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‘Photos and Videos’ Category

  1. 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

  2. Pictures from Lindy Focus IX

    January 6, 2011 by Jo

    Here are some of my favorite photos from Lindy Focus 2010.

    Much thanks to the fantastic photographers:

    Bobby Bonsey
    Brad Kellogg
    Dabelyn Photography
    Lindsay Longstreth
    Lee Broxson

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

  3. My performances at Lindy Focus IX

    January 4, 2011 by Jo

    I am planning on posting a slue of videos and pictures from Lindy Focus in the next few days, but for now, here are some videos of my work from this past weekend!

    NYE Performance – Bellboy – starring Sharon Davis, Evita Arce, and Jo Hoffberg

    Sharon did a fantastic job choreographing this and Evita did an awesome job (re)learning this earlier that afternoon. Can we say “stud”?!! Always a pleasure to perform with these two terribly talented dames.

    NYE Performance – Roustabout – starring Nina, Kelly, Carla, Maryse, Annie, Claudia, Natasha, Laura, Sharon, Evita, Nikki, Vanessa, Karen, Casey and Jo

    What a madhouse of hottness?!! OMG, this was such a blast to get to do; between the costumes, ladies and the boys, there was plenty to oogle over. Nina did a fantastic job choreographing this and I must say, it’s one of the most interesting songs I’ve ever performed to. Props for Nina getting this together for us all and kudos to the ladies and their costume choices!

    NYE Performance – Man from Mars – starring Joshua, Casey, Shesha, Laura, Jeremy, and Jo

    Haha, the funny thing about this is that Shesha and I talked about him wearing the hat and since he needed it for the next number, we decided to keep it. Not surprisingly, it fell off, but not where either of us expected! Hehe, one lesson I am constantly reminded of: always rehearse in your costume! xoxo

    Shesha, thank you for all the rehearsal time you put in with me and for chucking my ass!

    AND NOW onto the fastest quick change in Lindy Hop history (well, next to this one)! The numbers were back to back and so I had to hustle! Thank goodness I made it in time; Shesha might have killed Nathan!!

    NYE Performance – Charleston – starring Nathan Bugh, Evita Arce, Sharon Davis, Juan Villafane, Kevin St. Laurent, and Jo Hoffberg

    Choreographed by Nathan & Evita

    Invitational J&J – Michael Jagger and Jo Hoffberg

    Category Events, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,,,,, | 4 Comments

  4. Kissing

    December 6, 2010 by Jo

    My buddies Nathan Bugh and Evita Arce are in a kissy-kissy music video. Check out how freaking cute they are!!

    Category Dancers, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,, | 2 Comments

  5. Kathy Griffin as Bettie Page

    December 2, 2010 by Jo

    My hero.

    From June 2010~ Kathy Griffin posed as a pinup for her 2010 Creative Emmy “For Your Consideration” ad that ran in the Hollywood Reporter. The tag reads “They don’t give out an Emmy for ‘Best Airbrushing’ but if they did, I’d totally win.”

    Kathy is a hero of mine. I dig her, her sense of humor, her foul mouth, and her outlook on life. This makes her even cooler! I hope one day, I’ll grow up to be a raunchy-sasshole just like her (and look this good in underwear)!!

    Category Fashion, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,,, | No Comments

  6. Swivels

    November 30, 2010 by Jo

    I, like many other follows, have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about swivels, mine and others alike. What makes a good swivel? I’ve combed through tons of photos on facebook and I was slightly surprised with what I found.
    I originally thought that I wanted to make a symmetrical shape with my feet by having both toes face the same direction. However, after closer look at the shapes I was drawn to, I realized I prefer when one leg (the line from hip to knee to toe) has rotated farther than the other so the toes don’t face in the same direction. Check out some of the feet in the thumbnails below.

