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‘Dancers’ Category

  1. Slow Club – Two Cousins

    July 21, 2011 by Jo

    What an inspiration!!! Two gorgeous dancers doing their thing.

    Ryan Francois and Remy Kouame dancing to “Two Cousins” by Slow Club.

     

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

  2. Argentina Representing at ESDC 2011

    June 21, 2011 by Jo

    Argentina put themselves on the map this past weekend at the European Swing Dance Championships. Six superb dancing came this weekend to compete and they threw down. Many of you already know Juan Villafane who has been teaching and traveling since Fall 2007 with his stunning partner Sharon Davis, but for many, this might be the first time you’ve seen many of the other talent from the other side of the world!

    So take a look and see how well Argentina did to represent themselves on the world stage. I am so proud of all them and I’m so appreciate that they came to show the community how fantastic they all are.

    Team – 2nd place Manuel Ignacio Bicain Goral, Juan Ignacio Villafane, Agustina Zero-Setién, Mariel Gastiarena and Tina Rizza

    I don’t remember if Juan helped with the choreography or did all of it, but regardless, it’s a fantastic piece of choreo and they freaking danced it well. Did you see the Flying Lotus?!!! Tina & Gaston have some AMAZING photos of them doing the lotus….so jealous!!

    Showcase – 3rd place Gastón Fernández & Tina Rizza


    I am so happy that they decided to do their routine. I heard many people this past weekend backed out of competing because they didn’t feel ready enough, but luckily Tina and Gaston didn’t get caught up in that. Tina’s backflip near the end is a little exciting, but because she held her body strong, she landed it and kept moving. I love the choreography, how the use the floor, and their partner connection. I am so proud of you two.

    Solo Blues – Agustina Zero-Setién

    She freaking KILLED it. Plain and simple, she danced. She went out there, listened to the music, and just freaking moooooved. She was sexy, dirty, rhythmical, elegant, and sassy. Agustina, you were spectacular. Thank you for showing us how it’s done!

    Strictly Blues Finals – 1st Place Gaston Fernandez & Mariel Gastiarena

    What can you say except “Wow.”

    Congratulations to all of you! Argentina, you should be proud; you’re crew threw down this weekend.

    Category Competition, Dancers | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,, | 6 Comments

  3. Winner – “Black Coffee” by The Careless Lovers

    June 12, 2011 by Jo

    This was the First Place entry to SVJD’s third annual Swing/Jazz Dance Music Video Contest.

    Description: On his way to work one morning, a man senses the allure and potential of his day as he sets out to get a cup of coffee.

    Music: “Black Coffee” by The Careless Lovers

    Love it!! Well done, all of you.

    Category Dancers, Musings, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

  4. Miss Exotic World – Miss Indigo Blue

    June 11, 2011 by Jo

    Congratulations hot stuff!!!

    -Story used with kind permission of Miss Indigo Blue. From Burlesque Seattle Press.

    Seattle-based international burlesque sensation Miss Indigo Blue, “The Twirly Girl,” has been crowned the Reigning Queen of Burlesque at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Reunion and Pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada. The newly named Queen, officially “Miss Exotic World 2011″ took home a tiara and a 3-foot tall trophy for her win, and a second trophy for the “Most Classic” award.

    “It is a tremendous honor to serve the Burlesque Community as the Reigning Queen of Burlesque. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to raise funds for the Burlesque Hall of Fame Museum and to share the history of Burlesque with the world,” said the new Burlesque royalty.

    The Annual Burlesque Hall of Fame (BHoF) Reunion, now in its 54th year, gathers dozens of burlesque legends to reminisce with other icons of the art, and share their experience with younger performers. The BHoF Pageant is the preeminent burlesque event of the year in the United States. Approximately 1600 burlesque performers, fans, and aficionados from around the world attend the weekend event, spending four days performing, networking, partying and promoting burlesque at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas.

    Miss Indigo Blue is best known as the Headmistress of the Seattle-based Academy of Burlesque, and as the star of the independent film “A Wink And A Smile” by local female filmmaker Dierdre Timmons. She is the Executive Director of BurlyCon burlesque convention, held annually in Seattle. Miss Indigo Blue is also a member of the Atomic Bombshells troupe, and performs regularly at the Triple Door in Lily Verlaine Productions such as “Through The Looking Glass: The Burlesque Alice In Wonderland” and “Land Of The Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker”.

    The stunning Lily Verlaine, known as “A Living, Breathing Work of Art”, also took home honors as Second Runner-Up in the Miss Exotic World competition. Both local beauties wore custom couture gowns created by local designer Danial Webster.

