Stonykla - Heroin For Your Soul

If you have ever watched the original ‘jungle book’ movie from 1967 you probably remember this scene: Protagonist ‘Mowgli’ got captured by King Loui of the Apes. Loui demands to learn “the secret of the fire” if he ever wants to be released. He then goes on singing the famous tune “I want to be like you”.

‘Baloo’ the bear, madly worried, wants to rescue the poor child but falls into the biggest trap: The swing trap. Upon hearing the music he forgets his tasks and enters the temple dressed as an ape to join them in their swing dance routine.

This is my favourite metaphor for what swing music does to your body and mind. You got 99 problems? Put on some “Slim & Slam”, shrug with your shoulders and you don’t care that your girlfriend left your lazy ass.

The Secret Of The Fire

The swing community is pretty much a real live version of this movie. And once entered it’s very hard to get out. It’s like healthy heroin. I recently moved to Lithuania where the ‘swing & jazz family’ is very open and very friendly. They meet every other day and exchange ‘the secret of the fire’ like this weekend at the Stonykla Summer Camp. Between dances I captured some emotions.