    Not only did I find that foot placement relative to the other was important, but the weight changes were really what gave a swivel some snap! I strongly believe making full weight changes, from right foot to left foot, helps frame the shapes. Try this: stand up and twist your hips to the right and left. Before you change direction, step onto the foot of the opposite hip (if your left hip is forward, commit your weight onto your right foot). Try not to be split weight, but really move your weight from right to left. Don’t forget about those hips! Now, after trying that, click to open the thumbnails and check out the larger photos. What do you think? When I look at image 11 (of Frida dancing in a blue dress with Skye), I can see that commitment to the weight change and shape. Blahm!

    As an FYI, these photos are in alphabetical order, not from favorite and down. I am also going to throw this out there; if you like it keep it, if not send it back. I added myself into this gallery because I am really happy with my swivels at this point. By no means am I done working on them, but I have been working on them for the past year and I like the direction I’ve headed.

    So what do you think of these shapes? Do you like them? What else do you notice? What do you think about when you’re working on your swivels?

    (Ooh, btw, I’ve done this project twice….as in, I had pictures of a bunch of different people but then that folder magically disappeared on my computer, so I had to find a bunch of them again. I have absolutely missed some great pictures of swivels. If you find some, please send me a link!)

    [UPDATED:  March 3, 2011]

    Something I’d like to also make note of is the shape of each follower’s body. I appreciate that each person looks like they are comfortable with their body shape and that their movement develops from it. For example, Giselle has a long, lean body and she makes her own unique set of shapes that I would describe as fierce and angular. Alice is shorter and curvier, and she plays that up. When I picture Alice dancing, I think of round, fluid, continuous movement that ebbs and flows.

    I think it’s important to dance your body type, otherwise you’ll look slightly off. If you have long legs, work ‘em! If you’ve got some booty, use it!

    xoxo

    Category Musings, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,, | 4 Comments

  7. Lindy Shock 2010

    November 14, 2010 by Jo

    This was definitely one of my favorite events of the year, if not favorite. Marcell, the organizer, did a wicked-good job of covering all the logistics and knows how to run a tight shift. All of his past research clearly paid off.

    First things first, the line up. There were great teachers AND the DJs were fantastic. When you have the combination of great teachers and great music, more often than not, great dancers show up to dance with the instructors to the awesome music. It almost felt like the Who’s Who of Europe came to the event. Don’t believe me? There were 800 people at the event and it’s only in it’s 4th year. The numbers were up 40% since last year. “Dang!!!” is right (*head nod). So here’s the list: the main teachers are Andrew Sutton, Dax & Sarah, Hasse & Marie, Juan & Sharon, Kevin & Jo, Skye & Frida, Vincenzo & Isa, Zack & Maryse. Our taster teachers are Alf & Eli, Ali & Katja, Fedor & Inga, Nejc & Katja. Jamie Cameron, Deeb from Lithuania, Luc Prunet from Toulouse, Paulo BrotherSwing from Paris, Laurent Meirieu aka DJ Lolo from Toulouse were just some of the incredible DJ’s that held down the musical front.

    SOME DETAILS ABOUT THE EVENT
    From a teacher’s stand point, things were fantastic, other than auditions. That being said, auditions are never “super fun!” so it’s not like this was a special case. (I’ll write another post just on audition, but in short, we don’t want students to feel bad about where they were placed and have it affect their ability to learn. The process itself is also slightly stressful. Other than that, it’s necessary to put people into appropriate levels so that the learning environment is consistent and the teachers are the best people to do that.)
    What was so fantastic, you say? The rooms on the boat were teeny, but cute. The shower actually had hot water and good water pressure. The sound systems worked in all the classrooms. The floors were nice in all the classrooms. The students arrived on time and were ready to learn (you might think that is obvious, but it is not always the case). Food was easily accessible, and so was dessert after we asked Marcell. We were given money for drinks. The music was fantastic (there were 5 different rooms playing music so everyone was bound to find something that suited their mood). Terrific people were there. Competitions were super. And finally, we were given a great place to party with our friends. A men!


    Photos by Eric Esquivel, Tatiana Satsenya, and Eran Tobi

    CONTESTS

    Short and quick: The contests were fantastic! I saw so much solid and inspired dancing…..it really jazzed me up. Congratulations to everyone who competed!!

