Natalie Migdal - Live at Grand

What does it look like when Swingkatten has one of its swing dance nights at Grand? Here is a peek from the season finale the 8th of May when the Natalie Migdal Kvintett visited us.

The video is taken by our trusted sound guy, Olle Svensson, who also mixed the sound for the video.

What do you think of the video clip with Natalie Migdal? Please comment.

Uppsala Winter Camp coming up

Today the Uppsala Winter Camp, Swingkattens annual swing dance camp, starts. The first 4 years I was heavily involved in organizing the camp. Nowadays I "just" participate in doing practical things during the camp such as setting up sound and light equipment for classes, rigging for live bands, run the light for Saturday night stage show and dj.

I'll dj tonight at Drabanten between 22-23, Friday 01-02 (the late late shift) and on the Sunday tea dance between 16-17.

I'm looking forward to see the band tomorrow, The Ulf Johansson Werre Swing Quartet, I think they'll rock, eh I mean swing.

Will you attend the Uppsala Winter Camp? Please comment.

The education of organizers

Tuesday night I dj:ed at the weekly dance event Cats Corner that has continued at GH nation this semester. The djing went well I think (please tell me what you thought of it).

A new place always means that things work a little bit different, it also means that things doesn't work in different ways. We've had some technical challenges but I think we have solved them now. This is where experience comes in handy: You know that something almost certainly will happen, but hopefully you have solved the problem before and it can easily be taken care of.

I've been involved in arranging events ever since Swingkatten, our dance organisation, started seven years ago. I'm one of the go-to guys when it comes to technical issues.

I've started to write "brain dumps" so that more people get to know how to do technical stuff. My main goal in Swingkatten in the coming year will be to educate people on technical issues.

I think it's important to have a large group of people that are available to arrange events. It's dangerous to rely on only a few people. What if someone disappears from the scene for one reason or another? You also avoid people getting burned out from doing too much work.



Everybody has their favorite way of doing things. In Swingkatten we've had the principle: "If you make things happen, you get to do it the way you like it".

Obviously, everyone can't completly agree about how things are done. That brings us to the other side of the principle: "If you like things done your way, you got to make things happen". Get involved! More people means more variety.

Over the the last couple of years I've implemented the plan that Swingkatten should have technical equipment to be able to independently arrange events. We have almost reached that goal and that feels great. Only a few things are lacking.

So now the challenge is to make use of all this equipment. The next step is to educate people. Setting up equipment is not that hard that it may seem. We need to set up some form of apprentice program. Have you done anything like that? I'd like to hear how you did it.

The photos in this post are taken by me at an impromtu jam session at Cats Corner. The photos may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to buy or license them.

Would you like to be an apprentice? Please comment.

Dance picnic with Lennakatten Aug 31st

Join me on Sunday Aug 31st at the annual dance picnic that Swingkatten organizes. We take the steam train Lennakatten out to the station in Länna and walks to Kopphagens dansbana where the band Canal Street Syncopators will play swing in a 1930's style.

The train leaves the station Uppsala Östra (Bergsbrunnagatan 2) at 11.25. The ride costs 45 kr for for swing dancers and the fee for the dance is 60 kr.

There will be hamburgers, lemonade and cakes for sale.

The video clip above is made by me from fotage from the very first picnic in 2005.

We made an extra ride with Lennakatten this spring, check out this video clip to see more of Kopphagens dansbana.



Will you join us on Sunday? What do you think of my promotion video? Please comment.

Dancin' The Boogie - Silvan Zingg, Will & Maéva

I always enjoy a good boogie woogie song and here is one: "Dancin' The Boogie", written and performed by Silvan Zingg from Switzerland. The couple who dances boogie woogie is William Mauvais and Maéva Truntzer.

I love the footwork that the boogie woogie dancers do, it looks so darn cool. Maybe one day I learn how to dance boogie woogie as well. My local dance society, Swingkatten, offer boogie woogie courses, so you never know...

Silvan Zingg organizes a large Boogie Woogie Festival each year.

Learn more about boogie woogie as a music style.

What do you think of of the video clip? Please comment.

Planning for winter in the middle of the summer

The best of the summer is still to come here in Sweden (e.g. the Herräng dance camp starts next week) but the summer solstice was last week and the planning for winter activitives has already begun.

