RSS Feed

  1. Dance Anywhere Day – March 30

    March 29, 2012 by Jo

    Dance Anywhere is next Friday!! Where are you going to be?

    Dance Anywhere March 30, 2012 from Dance Anywhere on Vimeo.

     

    Category Events | Tags: , , | No Comments

  2. Black Swamp Village – making of the video

    March 21, 2012 by Jo

    The Speakeasies Swing Band from Greece just came out with a fabulous new music. Not only is there lindy hop, but there are zombies! Take a look!

    Oh yeah, and Kevin and I are in it as well. :D

    I wasn’t really sure what filming a music video would be like, which meant I was able to walk in with no expectations of “normal”. I think I romanticized what the process was going to be like – and perhaps like most things, the end product is fabulous – but the creating process is time and energy intensive. Regardless of the time commitment, I had a blast. Here are some picture Kevin and I took during the three day we spent on the Speakeasies “Black Swamp” music video.

    The Back Story

    MONDAY

    Kevin and I were supposed to leave Rome at 9am which meant we caught our shuttle around 6:30am. We arrive exhausted to the airport, only to find out our flight had been rescheduled for 9PM. Fucking excellent. The only thing we could think to do was head to the Hilton down the street and see how much money it was going to cost us to nap. Much to our good fortune, I am apparently a Gold Member of the Hilton Honors which allowed us to stay on the executive floor, have free internet for one computer, and access to food in the lounge. So not all bad. We nap most of the day, check out at 6pm, fly to Greece, and arrive at Alex’s house around 2am (instead of 2pm). Luckily (insert sarcasm here), we’ll get to sleep for 4 hours before the video shoot. Yeah! Long of the short of it is: we are exhausted.

    TUESDAY

    It’s still dark out when we leave the house around 6am to drive up into the woods. Even though we are fully clothed, we are still cold. Luckily we’re excited to see what the set is going to look like and that makes everything better. Within moments of our arrival, I have a plastic bag placed around my neck and my makeup is being done by a professional. As the sun rises, my inner zombie awakens (see photos). Kevin snaps pictures of the morning sun warming the sky aaaaaand Scary Jo.

    Kevin is first up to film. He wanders around at various tempos, takes a knee by the grave, and does more walking. When I’m ready, I sit on a rock in a cape-thing and hold out my hand. You can see in one of the pictures there are lots of people sitting around me making sure my hand “emotes properly” and to check my hair and makeup. :) Finally, we film the ending where I pull back my hood to reveal Scary Jo!

    That’s a wrap (at least for Kevin and me)! It’s about 10:30am and we’re done for the day. Alex takes us to eat crepes and we talk about what direction we’d like to go with the dancing and the who/what/where of choreography.

    WEDNESDAY

    Kevin and I head to the Lindy Hop Greece dance studio to put together choreography for the slow section. After about two hours, we have something we’re happy with. We then move to the group choreography section for the zombies. We thought it would be fun to do a Michael Jackson tribute and to keep it swingin’, so we threw something together, showed it to Alex and Christina, and they liked it! In total, I think we spent about 3.5 hours on choreo.

    After rehearsal, I needed to go shopping and find something to wear for the fast section. I didn’t really have anything I thought would read well on video, so I headed to Zara to try my luck. I found a white polkadot shirt with a peter pan collar and a black skirt with a nice amount of flair :D Perfect.

    Before I went to bed that night, I put my hair in pin curls in hopes that my hair would have some much needed body to it (see photo).

    THURSDAY

    Filming Day! We arrive at Block 33 around 10am and immediately start on hair and makeup. Even though the place was cold, I was charmed by the exposed brick, abandoned-factory sort of look. Kevin helped with set up as a transformed from “blah” to “yeah” (see pictures) and then we were first up to film. While all the dancers and crew looked on, we did 7 takes on the slow. We never hit it perfectly in any one of the takes, but we were close. Then we filmed closeups of our faces as we walked away from each other. At this point, we were hoping that all of the Zombie Dancers were going to be in full makeup, but mostly people had watched Kevin and me slow dance. Hahah…..that’s amusing to me.

    As more zombies are created, I help run through group choreography  with the “humans.” People continued rotating in and out until most knew how to “dance-support” Kevin and me during the flash back sequence. I change and redo my hair, and then did what I could to keep warm. At this point, it’s probably close to 2pm.

