Snowball Dance Camp - Stockholm

Just before New Years Eve I went to dance at the Snowball Dance Camp in Stocholm. The camp is about one week but I was just there for one night, so I had to choose carefully which night to visit.



I choose this night because of the bands that were playing: Jennie Löbel And the Swing Kings and the Gordon Webster sextet. I've danced to Jennie and her band ever since I started dancing. I first saw Gordon Webster this summer at Herräng Dance Camp. I remember him in a 3AM jam in the pub when the set had stopped but the audience kept on clapping, wanting more. Gordon went back to the piano and improvised a song using the clapping audience as a huge rhythm section.

That's why I wanted to see them.



The ballroom was huge and there were people everywhere, in fact I don't think I ever have seen so many swing dancers at one time. I heard somewhere that the ballroom allows for 600-700 people to be there at one time. Lots and lots of people to dance with. It's fun to be part of such a crowd, but it also makes it difficult if you want to find a certain person you want to dance with.

If you follow the Swedish custom to dance two songs with a person you can dance 10 dances in one hour which meant 80 dances through the night if you danced non stop.



If the middle of the night there were a performance by The Harlem Hot Shots. Great stuff as always. I liked their 1920's number best.

The bands traded sets and they played 3 sets each. How about that!

In the end of the night the fatigue and the fact that my shoes are pretty new and not really worn in yet made my dance less good than it normally is (I hope).

Overall, a very nice night. Afterwards, I reflected on how easy it is to take events like this for granted and how much work it must have taken put it together. I know, because I've arranged half a dozen camps myself and more dance nights than I can remember.

If you meet the organizers be sure to thank them.

The next big event will be here in Uppsala in the and of January: The Uppsala Winter Camp. See you there.



The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission.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.

What do you think of Snowball? Please comment.

Herrang All Stars / Folkets Hus Fem: Photos

I have now recovered from attending the Uppsala Winter Camp, it was a fun experience and in my opinion the best dance camp in Uppsala so far.

One of the things that made this year special was what happend Saturday night. In addition to the big band on the main stage, some of the instructors had decided to put together a band or more exactly to reunite a band from Herräng Dance Camp.

The band is called the Herrang All Stars / Folkets Hus Fem and consists of Peter Loggins (Washboard-Suitcase-Pots and Pans), Mia Goldsmith (vocals and kazoo), Todd Yannacone (guitar), Niklas Eriksson (clarinet) and Christoffer Alehed (trombone). Guest artist this night was Orvar Turegård on piano.



The played songs like: I Found a New Baby, After You've Gone, Aint she sweet (with Sean Hall singing and playing his Uke), Dinah, I Found a new baby, Lady Be Good , Saint Louis Blues. All these songs were recorded and you can listen to the Herrang All Stars / Folkets Hus Fem songs here.



Having one more band made it an awesome experience to walk around Grand and having music played everywhere you went.

Thank you guys for playing. Your performance made the camp very special.



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.



What do you think of Herrang All Stars / Folkets Hus Fem? 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.

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.

Svenska Showorkestern Phontrattarne at Uppsala Winter Camp

For the third year in a row the big band Svenska Showorkestern Phontrattarne (or Phontrattarne for short) performed at the big Saturday night dance at Uppsala Winter Camp.
The image above is from the dinner entertainment where the singers who were siamese tripplets performed the song "Me, myself and I". If you look closely you see that they have just one big pair of trousers and a giant shirt.

As you might have figured out from their full name they like to put on a great show as well as playing fantastic. The musicians always do something funny while they are not playing for the moment. Yey for jazz musicians that aren't shoe-gazers. It was a great night.

If you are a student you can dance to the band at Norrlands nation February 15th and March 14th.

I heard that they have a new cd out now, but I didn't have a chance to have a look at it.

Read what I wrote about Phontrattarne last year.



On a dance night at Grand you might have to catch your breath for a while. There a two options at Grand, either the cafe upstairs where you can get all kinds of cakes, tea, coffee and sodas and sink down into a comfortable sofa while listening to slow blues music.

You could also visit the bar downstairs (pictured above) which has plenty of water. Have a quick sip of water and you're out on the dance floor in no time. Just be sure to mark the cup with your name, othervise it will be lost immediately.

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 Saturday night dance at Grand where Svenska Showorkestern Phontrattarne were playing? What did you think of the band? Tell me.

Twentyfour Robbers: Skye and Frida at UHLS 2007

Last week at the Friday night dance at Uppsala Winter Camp I djed the late shift which meant: after the band stopped playing and until there were no people left on the dance floor.

I told the dancers that I was happy to take specific requests if they had any. Most times when you ask dancers what they like to hear, they answer: "Good music". Hmm. Then you ask: Ok, what tempo? Answer: "Just right" (In Swedish: Lagom). Not much direction to talk about.

I did get one request: "Twentyfour Robbers" by Fats Waller. Unfortunatly I didn't have it in my cd bag right then. Sorry.

The request was inspired by the video clip with Frida Segerdahl and Skye Humpfries dancing in a contest at the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown 2008. Take a look at it.



Frida and Skye really makes the most out of this song, they acknowledge all the highlights in the music and their dance matches the dynamics in the song wonderfully. On top of that they also use the floor space very well. No wonder they won the competition.

What do you think about Frida Segerdahl and Skye Humpfries dancing to Twentyfour Robbers by Fats Waller? Tell me.

Ellen Arkbro Kvartett at Uppsala Winter Camp

Last Friday night the Ellen Arkbro Kvartett played at Uppsala Winter Camp. The quartet has won a national Swedish jazz contest for young musicians. The band played jazz standards with a modern style.



Ellen Arkbro kvartett consists of Ellen Arkbro (song), Kasper Agnas (guitar), Björn Lindberg (bass) and Konrad Agnas (drums).



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 Friday night dance at Uppsala Winter Camp? What did you think of the Ellen Arkbro kvartett? 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.

George Nistor Quartet: Photos

George Nistor and his Quartet played at Uppsala Winter Camp in February. This is a picture from my archive. Expect more photos of them later on.

The photo may not be used elsewhere without my permission.

Were you at the dance at the Uppsala Winter Camp where George Nistor Quartet (GNQ) played? What did you think of GNQ? Tell me.

Phontrattarne at Uppsala Winter Camp 2007

Phontrattarne is certainly one of the best big bands for dancing in Uppsala. They have played at the Nobel Prize party the last two years.

They played a lot of good songs and I particularly enjoyed their versions of "King Porter Stomp" , "School days" and "Down For Double". Phontrattarne is a fun band because the musicians don't just sit still and play the music, oh no, when there is spare time they get a little animated so they are great band visually as well.

Here is a picture from Saturday night taken by me . The photo may not be used elsewhere without my permission.

Were you at the Saturday dance? What did you think of the evening? 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.

GNQ plays at Uppsala Winter Camp tomorrow

Today the large dance camp in Uppsala starts: Uppsala Winter Camp. Tonight there will be a taster lesson in balboa with Jonas & Jennie and then a small workshop with Peter Loggins followed by djing by Mohan Pakkurti at Drabanten.

Tomorrow the band GNQ (George Nistor Quartet) will play at the welcoming party at Grand (starts at 20). Entrance fee: 80 kr.

During the camp I'll be responsible for all things that concerns lighting but I'll also dj some sets (not yet decided when).

Welcome!