Simon Selmon.  We were in Sweden’s famed Herrang dance camp that summer, and in attendance were legendary Lindy Hoppers  Norma Miller and Frankie Manning.

Both Simon and I had dreamed about learning “The Swing Walk” aka “The Peabody,” a fast-paced dance that had been quite the thing back in the day at the Savoy Ballroom.  I had heard many a tale about “The Track” with dancers whizzing along to the fastest tunes the bands could play.   I was especially keen to learn the dance, as I had been part of the San Francisco 1930’s fast Foxtrot scene for a decade before I ever learned my first swingout.

We approached Norma about learning it, and she was thrilled that  two “kids” would want to learn this lost dance.  She hounded Frankie to teach us.  And like the ol’ song goes, “Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets” – and that’s Norma to a “T”.  She didn’t let up until Frankie agreed!

For hours and on separate occasions, Simon and I worked with Norma and Frankie on “The Swing Walk.”  I remember hearing Norma’s strong and determined voice hollering out instructions for us.  I remember her laughter!  I remember hearing all this as Frankie barreled me around the room.

The memory that is so strong for me, is that Norma and Frankie, would take the time to work with two young dancers with such dedication.  Imagine working with just those two all by yourselves.  Dang!  It was something I’ll never, ever forget.

Anytime I want, I can conjure up that memory, and it floods back with the most happy and intense life.

Thank you, Norma.

And, you’ll be happy to know that 12 years later, I still love the dance!

From Rusty Frank, Los Angeles, CA, USA
 

WHAT A KICK!

The first time I went to  Stanford's Waltz & Swing Week +Weekend was in July of 2006.  That was my first intro to Norma - what a kick it was!  She had been working us really hard, and we were more exhausted than she was, 'tho we were way less than half her age.  Well she wouldn't let up till we got the step, the 'Peabody', and another dancer, Rich, finally quipped, what the 'Pee' 'Body'?

At the end of the week, Norma gave us an amazing 'cabaret' treat.  Her enthusiasm and high energy was contagious!

From SC, California
 

PAELLA

Esther Granbois, operator of Rendezvous Ballroom in Minneapolis, was
hosting an afternoon class taught by Norma Miller.  We were invited
and immediately rearranged our schedule and made the 4 hour drive
from Bemidji to take part.  The class was great, it was mostly
Basics, and I even got to demonstrate a couple of times with Norma.
(We now teach the Norma Miller tuck turn in all of our classes).  And
after the class, a small group was off to dinner, including Norma,
Lance, Esther and Debbie Filler, AND they were kind enough to invite
us along.  WOW!  Dinner with Norma and the organizers!  Cool.

We all went to Riverplace in Minneapolis and dropped in to an Italian
Restaurant to listen to Charmin Michelle and have dinner.  Not only
did we get to have dinner with Norma, as soon as she found out I
ordered Paella, one of her favorite dishes, she sat right down next
to me and asked to share.  Well, I LOVE sharing and eating a little
bit of everything everyone orders so it was perfect for me.  We all
had such a great time, swapping stories and sharing food.  All at the
end of a great day of dancing with the legend that is Norma.

However, we had to be back home for class the next day, so we bid
farewell and made the 4 hour drive back to Bemidji leaving about
midnight - getting back around 4 am.  But after that experience the
drive was easy - we were buzzing the entire way home!
 

From Hondo, Bemidji, MN
 
 

NORMA GRABBED THE MICROPHONE

WELL - we we're all excited to have FRANKIE & NORMA come to San Diego for a
big weekend.
So excited that we had a 4 week BIG APPLE PERFORMANCE class so we could
surprise them during the Q&A planned for Saturday night.
We had all sorts of surprises for them as we also flew Chazz, Frankie's son
and dear friend to Norma, in from Las Vegas!  That really went over well.
 

The biggest surprise though was mine after we did the Big Apple for them.
You see, I really wanted the dancers to get into the spirit of the
routine...
I kept telling them "Don't worry about the steps, don't worry about being
perfect - just have a GREAT time"
I didn't want anyone to stress so I kept preaching this every week.
 

I started a discussion on the Big Apple with Frankie during the Q&A...
We hit the music and came running in to do the Big Apple.
The crowd opened up, I could see Frankie smiling and clapping and it seemed
that we were all doing the best we could.
We finished up, the crowd was cheering, Frankie was clapping, then Norma
grabbed the microphone:
 

Norma said "you tried hard, but you didn't DO THE STEPS RIGHT!"
My heart jumped into my throat.
The dancers looked at me...
I looked at the dancers...
I looked at Norma and all I could say is "YOU ARE PRECIOUS!"
 

And that was the surprise of the night and the theme of the Q&A that night.
 

We all really did have a great time with Frankie, Norma, and Chazz that
weekend and it was a very humbling experience doing the Big Apple for those
that were in the original clip.

Joel Plys, San Diego, CA, USA
 
 

ONE HOT DANCER

Without a doubt, Norma Miller is one hot dancer.  To those who were after-schooled by Mr. Rogers, her teaching may seem a bit too hot, but that’s probably just an artifact of her generation, the pedagogical style she was exposed to coming through.  Behind her sharp commands there’s a generous sun of energy and love . . . a true star.
 

As it happens, in my own youth I’d been barked at by real drill sergeants and worse.  Perhaps that’s why I wasn’t totally intimidated by this fireball when I took her class at the Stanford Waltz Week two summers ago.  When dancers started dropping out in frustration, I was able to step back a bit in my mind and notice that formulating clear, easy-to-follow verbal instructions that amateur dancers could pick up quickly didn’t appear to be one of Norma’s gifts. So, I followed an impulse to play with it and actually interrupted her, saying something like, “Is this what you mean?”  I then did my best to model the routine, knowing that I would screw it up, and ready to take Norma’s heat with a smile.
 

Of course, she caught the smile, which didn’t sweeten her speech any or diminish her disapproval.  But she let the spark of a smile appear in her eyes too as she dished up her opinion of my dancing and snapped out another instruction. I’m smiling now as I recall how much fun we had playing with our roles for the duration of the class, me the total f*ck-up, she the exasperated grandma. I’m proud to say we were soon getting good laughs from the other students and even from each other. What’s more, all of us who hung in there with her got the routine!
 

A few nights later, at the end-of-the-week dance, Norma let me sit out a few numbers with her and just chat. I can’t remember anything we said, just how good if felt to be in her presence.  What a joy to have been touched by that energy!

Rich Hawkins, Seattle, WA, USA