Two-Step (Step One)
Two-Step Step One
Soren was up in the loft, a spacious, wood floored room with high windows open to the north and the east, letting the late autumn sun stream in. If one walked into the loft, one would say it dripped with creative energy. Eli kept all his works in progress up there, ink pen and painting projects, all in the works or waiting to be finished off with a final detail. But the paintings were not the only art in that room. Soren kept all of his instruments up in the spacious area, mostly confined to a corner. Soren had enough instruments to equip an orchestra. A clarinet, two violins (electric and acoustic), two guitars, a string bass, a cello, a trumpet, a trombone, a tenor and alto saxophone, a splendid old grand piano, an electric keyboard, magnificent speakers, and some old recording equipment.
Soren tapped his muzzle, lost in thought. This particular pet project was driving him up the wall. Soren often argued that the dubstep genre held many hidden gems, but people dismissed it due to how hard and heavy the tech elements were implemented. His theory was that if one took the music theory of existing dubstep songs and rearranged them with more traditional instruments, the genre would be more accessible. Right now he was working on Chase Me, a personal favorite by Vexare. It was really interesting from a music theory standpoint. Any casual listener would have called it schlock reminiscent of eurotech. However, listen closely and one would find it was double-syncopated. Triplets were layered on quarter notes, and half and whole notes were layered on three-fourth notes. It made for an exceptional multi-layered effect. But still, he couldn't find the right instruments to get the sound he was after. He wanted it to at least be reminiscent to its electronic roots. Also, It didn't help that the sheet music was incredibly illusive. Soren gave up on tracking it down and ended up having to write it by ear.
Eli walked up the stairs, hanging his jacket on the railing. He slipped up behind Soren and lightly grabbed his shoulders. Soren gave only a slight start and pulled off his headphones.
"Whatcha working on," asked Eli jovially, "Same thing as before?"
Soren nodded his head, still lost in concentration over his instrumentation dilemma. "Can you come here for a minute," the silver fox asked. "I want you to play a few notes for me." Soren maximized a window on his laptop. The sheet music he was writing as a reference materialized on screen. He pointed at the part he had delegated to the violin. "Play these," he said. "They're just triplets."
"A lot of triplets," said Eli, a bit apprehensive, as he lined up the bow. Eli had played some music in high school, mostly clarinet, but Soren was teaching him violin and guitar. The clarinet was coming back quickly, too. Like riding a bicycle, you never really forget music. "At full speed?" he asked.
"...yes," said Soren after a little consideration. Soren wished he could use his grandmother's old piano, but that was already delegated to a different part of the song. He went with the string bass. Soren tapped the side of the bass with the bow. "four three two one." The two were off at a more than brisk tempo, Eli playing the triplets on the violin. Soren saw Eli subtly mouthing ev-en-ly ev-en-ly ev-en-ly ev-en-ly with each triplet as the silver fox played the quarter notes. Soren changed octaves every measure, trying to find the right sound. After a minute or two, he held up his hand to stop.
"Still not right," muttered Soren. He put the bass aside and then addressed Eli. "Good pacing though, and you didn't miss a note this time... so what are you working on today? Trying to replicate the pen and ink project?"
"No," said Eli with a shake of his head. "I'm taking a break from that for a day. No, I wanted to show you what we're doing at the end of November."
Soren raised an eyebrow. "Hrm? What do you mean."
Eli passed Soren a purple pamphlet. Soren read it quickly. Then looking up at Soren through the square reading glasses placed at the end of his nose, he said, deadpanned, "You're a dick. You know that, right?"
Eli smiled deviously. "What makes you say that?"
Soren sighed. "Swing dance?! You know I can't dance. But no, it had to be a charity event for cancer research. And you happened to know that I just started assisting on a project that was dealing with cancer research. So now you either force me to dance in public or make me feel like a horrible person." Soren smiled, but still gave Eli a stern look.
Eli sat down on the piano bench. "C'mon, it will be fun," said Eli. "I can teach you just like you're teaching me music."
"Yes," said Soren, "Except for I am teaching you in the comfort of our own home, and I am not throwing you under the bus by making you play in public. You know I get really self conscious about that stuff." Soren looked down at the pamphlet again. "And what is this about an endurance dance? Eight hours of swing?"
Eli pointed at the last page of the pamphlet. "The rules are simple. Stay in step or you lose. You get sponsored, and the longer you go, the more money you make for the cause. There are also prizes for the top three. I've done this for the last three years. last year I almost won. Check the play-list, you'd like it."
Soren looked at the back of the last page. It was a healthy mix of modern and old jazz and swing. He read the list aloud. "Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Caravan Palace, Parov Stellar, Tape Five, Chinese Man, Lyre Le Temps, Bart & Baker, 6u5... what, did they ask to borrow your iPod for the music selection?" Then he got to the bottom. "hrm... Shadows and Electric Daisy Violin by Lindsey Stirling? She's not swing. She's not really standard dance. Her stuff is too melodic." He tossed the pamphlet back to Eli.
