Yesterday I had a great time lindy hopping with 20-some other folks as part of the "Sunday Streets" festival in the Mission District of San Francisco. "Sunday Streets" is a city-sponsored series of events that creates car-free areas on the weekend for people to stroll, shop, eat, listen to music and just hang out. This weekend Sunday Streets was on Valencia between 14th and 24th Streets in the Mission.
Friends of mine from the Cat's Corner dance venue and the Motion Explosion Dance Troupe organized a fun lindy hop dance at Valencia and 15th Streets. I love events like that that bring out local dancers and get random passersby to literally stop in their tracks and start dancing. We had boogie-ing skaters, hula hoopers, parents dancing with their infants, and kids jumping around to the infectious music.
I heard that there was some hip-hop dancing going on over on 24th street, but when I got there all I saw was one guy pontificating on the politics of hip-hop while a DJ spun beats behind him. Dude needed to check himself, seriously.
On a more positive tip, I caught a kick ass samba band, capoeristas defying gravity, and hoopers gyrating at various points along Valencia. So it was like one massive music and dance festival. Later on I saw some super-funky bikes on parade, followed by low riders pimping out there amazing and ridiculous rides.
Thanks to the organizers of Sunday Streets for putting together the awesome festival. It's a great showcase of what's best about the Bay! Can't wait to catch the next one.
If you are interested in learning how to swing, there's a ton of great places to take classes and dance in the Bay. Check out http://lindylist.com.