    This is the second national title brought home to Seattle this year by local Burlesque performers. Inga Ingénue, “The Little Blonde Bomb,” recently won the Miss Viva Las Vegas title and also performed at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend in a Danial Webster creation.

    Burlesque has seen a major resurgence over the past 15 years, with artists like Dita Von Teese regularly making headlines, and a new major motion film “Burlesque” starring Christina Aguilera and Cher drawing crowds nationwide. The underground Burlesque scene has produced its own stars such as Miss Exotic World 2004 Dirty Martini and Miss Exotic World 2006 Julie Atlas Muz, both of whom star in the current independent film “Tournee” which won a Palme d’Or at Cannes.

    Burlesque is a uniquely American art and entertainment form characterized by short strip-tease dances performed in lavish tear-away costumes, often with a clever gimmick or humorous twist. The revival of Burlesque is, for the primarily female performers and audiences, an opportunity to revel in the glory and power of sexuality in an empowered and fun way.

    Miss Indigo won her crown at the largest attended Burlesque Hall of Fame Pageant and Reunion ever, held in Las Vegas, Nevada June 2-5. Her win was the culmination of an intense competition that started with over 300 entries from around the world. The final field of 15 contestants was judged by panel of celebrity and expert judges who deemed Miss Indigo Blue triumphant due to herExper-Tease.

    Miss Indigo Blue is currently planning her year-long agenda of duties, as well as continuing to run the Academy of Burlesque and plan the annual BurlyCon Burlesque convention in Seattle this fall. “I hope to travel widely this year to perform, teach, and meet with community members about building a larger home for our museum collection of Burlesque memorabilia…and thank goodness this isn’t the Miss America Pageant, because I’m definitely posing naked this year!”

    The Burlesque Hall of Fame is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire, educate and entertain the public, fostering an appreciation for and understanding of the unique history and heritage of vintage American Burlesque. In 2006, the Burlesque Hall of Fame relocated from Helendale, California to Las Vegas, Nevada in hopes of establishing a permanent, first-rate tourist attraction and research/exhibition space for our one-of-a-kind collection. More information is available at: www.burlesquehall.com.

    Miss Indigo Blue is the Headmistress of the Academy of Burlesque, Executive Director of BurlyCon Burlesque Convention, and co-Director of Education at the Burlesque Hall of Fame. Miss Indigo Blue is the star of the film “A Wink And A Smile”, available on Netflix and iTunes. Miss Indigo Blue is a Burlesque performer and teacher based in Seattle, Wash. Visit her atwww.missindigoblue.com.

     

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

  5. Lindy Crush

    June 10, 2011 by Jo

    I have SUCH a Lindy Crush on Kieran Yee from Melbourne, Australia!

    So there is this thing called Lindy Goggles, which are very similar to Beer Goggles. Rather than being measure by the number of beers you have, one’s attraction is measured by one’s quality of dancing. That’s not to say they aren’t gorgeous or handsome, but that their movement just makes you weak at the knees.

    So I officially have a Lindy Crush on Kieran Yee. Girls, you are welcome to fight me for him; he’ll be all yours by the end of the week!

    Category Dancers | Tags: ,,,,, | 5 Comments

  6. Camp Jitterbug 2011 Contest Results

    May 30, 2011 by Jo

    The results are in and videos are up!! Congratulations to all the competitors!

    Solo Charleston


    Winner: Joanna Lucero

    Jack & Jill

    1) Davis Thurber and Kelly Arsenault
    2) Andrew Hsi and Maéva Truntzer
    3) Juan Villafañe and Gabby Cook

    Strictly Lindy

    This year, the Strictly was done in a new format. Two couples at a time were given one chorus to battle for their life and then the 5 judges decided who lived, and who died (sounds very Roman the way I’m explaining it). After the four rounds of battle, the four remaining couples jammed.

    Battle:

    Jam:

    1) William Mauvais & Maéva Truntzer
    2) Juan Villafañe & Sharon Davis
    3) Nick Williams & Jo Hoffberg

     

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

  7. Ksenia Parkhatskaya

    May 25, 2011 by Jo

    This year at the Harlem 2011, they did their Solo Jazz Contest in “King of the Hill” fashion. Two contestants battle and at the end, the judge must choose a winner who continues to battle until the sweet end! This girl….she kills it.

    Her name is Ksenia Parkhatskaya and she’s from St. Petersburg, Russia and she’s pretty freaking amazing. Check out those legs!! She didn’t win, but she threw down.

