Integrated Rhythm

TARYN NEWBORNE , who started off in ballroom dance before finding swing and Lindy Hop, has combined her passions to become an amazing swing singer and band leader. She joined us to talk about her story, what a swing scene family is, and hopes for how we can emerge from the pandemic.

Making a great record takes a lot of time, and, sadly, money. You can help make a Taryn Newborne album a reality! Consider a donation to...

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 speaking as an unintended role model for Black students

24:00 Code switching, both conscious and subconscious

33:00 The Great Migration and soul food

40:00 Cleveland vs Australia

41:00 Gullah culture and Jazz Dance

45:30 The Carribean & New Orleans

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing.

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 Communication, Improvisation, Rhythm, Play, Competition --- and the importance of cultural immersion  

29:00 Coloniality and control  

39:00 Form your swarm  

43:00 For promotors  

41:00 Vaccine-only events  

42:00 Chisomo''s Powerpoint presentation  

51:50 Reader Mail: 3 Little Girls

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing.

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 Wherever there's oppression, there's resistance

13:30 The Niko origin story

26:00 A Brief Deconstruction of "Zoot Suit Riot"

36:30 On Zoot Suits and how badass they are

43:30 The interplay of all that is Niko

48:00 "I can't take my presence as a Man of Color in the scene for granted."

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing.

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 performances for a show they pay thousands for?!?

15:00 Art and access

17:00 Performance in the Lindy Hop scene

30:00 So I'm doing the interview...

34:00 The savior of Lindy Hop

41:00 Two additional concerns

51:00 The article

55:00 The least famous dancer of the most famous group

1:00:00 it raised an eyebrow

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing.

**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 Teirs

9:00 About the Clip 

13:00 The Circle

17:30 "Right" and "Wrong"

21:30 A Day at the Racists?

31:00 The Smile

38:00 Notes

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing.

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:  "Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop" by Frankie Manning & Cynthia Millman, "Swinging at the Savoy: The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer" by Norma Miller and Evette Jensen, SavoyStyle biographies by Judy Pritchett, and 1930s and 40s Censuses and Death records. "Frankie And His Partners" by Anthony Wheaton via Swing Patrol website. "Willa Mae Ricker, The Patron Saint of Respect for Lindy Hoppers," an article on Swungover. Frankie's Air Step story came from Swing Dance San Diego's YouTube video titled "The First Air Step -- A Talk by Frankie Manning." 

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things.

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't get to erase my lived history

13:00 The woman with her foot in the door

17:00 Of rooms and vantage points

20:00 Bobby goes to a different country & his dad is proud

23:30 Bobby's Adventures in London

25:00 The early 2000s London Dance Scene (Editor's note: It might have changed a lot since then)

33:00 When you're young and scrappy and going on adventures…

35:00 Meeting famous people

40:00 Bobby's Most Memorable Frankie Manning Story

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things.

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

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 opinion?

8:00 The knitty-gritty takes place on the local scene

11:00 About Julia's dances in Harlem

13:30 I learned in Harlem

18:30 Chisomo's hope with Integrated Rhythm…

20:00 A conversation across racialized identities

23:00 Appropriation, appreciation, and the need to follow the money

26:00 What Integrated Rhythm means to Julia

27:30 We all need…

35:00 Julia's controversial opinion

39:00 Important connections between Swing & Hip Hop

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things.

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 asks you to come over and talk to her

14:30 The stories we don't remember

19:00 Continuums of Lindy

23:30 It's multi-dimensional and all tied together

28:30 The legacy of the Lovings

37:30 It's in my family

39:00 There's a continuum of Lindy Hop in Harlem

41:00 Julia's vision for promoting

43:30 There's nothing like having your own Black agency

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things.

Our intro and ad music this week is by Barron Ryan, Laurel Ryan's brother. Check out firstofitskind.net, and www.barronryan.com. 

Our podcast music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

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 how the women's bathroom is the secret to good allyship.      

0:00 The standard of Black excellence 

5:30 Every bad experience leads to a better rider

11:00 Lindy Hop is a folk dance

19:00 There's a huge difference in how Black men are treated in the scene, and how Black women are treated in the scene

22:00 Promoters and their Black teachers and follower privilege and leader privilege and children

28:00 The threat of marginalized people being edged out

33:00 The intersection of opposing ideas

39:00 How FB and the Swing Scene are designed similarly

45:30 Awkward Allyship

49:00 Women's bathrooms: The secret to Allyship

1:00:00 What do I like about the way that I dance?

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things.

Special in this episode, our starting music is Barron Ryan. All other music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes.

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 more and get his incredible, new rights free album!**

0:00 Laurel grew up surrounded by exceptional people 

7:00 How Laurel got into Lindy Hop (in Tulsa, Oklahoma) 

17:00 The "path" to international teaching 

21:00 When the Black folks made space for Laurel in her home scene 

25:00 A trained teacher and creative artist takes a Lindy class... 

30:00 Polite gaslighting? 

34:00 Lindy classes: "It's not working for enough people" 

37:00 Neuro-diverse people are attracted to Swing dancing... 

40:00 "I started telling people, I don't want to hear about..." 

42:00 The danger of erasing difference in order to make people feel better 

45:00 The physical elitism of today's Lindy Hop contests  

47:30 Look at the gateway to international instruction 

49:00 "The times I have won competitions..." and imposture syndrome

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things.

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

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-cross and collide in today's episode.