    Showcase

    William & Maeve – 1st place

    Mindaugas & Gierdre – 2nd place

    Strictly Lindy Prelims:

    Performances

    Kevin St. Laurent doing Hungarian

    Joysse being amazing

    Teachers being impressive

    [videos go here....but where are they??]

    More video to come!!!

    Marcell, thank you for putting on such a fantastic event. To the students, thank you for coming ready to learn and for asking some really great questions! To everyone that attended, thanks for being there and helping make my year. To the competitors, thanks for kicking ass in that tiny space!! To the DJs, thank you for playing the stuff that makes me want to dance! To the boys, thanks for buying drinks! To my friends, I love you and I’ll see you somewhere around the world. :D

    Category Dancers, Events, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,, | 2 Comments

  8. Catalina Jazz Camp – Details

    November 13, 2010 by Jo

    Back in the day, Catalina Jazz Camp was the event to go to. International instructors such as Eddie & Eva, Lennart & “W”, Daniel & Asa, Steven Mitchell, Rob & Dianne, Ryan & Jenny, and a slue of other top instructors. Not only was it top level instruction, but the Casino Ballroom and the island itself was and is gorgeous.

    I remember finishing my 9th grade year in high school and immediately flying down to LA with some friends, catching the ferry across to the island, and setting up shop for a week. I had a great time running around in the sun, losing my voice, racing golf carts, and watching the Hot Shots perform. Here’s a picture of me in front of the slab with some friends many years ago:

    Some Historical Information:

    The Catalina Jazz Dance Festival endeavors to recreate the historic swing dance routines of the 30′s and 40′s, paying homage to the big bands from the Swing Era who played regularly at the Casino Ballroom.

    Enthusiasts will remember the PBDA Swing Camp which ran for 10 years from 1994–2004. The event centers around the famous Catalina Casino Ballroom which still echoes music from a bygone era, and the richness of Catalina culture.

    Here’s a layout of where we’ll be running around:

    1) Casino Ballroom (click here to check out the virtual tour!)

    2) Tremont Hall
    3) Sunday Workshops (High School Gym)
    4) Foutain
    5) Antonios Cabaret Pizza
    6) Boat Landing
    7) The Slab

    The Killer Dillers will be performing 10 numbers in the ballroom. On Friday, the audience will get to see “Putting on the Ritz,  a cakewalk number, Sharon’s fan dance, “Fascinating Rhythm”, and a group charleston number. On Saturday, we’ll perform a Hat Trick Tranky Doo, a Fred Astaire inspired number, “Jelly Roll”, “Bellboy”, and “Communication”. Finally, on Sunday we’ll perform “Serenade to a Savage” for our finale.

    Can’t wait to see you there!!

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

  9. Lindy Hop in Genova, Italy

    November 9, 2010 by Jo

    This event was a tribute to how amazing Silvia Palazzolo truly is. The Friday a week before the event was to start, the Sheraton Hotel reneged on their contract and yet Silvia was still able to pull strings to make her event happen. Amazing!

    Some more of the details: The Sheraton Hotel in Genova should have been the perfect for this event. Everyone would fly into Genova, cross the street to get to the hotel, stay in the gorgeous rooms (they were really, really nice), and then wander downstairs to take class and go to the dances at night. What made it not ideal was that the Sheraton didn’t have a dance floor, so Silvia bought one. The Sheraton also didn’t have a proper sound system, so Silvia got one lined up. Now, I know what you’re say, “That’s an organizer’s job; they need to make sure there is a dance floor, sound system, transportation, a place to stay, rah rah rah.” Silvia accounted for that, like a great organizer should, but what makes Silvia one of the great organizers is that a week before the event, almost everything she had planned fell apart.

    I have no idea how she did it, but she was able to pull some strings and got 4 couples (Juan & Sharon, Nathan & Evita, Kevin & myself, and Mindaugas & Gierdre) a new place to teach classes and found a new night venue on 4 days notice. That’s freaking impressive!! Unfortunately, I don’t know how many of the students who attended knew that this happened, so I am assuming parts of the event just seemed poorly run when actually, it incredibly well run.

