teachers and researchers of traditional jazz dance
We teach Swing Era and Jazz Age dances from Lindy Hop (Swing) all the way back to the Castle Walk. We teach weekly dance classes at Sandra Cameron Dance Center in New York, where we run the Swing program. We also teach workshops regionally, nationally, and abroad. We’ve taught workshops in Toronto, Tokyo, Chicago and Washington, D.C.; at competitions, such as the Virginia State Open, at colleges, such as Ohio University and Hofstra University; K-12 schools, such as La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn’s Poly Prep, Baruch College High School, and P.S. 93; and many regional dance events in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
| September 19, 2008 | to | September 21, 2008 |
Oh Canada! I’ll be flying north soon to Toronto for a weekend of Peabody, Charleston and Lindy Hop workshops. Easily one of our favorite places to dance (and perhaps the coldest locale we’ve ever taught in—New Year’s weekend a few years back), Toronto is diverse, has a lot of good dancers, and is home to Tim Hudson (as in Timothy’s donuts and coffee).
For full details about the workshops, visit OddSocks.org.
Posted on September 15th, 2008 by chad
| June 6, 2008 | to | June 8, 2008 |
Jam Cellar has invited us back to Washington, D.C. for their Big, Big Event (BBE) to teach a little Peabody. We are absolutely thrilled, particularly because the dance is in June. When we traveled there to teach in March, last year, we drove in near blizzard conditions (4.5 hour drive=11 hour drive). It’s unlikely, though with global warming you never know, that we will have to deal with these conditions. (But now that I’ve opened my mouth, we’ll probably have a tropical storm, instead.) If you haven’t been to DC for dancing, then you are missing out. It is truly one of the top places in the country with a great community and one of the world’s best venues (Glen Echo). We were sad that we missed last year’s BBE, but we were already traveling in June to celebrate Indy’s 1st birthday. For us, personally, this year’s event will be a big, big event. It will likely mark Midori’s return to dancing following much needed bunion surgery in November. They say it’s 6-weeks to recover, but they mean bear weight on your foot. It’s really like 6 months to return to dancing. Yikes! She has recovered as well as we could have possibly hoped and now has a nice incentive on her calendar. I’ll post more details about the BBE when I have them.
Posted on February 10th, 2008 by chad
| October 25, 2007 | to | October 28, 2007 |
Hard to believe that American Lindy Hop Championships (ALHC) will celebrate a decade of great dancing this year. Then again, it’s hard to believe our son Indy is 15 months old. That’s a lot of 5-6-7-8s. Anyway, we are thrilled to be back at ALHC this year and are excited to teach a Peabody workshop on Saturday from 5:45pm to 7:00pm. While we’ve got miles to go in our effort to introducing people to the fleet-footed bliss that is dancing Peabody, we are also amazed at how many people have gotten to know the dance over the past four years. Being invited to teach Peabody at ALHC represents a kind of milestone for us. We can’t wait!
Posted on October 4th, 2007 by chad
| June 9, 2007 | ||
| 12:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
One of New York’s best kept secrets, Governor’s Island will host an afternoon Jazz Age dance and picnic on its great lawn on June 9 featuring Michael Arenella’s 11 piece Dreamland Orchestra. You should really mark your calendar for this one. I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s event: good music and many well-dressed people on a hot summer’s day. How often do you get an island largely to yourself (yourself and your dancing friends)? We are really excited about this year because this time we can enjoy it as a family. So get your picnic blankets and fixins together. Pull out your Jazz Age summer duds, boaters and summer hats encouraged. Hop the Governor’s Island ferry (free). And get over to this event (also free), which runs from 12noon to 4pm (but really you can arrive around 11am or earlier and relax). If you get there early, you can enjoy a Peabody dance lesson taught by us. And several hours of live music and dancing. Not a bad way to kick off your summer!
(Continue reading…)
Posted on May 4th, 2007 by chad
| July 13, 2007 | to | July 15, 2007 |
Midori and I are really excited to announce that we’ll be teaching Peabody and Charleston workshops at the Sugar Foot Stomp in Asheville, North Carolina as part of an “old-fashioned fast dance and hot jazz weekend.” The weekend features three nights of dancing, workshops, and most definitely Southern Hospitality. We’ll be teaching three Peabody and three Charleston workshops as well as performing with our son Indy in tow, of course. For details, visit http://www.sugarftstomp.com. Registration will be opening soon, I’m told.
Posted on April 13th, 2007 by chad
We perform and teach popular and historical social dances of the Jazz Age and Swing Era and have appeared on stage, independent film, and local and national television. Known for our performance and our research of social dancing, we also consult and choreograph for period productions, particularly those set in the Roaring Twenties. Though we do not regularly compete, we have placed in a number of competitions, including 1st in the 2004 American Lindy Hop Championships Fast Dance division.