Day 150: Starry starry night...and the Big Apple

Magical first night at the Gäddede International Lindy Hop Festival. It got off to a rocky start with a long delay in the opening show due to a blown main circuit breaker that had to be replaced. To appease the extremely patient audience who spent the time mingling in the lobby, the band and a few of the performers came out and did some impromptu entertaining. When the doors finally opened and the show went on, all was forgotten as a couple of dozen of some of the best Lindy hoppers dancing today took the stage and wowed us with their moves.


Particularly poignant for me was their rendition of the Big Apple, a circle dance that reached the height of popularity in the late 1930s. Our hero and mentor, Frankie Manning, often taught and choreographed the dance and his legacy lives on in performances such as these. Frankie was also a close personal friend and as I stood there watching, I was flooded with memories of our many chats, dances and meals together. I thought about how happy and proud he would be with the dancing, and this event in general; about how many lives he touched; about how much I miss him; about how lucky I am to have known him at all. Bittersweet...mostly sweet though.

On my way back to my room in the wee hours of the morning, enveloped in the amazing night sky, I was reminded of how rarely these days we city dwellers get to experience the magnificent display of dazzling star light that you can only see out in the country. Looking forward to more fun today!

Take a look at this video clip to get a sense of the Big Apple in action.