I am a terrible follower. And I love it. A couple of weekends ago, I got to work on learning the other side of lindy hop, the follower role, at The Switch Workshop in San Francisco. The Switch is one of the first full weekend dance workshops dedicated to focus on learning the non-traditional role…
Dope Profile of Japanese B-girl / Schoolteacher Ayumi
Check out this sweet video short about b-girl Ayumi of Japan. She holds it down both as a professional hip-hop dancer and as an elementary schoolteacher in Japan. And she's an older dancer in her 30s! She's kind of my new dance hero. Here's another dope video of her at a competition from a couple…
Support the Jimmie Lunceford Transcription Project!
Yesterday evening I happily kicked in a couple hundred bucks for the crowdfunding campaign "Big Band Revival: Jimmie Lunceford Transcription." Cause what else is money for except to bring beautiful things into the world, like awesome swing music? This is the second time that Michael Gamble and his crew have rallied jazz nerds and swing dance…
The Day I Stopped Playing Piano
Today I was in the San Francisco Botanical Gardens for their wonderful "Flower Piano" festival. Pianos are placed strategically all around the beautiful gardens, and anyone can turn up and play whatever they know. I saw lots of young kids playing who reminded me of that brief time in my life when I was a pianist….
Caravan Palace and Quest Crew: Electro-swing + Street Dance
I dig this video featuring Quest Crew dancing to a live performance by electro-swing band Caravan Palace. Quest always has a great mix of styles, from b-boying to house to locking. There's even some charleston in there. Here's another older one from 2012 on SYTYCD.
Step Up 6 is Happening… in China! (cast, release date, other details)
You thought the "Step Up" dance series was over? Nope. It's back… in Chinese! I had assumed from the lackluster box office revenues and poor reviews of "Step Up: All In" (2014) that we had seen the last of the "Step Up" film series. As friends will know, I'm a long time fan of the…
This is My City, My Museum, My Home
Yesterday, this is what I saw as I biked past the California Academy of Sciences, around 8:30pm. I was in awe of the beauty and grandeur of nature, the magnificence of my city, and the elegance of my museum. I'm such a fortunate human. The blog isn't doing this picture justice. Check out a higher…
Drilling My Scissor Kicks
Across the board, from rock climbing to boxing to dance, getting better at something involves some pretty universal practices: Practice a lot Focus on the edge of your ability Do an action slow, then build up speed as you get more proficient Visualize yourself doing it I'm not particularly great at practicing. But I'm trying. …
Sunday is the Hardest Diet Day
I really enjoy my low/no carb diet most days. But if I have a hardest day, it's Sunday. First off, my cheat day is typically Saturday. So that means I have the longest time to wait until my next cheat day rolls around. Also Sunday is the weekend, which means more opportunities for temptations to…
“Hamilton” is a Timely Revelation
On Wednesday, I finally got to see Hamilton the musical at the Orpheum Playhouse, with my dear friend Hanah and her sister Arielle. It's one of the most powerful theatrical experiences I've ever had in my life. Like thousands of others, I binged on the music for months prior to going to the show, to prepare…