Who doesn’t like dancing? Those special choreographed moves that we all try to imitate from time to time, sometimes we even get them right. The “jive” has always been many peoples favorite dance style, but it is a very hard style to master. Some of the moves, especially at the advanced level, are very difficult to perform successfully without making them look really awkward. I’ve even fallen over trying some of them! Yet every now and then a couple will come along and blow you out of the water with their expertise in this wonderful dance style.
An elderly couple named Charlie Womble and his dance partner Jackie McGee took the crowd by surprise when they casually strolled onto the dance floor during a competition one evening. Nobody paid them much attention at first, as the couple looked like they had come out of retirement just for the night, but once Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood” started out they wowed everybody that was there to witness their incredible routine.
Back in 1939, Glenn Miller and his orchestra released their version of this amazing piece of music. This was of course the “Big Band Era” and they were the superstars of their day. The record was on top of the charts for an incredible 13-weeks in 1940 in the US. The song itself is based on a piece called “Tar Paper Stomp” by an artist named Wingy Manone, but was changed to “In the Mood” when it was first recorded by Edgar Hays & his Orchestra in 1938. The song has had a life of its own and in 1983 was inducted into the “Grammy Hall of Fame”. The Glenn Miller version was also added to the “National Public Radio” list of “The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century” an amazing honor indeed. And to top that off it has also been inducted into the “Library of Congress National Record Registry” as a piece that is “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”
When you watch Charlie and Jackie dance to this historic piece of music you can’t help being taken back to a time where life was so much simpler. They are so in sync with each other that the rest of the dancers stop just to watch and enjoy this amazing couple, who are clearly having the time of their lives. Certain moves that even the youngsters in the crowd wouldn’t try had the audience clapping and cheering, a tribute to these two dancers who have partnered each other for over 30-years.
Click on the link below to watch what is probably, the best example of the jive that you will ever see, and be amazed at the agility of these two seniors-with-style that even the finest dancers would envy.
