I'm going on a somewhat last minute trip up to the Quaker retreat center Powell House in Old Chatham, NY. I've been wanting to head up to Powell House for the past few months. Danielle from Brooklyn Meeting offered to get a car and drive up, so I jumped at the opportunity. The occasion is…
Category: Travel
Registration for Frankie Manning 95 Festival is OPEN
I can hardly believe it, but lindy hop legend Frankie Manning will be turning 95 years old next May! I'm honored to be working with a bunch of cool folks who are organizing the Frankie Manning 95th Birthday Festival. From May 21st -May 25th, 2009 (Memorial Day Weekend) lindy hoppers, jazz musicians, tap dancers, friends…
Manu, Naomi & Ramona performing Wilson Pickett song at Swing & Soul (video)
Here's Manu Smith, Naomi Oyama, and Ramona Staffeld just KILLING a performance to Wilson Pickett's "Land of 1,000 Dances" at Swing and Soul in Atlanta this weekend. Sorry for my terrible call-and-response singing into the mic. How do you not sing along to this song?
Rob Bowman on the history of Stax Records
On the last day of the Swing and Soul weekend in Atlanta, I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by musicologist and historian Rob Bowman talking about the history of the Stax record label. Rob has basically spent a good portion of his life devoted to chronicling the story of Stax, a legendary soul…
Swing & Soul ’08 Day 2: “Tighten Up” performance (video)
Here's another fun video from Swing and Soul this weekend in Atlanta: Steven Mitchell, Peter Strom, Manu Smith and Mikey Pedroza dancing to "Tighten Up."
Popin Pete & Mama Yeye at Swing and Soul in Atlanta (video)
Here's a sweet performance by legendary popper Popin Pete last night at Swing and Soul that I'm at all weekend in Atlanta. His level of control and expressiveness is ridiculous and quite beautiful. And Pete is a living link to the origins of this unique style of dance, as a member of the Electric Boogaloos…
Swing and Soul Weekend in Atlanta
It's 4am and I'm chilling with my friends Beckto and Spuds in our hotel room after the late night dance on the first night of the Swing and Soul weekend, listening to Stevie Wonder and other soul jams. So nice. Swing and Soul is a weekend long celebration of soul music and "dancing with soul"…
I’m going to Disneyworld: Magic Kingdom dedicates day to me! (video)
Apparently I've been a good boy this year. My friends and family chipped in and managed to get Disneyworld to dedicate a whole day to me!
PMT Breakers & me at Frim Fram last night (video)
Here's a fun video of the PMT Breakers performing at Frim Fram last night. Thanks to my crew Ian, Ron, Will, Monica, and Marie for coming out one more time. Really awesome performance and great crowd! Special thanks to Effervescent for filming this for me and Ryan Mascaro for cueing our music. Here's another version…
Jollibee Plush Doll in Barong Tagalog
If you go to your local Jollibee fast food franchise now, you can score one of these sweet Jollibee dolls. This one comes in a traditional filipino Barong Tagalog dress shirt, with black dress slacks, a chinese-type hat, and a cool bamboo backpack that plays a silly Jollibee jingle. (Sadly, no balisang knive was included.)…