January 26, 2012 by Jo
SAN FRANCISCO!!! Woooooo!!! Yup, that’s right! Kevin and I are coming back to San Francisco to teach at the 9:20 Special again and we’re freaking thrilled!!
In case you want to brush up on the material we taught back in September, here’s a friendly reminder!
So what’s next?
Review the material. Come to class. Tell your friends that you’re going to have a great time and that they’d be missing out if they didn’t join you. Aaaaaaand then dai-ance!!!
See you there :D
Category Events | Tags: 920 Special,class material,Jo Hoffberg,Kevin and Jo,Kevin St. Laurent,local classes,review,San Francisco,teaching | No Comments
September 10, 2011 by Jo
Buwahaahha! This just tickles me silly! “Always tackling the BIG topics, Lindybeige brings you the latest on swing dance camp moustache-related musings. In 2010 many of the top male swing dancers suddenly sprouted thin moustaches. The trend continues and seems still to be waxing.”
Photograph of Juan by Ana Luz Crespi.
Photograph of Peter by Luka Dolenc.
Oh yeah, and here’s a picture of Bobby with a pencil mustache :D
Category Fashion, Musings | Tags: Ana Luz Crespi,Bobby Bonsey,facial hair,Juan Villafane,Kevin St. Laurent,Lindybeige,Luka Dolenc,mens fashion,mustachio,pencil mustache,Peter Loggins,The Vital Moustache Issue,Todd Yannacone | 3 Comments
August 28, 2011 by Jo
First and foremost, congratulations to all the competitors!!!! Well freaking done bringing your A game!!!
Warmup
Spotlight
Adv Finals All-Skate
Warmup
I’ll be honest, I didn’t need to make it to finals. When Kevin and I danced in prelims, I felt like we put everything out there on the floor and was pretty happy with how we danced. I was pretty excited to hear we made finals, but I was also a bit nervous because Kevin and I weren’t as prepared as we have been other years. Regardless, we decided if we made it into the final round by being ridiculous, we would keep up the shenanigans!
Kevin had one of the orange fingers under his sweater vest and around 0:58, Kevin yanks up his vest and let’s all of Baltimore see him in his glory. Like the great partner I am (*toot toot goes my horn), I figure the least I can do is continue to dance with the Baltimore Finger! The audience was loving it!! Well, maybe not everyone, but certainly the Baltimore section :D
Spotlights
I have to say, there was some really great stuff put on the floor that night. Skye & Frida were seamless as usual. I love watching Todd and Naomi dance together; she is such an amazing follow!! And Holy shit – Pontus and Isa’s aerial was ridiculous (2:12)! And the barrel turn into a Frankie done by Juan and Sharon….sick (3:50)! Pat yourselves on the back contestants, because you threw down. UH!!!
I like the combination that Kevin and I have during our first round out (3:06) but it would have been so much better to different music. Arrrg. AND I don’t particularly care for the shapes I’m making with my arms. AND….ok, so I could get super nit picky but I’ll save it for another time. However…….hahha, I will say, I’m pretty proud of Kevin and myself for crowd surfing Baltimore at 7:18. And by the way, Baltimore, I love you! Thanks for catching us!!!! Andrew Thigpen, sorry about straddling you while dismounting the crowd (or “you’re welcome” depending on how you feel about the whole thing). Baltimore, you made the weekend for me! xxoo
Category Competition, Events | Tags: 2011,Advance Strictly Lindy,Andrew Thigpen,Baltimore,Champions Strictly Lindy,contest,crowd surfing,ILHC,Jo Hoffberg,Jonathan Stout Orchestra,Kevin St. Laurent,live music,Spotlight,warmup | 1 Comment
June 23, 2011 by Jo
This is one of my all time favorite social dances with Kevin on video.
Oh my goodness, I had forgotten so many of the little moments in here. I remembered really liking the dance, but now after watching it, I’m actually impressed! Hahah, truth be told, I wish I had some dances like this; I love the footwork that I’m doing and it’ looks like I’m following pretty solidly. Favorite moment for me is at 3:31 where I stay on one leg for about two 8 counts. Haha, two last things: I don’t remember the last time my hair was that short AND I still wear those jeans. :D
Thank you Bernd Peters for sending me this clip!!
Category Musings | Tags: Canada,favorite,Kevin St. Laurent,social dancing,variations | 2 Comments
June 7, 2011 by Jo
This was a ton of fun for me to do. It’s been 5 weeks since I’ve performed a jazz routine, and before that, man, I couldn’t tell you when the last time was I performed jazz.
Really, and truly, the last time we are performing “Communication.” We wanted to have a new routine by this date, but Kevin’s been injured the last 8 weeks and haven’t been able to train, so unfortunately, we didn’t have anything else together. That being said, it sounded like the Greeks were super happy to get to see it live. Thank you guys, SO much, for being so enthusiastic about the routine!
The floor was a little…iffy in some place. :D
Even though Kev missed some of the elbow catches in the beginning, he nails them at the end! Love when he catches the hat on his face and puts one arm/finger in the air telling the crowd that he nailed it!
