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…
Tag: lindy hop
Herrang Last Day: The Spirit is Willing But the Body is Shot
It's the last day of the Herrang International Dance Camp and there's a feeling of melancholy as the hundreds of dancers get in their last classes, meals together and dances this evening. For some it has been up to five weeks of camp, so quite a significant investment of their summer here. For myself, a…
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…
Off to the Herrang Lindy Hop Dance Camp!
Starting tomorrow night, I will be travelling to Sweden to participate in the Herrang International Swing Dance Camp, sort of the mecca for lindy hoppers. Every year, a thousand or so swing dancers from all over the world make the pilgrimage to Herrang for a five-week celebration of dance, featuring workshops, dance parties, shows, and…
Flappers, Dandies & Lindy Hoppers Take over Governors Island for the “Jazz Age Lawn Party” (UPDATED)
This weekend was another "Jazz Age Lawn Party" on Governors Island, two days of hot jazz from the 20s and 30s, performed in an idyllic setting amidst a cool canopy of trees and stately military quarters. The featured musical entertainment were Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra, joined by Drew Nugent and the Midnight Society….
“Flying Home”: a Blowout Finale to 2010 Midsummer Night Swing Festival (UPDATED INFO RE WINNERS!)
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…
Swinging to the Moonshiners of New Orleans at Lincoln Center (video)
Tonight the incredible Moonshiners of New Orleans tore it up for an appreciative, if sweaty, crowd of dancers at Midsummer Nights Swing at Lincoln Center. Such an amazing band! And their first time playing outside of New Orleans! Other Moonshiners videos: a slower, latin-inflected number Moonshiners with vocalist singing French song Lindy hoppers on Damrosch…
West Coast Swing & Lindy Hop in LeAnn Rimes “Swingin” Music Video
I gotta say that I enjoyed this music video "Swingin" by country music singer LeAnn Rimes. The "dance contest" set-up was very cute, and the mix of west coast swing, east coast and lindy hop dancing was cool to see. I'm sure for most viewers, it's all just "swing." Only dance nerds like me are…
Voon & I dancing to Linnzi Zoarski at D.B.A. in Brooklyn (video)
Here's a rather dark video of my friend Voon and I dancing to Linnzi Zoarski's band at D.B.A. bar in Williamsburg. We were there with swing friends Stephanie and Michael. Here's another video of Voon, Michale and Stephanie dancing to "It Was Just One of Those Things." Linnzi does some lovely renditions of swing standards,…