    One of the fun/difficult things about shooting was the fog machine. Sometimes there was too much and sometimes the fog would dissipate too quickly. Regardless, it was awesome to work with and I think I’d love to have one for the house :p Something else that was difficult was keeping warm and keeping the energy up. The entire experience was exciting, but filming days are long days. What also elongated the day was that Kevin and I don’t speak Greek, so almost everything needed to be translated. We finally wrap up around 10pm that evening.

    Coolest part: We talked to the director and crew and explained to them the importance of syncing the dancing to the music and they were totally receptive to it! Now, you might say “Well, yes, of course. Why wouldn’t you do that?” but if you look at other videos with dancing in them, you can find examples where the dancing is in rhythm, but not on beat. Seriously, it happens. So, that being said, it was freaking fantastic that we were able to tell the crew what takes we liked best, had opportunities to look at our lines and make some adjustments, and that they were receptive to our feedback. Woohoo!!

    All in all, it was a fabulous experience and I would love to do another one. The days are long, and I can only imagine what it must have been like for the band and crew who had considerably more work than I did. So to all the members of the Speakeasies Swing Band, the crew, and especially to Lindy Hop Greece, thank you from the bottom of our heart for having us.

    Category Musings, Photos and Videos | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

  3. Inspiration Weekend 2012

    March 12, 2012 by Jo

    Some favorite moments from this truly inspiring weekend.

    Performances

    Kevin and I kicked off our weekend with a little bit of “Shake that Thang!”

    The Atomic Cherry Bombs were sexy as hell! I think it’s a great video of the performance, which means it must have been that much more incredible in person.

    Hat Trick Initiation

    James Bianco & Irina Amzashvilli were initiated into the Hat Trick Club this weekend. They are now members of the League of Extraordinary Hat-trickers.

    This is one of the best versions of this routine I’ve seen them do. Sure, there were a few little flubs, but honestly, they freaking hit it. The crowd was awesome and Tips & Tops were men of legend. Well done men!!!

    Saturday Competitions

    1st Place – Augie Freeman & Irina Amzashvilli
    2nd Place – Conrad Friesen & Sarah Stembridge
    3rd Place – Andrew Jose & Alice Pye

    Yeah!!! Lindy Hop has a future!! I was so impressed by how good everyone was in Orange County. Good heavens, those cats swing! The quality of their movement and swing outs assures me that lindy hop will continue to grow and thrive. Thank you to all the competitors; all of you won over my heart.

    1st Place – Peter Kertzner & Irina Amzashvilli
    2nd Place – Stephen Sayer & Chandrae Roettig
    3rd Place – Jack Chen & Brittany Calavatti

    I freaking LOVE the concept of 30-Second Showcase! And seriously, check out what people came up with. Love it.

    Sunday Pro-Am

    1st Place – Conrad Friesen
    2nd Place – Matt Richey
    3rd Place – Sam Chan

    Hahah, this one looks a little bit like a Jo Hoffberg show reel, but really, I just got lucky that the top three leads in the competition picked me as their follower. Fabulous job everyone!!

    Category Dancers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments

  4. Februhairy 2012 Review

    March 10, 2012 by Jo

    What a month of hair!! Thank you to all of the people the checked in daily and for the sweet note you sent me.

    Here’s a recap of all the things you saw during this past month!

    WEEK ONE

    Day 1 – Sock Bun 
    Day 2 – Front Swirl (a favorite!!)
    Day 3 – Marilyn Curls 
    Day 4 - Faux Pin Up Bangs
    Day 5 – French Twist
    Day 6 – Edgy French Braid 
    Day 7 – Victory Bun 

    WEEK TWO

    Day 8 – Rihanna Inspired 
    Day 9 - Alternative Braid 
    Day 10 - Pin Curl Updo
    Day 11 - Mermaid Tail Braid
    Day 12 – Quick Twist 
    Day 13 – 1940s Pin Up
    Day 14 – Fun Bun

    WEEK THREE

    Day 15 – Pin Up Bandana - accessory
    Day 16 - Victory Rolls (this is a favorite!)
    Day 17 - Sponge Rollers  
    Day 18 – Vintage Vixon
    Day 19 – Twist and Pin
    Day 20 - Color Bug hair color
    Day 21 – Elegant Fauxhawk