    Long of the short of it, classes went really well, the students were great, the facilities were wonderful, the dances were fun, The Killer Diller performances went well, and the hotel rooms were lovely.

    PUTTING ON THE SHOW

    Putting on a show to a live band is fun and slightly stressful. We’ve worked with Roberto, the leader of the Nine Pennies Big Band, before and he’s an absolute pleasure. He’s put together some beautiful arrangements for us and his band has gotten stronger and tighter over the past 3 years.

    That being said, regardless of what band you’re working with, you’re adding another layer of uncertainty. For example, our rehearsal time with the band ran later than expected and people were stressing about that (I was one of them). Even though I dig the version we performed to, it’s inevitably different than the one we as a group have been rehearsing to (more of something to take note of…no judgment, just another layer to account for). There are “sound” issue to have to deal with – the sound guy, the sound system, the microphones, etc – and that’s something else that needs to be addressed. Finally, something every performer deals with (unless at the same venue every night), is the floor. Slippery or sticky? Is there anything sticking out that we can trip on? Where’s the lighting set on the floor? Where will the audience be on the floor? And so on…

    Regardless of the challenges, having the band is awesome. The most important thing the band does for us is pump out sound and energy that is energizing to both performers and audience members. The music was spot on for us, the tempos were great, the sound was full, and the energy was up. The Nine Pennies Big Band nailed it and I think (*toot toot) so did the Killer Dillers!

    Here’s Our Set List:

    1. LIVE MUSIC (2:35) Serenade to a Savage – Kevin, Jo, Juan, Sharon, Nathan & Evita
    2. LIVE MUSIC Band Segway (with a singer 3 choruses)
    3. LIVE MUSIC (2:45) Lucky Numbers – Nathan & Evita
    4. RECORDED or LIVE MUSIC (3:22) I ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of my Jellyroll – Juan and Sharon
    5. LIVE MUSIC (4:15) Taking a Chance on Love – Nathan, Evita and Juan
    6. RECORDED MUSIC (2:30) Communication – Kevin and Jo
    7. RECORDED MUSIC (2:41) Shimmy Like my Sister Kate – Bellboy Routine – Sharon, Jo & Evita
    8. LIVE MUSIC (4:20) Living in a Great Big Way into Fascinating Rhythm – Kevin
    9. LIVE MUSIC (2:43) Eight, Nine, Ten – Nathan & Kevin – dueling ukes

    Here are some photos taken at the night dances: Enjoy!!!

    To see some of my (crappy cell phone) pictures from the weekend, click here!

    Again, Silvia, you are wonderful, marvelous, amazing, and inspiring. Thank you for hanging in there and pushing to make sure the event went off and for making our jobs as easy as they were. XOXOX

    Category Events, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

  10. Aerial: The Cupcake

    October 24, 2010 by Jo

    If you’ve taken an aerial class with Kevin and me in the last year, you’ve probably had the opportunity to learn the Cupcake from us.

    The Back Story:

    We saw Jeremy Otth and Laura Keat do this aerial at Camp Hollywood in 2008 and were super wowed by it.

    If you go to 4:37, you can watch their routinelette that has “The Cupcake” in it.

    They saw this aerial on So You Think You Can Dance and lindy-fied it. Super cool. To be honest, I hadn’t seen the clip of the original aerial until today….and here it is:

    If you fast forward to 1:20 ish, you’ll find what you’re looking for.

    Then Kevin and I figured out how to do the aerial while in Herrang 2009 and debuted our version of it at Lindy Focus. We finally decided on the name after doing this aerial in a jam.

    To see the jam, go to 1:57.

    You see, that fabulous dress I am wearing is rather cupcake-like and you might notice, when I land on Kevin’s shoulders, his head has disappeared. He is inside my cupcake dress. Hence…cupcake.

    You’re welcome.

    :D

    Category Musings, Photos and Videos | Tags: ,,,,,, | 4 Comments

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