Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
As another birthday rolls around, it’s time to learn something new and #embracethesuck. What will I be terrible at today? Two weeks ago, I was biking around Golden Gate Park with my friend Jess when we passed by the “Skatin’ Place” circle near 17th street and Fulton. We were watching the skaters spin, slide, and…
The Cakewalk is one of the lesser known “grandparents” of Lindy Hop, alongside the Charleston, Black Bottom, the Breakaway and others. The cakewalk, however, was more than just a dance, it was also a subtle but powerful means of Black resistance to white supremacy. The history of the cakewalk goes all the way back to…
A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Quinne from the online ticketing service EventBrite about an article she was writing about lindy hop. We had a lovely phone chat for 15 minutes and I promptly forgot about it. Yesterday her story went live on the EventBrite blog: “How Lindy Hoppers Moved Their Groove…
For a long time, I’ve been wanting to throw a dance video watching party. Tonight I finally got my chance! Using the TwoSeven video sharing service, I got together 30 buddies to watch lindy hop videos, chosen by four lovely dancer friends Amanda Collins, Samantha Nguyen, Ann Mony and Shawn Chiao. Hosting a party for…
An “Exquisite Corpse” is a form of collaborative artwork (typically a drawing or a short story), where each person contributes a small section of the work, but you don’t see the final product until the end. Since we are stuck in quarantine because of the COVID-19 outbreak, I decided to get some friends to collaborate…
During an interview for a blog yesterday, I was musing about what made lindy hop so special to me. And that’s when it hit me: Lindy hop didn’t come from a place where everything was rosy and people were always jumping for joy. It came from the African American community during the Depression, amidst systemic…
I have a lot to be thankful for in 2019, most notably turning 50, getting a fantastic new job, and surviving my first scooter accident. Here’s some of the highlights of the past year. The Big Five-Oh The biggest milestone of 2019 was turning 50 years old in July. I don’t know what I was…
I’m so excited to announce my latest venture: SLICK RIK’S SHOE SUEDING SERVICE! (Say that five times fast.) For the modest fee of $25 I will add smooth suede to the bottoms of your favorite pair of shoes to get you sliding, spinning, and switching with ease. Interested? Head to this form bit.ly/slicksueding, and I’ll…
As a lindy hopper and a jazz enthusiast living in San Francisco, I am embarrassed about how little I know about the historic Fillmore District. In the 1940s and 1950s this area was known as the “Harlem of the West” because of the large number of Black-owned businesses, particularly supper clubs, dance halls, and after-hours…
Here’s my three of my current favorite waackers, doing a showcase together: Lip J, Wizzard and Yoon Ji! I love this showcase for showing off the diversity in their styles: Lip J brings the sexiness and grace, Wizzard with the showmanship and comedy, and Yoon Ji with the passion and energy. I love how broad…