I ran across this article on the BBC website "Wheelchair user barred from dance class in Reading". Ms. Susi Rogers-Hartley, a wheelchair-bound former Royal Navy communications worker, had hoped to take a lindy hop class at the "All Jazzed Up" dance studio in Berkshire, UK. The organizers told her that they must first "consult their…
Category: Dancing / Music
“Mr. Beebe”: Incredible Tap Performance featuring Harold Nicholas (video)
My favorite video clip that jazz historian Mark Cantor showed at the Jewish Community Center of SF last Saturday was this this outstanding performance from the movie "Carolina Blues" (1944) featuring Harold Nicholas, one half of the legendary Nicholas Brothers. According to Mark, older brother Fayard Nicholas was drafted during the war at the…
Mark Cantor’s Treasure Trove of Vintage Jazz Footage on Film
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of sitting in a packed auditorium at the Jewish Center of San Francisco to watch a lovingly curated showing of vintage clips of jazz dance on film from the 1930s to the 1950s. Called the "Giants of Jazz on Film," this is a popular series of film clip showings…
On Social Dancing and the Creeps that Spoil It for Everyone
Last night I was at a fantastic birthday party for my friend Kirk. Being a lindy hopper, of course there was going to be dancing at Kirk's celebration. It was one of the most joyous nights of dancing I've had in awhile, just cutting it up with a dozen or so people to swing-era jazz,…
New Documentary on Cab Calloway airs on PBS! (video)
Watch Cab Calloway: Sketches on PBS. See more from American Masters. Cab Calloway is one of my personal heroes as a bandleader, a dancer and a larger than life personality during the Harlem Rennaissance. While Ellington was smooth and Basie was cool, Calloway was flamboyant, antic, and always entertaining. His fame as an African-American artist…
“Hotel Nacional”: Gloria Estefan’s New Music Video features Lindy Hop, Electro-swing, and the Kitchen Sink
Still not sure how I feel about this music video by Gloria Estefan. I like electro-swing, lindy hop, and b-boying, so in theory I should love this. The "Rocky Horror Picture" references are mostly lost on me, but I'm told they are there. And the burlesque, glam-Paris look is well done. Still, it feels…
“Swing Dancing” Book Chronicles Lindy Hop from Slavery to Today
Swing aficionados generally use words like "happy" and "fun," when describing their dance, and Lindy Hop the original style of swing, is often referred to as "an outward expression of an inner joy." Sometimes silly, sometimes cool, it's a dance that lifts the spirits. And to those that catch the bug ( the "Jitter"-bug, that…
Sh*t Lindy Hoppers Say (video)
It had to happen. Congrats to my friends Iris, Jim and Sarah for putting this together in record time. I've probably said pretty much all of those things, I'm afraid.
Movies You Must See in the Theaters: “Pina” and “The Artist”
There are dozens of movies in the theaters right now that I'm dying to see. Most of the Oscar-nominees and some popcorn flicks. But I can wait for all of these to come to DVD / streaming if I have to. Except for two: "The Artist" and "Pina." "The Artist" is the most original film…
Lindy Hoppers needed for Quantum Physics Project!
Some scientist / dancers at the University of Waterloo in Canada are looking for lindy hoppers around the world to help them demonstrate how quantum computing operates — by dancing. Entitled Project Q, they are asking for groups to perform a fairly simply choreography, film it, post it, and send the link to them….