Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
Last Friday, Manu and I walked into an elegant, empty ballroom in Times Square, NYC. “You know where we are, right?” Manu asks me. “The Edison Ballroom?” I reply. “Naw, dude. This is the Supper Club.” I stop in my tracks as it hits me where I’m standing. We’re in the $%^&ing Supper Club! For…
I had the pleasure of being at the final night of the 2010 Midsummer Night Swing festival at Lincoln Center last night. I and several hundred happy dancers were treated to one the finest swing orchestras in the land, the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra under the helm of Ron Allen. I've seen and enjoyed HRO for…
Friends Eden and David on the banner of the Midsummer Nights Swing website! I can hardly believe it, but this Saturday is already the final night of Midsummer Nights Swing for 2010! This year, Lincoln Center organized an amazing line-up of bands and dances for their annual Midsummer Nights Swing festival. Lots of standout…
Yesterday afternoon, a small gathering of about 50 family, friends and fans assembled at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx at the gravesite of legendary swing dancer Frankie Manning. The occasion was a dedication of the new headstone for his grave which was completed a little more than a year after Frankie's passing. It was…
This looks to be an incredible Memorial Day weekend for swing dancing in New York City! I've been away so I'm itching to get my lindy hop on. Among the highlights are: Saturday May 30 — Dawn Hampton's Birthday Bash: The fabulous dancer and entertainer Ms. Dawn Hampton is celebrating her birthday with a dance…
Frankie's partner Judy Pritchett was kind enough to share with me a high-rez scan of the lovely article and photo spread from the Jersey Jazz magazine about the Frankie Manning 95th Birthday Festival that took place last May in New York City. Entitled "Frankie Manning: Never Stop Swinging" its one of the sweetest tributes to…
I am happy to announce the exciting news that the much-anticipated official DVD set from the Frankie Manning 95th Birthday Festival is now on sale! Just $75 for a whopping five-DVD set, here's all the amazing, professionally shot footage that you'll get: Frankie's 95th Birthday Festival Highlights, Hellzapoppin' and Jack & Jill Competitions, Performances, Jams…
Tonight Bill Bragin, head organizer of Midsummer Nights Swing at Lincoln Center, announced that on July 25, the final night of the summer dance festival will feature a dance contest to honor the late swing dance legend Frankie Manning! Twenty couples will compete for a season pass for next year's Midsummer Nights Swing, and other…
Fellow lindy hopper Elva prepared this really neat video blog "They're Still Doing the Lindy Hop" on the Wall Street Journal site about the lindy hop renaissance. I get a couple of quotes in there about lindy hop and the future of this great dance. Elva also got some really dope swing footage in there!
Spuds & Rik recap the event of the decade: The Frankie 95 Birthday Festival in New York City. The guys share memories and video from this amazing event where over 2,000 lindy hoppers showed their love for our ambassador for Lindy Hop, Frankie Manning. Catch the show on Yehoodi or subscribe to the podcast. Get…