First Alternate: A Lindy Hopper's Newsletter

Oaktown Hella Hoppers forever!!

Before we start: Thank you to my new subscribers!! It feels nuts to say that, I never expected people to want to hear what I’m thinking about! I’ve got a lot more substantiative content coming, including a followup to my previous newsletter, some book recommendations, and the project I’ve been working on on and off for over a year. A little call to action here: If you were coming up dancing in the 2000s and early 2010s, I want to hear from you! What were you thinking about, what are your formative memories, what sticks with you now? Email me or DM me! OK, here we go.

This summer, Helen and I coached a student team for our home venue, The Breakaway.     

The work can speak for itself:

I’ve said a lot about this experience already, and thanked a lot of people. Thanks again to Auey Santos, who believed we were the right people for this job. If you’d like to read more of the reflections I’ve already written, here's an Instagram post I wrote about it.

This project really reinvigorated my and Helen’s love for our local scene. Since the scene has started to return after the 2020 closures, it’s been hard for me to deal with the loss of the venue that was my San Francisco home and the moving away of so many dancers I looked up to. Coaching this team showed me just how many newer dancers in the Bay Area are excited about Lindy Hop and eager to invest their time and energy in the dance. And being accountable to 30 dancers really helped me believe in my ability to be the kind of dance mentor I used to have when I was a few years in and hungry: someone to look to for help, reassurance and inspiration.     

After the Camp Hollywood performance, I heard a couple common themes from people that I’m particularly proud of: that our routine looked like me and Helen, and moreover that it looked like how the Bay Area dances, and that it looked like it was fun to do. When we choreographed this, those were our actual goals!

Someone also told us how much Frankie stuff they saw in it, and that’s correct! With a team that has been dancing for, on average, less than two years, it seemed like an obvious place to draw from if we wanted to build some foundations, and teach some Lindy Hop that looked AND felt good.

Perhaps the nicest thing anyone said to me all weekend was Stefan Huynh, who said something along the lines of “watching that, it’s obvious you’re great teachers.” Anyone who knows me or Helen knows just how much care we put into teaching our local students, and knows what a powerful compliment that is.

The last thing I’ll say is one more enormous thank you to The Breakaway, the venue that has nurtured me since my earliest teaching days. And of course a last thank you to all of our dancers. Each and every one went above and beyond anything we could have expected. They are all incredible dancers and invaluable community members.   

This is just the beginning!! We think you’ll be seeing a lot more of the Bay Area in the years to come. And Helen would like me to add: we’re also available to teach your local dancers!