Two couple version of Sharon’s awesome routine :D I’m going to do a post dedicated just to this routine shortly.
Hope you enjoyed the show!!
Category Events | Tags: Greece,Hat Tricks,Juan & Sharon,Juan Villafane,Kevin St. Laurent,performance,Swing & Swim,Truckin | No Comments
March 29, 2011 by Jo
It was opening night and all the teachers had a little sum’im-sum’im to throw down. Heheh, we might have done the Friday and Saturday show differently had Sharon’s luggage arrived sooner. Regardless, it was a great show! Juan & Sharon opened the Friday night show with Ballin’ the Jack, which looked amazing! Unfortunately, I can’t find video from it. Anyone have it?
Bear Mash Blues
That floor was SO slippery in those shoes, my goodness! Otherwise…..booty!
Hat Trick Tranky Doo
I think this might be the first time Kevin performed this without his buddy Tops. Good on ‘im!
Black Swan
Isn’t she gorgeous! I talked Alice into doing some ridiculous makeup and I’m so pleased she followed through with it (picture on FB). Not that you can really see it here, but still, it’s there. And Tommy!! Omg, he played his part perfectly!
I think Alice went about this routine perfectly. She was inspired by a costume, bought it, found a song, and choreographed something brilliant to it. Her points are gorgeous and lace-removal is stunning.
Stud Muffins!
Brittany and Dargoff being amazing. I love their movement and am totally inspired by it. Again, congratulations to both of you; you were fantastic all weekend. xoxo
Later that night we had the student cabaret. I think I have a performance idea for all the girl instructors for next year. :D
Dance performance to popular K-Pop songs by “Orange Chocolate” during Cabaret night, Camp Swing It (CSI) 2011 / Korean Lindy Hop Championships (KLHC)
Eeek, I can’t find the second cabaret number. I guess it’s not up yet OR it is and I just can’t read Korean. :D
Korean traditional fan dance performed by Crystal Lee, at Cabaret night of Camp Swing It (CSI) 2011.
Here are some of my favorite pictures I’ve found on the web from the weekend:
Thanks for having us Korea!!! xoxo
Category Events, Photos and Videos | Tags: Alice Mei,blues,Brittany Johnson,cabaret night,Crystal Lee,CSI 2011,fan dance,Hat Tricks,Kevin St. Laurent,Michael Darigol,Orange Chocolate,performance,Solo Blues,Thomas Blacharz,Traditional Korean fan dance,Truckin | 1 Comment
March 28, 2011 by Jo
What an amazing show this turned out to be! Even though this was thrown together, it couldn’t have worked out any better. The best part: the audience.
You might not know this, but those fans are significantly heavier than they look and Shaz makes them look effortless. I’ve seen this number a few times and it just gets better and better. Not only does she worked the crowd, but she did a great job of keeping her straps from falling off!
How amazing was that?! It was even better live, if you can believe it. I love Alice’s knee socks, I love the swing outs, I love the rhythms and syncopation, I love their dynamic together, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the audience watch this dance.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to perform after seeing Tommy & Alice do their thing; how could we top that? As Kevin and I stood in our “ready position”, I could feel the energy of the crowd. When the music began, the audience got louder, and every time I swished my skirt, the audience cheered! This has made the list of Favorite Performance Moments for myself, and it was all because of the crowd. I’ve danced the routine better before, but the roar of the crowd was sensational!
Nailed it!
G-dang it! They are bloody fantastic. I find their movement to be super-inspiring and their shapes and lines make me want to wiggle (that’s a good thing)! Well done you two; you totally earned your stripes! It was a pleasure to perform along along side of you.
Sharon choreographed this piece for Rock That Swing (which I’m dying to see but hasn’t been posted yet) and I think it’s a fab little piece. We all were super-sucking in rehearsal, but managed to pull it together for the show. Yeah us!!
Category Events | Tags: Alice Mei,Camp Swing It,CSI 2011,dancing in Korea,Favorite Performance Moment,Juan Villafane,Kevin St. Laurent,performance,Sharon Davis,Thomas Blacharz | 4 Comments
March 23, 2011 by Jo
Look familiar? Here are some other places you can (and have) found us.
If you see us somewhere else, let us know!!
Category Musings | Tags: advertisement,Jo Hoffberg,Kevin and Jo,Kevin St. Laurent,lines,necklace,shapes,signature,silhouette,tshirt | 5 Comments
January 8, 2011 by Jo
Yeah, look who’s on the CSI 2011 Poster??!!
Hey, btw, if you’re free March 25-27, you should come meet up with Kevin and me in Korea! In case you need a few more reasons to come, how about Juan Villafane & Sharon Davis and Thomas Blacharz & Alice Mei?!l
Korean Lindy Hop Championships (KLHC) will take place on Saturday, March 26, 2011. Come out and kick butt!!
Category Dancers, Events | Tags: Alice Mei,Competition,CSI 2011,Jo Hoffberg,Juan Villafane,Kevin St. Laurent,Korea,lindy hop,Sharon Davis,Thomas Blacharz | No Comments