    One more for good measures:

    “A story about fragile soul made to be vulgarized and public….Once life have put mask on you only true Love can reveal genuine.” The music is OST La vie un Rosse/ La Mome – Lisieuz
    Cabaret Night in Herrang week 5, 2010.

    And check out her website! She’s got some great photos up like this one:

    Photos by Nika Zhuk

    Gaaah!! The best thing about this for me is that I’ve seen this photo a number of times, but never knew who it was. Until now. Ksenia, congratulations on a job well done at Harlem and I love your photos. You’re gorgeous!!

    Category Dancers | Tags: ,,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

  8. Follow-Up on Followlogie

    March 13, 2011 by Jo

    1 TURNS

    Man, I’ve been meaning to post this for quite some time!! Sorry I was so tardy!

    Followlogie has a special place in my heart. It was the first weekend I taught solo classes out of the country and was my opportunity to prove to myself that I could teach without Kevin. Nobody has said that I couldn’t, but it was something I had to prove to myself and Dominique gave me that chance. I must have done well since I’ve been invited back 3 times. :D

    This year I got to stay with Maryse Lebeau and we had lots of girl time. I got to stay in her daughter’s room and I kinda felt like a little princess. Needless to say I felt very welcomed and very well taken care of. She also made some really great muffins that I basically devoured. Yum yum yum!
    I taught my group classes with Mikey Pedroza and Zack Richards. Zack did Spins and Turns with me (pictured) and I spent most of the time trying to make him laugh. Relatively I’d say I was successful. He was super easy to teach with and filled in the gaps where needed. What an awesome leader he was!

    It was such a pleasure to teach with Mikey again. I think the last time we taught together was at LotR 2009. It’s been a while. In the classes we did together, I did about 30 minutes of jazz and then did 30 minutes of partner worked. Mikey did a great job listening to me make decisions on the fly and executing them flawlessly.

    Can She Do the Can Can?

    Here are some photos of my latest creation. I thought it’d be super fun to perform a Can Can while in a French speaking area and with none other than the exuberant Evita Arce. I figured if there would be anyone I could talk into high kicking and wearing ruffles with me, it’d be her!

    It took me hours to get this routine together. I didn’t want to use the standard music, but I was running short on time so I figured I’d take the easy road. Then I had to find a good recording of it online. Relatively easy until you realize that you can find almost anything online as long as you can figure out how to search for it! I then scoured youtube for videos of Can Can dancing and needless to say there are more than a few videos to watch. I spent hours weeding through videos and watching good ones and a lot of bad ones to find inspiration and some solid direction. Most of the videos I liked had a large ensemble of girls where as I only had Evita and myself. As you’ll see below, there was plenty to do with just two girls (see video below).

    So I found videos that inspired me, cut them up into bite size pieces, learned the movement, and then went to work on my own choreography. I mapped out the song, noted where the signature chorus’ were, and then decided where I wanted some of the flashy stuff to go. All I had to do next was fill in the dancing in betweent he flash moments and I was good to go.

    Oh yeah, but wait, I needed costuming for this routine. A Can Can Routine doesn’t look right in jeans and a t-shirt; only skirts with ruffle will do. I went down to the local thrift store and bought 2 wedding skirt for cheap, sent them to my costume maker (thanks Mom!!) along with video, color scheme, and ideas, and then crossed my fingers there’d be enough time to get everything done. Thank goodness I was smart enough to work on costumes first before the choreography!!

    Back to the dancing! So costumes were in the works, the song was mapped out, and I still had to choreograph. I hacked out some choreo in a few hours time and then tried it in a long skirt (see pictures below). That completely changed the game. Even rehearsing in pants doesn’t give you the feel or timing for the movement you’ll actually be using. I practiced the choreo a few times and then filmed it. I needed to send Evita something so she could learn the choreo. Thank goodness I still had 3 days before the event! Yup, that’s right. Idea – 4 weeks in the making. Costumes – 2 weeks in making. Choreography – 3 days in the making.

    So what does this all really mean? Evita is utterly amazing! I sent her a video on Monday, changed some of the choreography on Tuesday, she worked on it Wednesday, found material to make the head pieces out of on Thursday and we met up on Friday. Ridiculous!! We would have met up earlier but my Thursday flight to Quebec was canceled due to weather. Eesh!

