Last night I had a fantastic time with 100-some other guests at Michael Ingbar's "125th Surprise Birthday Party" aboard the lightship Frying Pan off of the Hudson River. Ingbar is one of the most fascinating, eccentric and cool people that I have ever known. A die-hard lindy hop and balboa enthusiast, he runs a succesful…
Category: Dancing / Music
General Mischief performing feats of aerial daring and yoga mastery October 14 and 17
My friend Emily, co-director of the General Mischief Dance Theater, sends out the news that her group is putting on another eclectic, fun set of dance performances this coming weekend. Their latest show "Terra Firma to the Troposphere" features new aerial pieces, a hot-off-the-mat YogiDance, and a new modern dance set to live music by…
Hand Dancing to Electro-swing Hit “We No Speak Americano”
This music video is sick on so many levels: Hot electro-swing hit called "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda BCool and DCUP Ridiculous "hand dancing" by Suzanne Cleary & Peter Harding, aka "Up and Over It" Awesome production values on the video by Jonny Reed Em tells me that Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding are…
“Swift Solos”: A Sweeter, Simpler Glimpse into B-boy Culture
This weekend I had the pleasure of seeing “Swift Solos” – a new dance theater show based on the life and legacy of legendary b-boy Ken Swift. I found it to be a dramatic departure from the typical b-boy and hip-hop dance theater shows that I've seen. In a nutshell, “Swift Solos” is about the…
Yehoodi, the #1 Swing Dance Website on the Net, Gets a Web 2.0 Facelift!
On January 4, 2010, Yehoodi entered a new chapter in our history with a whole new website, built from the ground up. Our goal was to make sure that our site continued to serve the lindy hop community through providing necessary news and information , helping people find dance events anywhere in the world ,…
Yehoodi Celebrates 12 Years Supporting Lindy Hop with Swing Party, Dance Contest October 21
It’s hard to believe that 12 years ago in a garage in Queens, a scrappy Manu Smith and a scruffy Frank Dellario thought, "There has to be a better way to disseminate Larry’s List!" And thus, Yehoodi.com was born. In the twelve years that followed there have been all kinds of changes in the Lindy…
“Swift Solos” Show Celebrates the Work of Legendary B-boy Ken Swift
oLive Dance Theatre's SWIFT SOLOS from Hip-Hop Theater Festival on Vimeo. This year's Hip Hop Theater Festival features a show I'm very excited to see: "Swift Solos." "Swift Solos" is a series of vignettes based on the dance legacy of legendary b-boy Ken Swift. From his early years as an up-and-coming dancer, to joining Rock…
“I Charleston New York”: Frenchies bring Charleston Mania to Manhattan
As I mentioned about a month ago, I participated in the "I Charleston New York" flash mob in Times Square along with a bunch of other local lindy hoppers. Organized by those wacky dancers from Montpellier, the Swingjammerz, "I Charleston…" is a video project where they go from city to city around the world, spreading…
Co-hosting a Podcast from NYC and Cali over Skype
This was not the most fantastic day I've ever had. But it ended on a high note with a recording of another Yehoodi Talk Show podcast with my buddy Manu in California. Manu and I have been doing the Yehoodi Talk Show for more years than I care to count right now. He's a great…
Krumping as Transcendent Expression
This morning at Quaker Meeting I couldn't stop thinking about krump. Krumping, of course, is the hyper-energetic, aggressive dance style that emerged out of some of the roughest neighborhoods in LA in the 90s, and has since become an international phenomenon. I've long had difficulty understanding krump as an artform. It appeared to me to…