a swingin' xmas

Diana and I always have a good laugh when we tell others about our extracurricular-and-keeping-us-sane activies. What's most amusing, I think, is that the studios are right next door to each other, but they couldn't be more different. You see, while Diana kick boxes, I lindy hop.

Yep, that's right: good old big-band-Swing-Kids style lindy hop: swing outs, kick-ups, Charleston, rag-doll drops, the lot (I've just recently learned some really basic aerials, too). I've been taking lessons at Dance Manhattan since around May with my dear friend and adorable dance partner George Abbott, former temp here at Shore Fire and current employee of a little company called Google. It all began as a bit of a joke (although I'd gone a few times to watch the swing dancers at Irving Plaza many years back) and has since become an obsession!

Last week we performed an 8week-rehearsed routine to the famously fast lindy song "Bugle Call Rag" at Frim Fram in Club 412 on 8th Ave as well as Dance Manhattan itself as part of the studio's annual Christmas revue. For those not familiar with Bugle Call Rag, it's traditionally one of the fastest lindy songs to dance to (almost better suited to balboa), though we used a slower version, around 250 BPM (for the non-BPM savvy, that's, um, still really fast).

For those SO eager to see the performance, fear not! Rumor has it that a video will surface on YouTube in the new year and I'll be sure to post it. In the interim, here's a video our rehearsal (I'm off camera for most of the time).