    Saturday afternoon I got to teach part of the choreography to the students. I think they had fun running around with me :) It was a very energetic class and it was fabulous to get to see the choreography performed by a bevy of ladies. I wish I had a troupe to do a can-can number with!!! That night was the performance. Nina, bless her heart, made our head pieces for us while Evita and I blocked our number a few times on the fabulous stage. Seriously, I’ve never performed on a more amazing stage than this one. The photos are gorgeous, but I don’t really think they do the place justice. Uh, and the energy in there!!! Oh, it was truly a spectacular experience.

    Can-Can with Evita:

    After performing that, the stress level went way down. I missed a small piece of my own choreo, but Evita was a champ about it and kept on kicking! We then needed to get ready for Nina’s number so Evita completely changed her clothes and I just took off my skirt. Classy broad!

    Here are some more photos from the evening:

    Dancing with Nina and the gals:

    It was a great night I must say. Hahah, after the show was done, so was I. Most of the performers grabbed a drink at the bar and headed up to the balcony to catch up and see how each other were doing. From a professional and personal stand point, the night was a smash for me! I had such a good time and I really, really needed a night just like that. It’s funny how little moments can revitalize you and remind you about how fortunate you are. That night was one of those nights.

    ~

    And the story continues!!

    Oh, how fun are late nights!! I made it a priority to try and have “cultural experiences” when I travel and apparently, this is supposed to be THE place to get bagels. Here’s how it all went down. Alain Wong took Mikey Pedroza and I to get wood-oven bagels after the show on Saturday night. We go into the tiny store and there is a guy making the dough, another guy loading the doughy spheres onto a wooden plank and sliding them into the fire, and another guy behind the counter. Since it was our first time there, the man behind the counter gave each Mikey and I a free bagel. We bought some creme cheese and scarfed them down. I needed a napkin so I went back to the counter to find one. I asked if there were napkins, got laughed at, remembered they are called “serviettes” outside of the States, and corrected myself. The cashier asked where I was from and what was I doing here. I told him I was from America and was here to dance.
    C: “What kind of dance?”
    Jo: “Lindy hop.”
    C: “What’s that?”
    Jo: “Lemme show you! Hey Mikey, come ‘ere!”
    Somewhere during this dialogue, Alain gets out his phone and records this:

    Yup, we got half a dozen bagels for free because of that amazing showing! Hahha, and even though we were stuffed, Mikey and I still met up with a bunch of our friends and had poutine at some place that was mega packed at 1am. Double cultural experience!!

    Category Dancers, Events, Musings | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

  9. The Hot Shots

    March 11, 2011 by Jo

    A Dance Short

    The Call of the Lindy Hop, starring HARLEM HOT SHOTS swing dance company, recorded at CHICAGO swing dance studio in September 2010.

    Dancers in the movie: Frida Borg, Frida Segerdahl, Jenny Deurell, Pontus Persson, Rikard Ekstrand and Sakarias Larsson. The boss: Sebastian Svensson. Produced by Explosiv Film, Mallory Film and Harlem Hot Shots. Inspired by Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers in the motion picture Hellzapoppin.
    Other members of Hot Shots not featured in this film: Fatima Teffahi, Jessica Lennartsson

    Harlem Hot Shots has for many years focused on the traditional swing dances such as lindy hop, charleston, tap, jitterbug, black bottom, big apple. During the years they have been fortunate to have worked with some of the greatest legends in in the swing community like Frankie Manning, Harold and Fayard Nicholas, Norma Miller, Sugar Sullivan, Dawn Hampton and more.

    To get in contact with HARLEM HOT SHOTS please e-mail info@harlemhotshots.com

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

  10. Movits! and The Hot Shots

    March 4, 2011 by Jo

    Yeah for lindy hoppers being in music videos!!! Here are some of the top Swedish dancers dancing around, being awesome.

    Starring: Daniel Heedman, Asa Heedman, and Pontus Persson.

    DAMMNNN! Did you see those “trenches”? Holy cow those were awesome. Love the white back drop and the black accents.  And doesn’t the piano player sometimes look like Zacke?

    Starring: Sakarias Larsson, Daniel Heedman, Asa Heedman, Pontus Persson, and Frida Borg.

    Now go support them supporting lindy hoppers by buying their music!!

    Purchase on iTunes Sweden/Scandinavia: http://itunes.apple.com/se/album/samm…

    Purchase on iTunes US/International:http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/samm…

    Stream on Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/track/0HqvOC9…

    The album “Ut Ur Min Skalle” drops March 23 in Sweden/Scandinavia, and April 5 in the US/International.

    http://www.MOVITS.com

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

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