My friend and former co-worker Amira at Global Kids sends out news of an opportunity to support Global Kids with just the click of a mouse. I hope you will consider helping out. Global Kids is an innovative youth development nonprofit that helps thousands of at-risk young people every year to learn leadership skills,…
Rik and Nina: Poster Children of Midsummer Night Swing 2011
I'm happy to share the news that the lovely and talented dancer Nina Galicheva and I are gracing the front of the promotional posters for the 2011 season of Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center. The photo is from when Nina and I competed in last year's "Ambassador's Prize" dance contest at Lincoln Center. As…
Easter with the Santos Clan (pics, video)
Easter with the Santos clan was a very festive affair this year, hosted by the Martin family in their lovely house in Hercules, CA. I had a great time hanging out with the fam, eating a ridiculous amount of amazing food, playing with my littlest cousins, and just relaxing on a gorgeous Easter sunday. Check…
NY Post on Bone Flexin, Hip-hop and Lindy Hop Dance (video)
Interesting, if convoluted, video story from the New York Post about a "bone flexing" battle in New York. The reporter connects this newest street / vernacular dance form with older hip-hop styles like breaking and tutting, and even with lindy hop. I know it's an old story from 2009, but I liked the connections…
The Chef’n Dual Pepperball: Elegant Practicality
I've been working out of my sister's pad in Mission Bay, SF for the past week. The thing you have to understand about my sister is that she has a particular aesthetic sense, sort of Swedish practicality plus Japanese asceticism, and a dash of hedonism. So her apartment reflects that: lots of clean lines, uncluttered…
Gauchos bring Gypsy Jazz to the Mission
On Wednesday night I had the pleasure of catching the Gauchos jazz sextet perform at the delightfully divey Amnesia Bar in the Mission District. The Gauchos play mostly gypsy jazz, ala Django Rheinhart, throwing in some other tango and New Orleans street jazz for good measure. They got some serious chops, tight grooves, and…
America’s Best Dance Crew: S6 Ep3 “The Black Eyed Peas Challenge”
America's Best Dance Crew (Season 6) – MTV Shows I caught America's Best Dance Crew season six, episode three tonight. Each crew was tasked with dancing to a Black Eyed Peas song and with one trick move or illusion — not that tough since it's early in the season. Here's my notes from the episode:…
LookBack Maps: Bringing the Past to the Present with Augmented Reality
I have been playing around with augmented reality apps lately, seeing how they might be used for education and civic engagement. The field is still in its beginning stages, but we are already starting to see some interesting applications of AR. Of course, augmented reality applications have been around since the early 1990s. But it…
Street Dance Meets Classical: Lil Buck Jookin to Yoyo Ma (video)
This unexpected collaboration between cellist Yoyo Ma and hip-hop / jookin dancer Lil Buck has been circulating around the webasphere recently. Definitely intriguing and skillfully performed. I can't fault either Yoyo Ma's playing or Lil Buck's dancing, both of which are world-class. But I have a hard time seeing what the connection is between…
Bay Area National Dance Week starts this Friday: Get your lindy on!
From Friday, April 22 to Sunday, May 1, dancers and lovers of dance in the San Francisco Bay Area will get to enjoy 400+ free dance happenings during the Bay Area National Dance Week. There's a huge range of events, including classes, performances, film showings and demonstrations happening all around the Bay. Whether you are…