Eli pointed to a block of text at the bottom. "you need a routine for that. If there are too many people at the end of the eight hours, they make them do a routine on the spot and judge them. Last year they did some songs by The Killers: Spaceman and Human. That's what tripped me up last time. Quite literally."
"Hrm..." said Soren, "I think I remember Sasha telling me about this." Sasha was the reason that the two foxes met in the first place. She had gone to Soren's high school but went for an arts degree while Soren went for pharmaceuticals, biology, and computer science at a different, but nearby, college. "Still, you think you can teach me well enough that I will be able to dance with you for eight hours straight? In less than four weeks? That's a lofty goal."
"Challenge accepted," smiled Eli. "Besides, I need you to find us a sponsor. Would someone at your lab do it?"
Soren tapped a finger on his knee. "You know... I think the lab has been given grants by the American Cancer Society... I think I can pull that off." Then, Soren was hit by a devious idea. "Do they allow props for the routines?"
Eli thought for a moment, tilting his head up and staring into space. "Yes... a couple did that last year with swords. They dressed as samurai, mostly for kicks and giggles. Why?"
Soren picked up his purple electric violin. He grinned deviously. "Because we're gonna perform along for the routine."
Eli's tails simultaneously straightened out and bristled. "WHAT?!"
Soren opened his hands and shrugged. "All's fair in love and war. If you're gonna make me dance I'm gonna make you play."
Eli leered at Soren for a minute. "Fine. Then we should get started. Today. Now. At the park."
Soren shifted. "Now? It's cold out now..."
"Bull," said Eli. "You were outside without a jacket all day yesterday. We both know cold means nothing to you. Get your speakers and the violins. We're gonna dance at the park. You need to get used to being watched."
Soren groaned. "Fine. You win." He dug his nicer set of potable speakers out of the pile of musical equipment on the table in front of him. He then grabbed his computer as well as his grandmother's old spruce violin and his own electric violin, putting them gingerly in their cases. He placed the rest of his instruments meticulously back in their proper place. Eli took his iPod off the dock and grabbed his jacket again.
There was a nice park near the apartment. Large, spacious, lots of trees, and overall very pretty. The last of the autumn leaves clung vainly to the trees as October transitioned to November. Eli set up the music and speakers on an unoccupied bench. With a piece of chalk he drew out a 6ft by 10ft rectangle.
"There," he said. "that's approximately how much space we get in the contest. Once people start dropping we can spread out, but otherwise we shouldn't leave that space. We get a whole lot more for the routine, but that's later." Eli flicked through his music. He had constructed a play-list that exactly replicated the one on the pamphlet. He stuck it on shuffle after picking the Beatophone Club Remix by Caravan Palace.
The pace was brisk, a clear 4/4 beat that would be easy to keep time with. Eli began stepping much more slowly than the song. "We'll approach it just like music," he said. "Can you follow me at half speed?"
Soren slowly and awkwardly began to mirror Eli. On the first two beats he lifted a paw, followed by a step-flex on the last two. They repeated the steps again with the other paw, getting into a groove. It took a good two minutes for them to really synch up, but Soren was getting the movements. It really was like playing music, just with a lot more awkward body movements. As the third minute of the song began, Eli grabbed Soren's hands and began to swing both of their arms side to side. "Move your arms," said Eli with a smile, "You're not a lamp post. Let the music move you."
They repeated the same song three times. The first repeat was at half speed again, but Soren found the timing much faster. On the third time, Eli moved them up to full speed. Now that he had the lift-step-flex down, it was easier to go full speed, letting the music drive them automatically. Eli grabbed Soren's hands again, jovially moving them back and forth between them. Soren smiled a bit. He had to admit to himself he was starting to have fun.
Eli let shuffle take them to the next song. The randomizer picked Caravan Palace again, this time Maniac. The tune was slower, moving at a similar pace to the half time Beatophone. Soren got the step within a couple of measures. "You catch on quick," said Eli. "You still keep forgetting to move your arms. Improvise. Do what your body wants to do." Soren tried to move his arms back and forth in time with his legs, but he couldn't do it. Letting down his inhibitions in public was always a barrier. "Keep at it," said Eli encouragingly, "Just get used to doing it and it becomes natural."
Maniac ended, neither of the foxes losing pace. The shuffle programing seemed to be in the mood for Caravan Palace today, and started to play Rock It For Me. Eli snapped his fingers to the starting beat. "Sit down," he said, "and let me show you some more advanced stuff."
He began with a Charleston step, starting with his right paw, and kept up to the snazzy beat of the song, swinging his arms and tails together, side to side. On the refrain he shuffled to the side, snapping his legs to the beat as he moved. He then stepped to the side, moving his hands to spin an imaginary partner. He kept up a similar pace and pattern for the whole song, ending by tapping his paw to the beat as the song wound down in its final seconds. He got up and put the song on replay.