    WEEK FOUR

    Day 22 – Scarf Wrap Tutorial - accessory
    Day 23 – Fishtail Braid
    Day 24 – Roll it Up!
    Day 25 – 1940s Reverse Roll Hairstyle 
    Day 26 – Not Your Average Ponytail 
    Day 27 – Mohawk Monday!
    Day 28 – Milkmaid Braids

    Day 29 – Five Strand Braid

    Category Hair | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

  5. Inspiration Weekend – Class Follow Up

    March 7, 2012 by Jo

    Hey Students from Inspiration Weekend,

    Kevin and I had a freaking fantastic time at Inspiration Weekend 2012! Thanks for participating in the workshop and being an awesome group of students. I’ve had a number of people as me about the class material that we weren’t able to get to, so I wanted to follow up with you and direct you to one of the many places you can go for more information. :D

    Whether you’re a beginner or advance dancer, there is a charleston transition for you:

    This lesson, part 6 of 6 on the Advanced Charleston Transitions lesson pack, teaches a fast paced and stylish routine that works you through each of the transitions in this pack. Breakdown includes everything you need to know to tie these movements together plus some bonus tips for understanding how to interpret footwork!

    For Spinning and Turning:

    An in depth explanation of technique and corresponding drills for improving your spinning control and increasing your number of rotations. Footwork, torso torque, arm use and spotting are all addressed.

    If you want even more information, here’s another pack you can check out!

    A few more blast:

    Beginners, here are a set of Intro to Lindy Hop clips that might appeal to you.

    Ladies from the Intermediate Track, some of you asked about swivels – check them out here!

    If dance clips aren’t your sort of thing, but DVDs are (shameless plug), you’re in luck! Kevin and I have 7 new DVDs coming out in the next two weeks that just so happen to cover some of these topics! More on that to come.

    Again, than you to all the students, dancers, and organizers that help support the scene and keep the inspiration flowing!

    Category Musings | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | No Comments

  6. Solo Blues – Julie Brown

    March 6, 2012 by Jo

    As you can see, I’m slightly behind on my posting……but have no fear, I’ll be back on the lindywagon shortly.

    Until then, enjoy this gorgeous performance from the stunning Julie Brown:

    What solo blues clips inspire you?

    Category Dancers | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

  7. Robert Downey Jr – Pinup

    March 1, 2012 by Jo

    There is no doubt that Robert Downey Jr. is one hot man, but he’s taken his sex appeal to a whole level. Just check out these photos!

    A tumblr called ‘Pinuprdj’ has curated some very funny images of Robert Downey Jr, as pinup girls. The creator explains, “Vintage pinups are the pinnacle of art. Robert Downey Jr. is the pinnacle of sexy. It’s not rocket science”.

     

    [via Neatorama]

     

    Category Musings, Photos and Videos | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

  8. Day 29 – Five Strand Braid

    February 29, 2012 by Jo

    The other week I was in Las Vegas with some friends and Alicia Vance was kind enough to do my hair. Check it out!

    Freaking amazing, right?!

    Check out more of her stuff on www.bellabraids.com or email her at alicia@bellabraids.com to set up an appointment to look fantastic!!

    Category Hair | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

  9. Day 28 – Milk Maid Braids

    February 28, 2012 by Jo

    Haha, I’ve seen these all over the place, but honestly, I’ve never been interested in wearing my hair this way. Until now. :D

    I don’t know how often I’ll wear my hair like this, but it’s fun, easy and quick to do.

    One more day of hair to go!!! Which are your favorite days of Februhairy?

    Category Hair | Tags: , , , , , , | No Comments

  10. Day 27 – Mohawk Monday!!

    February 27, 2012 by Jo

    I declare that it is Mohawk Monday!! I am rocking one today. How about you?

    I love them and think everyone should wear one at least once. Here are my favorite mohawk/fauxhawk tutorials:

    Elegant (from Day 21), which is great for medium/long hair.

    Great for shorter hair:

    Great if you have 30 minutes and a friend:

    Yes, this looks rather time consuming, but it’s so pretty! I’m guessing if you have thinner hair, you could instead just make little buns/pin curls up the back and then curl the top to get a similar effect. What do you think?

    The original inspiration:

    Which one is your favorite?

    Category Hair | Tags: , , , , , , , , | No Comments

Older Entries
Newer Entries