Above you see a photo of Lovisa Gustafsson who is Swingkatten's "General" when it comes to planning the Uppsala Winter Camp in the beginning of February next year. She is on top of all things. If you want to be part of the organizing committee, talk to her. Yes, it is some work but you'll meet active and very interresting people. The information on the website will soon be updated for next years' dance camp.

The photo is taken last week at "Lindy at the quayside". There is dancing at the quayside tonight as well.

Will you go to Herräng Dance Camp? Have you been to Uppsala Winter Camp? Please comment.

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

Dancing at the quayside in Uppsala

For the last three years (maybe longer) we've had as a tradition to dance outside along the quayside in the harbour of Uppsala in the summer. We got the idea from "Lindy in the Park" in San Francisco and have called it "Lindy at the Quayside" (in swedish: bryggdans). Now with the pretty strong balboa scene here in Uppsala, maybe we should just call it "Dancing at the Quayside".

The concept is simple: somebody brings a boom blaster and some swing music. Everybody else comes there and dance and hangs out with their friends. You can bring some picnic if you like. Clean simple fun. And you may also get applauses from people passing by (Yeah, we are that good ;-)). The edge is quite close but to this date nobody has fallen into the water.



Previous years this event has taken place at weekends, but now there seems to be a new informal group that will arrange this on Tuesdays between 18-21. Yay for more people doing stuff. You're great!

What do you think of Lindy at the Quayside? Do you do a similar thing? Please comment.

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

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.

Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers - Chicago boogie

Here is a music video featuring Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers playing Chicago boogie.

Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers is a popular rhythm & blues band from Uppsala. The video was shot at Grand with a lot of dancers from Swingkatten. You might want to look at how the video shoot looked like in November last year.

If you want to dance to them, you can do that in Stockholm May 17th at Swedish Swing Society (the dance club, not the band).

What do you think of the music video with Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers? Tell me.

New swing djs in Uppsala

Last tuesday three new swing djs made their debut at Cats Corner in Uppsala: Susanne Karlsson, Frida Samuelsson and Mats Fröberg.

It's great to have new people to dj. As a seasoned dj you might think that you have heard most swing music, but then a new person comes along with new stuff that you never heard.



Today we have about 6-7 swing djs in Uppsala, which is quite a difference to four years ago when I was pretty much the only swing dj in town.



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

Tonight there is "Duke Ellington night" at Cats Corner. Be there!

Did you hear the new swing djs last time? What did you think of them. Tell me.

How to recognize a balboa dancer from Uppsala

Tonight it's time again for Cats Corner at Uplands nation in Uppsala. Since it is Veronika, Nils and Gabriela who are organizing this evening, the evening will have a slight focus towards all the balboa dancers in Uppsala.

One of the things they have fixed is small balboa corner so that the balboa dancer will run less risk to be hit by a charleston kick from the wild lindy dancers since the room can be quite crowded.

The balboa corner also makes it easier to find your fellow balboa dancer. Another thing that will help you recognize a balboa dancer from Uppsala is the newly produced balboa buttons. If a person wears this button, she/he would like to dance balboa with you. A great initiative from Jennie!

A couple of Swingkattens balboa teachers, Jonas Pettersson and Trina Dobbs, will dj classic swing tonight. As usual: Time: 20-23, Price: 20 kr.

The photo is taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license it.

What do you think of the idea with a balboa button to locate other balboa dancers? Tell me.

Palladium at Grand: Concert photos

Last Saturday, the big band Palladium played at Grand Swing Night in Uppsala at a dance arranged by Swingkatten. The band plays swing but is also very influenced by jump blues.



It was a very good night and I had fun dancing both lindy and balboa. A few couples also danced foxtrot. Folks, remember that foxtrot can be a good dance to do if a really fast song comes along and you don't want to lindy hop to it but you don't know balboa. Foxtrot is also great for slow songs.



When I took a small break to cool down I photographed the band and the dancers (surprise! not.). I know people see me photograph a lot and wonder where the pictures all end up. Well, some of them make it to this blog and some of them I send directly to the people in them. If you think you might have been in front of my camera lens, send me an email and ask me. I'm still looking for a good way to share more photos.

