Oh Harlem LT 2017

It’s been two months but I’m still romantically leaning out of a window, sadly sighing as I gaze at the moon thinking of how good Harlem LT 2017 was.

At this point, I believe only Ella Fitzgerald understand how I feel.

To me Harlem, LT had it all!

Coming from a scene were average age of the dancers is 45 (average, I AM NOT KIDDING), as a 20-something dancer it was incredibly refreshing for me to find a scene where the average dancer is 22 y.o.

The dance floor was an arena of creativity, energy and impro! The level was very high, but I didn’t feel the focus was on fancy complicated moves as much as on the music and the playfulness, which to me are the only things that matter on the dance floor. Aside from a “cool group” of skilled dancers who were too busy dancing among themselves, the atmosphere was very welcoming. All of this resulted in great social dancing, of course.

I had already listened to Professor Cunningham and his Old School and they’re alright but nothing exciting, honestly I think they’v been better at The Snowball for example, cause in this occasion I didn’t like many of their arrangements. I discovered the English band The Shirt Tail Stompers, I think they are effing awesome. Not only the music really swings, they also entertain the audience, never sparing us a good laugh with quirky intros and random jokes. They were accompanied by talented Italian pianist Luca Filastro, making a show not only of their music, but of their presence on stage too.

And venue, oh my! Simply gorgeous! It felt like stepping into NY in the 20s.

All of this ordinary greatness was topped by a marching band which ended with a choreographed flash mob in the main square of Vilnius (watch the video).