Happy Birthday Duke! - Concert and show April 29th

Happy Birthday Duke! is a concert and show that you really should see. It's a concert that celebrates Duke Ellingtons 110th birthday. The concert features no less than three bands and orchestras: Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra, SweDukes and the Middlesex group.

But wait there's more. Way more. You will also see the swing dance troupe MessAround perform together with the bands. The will show off all kinds of swing dances: Lindy hop, balboa, shag, charleston and tap.

The concert takes place next Wednesday, April 29th, at Univeritetsaulan, at 19.30.
Tickets cost 130 kr (90 kr for students). If you got a UNT-card: 100 kr (70 kr for students). Buy tickets via UNT Biljett (018-478 10 70) or at Ticnet.

Invite all your friends to Happy Birthday Duke! on Facebook.

If you were at Cats Corner yesterday, you got a sneek peak of MessAround doing the charleston number Uppsala Stomp. The number was tight and had lots of energy.



Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra (UUJO) has got a new member: Claes Brodda on saxophone. The photo above is from Saturday when he played together with Jennie Löbel and the Swing Kings at Swingkattens dance at Grand. I look forward to hear more of him. (I'll post more about the Saturday night dance later).

The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to buy or license them.

Will you attend "Happy Birthday Duke!"? Please comment.

Photography: Vintage fashion and swing dancing

Last Saturday was packed with events, there was weekend dance workshops, Swingkatten had a fika where people in the the organization introduced themselves and presented what they are doing. Swingkatten is doing so many things these days that it's hard to keep track of it all.

However, the main event was the swing dance later on that evening. On stage we had Hasse Ling and His Syncopators of Swing. They are a great small band that knows what the dancers want. They've played at several of our dances.



In the first band break there was a vintage fashion show with clothes from a shop called Dreamers Vintage in Uppsala. The shoes were from Jigwalk. Marielle Hjalmarsson was the fabulous and charming MC of the event.

I was asked to photograph the fashion show and also to take some portraits afterwards. In order to to able to take the photos I want and to get the quality of the photos as good as I want them to be, I invested in a new flash accessory. Hopefully you will see the difference. I'm still on the mission to become a world class photographer.

You can see a large collection of vintage fashion photos from the night here. Note the arrow below on that page which takes you to more photos with swing dancing as well as the performances that took place in the second band break.

The performers were first a group of tap dancers from Swingkatten, then came Emelie and Rebecka Decavita from the show group MessAround and last but not least The Midnight Rounders, a show dance group from Stockholm (first picture).



As if photographing and doing light design for the fashion show wasn't enough, I also djed the late night shift. It went pretty well and it was fun to see a jam circle erupt. Benny Goodman did it again.

The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license them.

What do you think of swing dance at Grand? Please comment.

Dance picnic at Kopphagens dansbana tomorrow

Tomorrow, Saturday, there is a dance picnic at Kopphagens dansbana. Our swing dance society Swingkatten joins the celebration of the steam train organisation Lennakatten, which celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Take the steam train from the station Uppsala Östra at 11:20. The dance starts at 12:30 and I will be djing until 16:00. The ride and the dance is free. You are very welcome to dress up in 1920-1940s style clothing.

You can buy pie, cakes and soft drinks there. You can also bring your own picnic basket. The dj enjoys all kinds of tasty food if you decide to bring him some ;-).



Swingkatten's show group MessAround will perform at some point. If you miss them then you can catch them again at night back in Uppsala when MessAround perform at Filurarverkstan at 18:15 (Skolgatan 7).

The weather forecast says: Sun, warmth and everything nice. Come and join us for a dance picnic tomorrow.

The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license them.

Have you been at a dance picnic at Kopphagens dansbana before? Tell me.

Swinging events this week

Swingkatten's regular event Cats Corner takes a break tonight as there are other things scheduled at Uplands nation but there are several other events this week:

• Tomorrow Wednesday: Swing Time Sextett featuring Margareta Nordlander at Katalin. Show by MessAround. Dance floor available. 20-22. 100 kr.
• Thursday: Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra: Exam concert at Katedralskolans aula. 19:00 - 20:15. Free.
• Friday: After Work Jazz. Concert with Kari Sjöstrand, tenor sax, flute and vocals, Daniel Lantz, Fender Rhodes and Henrik Voldsgaard Christensen, double bass. Where: The pub Pipes of Scotland/Hotel Uppsala (intersection of st. olofsg./kungsgatan) At 17.30. Free.
• Saturday: Outside dance at Kopphagens dansbana in Länna. Celebration of Lennakatten. Show by MessAround. 12:30 - 16:00. Swing dj: Henrik Eriksson (me!). Free. Read more.
• Sunday: Swe-dukes playes at Skarholmen. 15-18. 50 kr.

Wow. What a lineup of great events. Be sure to visit most of them!

I'll write more about them later on.

Which events are you going to? Tell me.