I'm also selling and licencing my photographs, I might have the picture for you in my archive.

If you like my style you can hire me for a photo shoot. Although I mostly show jazz concert pictures here, I photograph all kinds of things, but I prefer to photograph people.



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

Were you at Grand Swing Night with Palladium? What did you think of the band? Tell me.

Uppsala Winter Camp 2008: Thursday night

Last week I was busy doing all sorts of things in connection with The Winter Camp here in Uppsala which is a pretty large dance camp.



It started on Thursday night and I and Olle prepared the big hall at Drabanten. Acoustically, the room is very challenging but I belive we did the best we could and it sounded quite good. We also played around with our (*cough* I mean Swingkatten's) new light equipment. I can't tell you enough how good it is to have easy access to equipment, it makes it so much easier to put on good looking events. Good lighting really helps to get a nice atmosphere.




Laura Keat taught a fun 1920's solo charleston routine in the beginning of the night set to the song Stockholm Stomp from the album "My Favorite Band" by Mora's Modern Rhythmists and then Emelie, Jonas and David dj:ed after that. There was a good amount of people there, especially considering that most people had to work the next day.

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

Were you at the Thursday night dance at Uppsala Winter Camp? What did you think of the evening? Tell me.

Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers: Music video shoot

Last Sunday Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers shot a music video at Grand. Along with the band there were a lot of dancers from Swingkatten dressed up in the style of the 1940's and 1950's.

Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers is a rhythm & blues band from Uppsala that also plays jump blues. They are collecting material for their second album that hopefully will be out sometime next year.

Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers will play tonight at Pub 19 in Uppsala at 21 o'clock. If you have the opportunity, you should see them.

The photo is taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license it.

Have you seen or heard Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers before? What do you think of them? Tell me.

Kulturnatten in Uppsala/ Cultural night

Tonight it's "Kulturnatten" in Uppsala, which means "The Culture Night". Kulturnatten is a really big cultural event here in Uppsala, I haven't counted but I think there are over 400 different cultural activitives going on during the evening. There are lots and lots of music, dance, art and performances. I think there are like 60000 people out on the streets. Did I say this was big?

It's impossible to see everything you would like to see, so you have to scan the program and decide what you really want to do. See the whole program for Kulturnatten.

Visit Swingkatten at Forumtorget

I will be an busy organiser tonight for Swingkatten's, our swing dance society's, activities. We have a lot to offer if you take a trip down to Forumtorget: Two livebands: Sweet Emma & The Mood Swingers 18-19 and Palladium between 20-22. There will be dance performances at 20.00 and 21.00. Come visit us!
Read more about the program in Swedish at Swingkatten.

Jazz at Kulturnatten

Here is also some other jazz tips for Kulturnatten:

• 16.00-17.30 Lars Erstrand Four, Svava
• 18.00 Author Samuel Charters talks about jazz in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina.
• 18.00-19.30 Peter Lind and the Cabaret Band, Svava
• 19, 20, 21 Swing club, french style (Django?) jazz, Grand Hotell Hörnan
• 20.30–21.00 Canal Street Syncopators, Atrium Konferens & Bankett
• 20.30–21.00 Jazz standards with Sara Djärv and Anders Bromander, Domkyrkocentrum
• 21.00 -22.00 New Orleans jazz with Crescent City Four, Missionskyrkan
• 22.00 Jump dealers, Uplands nation
• 22.00 Sextett 60, Dance at the library, Stadsbiblioteket
• 22.00–22.30 Dixielandjazz, Fyris Jazz Band, Atrium Konferens & Bankett
• 22.30-23.30 Linné Swings in spring, Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra, Musicum
• 23.30–24.00 Radio Uppland Big Band, Atrium Konferens & Bankett

This is just a taste of the jazz part of the evening. Enjoy the evening!

What are your plans for Kulturnatten? What events is not to be missed? Tell me.

Dance picnic with Lennakatten

On Sunday the 26th, there will be a dance picnic in Länna outside Uppsala organized by the dance organisation Swingkatten. For the third year in a row we will take the steam train, Lennakatten, to Länna and the outside dancing place known as "Kopphagens dansbana".

