I thought about posting ILHC videos like I did for 2008, but Dave over at Jazzpirations already did that. Instead, I thought I might as well talk about one particular dance by Jo Hoffberg and Peter Strom from last year that caught my eye a few months ago.
In a division as talented as the Invitational Jack & Jill, it’s easy to miss this one since it they came in 5th place. As you can see from the video, it wasn’t because of anything they did wrong or that they danced badly. The division was just that good.
Still, I like watching this performance because of the interaction between Jo & Peter. There’s a lot of give and take where both dancers pay attention and play off of each other right from the beginning all the way through the end. I really appreciate how they don’t try to be funny; the humor* just comes out naturally from their interactions.
Plus there’s a bunch of sweet footwork and combinations, my favorite being the way Peter shuffles out of a simple underarm turn at 1:35.
This video is also a pretty good example of how dancers can work their modern influences into the dance. Check out J0 & Peter just jamming it out like they do back in the day at 0:50 and 1:00. Then there’s Peter’s Single Ladies quote at 1:09.
This is a fun and classy dance. Kinda like ILHC.
Btw, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be doing live updates from ILHC like I did last year (Check them out here, here, here, here, here, and here) That event went relatively smoothly and I was feeling pretty productive so I was able to bang out some quick posts during what little free time I had. We’ll see how it goes, but even if I don’t post anything, I have it on good authority that ILHC videos will be up pretty quickly on YouTube, probably before the weekend is over.
*I had a conversation with Peter a few years ago where he wondered about his role in the Silver Shadows. As accomplished a dancer as he was at the time, even he was a little intimidated by the sheer talent on the team. He was hoping that he wouldn’t become known as the comedic relief. A few years later, I hate to break this to you Peter, but . . .
And let’s not forget that little incident involving dropping and rolling on the ground with Debra Szekely at Boston Tea Party last year.