Interview With Smilin (10 Questions to…)

01. EST: Who are you, what are you doing, where are you from and how did you come to dancing?
Smilin: Hi! My name‘s Linda, aka. Smilin and I‘m an (electro swing) dancer from Lake of Constance, Germany. Because of my studies, I’m currently living in upper Franconia now.
I‘m dancing for over ten years now and started when Michael Jackson died in 2009. The king of pop has given me the inspiration to dance. And this is where my dance journey began.

02. EST: Why did you choose Electro Swing and not another (more successful and popular) music genre?
Smilin: In my opinion, there are a lot of things which are kinda magic about Electro Swing. Swing dance is very captivating, energetic and it doesn’t have any rules, it’s all about having fun. Also it’s a kind of dance which you can do at any age. It‘s absolutely amazing that it combines new music and old swing elements, therefore it brings young people and people at a higher age together. I can see it in my YouTube audience, the most YouTubers have more young people as an audience. But my community is kinda balanced and a colorful mix of different ages, which is so refreshing.

03. EST: What excites you most about Electro Swing, what’s special for you?
Smilin: I think it’s the captivation of Electro Swing. It‘s great to know that Electro Swing can inspire ladies and gentlemen over 70 to stand up and try out some moves. You really can see the power of music when other people can’t resist to dance.

04. EST: Where could it go with Electro Swing and what do you find exciting, can there be anything new at all?
Smilin: I‘m not sure where it could go, but I hope Electro Swing gets bigger. There are unfortunately a lot of people now who have never listen to this kind of music or even don’t know this genre.

05. EST: How would you describe the worldwide Electro Swing / neoswing dance scene?
Smilin: Honestly it’s like a family. The dance scene is kinda small so everybody knows each other and this is a thing which I absolutely love. Because of Electro Swing, I even made new friends and I‘m so happy that I have them in my life now. And that all happens just because I uploaded my first Electro Swing dance video on my channel. It’s crazy how YouTube has changed my whole life in such a positive way and I‘m so grateful for it. Every single person in the dance scene is so talented.
We even have an Instagram group with the most active dancers, where we support each other, give tips or just talk about every day life. Also, we‘re posting our dance videos on @neoswing_official
Just in case if someone is interested :)

06. EST: What do you think about the man-made climate change and what can we all do about it, such as food, travel and lifestyle?
Smilin: I‘m not really a pessimist, but I think it’s too late. The government should have been planned anything against the climate change earlier, but nothing happened and I think they will never care about that, to be honest. But that doesn’t mean we should stop caring, too! I think there are so many things we can do such as a conscious nutrition (eat less/no meat and more plant-based) we should buy more regional and seasonal food, avoid plastic and waste less, consume less etc.

07. EST: What’s the political attitude of Electro Swing in the 21st century, if swing in the Roaring 20’s fought for emancipation, anti-apartheid, social justice and a better morality?
Smilin: I don’t think there is a political attitude, but in my opinion, it has a great importance for the society. Swing Dance was created at a period of hell, that’s why it’s so happy.
These days we live in a time where we‘re all stressed out with busy schedules, burnout and depressions aren’t things which are rare. I think Electro Swing can balance it out somehow, that’s why we enjoy it, we can forget all this stress for one moment and enjoy the happy music.

08. EST: What else do you do, do you live from dancing and what are your interests and hobbies?
Smilin: I‘m studying sociology now and enjoying my hobbies and my life! Besides dancing, I absolutely love drawing photorealistic things and doing sfx makeup. For those who are interested I have another Instagram page for my creative stuff: @creatilindy
I also love playing the piano and cooking and I‘m this kind of person who loves to decorate her food, haha. I really take great care of what I am eating :)

09. EST: What do you dislike about Electro Swing, could something be improved?
Smilin: There’s not any single thing I could dislike about Electro Swing! I just wish it would be more popular and there would be more clubs and DJs in germany who would play this kind of genre.

10. EST: What are your plans for the future?
Smilin: My plans are to get my bachelor, work with more electro swing artists and doing a lot of great projects with Electro Swing Thing! Also I hope another dream comes true: the milestone of 100.000 subscribers on YouTube :)
Thanks that I had the chance to be part of this interview series!

EST: Thank you for the great interview, it was very exciting and interesting to learn more about you. Good luck and stay healthy!