I met up with some swing dance friends today on Fifth Avenue and 49th for the annual Easter Parade, one of my favorite New York events of the year. More of a promenade than a parade, every year on Easter Sunday New Yorkers put on their Sunday best and strut their stuff down Fifth Avenue. …
Category: Dancing / Music
Anne Lamott on dancing and eventual grace
Anne Lamott is one of my favorite writers, and one of my top five sort-of-famous people I would like to have dinner with. By chance I came across an email about Anne doing a book signing at the local Barnes and Nobles last night and I just had to stop by. Her new book is…
Yehoodi Video Podcast #411 online
My buddy Spuds and I recorded the second video podcast of our long running swing dance program the "Yehoodi Talk Show" a few days ago. We talk about Christina’s latest swingin video, how to take care of your Aris Allen shoes, Columbian "boogaloo" salsa, and lots of other silliness. Check it out via direct download…
“Step Up”: a much better dance movie than it deserves to be
Cindy and I were bored the other night so we rented the dance movie “Step Up” which came out a few months ago. I’m kind of a sucker for these formula dance movies which always seem to have the same basic plotline: Uncouth street dancer meets prissy “professional” dancer through some contrived scenario (community service,…
The THON: the Dance Marathon to end all marathons
The kids at Penn State every year throw an amazing dance marathon called simply "The THON" to benefit pediatric cancer care at at the Penn State Children’s Hospital. They have raised $41 million over the past 31 years! This year, the benefit has gone virtual, with a host of in-world concerts to raise funds taking…
Legendary swing dancer Frankie Manning’s autobiography hits the shelves in April!
I've had the honor and privilege of studying under the legendary swing dancer Frankie Manning, the octogenarian ambassador for Lindy Hop. I'm super-excited to announce that Frankie Manning's long awaited autobiography is finally hitting the shelves in April. Entitled Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop, the book chronicles the life and times of this…
Tomo and me swingin at the Dance Marathon
Here's a quick little video clip of Tomo and me lindy hopping at the Dance Marathon on Friday done by Anna, another local lindy hopper. Yes, I know, I need to stop pointing. You can also see my friends Jerry and ShortyJul swing dancing at the end of the video on the Gothamist website. Thanks,…
A lucky lead at the Dance Marathon yesterday
Here’s a fun picture of me dancing with my friends Devona and ShortyJul at the Dance Marathon event held yesterday to today in Madison Square Park. The picture was taken by Jerry, who’s flickr gallery from the event is here. I couldn’t make the evening shift of swing dancers, but it looks like a fun…
Dance Marathon today and tomorrow in Madison Square Park
I did my little bit for the cause of dancing today, heading out in the freezing cold to dance for an hour with a hardy dozen lindy hoppers in Madison Square Park this afternoon. The cause was an effort to fight the ridiculous Cabaret Laws in New York that restrict public dancing to only a…
Breakin’ it down
I’m in my fourth week of breakdance classes at PMT Studios. It’s a lot of fun and very physically and mentally demanding, as you can imagine. The instructor Pavan Thimmaiah (that’s him on the left) has a gift for taking even the most daunting of dance moves and making them seem do-able for beginners like…