It was another glorious day in Golden Gate Park yesterday for a house dance practice session. Seven dancers gathered in the bandshell of the music concourse section of the park to share their love of dancing, their individual grooves, and their energy. That's Nehemiah killing it above. Here's a short video of one of his sets…
Category: Dancing / Music
Lucifer: Amazing House Dance Crew from Japan!
I stumbled upon this dance video on reddit and can't stop watching it. This is Lucifer crew dancing at the 2013 Dance@Piece show in Japan. Don't know why they are called that, but they definitely are wicked. Some of the tightest, cleanest choreo I've ever seen from a house dance crew. Great musicality and…
Five Swing Event Organizers Talk about Creating Safer Dance Spaces
In light of the ongoing conversations in the lindy hop world on how we create safer dance spaces for all, Nicole Zuckerman, Manu Smith and I produced an online forum for events organizers on February 4, 2015. Participants included an all-star line up of prominent leaders in the swing community: Hilary Alexander, organizer of Camp Hollywood Scott…
“Know the Elements” Hoodie: The Science of Hip-hop
Check out this wicked "Know the Elements" hoodie by 5e Gallery. There could not be a more perfect hoodie for me, combining hip-hop and science nerdery. And it even fits nicely. Hip-hip Heads: Do you get all the references underneath the elements? My colleague Christine and I shot some pics of the hoodie at my museum the…
A Raw and Honest Conversation on Creating Safer Dance Spaces
Since last week, the lindy hop community has been reeling from revelations that well-known dance instructor Steven Mitchell has been sexually abusive to multiple women (including some teens) over the span of many, many years. We've been struggling to find some light in the midst of the darkness. From that context, a bunch of us…
“Shake It Off” Shim Sham (video)
I find it difficult to not like Taylor Swift when she sings earworms like "Shake It Off" and enjoys making a fool of herself in her own music video. Apparently I'm not alone. Here's a bunch of swing dancers at Lindy in the Park in San Francisco doing a modified Shim Sham to "Shake It Off."…
Remy and Ramona at AJW 2015 in Seoul
Here's the incomparable Romona Staffeld and Remy Kouakou Kouame killing this lindy hop performance at Authentic Jazz Weekend in Seoul, Korea a few days ago. After this past week in lindy hop, I really needed this reminder of what is so wonderful and worthy of celebrating and passing on about this dance. The joy, the music,…
Dancing House to Electro-swing (video)
Here's a video I have been sitting on for awhile of a house practice session with my buddy David from last December. We're having a great time rocking out to this electro-swing beat. I think it works really well. I hope you enjoy it.
Making Lindy Hop a Safe Place for Teens and Women
Sarah Sullivan is a lindy hopper who has been dancing for 11 years and co-organizes a popular swing dance venue the Mobtown Ballroom in Baltimore, MD. Yesterday Sarah posted on her personal blog a shocking story about a well-known older dance instructor Steven Mitchell, and his long history of inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances directed…
Bay Area Old Skool Hip-hop Dancers Breaking It Down (video)
As someone who loves street dance / hip-hop dance, I do think about the image of a middle-aged dude breaking it down in the cypher or on-stage. It's a young person's game, like so many things in life. So it does my heart good to see old skool dancers continuing to represent in Bay Area,…