So I've been alluding to some major life changes on the horizon. It's time to come clean: Sometime in early 2011 I'm moving back to the San Francisco Bay Area. It's something I have been pondering for the past year or so. Over there I've got a wonderful (an enormous) extended family that I feel…
Category: Travel
International Lindy Hop Championships 2010: Just a Friendly Little Competition with 700+ Swing Dancers
This past weekend (August 20-22), was the International Lindy Hop Championships (ILHC), held in Washington DC. A relatively new event, only in its third year, ILHC has emerged as one of the few "must go" events in the lindy hopper's calendar. This year's ILHC continued to raise the bar for swing events with world-class competitions,…
Dining and Dancing in Nawlins
This past week, I got to spend a couple of days in the city of New Orleans for a teacher training I was conducting, which presented an opportunity to see some friends and enjoy this wonderful place. I have been feeling guilty that I haven't been back to New Orleans since Katrina struck in 2005. …
My somewhat random pics from Herrang and Stockholm, Sweden
I wasn't a huge shutterbug during my travels in Herrang and Stockholm, Sweden this time around. There were lots and lots of other folks with high-end cameras running around the entire time. But I had my trusty iPhone on me, so did take a few fun pics. Can't wait to see more of the amazing…
Thoughts on Being Judged as a Dancer
As I wrote about yesterday, I competed in the "strictly lindy" division at the Jazz Jam competition in Stockholm, Sweden. It was my first Strictly so I found it both somewhat stressful and very educational. How strictly contests work is that you enter with a dance partner of your choice, but you have to dance…
Videos of Badass Dancing at Jazz Jam in Stockholm (updated)
Tonight I had a super-fun time dancing at the Jazz Jam in Stockholm Sweden this evening. A competition, concert and swing dance, it's quite a full evening of entertainment for anyone who loves swing and jazz. I originally wanted to enter the Jack and Jill competition, since I find watching them less fun than participating….
Herrang Final Party: Letting Your Inner Animal Swing Out
The 2010 Herrang International Dance Camp has finally come to a close. I'm sitting in the bar of the Folketshaus, the heart of the Herrang Dance Camp, surrounded by dancers grabbing breakfast before catching busses to the airport or to Stockholm. Meanwhile a small army of volunteers is dismantling the entire camp to return it…
Herrang Day Five: Teaching Lindy Hoppers How to Break
Sorry that the updates have been infrequent here at the Herrang Dance Camp. It's been a whirlwind experience and I haven't had much time to process or write about it. And frankly I've enjoyed being completely offline for once in my life. Anyway, today I found myself teaching an introduction to breaking class as one…
Herrang: Mind Officially Blown
Why do people come to Herrang? It's remote and hard to get to, over-crowded, hot, and full of mosquitos. There are many other camps, workshops, exchanges and dance events that occur all around the US, Europe and other parts of the world all year. And yet Herrang is still the gold standard of lindy hop…
Herrang Dance Camp Day One and Two: Auditioning and Fast Lindy Class
This is my second day at the Herrang Dance Camp in Sweden. It's been three years since I've been here, and the camp has grown quite a bit in that time. The main outdoor dance floor seems about twice as big as before, they have added more tents for the daytime classes, and participation has…