Stuff We Liked: A Queer Swing Fest, Dancers on Competing, and Stretchy Suits for Dancing

Hey it’s Pride Month! In that spirit, we were excited to hear that there will be a Queer Lindy Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden from October 6-8. It looks like it will emphasize ambi-dancing and dancers dancing the non-traditional role, and aims to “connect with other movements like queer tango and queer salsa as well as to honor the roots in the LGBTQ+ community.” 

Lindy hoppers have been very curious about "The Stretch Suit", billed as "the world's most comfortable suit." I'm personally a little skeptical till we hear reports of this suit actually being worn and danced in. If those folks want to send me a trial suit, I wouldn't say no. Just sayin. Check out their dope promo video.

 
Jo Hoffberg, herself a champion lindy hopper herself, has been putting out a killer series of interviews with dancers on the topics of competing and judging. We’re loving the insights from Delilah Williams, Nalla Kim, Pamela Gaizutyte, Felix Berghäll, and Alice Mei. 
 
Here’s a neat answer from Felix Berghäll on why he thinks competitions are important for lindy hop:

“It motivates people by giving them a great goal to work towards. Even if you don’t think you’ll get to the podium, you still have to go out knowing that you will get watched and judged, and at the end you’ll get feedback on your performance. I get extremely excited about the feedback because it shows me how I can improve.
 
Competition teaches you how to be serious about what you’re doing. It gives you time to think about what you can do with the dance. I used to think of the dance as a sport, but through competition, I’ve learn to see how I can create an art form out of it.Competition also increases the exposure of the dance. It helps populate the world with amazing dance clips that excite people and builds up enthusiasm for Lindy Hop. If you ask someone on the streets of Stockholm, they know what Lindy Hop is and that’s super cool!  ”

Speaking of Felix, check out this clip of him dancing with Egle Regelskis at Smokey Feet 2017 a couple of weeks ago.

We also dug this video of Natalia Eristavi and Matt Richey at Inspiration Weekend 2017 last weekend. We think you will too.

 
Have something special you want to share with other lindy hoppers? Hit this link to share it with us, or email us at rik@yehoodi.com.