Last night was one of those frustrating / inspiring experiences that happens often in Herrang, where you have the most amazing band playing your favorite song, a roomful of the best lindy dancers in the world — and you can't dance. The Carling Family Band is perhaps the quintessential lindy hop band. They…
Category: Travel
Hip-Hop Herrang: Bringing Breaking to the Lindy Hop Camp
So last night I taught what I think was a very successful Breaking 101 class at the Herrang Dance Camp. I thought it might be a good experience for me and expose people to a different kind of movement that might help their dancing in general. And I think it is always useful to show…
Jam Circles and Confronting Your Inner Critic
So as I mentioned in the previous post, there was a spontaneous jam circle at the end of Lennert and W's class yesterday in Herrang. Inspired by the music, I jumped in with one of the follows from our class and did a short sequence — something like a couple of swingouts, a do-si-do, and…
Herrang Shenanigans: Class interrupted by Swing Band (video)
This is the kind of stuff that makes me remember why I love the Herrang Dance Camp so much. This was my final class of the week with Lennert (director of the camp) and his partner W. Toward the end of the class, a swing band marched through and began playing for us, followed…
Herrang Day 3: Challenging Assumptions and the Dreaded Slow Drag
So starting the second day, my body started pushing back, telling me, "Rik, you aren't 25 anymore." I was falling asleep all day and night, during class, during the dances, during the camp meeting… basically all the time. My dancing has certainly not in top form, but I pushed through the fatigue. That must mean…
Herrang Day 2: A Mellower Dance Camp Experience
It's been a different experience being here Week Two of the Herrang Dance Camp rather than Week Four or Five, when I have come in the past. This camp is a lot less intense so far than previous times I've been here. And for the most part, that is a good thing. Herrang in total…
Learning Again and Again the Art of Partner Dancing
It's the first real day of the Herrang Dance Camp for me. Today the advanced group had three classes with just one teaching couple: Jo Hoffberg and Kevin Saint Laurent. They taught something both totally simple and exceedingly difficult: how to lead and follow your partner. The concept was to lead precisely very simple figures…
Off to Herrang Dance Camp for a Couple Weeks
Starting on Saturday, I will be — for the third time! — at the Herrang International Dance Camp, in the quaint northern Swedish town of Herrang. I'm looking forward to being with the hundreds and hundreds of lindy hop afficionados from around the world that converge on Herrang. And lots of good friends will be…
Last Days in Singapore: Yummy Intestines, Surreal Cityscapes, Bargain Sailor Duds
I’m on a plane now, headed back to the States, surprisingly sad to be leaving the small city-state of Singapore. My last couple of days in Singapore were some of the most fun and interesting. Some of the highlights: Pig’s Intestine Soup: My local food expert and guide Janice was insistent that I try one…
Singapore Day Six: Chili Crab, Nocturnal Animals, and Consumerism
I’m winding down my Singapore adventures today and tomorrow, and, man, it’s been an incredible trip. Summarizing just the highlights is kind of tough, but here we go: The Night Safari. O.M.G. So amazingly awesome. Getting to walk through a tropical forest in the dark and encountering all sorts of animals is so much better…