There will be taster lessons in lindy hop and charleston and live music will be played by the orchestra Canal Street Syncopators. After the band have finished I will dj a set with great swing music.

The theme of the picnic is the 1920s-1930s, so if you got any clothing that resembles that era, please wear it, othervise, wear your sunday best clothes.

Read more about the dance picnic at Swingkattens website.

"[A] picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors, ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape. [Wikipedia]"

Are you planning to join the dance picnic? Do you want me to play a certain song? Tell me.

Uppsala Dansfestival at Flustret

Tomorrow a dance festival starts in Uppsala: Uppsala Dansfestival. It's located at Flustret and our swing dance organisation Swingkatten will be part of it tomorrow night, where we will play swing music upstairs at night from 21 to 02.

You will be hearing good swing dj's that has performed all season at Klubb Dekadans:

• Dj Gunnar
• Dj Trina
• Dj David
• Dj Patrik
• Dj Emelie
• Dj Henrik (me!)

There will also be taster classes in lindy hop, balboa and charleston. Around 22:30 there will be a dance performance featuring lindy hop, salsa and swedish bugg.

For more details about the dance festival, check out Swingkatten's website.

Welcome!

TV4 Talang: Harlem Hot Shots dances Lindy Hop

Tonight it's the semi final in TV4's talent show Talang 2007. One of the contestants are the famous swing dance show group The Harlem Hot Shots.

Watch their performance in the preliminary round in the competition where The Harlem Hot Shots performed a dance number to Bugle Call Rag. You can see Hanna Zetterman, Mattias Lundmark, Åsa Palm, Daniel Heedman, Sakarias Larsson and of course Frida Segerdahl.



Vote for them so that they go on to the final, so we get more exposure of lindy hop in Sweden. Hopefully they'll win the first prize of one million kronor. Watch them tonight in Talang 2007 at TV4 20:00.

[Update: They won the jury's vote and will be going the the final in two weeks! Be sure to vote for them then.]

If you were inspired by them to learn lindy hop, you can take classes by The Harlem Hot Shots at their own dance studio in Stockholm: Chicago. If you live in Uppsala, get in touch with Swingkatten.

What do you think of The Harlem Hot Shots performance in the video clip? Do you know what version of Bugle Call Rag they are using? Tell me.

Hasse Ling and His Syncopators of Swing

Tomorrow Saturday 21st, Hasse Ling and His Syncopators of Swing will play at a dance at Grand in Uppsala arranged by Swingkatten.

Hasse Ling and His Syncopators of Swing is a very good band and cares for the dancers. If you're in town you should go there and dance or listen to them.

The dance will start at 20 and the band will be on stage at approx. 21. Entrance fee: 80 kr.

The photo of Hasse Ling and His Syncopators of Swing is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission. The photo is taken at Uppsala Balboa Weekend in 2004.

Have you heard Hasse Ling and His Syncopators of Swing play before? What do you think of them? Tell me.

The best compliment a swing dj can get

I haven't posted anything the last couple of days because I've been busy doing all sorts of things at the Uppsala Winter Camp, Swingkatten's annual camp with lindy hop and balboa.

About creating energy
Mostly I was in charge of the of the lighting during the evenings and the dinner show at Saturday. I also put together a small light show for the presentation of the instructors Saturday morning. The idea was to give the teachers a rock star welcome and create some energy that would give the camp a good start. I think it went well considering that there was not much time to brief the instructors what was going to happen. If you were there, please tell me what you thought of it. If you happen to have a video clip of it I would be very thankful if you could send it to me.

Saturday night was a blast, the band Phontrattarne was really swinging with a full big band sound. I was inspired by them when I djed the late night shift.

The best compliment
A person that I really respect as a dancer and person came up to me after my set and I got the best compliment a swing disc jockey can get:

"I tried to leave but you kept playing such good music that I had to stay another song, and another, just one more song... Now I will be too tired for tomorrows classes. It's your fault! Thank you!".

Keeping people on the dance floor even though they are too tired, that is one of my ambitions when I dj, when they do, I know I must be doing something right. Creating energy on the dance floor is what it's all about. Hearing comments like that is what keeps me djing.

If you were at the Uppsala Winter Camp and have comments about the songs I played I would be very interested in hearing what you thought of them.