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…
Category: Travel
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…
Shim Shamming for Frankie Manning’s Birthday in a Singapore Mall! (video)
Here's a cute video of about 40 lindy hoppers doing the shim sham in (of course) a shopping mall in Singapore. The occasion was the 97th birthday of legendary lindy hopper Frankie Manning, who unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. I was lucky enough to be there to participate along with visitors…
Singapore Day 3: Work, Eat, Dance, Work, Eat….
Coming into day four of my Singapore adventure. Definitely getting a feel for the place: and I have to say, it’s a really good feeling. Work has started in earnest on the project I am here to lead, a couple of virtual world education workshops for an international client. Singapore is kind of an ideal…
Singapore Day 1: Disreputable Thai food, Lindy Hop, Tap, and Second Life
Too many awesome things about Singapore to write about. And too jet-lagged to think straight anyway. But some of the best stuff: Kept doing double-takes at the astounding architecture everywhere, from ancient Buddhist temples to ultra-futuristic complexes that looked straight out of Second Life. Wandered through floors and floors of bargain computer gear at the…