Why Skye is amazing

Skye Humphries: Men want to be him and dance like him; women want to dance with him and then some.

Me? I'm a bit leery, a little bashful. When I see people being bombarded for dances (and wow does he usually get bombarded), lots of times I back off so that I'm not part of the problem. But when I was in DC for ILHC, there was definitely some space around him. I caught the end of a class that he taught with Marie from Sweden. They were teaching a move where the follower is led to zoom in on a side pass, and then the lead lets her momentum change his own. Pretty spiffy.

The thing is, people think Skye is so amazing because he's probably the best lindy hopper in the world, or because he's so musical, or because his expression is so clear & focused, or because he's such a badass. Those are all pretty cool. But to me, the reason Skye is so amazing is that he's so humble. I don't know him personally, and my interactions with him have been brief, but from my perspective as an instructor and a fellow dancer, he's so very kind. When I approached him after the class at ILHC to ask him for feedback on the move they'd been teaching, he seemed a little aloof. But he quickly connected with me by dancing the move with me and giving me just enough feedback on it so that after a few tries, I got better and better at it until he said it was feeling great. Marvelous! And all in a very matter of fact way that put no false hierarchical barriers between us. No bullshit. It was lovely.

I glimpsed more of his seemingly genuine humility and joy when the Boilermakers played that night. He was dancing right up near the band. Emboldened by my interaction with him after his and Marie's lesson and without a line of hungry followers waiting to dance with him, I asked him to dance, and we did! And then he asked for another - how very Herrang of him! At no point in the dance did I feel like he was dancing down to me; at no point did I feel judged. Plenty of less-than-the-best dancers have prompted those feelings in me, and I'm sure I have prompted them in other dancers as well. I felt like we were both thoroughly enjoying the music and having a blast dancing with each other. YES! Isn't that what we're all here for? Not to act like pricks, but to enjoy ourselves.

Of all lindy hoppers, Skye has the most justification and the most potential to really be a prick. Who would call him on it? He's the best. But he doesn't take that road, at least in the public eye, and that's why Skye is amazing.