Another fantastic weekend of fine music and dancing I was talking with Gilles on Saturday about what makes a superlative dining experience. It’s more than just the food. It’s the setting, the servers, the energy of the people eating there, even the kind of lighting. Gilles put it more simply, “I like eating…
Category: Dancing / Music
Highlights from My Trip to Shanghai
Here are some of my favorite things that I encountered in Shanghai, in no particular order. Tianzifang A very touristy but still charming old neighborhood, Tianzifang is centered around a tiny warren of narrow alleyways chock-a-block with shops and cafes. Some of it is just tourist nonsense, but there are lots of gems in there. …
Talking (Awkwardly) about the Black Roots of Lindy Hop at WLHD Singapore
This Saturday night, my friend Sing Lim and I were scheduled to give a presentation at the World Lindy Hop Day event in Singapore on “Frankie Manning and the Black Roots of Lindy Hop”. There were about 75 dancers and musicians there from all across Asia. A few minutes before we were to speak, Sing and…
Dancing to “Puttin on the Ritz” by Fred Astaire
I love this version of the song so much. Those drum breaks are awesome. I had fun improv-ing to this song this morning in Golden Gate Park.
Off to Shanghai and Singapore Soon!
In a little under two weeks, I will be heading off on my next adventure: to Shanghai and Singapore! Singapore is one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s like stepping into the future, full of pan-Asian awesomeness. I had a fantastic time when I was there in 2011. I’m looking forward to lots…
#dancegoals: Bay Area Waackers in Lake Merritt
I love this video of a few of the amazing waackers in the Bay Area, shot around Lake Merritt, Oakland. Lots of my dance heroes in this video, including Alice, G-Funk, Karlita, MadGlad, Mikachu, Sabine, Shinobi Jaxx, and Tsunami the Soul Shifter. That's a dope track too — "I Can’t Give You More" by Suzy Q! …
Switch Dancing Lindy Hop with Brian
Here’s a long take of my friend Brian and I dancing lindy hop together, where we switch roles several times during the dance. Learning how to follow in lindy hop and experiencing both roles has been a shot in the arm to my dancing over the past year. I had no idea how fun it…
Locking + Waacking at “Waack,Crackle, Lock” Dance Battle in Berkeley
Photo credit: Rahul Doraiswami This weekend, I got to participate in a very dope dance contest in the Bay Area: “Waack, Crackle, Lock.” This unique dance battle brought together two styles with very different histories but that go perfectly together: locking and waacking. The brainchild of locker LilC and waacker Alice Hur, “Waack, Crackle, Lock” exemplified my…
Tasha Barnes in the New York Times!
My friend Latasha Barnes is a beast of a dancer. Nice to see that the New York Times recognizes that as well. Check out this dope article about a neat dancer / musician collaboration in New York City, featuring quotes and a video of Tasha. So great!
Memories of the Neoswing Era
Hanging with swing friends back in the day. The “Khakis Swing” Gap Ad is twenty years old. Woah. I’ve been reminiscing about what it was like to dance in the midst of the “neo-swing” era. I started lindy hopping around 1997 in New York City. I remember taking my first class with my friend Denise…