I was running this morning and thinking about what the point of exercise is. I realized that beyond the obvious health benefits, that there's a lot of mental / emotional power-ups that exercise gives to you. I've long known that certain kinds of exercise effects my general sense of well-being, confidence, and happiness. Dancing, running,…
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17th SF Hip Hop Dance Festival Recap: Academy of Villains, Hilty & Bosch, Dutch B-boys and More!
This weekend is the 17th annual San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Festival, a raucous celebration of street dance held at the beautiful Palace of Fine Arts. I saw "program A" of the show last night and it's one of the strongest years of the HHDF I've ever seen. Micaya the indefatigable organizer does an incredible…
A Retrospective on 60 Episodes of “SwingNation”!
Watch this awesome retrospective on sixty episodes of "SwingNation," the internet's only weekly talk show on swing and lindy hop. Lots of great moments in there, from "I Charleston" to chatting with Al Minn's son. Produced by the super talented Manu Smith.
Health Update + Five Tips for Meeting Your Health and Fitness Goals
So for the past year or so, I have been doing a number of health and diet interventions to live more healthily and energetically. I've tried to avoid crash diets and short-term interventions, and instead focus on small, incremental changes that might have longer-term benefits down the line, as well as more immediate improvements today. I'm…
Parris Goebel and Request Dance Crew of NZ: “Sorry” by Justin Bieber
I can take or leave Justin Bieber. But damn, that singer just gave his entire music video for his song "Sorry" over to Parris Goebel and her ReQuest Dance Crew. So mad props to him. I typically don't like this style of shake it and twerk it dancing. But damn if Parris and Request don't…
Happy 11th Birthday, Rikomatic.com!
My blog Rikomatic.com turns eleven years old tomorrow! The site has gone through lots of changes and revisions over the years. It actually started out as an experiment using the Plone web development platform and has morphed over the years into the stunning site you see today. For the first few years, rikomatic.com was where I mostly wrote…
Effusion Choir Sings “What Goes Around Comes Around” (J.Timberlake)
While in Montreal last weekend for ASTC 2015, I was pleased to encounter this McGill University based choral group "Effusion" on the first day. They performed for the opening plenary of the conference, which you can see here. But I preferred this choral take on "What Goes Around Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake. Check it…
Ray Basa Choreo: Star Wars + House Dancing + Charleston + Jazz Hands!
This is everything to me. Watch "Star Wars Cantina Band – Noize Tank Remix | Ray Basa Choreography".
Falling Isn’t Failing: What an Animated GIF Taught Me about Dancing and Living
So this awesome animated dancing gif has been making the rounds, for good reason. First off, it’s bad ass. Second off, it’s hilarious. The more and more I watch it, the more that I think it perfectly encapsulates some important life lessons that go way beyond dancing. Stay with me here! So what’s one of the…
My List of Where to Lindy Hop in San Francisco
I've been meaning to put together this list for awhile, since I get asked this on a regular basis. This is my own, non-exhaustive, curated list of places to learn and dance lindy hop in the San Francisco Bay Area. Basically, if I can recommend a venue or I go their regularly, they made the…