Integrated Rhythm

In PART 2 of our Season 2 debut, Michelle Stokes, Laurel Ryan, Andrea Gordon, and Julia Loving join Chisomo & Bobby to listen to Norma Miller's 1970s stand up album and discuss it and what makes humor of its time. Btw, ALL THE CONTENT WARNINGS.  If you are able, please consider donating to our patreon!   https://www.patreon.com/integratedrhythm  And huge thanks to our Patreon pa...

In our Season 2 debut, Michelle Stokes, Laurel Ryan, Andrea Gordon, and Julia Loving join Chisomo & Bobby to listen to Norma Miller's 1970s stand up album and discuss it and what makes humor of its time. Btw, ALL THE CONTENT WARNINGS.    If you are able, please consider donating to our patreon!   https://www.patreon.com/integratedrhythm  And huge thanks to our Patreon patro...

As many of you know our beloved Michelle Stokes unexpectedly passed away in early February. This is just a brief episode about that regarding our Integrated Rhythm family, our season 2 start date, and how we all might honor Michelle in the IR spirit. It includes a clip of Michelle from a conversation following a recent episode recording.   Also, if you haven't already, please listen to M...

We're back in January with a new season of Integrated Rhythm! We explain how that'll go, and what kept us away for the last few months. UPDATE: Due to some new software we're still getting the hang of, trying to make a living wage, and the passing of a close friend to IR, we are currently on hold with releasing season 2. We have already recorded seven episodes, so there's definitely more coming!!!...

While we handle some life situations and prepare the next few episodes, check out Questlove's new documentary, "SUMMER OF SOUL"! And thank you all for your support!

Holding on. That seems to be a theme as we discuss Black American English, Southerners traveling North, and, of course, jazz dance.  0:00 Black American English: It's a language! 11:30 Bobby experiences a TINY bit of language discrimination, compared to how much Black Americans experience.      16:30 Discrimination of language is discrimination of people 20:00 Chisomo's sp...

Hope-timistic. It's how we're feeling after the recent "Move Together: Build Back Better" event recently conducted (we said "build back together" in the podcast, our bad!), which even had some truth charcuterie from Chisomo (say that three times fast).    0:00 Some love   7:00 The everyday lens   13:00 Looking towards the future   15:00 Leaks in the fuel tank   19:00...

Turning to History This is how NICHOLAS "NIKO" CENTINO, Assistant Professor of Chicana/o Studies at California State University, answered the complex questions brought up in an American background steeped in different cultures. In this conversation we discuss his own experiences as a Person of Color, as well as zoot suits, the Neo Swing era, and his new book, "Razabilly." 0:00 Razabilly 6:30 Where...

Thanks for bearing with us as some life situations take place! We believe we can do a few more episodes before we have to take another short break. Enjoy this Char-Char & Bobby episode where we discuss a White swing dancer getting interviewed for a New York Times story about a Black swing dancer. 0:00 Btw, Bobby was a journalist 6:15 Bobby is called by the NYT 11:00 Why do they only do two per...

**Please note: an important life situation has come up that will most likely keep us from being able to do an episode or two in the near future. Please bare with us and enjoy a previous episode for your weekly fix of IR!** This week, a reading of the article, "A Gaze into a Day at the Races" that dives into the background and context of the famous Whitey's Lindy Hoppers dance clip. 0:00 Whitey's T...

"In Focus Finally."   When author and librarian Cynthia Millman first saw Lindy Hop legend Frankie Manning dance in the 1980s, a lot of things about the dance finally came into focus. Little did she know she would end up going on the epic journey of co-writing Frankie’s memoir with him. To celebrate World Lindy Hop Day and Frankie Manning's birthday, we at Integrated Rrhythm Podcast had a gre...

Bobby tells the story of four incredible dancers who were Frankie Manning's partners, and Chisomo and IR fam LAUREL RYAN join in and listen along.   0:00 Frieda Washington & Creative Adventurousness  19:00 Lucille Middleton & Tall Coolness  28:30 Willa Mae Ricker & Fashionable Groundedness  49:30 Ann(e)? Johnson & Powerful Smallness    SOURCES:  "...

Another Chisomo & Bobby episode! This week, the parable of the Three Little Black Girls. What would you do? Let us know at Intrhythm@gmail.com 0:00 Three Little Black Girls come up to us in the park… 6:00 "Too woke, Chisomo" 9:30 No one will see our dance if it's not out in the world… 20:00 Crucibles of talent 29:00 Independence vs interdependence

It's a Chisomo & Bobby episode, where they have a friend's talk that asks some questions about how Black culture relates to the dance and teaching, tells one of Bobby's most memorable Frankie Manning stories, and reveals which one of us is "the woman in the doorframe."  0:00 Mentorship & teaching 5:00 LaTasha Barnes: Balboa dancer? 7:30 The Nuances of Cultural Embodiment 11:00 You don...

