Origins of the Moonwalk

Where MJ got his moves. Love his music and dancing and these fabulous old timers!

Oh, joy! More about dancing...

Dancing makes me come alive in a special way. I used to do ballroom dancing when i was younger but now i've been doing traditional jazz dance for four years. Totally fell in love.

Song for this choreography by Malin Grahn is King Porter Stomp by Fletcher Henderson.

Helsinki Traditional Jazz Dance Company

One thing i really love is dancing. I started out with ball room dancing when i was a kid but about four years ago i found the dance that really suits me, traditional jazz dance! Lindy Hop, Charleston, Black Bottom...! The picture above is our group performing at the Helsinki Burlesque Festival. I'm the one on the far right. As you may notice, i'm taller (and bigger) than all the other girls in our group, i'm 180cm. That sometimes bothers me a little and it's hard to find a dancing partner who is taller than me and able to lift me :) heheh, even though i'm not even really that 'big'. 

 If you want to see us performing live, our group the Helsinki Traditional Jazz Dance Company has two shows in few weeks in Espoo, if you happen to be in Finland :) Our teachers Malin Grahn and Clyde Wilder (US) have done amazing job with the choreography.

You can get the tickets from Lippupiste.

If you want to know more about 'what is traditional jazz dance' watch this little documentary!  

Featured dancers include Norma Miller, Frankie Manning, Clyde Wilder, Mickey Davidson, George Lloyd, Chazz Young, Dawn Hampton.

When flappers ruled the Earth: how dance helped women's liberation -The Guardian

Josephine Baker at the Casino of Paris in 1939.

A really interesting article about women of the 20s, Charleston, Josephine Baker and the liberation on women in The Guardian.

"Having endured racial abuse and discrimination back home, Baker was now advertising beauty products that allowed white women to mimic her own glossy cropped hair, her burnished skin and supple silhouette. It was an astonishing turnaround for her. But it also demonstrated the power that the symbols of the jazz age – its clothes, music and dancing – had to cut across social barriers."

Helsinki Traditional Jazz Dance Company

Some of you might know that i'm a real passioned dancer. I have a ballroom background, but three years ago i found something that really feel is the thing for me, traditional (or some say authentic) jazz dance! We have a small performance group too, in gthe photo above (i'm the one on far right) we are performing at the Helsinki Burlesque Festival few months ago.

Those costumes are designed by Anni (third from right) and me and made by Anni. She is my partner in crime on many fields...

And here we are at Kulttuurikeskus Caisa after our last performance on thusday.

From left: Elina, Oona, Me, Anni, Serena, Malin & Clyde (our wonderful teachers), Kirsi, Nina.

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