Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
I embrace various dance styles — from lindy hop to house to rhythm skating. I try and remain curious and open to various dance forms I may not know much about. That said, it took me awhile to warm to waacking. There’s something about this style that was hard for me to grok for years….
My friend Albert Boulanger brought this awesome factoid to my attention: to compete with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in the 1939, the Golden Gate Ballroom also featured roller-skating. Can you imagine getting to lindy hop AND rollerskate in the same lavish ballroom? Sigh. SOURCE: The Birth of Bebop, By Scott DeVeaux · 1997
I can’t get enough of this group of hoofers recreating “Moses Supposes” the incredible Gene Kelly and Donald O’Conner dance number from Singin in the Rain. Seeing all these diverse folks bringing their joy and heart to this classic just makes me so freaking happy. CREDITS Directed by Caleb Teicher Original Choreography by Gene Kelly…
It was five years ago today that I was last at the legendary Herrang Dance Camp in Sweden, along with 1,000 other crazy lindy hoppers from all over the galaxy. On a lark, I entered the solo jazz dance contest, knowing that I would get spanked by the many, many incredible dancers who were there….
I recently shared to my feed this incredible breakdown of an Oscar Peterson piano solo. Which led to this response from my friend Jeremy Cooper: There are heroes that inspire me and always make me want to sit down and simply practice more. But then there are giants who tower so high above the landscape…
This past weekend, I had the extreme pleasure of performing a piece for the annual Skate Showcase we call “the Skate Sham.” Created with my Savoy Rollers crew, we wanted to share with the larger skate community our passion for lindy hop and our newfound love of skate dancing. So doing a skate version of…
This year, I was so happy to get to celebrate my birthday with actual physical gatherings with my loved ones. As a theme, I decided to lean into this being my “golden” years with a couple of very sparkly gold outfits. The festivities began on the morning of July 3 at my favorite SF bakery,…
As an older dancer, the loss of flexibility, strength, and stamina compared to my younger years looms larger and larger. It’s not fun to feel your own limits. BUT… there’s a lot I can still do to bring energy to the scene. I ‘ve been thinking this morning about the role of the hype man…
Yesterday was International Dance Day! And it’s been about 10 months since I started quad skating! I decided to try and capture some of the stuff I’ve been working on with my jam skating— that niche sub-genre of dance skating, often confused for rhythm skating. Jam skating is basically breaking / b-boying but on skates….
Yesterday at the amazing “Rollin Deep” event put on by the Bay Area Roller Group, I got to experience all those life-giving feelings that dancing gives to me that I had almost forgotten: Seeing another dancer going off, locking eyes, and just vibing with them for a moment, a phrase, or whole song. Seeing your…