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: swing
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…
John Doke’s CD Release Party at Swing 46 Last Night (video)
Last night I had the pleasure of being at the CD release party for John Doke's new album "John Dokes Sings, George Gee Swings" at Swing 46 Supper Club in Times Square. John's got such a soulful and smokey voice that blends perfectly with the rich tone of George's big band. John sang several of…
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,…
Memorial Weekend Swing: Dawn Hampton’s Birthday, Dedication of Frankie’s Gravestone, Vintage Beach Party!
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…
Dancing with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Cheryl’s Inspiring Story (video)
I've been meaning to blog this up for awhile, but here it is. Seattle-based Lindy Hopper Cheryl Crow shares this inspiring video about her own experiences as a dancer with rheumatoid arthritis. I have several uncles and aunties who have trouble walking down the street because of various pains and disabilities. But when the music…
Cangelosi Cards perform “I Got Rhythm” (video)
Here's a sweet rendition of "I Got Rhythm" by the awesome NYC swing band the Cangelosi Cards. I caught them last night, of all places, at the Shambhala Meditation Center on West 22nd Street. Gotta love Andrew's awesome tapping, Tamar's crazy singing, Gordon Au on trumpet and the rest of the band just killing it. …
Heather Flock & Laura Jeffers’ new lindy hop program starting in March!
I'm excited to announce that my friends and fellow dancers Heather Flock and Laura Jeffers (along with Felix Pitre and Jessie Patz), are starting up a new lindy hop program at You Should Be Dancing Studios in Manhattan. Heather has been running our dance lessons at Yehoodi's weekly dance for the past couple of years…