"That style is Lindy Hop. Now you're gonna do it with me." Eli pulled Soren off the bench before he could protest. The Charleston was rather easy to get a hold of, as Soren had actually attempted to dance it before, and it was fairly simple, especially with Eli as his reference point. The shuffle was incredibly difficult by contrast. Soren had to stop to watch Eli. With one paw he shifted to the side, and mid shuffle he would snap the other leg. It had an effect that made him look like he was propelling himself by clicking his heels. Once Soren got that motion down, they returned to the Charleston. Eli then grabbed the hands of the silver fox and started to spin Soren. "Get back in step," he said, "you can't lose synch just because we added a new element." it took two more tries to get the Lindy Hop right for Rock It For Me.
Soren was out of breath as he finished Rock It For Me for the last time. "Can we stop for a sec," he panted.
"Already," teased Eli. "You have more endurance than that." He gave Soren a meaningful look pointed down and then kissed the silver fox on the cheek.
Soren chuckled at the joke as he got out his computer and pulled up the sheet music for Electric Daisy Violin. Taking the violins out of their cases he passed the electric one to Eli. "You're so crude some days. Have you ever been accompanied by a recording before?" Eli shook his head as he rolled his left shoulder and hand, loosening up his bow arm. Soren continued, "if that is the case, know this: the recording's pace is law, and she is a harsh mistress. If you fall out of step with the recording, everyone with ears will know. If you fall out of step, it is your job to get back in step as fast as you can. Faster than as fast as you can. This becomes especially apparent when you are playing the melody, like we are about to. Got it?"
Eli nodded his head as he sat on the cement. His tails wrapped around his legs as he looked at the sheet music on the computer in front of him, perched on the bench. The two foxes began tuning the instruments. "Can we start with Shadows? That's my favorite."
Soren minimized Electric Daisy Violin. "Shadows is easier to start with anyway. There is only one violin part. Electric Daisy has plucking to go with the strings. We'll start at half speed, then full speed, then with the recording. Tell me when you are ready."
The song itself had plenty of motion. At half speed Eli was getting all of the notes, and both were moving their upper bodies to the rhythms as they played the melody. They both were seeing how they could dance to this. In fact they were rather excited to do these particular routines, as both of the foxes fangirled rather hard over Lindsey, especially Eli. If someone saw how hard he crushed on her, they would swear he was straight.
Moving at full speed now, Soren could tell Eli was having a harder time keeping up. He had to concentrate fully on the song, so he wasn't moving his body any more. He was missing notes now too, and they had to backtrack a few times. Soren couldn't blame him, as it was a rather complex song, with many build ups and dramatic drops in pitch. After a few full pace play-throughs, Eli was doing better, but Soren could tell he was frustrated. At the end of their fourth play-through, he put his grandmother's violin back in the case. Getting up, he offered a hand to Eli. "That was a good start. Once you get the notes down we can try with the recording later. Let's dance again."
Eli returned the acoustic violin carefully to its case and took Soren's silver hand. He was cheered slightly that Soren was willing to start swinging again. Eli turned his iPod on again, shuffling the contest play-list. Caravan Palace returned again as Dramaphone began to play next. "This one is easy," said Eli. "It's just a Charleston. But you need to keep up." Eli began to step up the pace, much faster than Rock It For Me. Soren managed to keep up, swinging his arms, alternating left leg and right arm with right leg and left arm. It was easy to keep up once he found a rhythm. Eli caught him by surprise on the first refrain, spinning him once as with the lyrics "come and taste us sweet as can be." Soren managed to get back in the groove right away this time. Eli didn't even have to replay the song.
The Randomizer finally decided it was done with Caravan Palace. It switched to a fast song that Soren didn't recognize. It was hard and heavy on the electro part of electroswing. Soren decided to try to keep up with it on a Charleston. "What song is this," asked the silver fox as he danced.
"Douai Charleston by 6u5," said Eli, matching Soren's pace. "Pay attention here. The song has alternate elements on the 2nd and 3rd beats of the measures. If you don't act on them, you get eliminated. They used this last year to cull the weak from the strong."
Soren needed to repeat this song three times. He kept losing count when he had to change step in the middle of the measure. Even as he struggled, he admired the music theory of the song. On the third repeat he didn't miss a beat. Soren thought maybe he was getting the hang of this. But still, there was hardly anyone here on this brisk November day, and he would be surrounded by people at the contest.
"One more, I think," said Eli. "We made a good start.
Soren nodded. Eli switched the music to Cheek to Cheek, a song from the old film Top Hat. Soren really did appreciate Fred Astaire's voice. "Isn't this a tad slow for swing," asked Soren.
"They always throw in some easier tunes as breaks, but they also throw in hard stuff if they think there are too many people left. The music selection gets vicious in the last hour." Keeping in step was easy, even as it picked up. Eli held their hands the whole time, moving their bodies together. Whenever Fred Astaire sang the words "cheek to cheek" Eli kissed Soren playfully.
"Fags," shouted an uncouth individual as he walked by. Eli and Soren smiled at this remark. As if on cue, they grabbed each other, leaning towards the rude Croconaw and kissing passionately. Their middle fingers were raised in unison at the gator, but as they did this, they still didn't miss a step. The foxes broke apart smiling as the water type grunted and stalked off. The song ended soon after that, and the two foxes packed up. They headed back to the apartment, holding hands.