A Communal Circle. In this episode, (part 2 of 2) JULIA LOVING discusses her intimate history with Black New York art forms, the dances she runs in Harlem, and a controversial opinion that will make some people in Queens wanna fight. Also, Chisomo, Bobby tackle an important question from Julia. 0:00 Julia's Question 4:00 Laws, acts, amendments, mindset, What are white people doing to change that o...

In this episode (Part 1 of 2), we're with dancer, historian, educator, promoter, instigator, designer, and business owner JULIA LOVING. We share Norma Miller stories, the historical Civil Rights legacy of Julia's family, and how both have shaped the design of Julia's incredible swing dance events. 0:00 Miss Norma enters the room… 6:00 Norma's memories 8:35 Empowerment and tough love 11:00 Norma as...

A room with a door... Not just a great thing to have in a instructor contract, it's also a great thing to have in the swing dance scene as a whole. In part 2 of 2, instructor, MC, and Lindy Focus meeting co-host LAUREL RYAN shares with us how the standards of Black Excellence give a warped door for Black instructors to enter the Instructor room, how the swing scene is designed like FaceBook, and h...

A Sprinkle of White Supremacy... In part 1 of 2, instructor, MC, and Lindy Focus meeting co-host LAUREL RYAN shares with us the fascinating tales of learning Lindy Hop, confronting its harmful teaching practices, and how Black people are constantly battling between being undervalued and tokenized.  **Music in this episode by Barron Ryan! Go to barronryan.com and firstofitskind.net to learn mo...

Pretend I'm Not Bouncing.    Dancer BRANDON BARKER has his dance passion in three worlds --- the academy of a university where he is currently finishing up a BFA in concert dance, the legendary company of Black American dance Alvin Ailey where he has worked and trained, and the swing scene where he is a Lindy Hopper and Jazz dancer, performer, and teacher. See how those worlds criss-cros...

It's a Chisomo & Bobby episode, where we discuss a few topics.   0:00 A possible guest politely declined to be on our show, and we talk about it. It's all good, but we wanted to explore some things that brings up.   12:30 The art of not talking over Follower teachers, and what that tells us about inclusion.   28:30 We discuss Odysseus Bailer's great "How to Apologize" post, rece...

This is part 2 of 2 of our second Block Party. We are honored to have with us, MC and instructor MICHELLE STOKES, MC and instructor LAUREL RYAN --- both of which do the amazing music for our podcast, by the way --- we also have incredible swing dance researcher and history lover LEWIS ORCHARD, and 1972 Harvest Moon Ball champion and Mama Lou Parks Dancer CRYSTAL JOHNSON. Buzz Words 1:00 Question #...

Chocolate & Peanut Butter --- how do you feel about the combination? The discussion at Integrated Rhythm gets serious. In this BLOCK PARTY episode (Part 1 of 2), we discuss Duke Ellington, peanut butter & chocolate, tea & coffee, and high fantasy. Guests include MICHELLE STOKES, LAUREL RYAN, LEWIS ORCHARD, and CRYSTAL JOHNSON.   2:00 -- Crystal meets Duke Ellington  7:30 -- M...

My Exodus for Me to Begin. In Part II of a two-part conversation with Harvest Moon Ball champion and Mama Lou Parks dancer CRYSTAL JOHNSON, we cover her father, Whitey's Lindy Hopper Thomas "Tops" Lee, her coming back into the swing dance world, and her thoughts on how racism has changed since she was younger. 1:30 Thomas Lee, Mr. Showbiz 6:00 Maya Angelou and swing dancing 10:0 you have to feel t...

Don't be stingy with it.  We're talking about gifts, and the gift of dance that was given to our guest this week, the legendary CRYSTAL JOHNSON --- Harvest Moon Ball champion, Mama Lou Parks dancer, and the daughter of Whitey's Lindy Hopper Thomas "Tops" Lee, Jr.  In part 1 of this 2-part conversation, we discuss her early dancing life, her Harvest Moon Ball experience, and working with...

In part 2 of our interview with emcee, jazz dance instructor, and Lindy Focus Meeting co-host, MICHELLE STOKES, we discuss nicknames, Michelle's philosophy of emceeing and teaching, the problems of Black-based imposture syndrome, and Michelle's ideal scene.   1:00 "Stoked to be here," White people and puns, nicknames in general  7:50 Michelle accidentally fell into Emceeing  10:30 H...