0:00 Brandon breaks down his dancing life for the discussion

6:00 Working with Clyde Wilder

8:00 What's it like being a student in your dance forms compared to each other

14:00 Bobby learns jazz and tap from a Ballerina

16:00 Performance and competitions background approaches

20:00 The art of throwing yourself into things

24:00 What's it like teaching those in the swing scene, especially with your background in concert dance training?

35:00 What are some of the things its hard to get concert dancers to do in jazz dance movement?

37:00 What happens when Hip Hop and House dancers swing?

45:00 Being a Choreography-trained dancer, what was it like when you started trying out improvisation?   

54:00 In all your dance places, are you treated differently? Anything you want to share about being a Black Man in those spaces?

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things.

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

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 #2:  "When we come back together, it's not important that the swing scene simply be a space that is welcoming to Black people, but that it be more of a Black space." To you, what are some of the things that make it a Black space?"

3:00 It's easy to define a white space…

6:00 The heart of the question…

11:30 White spaces vs Black spaces

15:00 Generations and how much they wanted to Lindy Hop

17:00 Everyone should work together

21:30 Scarcity mindset in the scene

24:30 The dance is not a prescribed thing

26:30 On allies and each person's power

29:30 Question #3: What app do you wish existed?

30:30 Crystal's thumbs down app

31:00 Michelle's Buzzer app

36:00 Laurel's ADHD Priority app

39:00 Lewis's TV Is-it-worth-it app

43:30 The gang's answer app

45:30 "How to keep a man"

48:00 "How to split up with someone"

49:30 Single people in churches

54:00 Crystal's tips

60:00 Norma Miller, Darleen Gist, and Crystal all get into an elevator…

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things. In this episode...

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

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 the music

13:30 Mama Lou Parks before a show

14:30 Crystal's sign

20:30 Don't let anyone stop you from dancing

24:00 The importance of family in training

25:30 Less hating

33:00 More on Mama Lou

36:00 Show business is a rude business

39:00 Question: How are the Civil Rights battles coming along?

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Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes.

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 Mama Lou Parks and her peers. In part 2, 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.  

3:00 Meeting Mama Lou Parks 

8:30 "I'm supposed to be there" 

10:30 "I want to say this so bad…" 

15:00 Go to you elders 

19:30 On doing stuff or posting stuff from others 

21:30 Training with Gorge Sullivan and Lee Moates 

24:30 The 1972 Harvest Moon Ball 

33:30 The time I fell 

41:30 Crystal's legends both on and off the dance floor 

46:30 On names of dance steps

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things. In this episode...

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

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 Have fun with your audience 

11:45 The importance of making people feel welcome in emceeing and teaching 

20:00 Imposture syndrome: Did they hire me because I'm Black or because I'm good? 

24:00 Lindy Focus meetings and how they approached that project 

34:30 Michelle's ideal scene

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things. In this episode...

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

To Be Black and Snatched.

Hair --- it's not only a cultural part of Black living, it's also a practical one. You might be surprised all the ways it plays a role in a Black person existing in a mostly Non-Black America, and specifically in a Non-Black swing dancing space. It's only one of the topics we discuss in today's action-packed episode. 

In part I of this 2-part conversation, we talk to the renown event emcee, jazz dance instructor, and Lindy Focus meeting co-host MICHELLE STOKES about hair, how she first came into the dance, the swing scene as Michelle saw it through the lenses of being a Black woman, body types, the problems with  most modern swing dance classes, and the nature of swing dancing in the modern scene.  Next week, part II of this interview will cover her philosophy as an Emcee, and what an ideal scene looks like to her.

2:00 The realities of hair, and what it has to do with Black Women, dating, and the swing scene. 

14:00 Going to dances searching for romantic partners

 21:30 Walking into a swing dance as a Black person 

25:00 Lindy Hop Body 

33:30 Michelle's heavily-curated dance education 

40:00 We naturally look to teachers, and ignore our prior knowledge, when introduced to something new 

44:00 On teaching problems in the scene 

52:00 Following a bunch of different leaders vs dancing for yourself  

58:00 Collaboration and pretending to dance rather than actually dancing 

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things. In this episode...

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

In the late 1930s, a truly Black American dance experience took over America. 

Indeegnance. A word that beautifully captures all that we talk about in today's episode, including genetic-based racism vs assimilationist racism, language and perception, code switching, Beyonce's "Black is King," the burden of representation, and action verses emotion.

1:00 Bobby's sloppy set up: Genetic-based Racism vs Assimilationist Racism

4:30 Both kinds are present in the Swing dance scene

6:30 The wrong end of many conversations

11:00 Language and perception -- the code switch flip

14:00 A Zambian-American in Zambia

20:30 How it relates to Beyonce's Black is King: Artistic privileges vs artistic responsibility

28:00 Burden of representation on minoritized perspectives

32:00 Black women and aggression

33:00 Anger and indignance, action vs emotion

38:00 A white guy claps back?

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things. In this episode...

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

In this episode, Blues Dances instructor, DJ, and proud nerd KENNETH SHIPP discusses getting thrown into the middle of learning Line Dances, the dance lessons gotten from church, working first hand with Blues dancing pioneers, and how each has shaped the way he teaches dance and helps people chill the f&$% out.

(1:00) Kenneth on learning growing up,  (7:00) My first experience at a white church… (12:30) Church and improvisation, (13:30) Broadening horizons via movie theaters, (16:00) The Ujima Blues foundation, (20:00) Clarksdale, Mississippi, (24:30) Moves and names, (33:00) The dancing presence of old timers, (36:00) the art of chilling the F out, (40:00) Juke Joint dancing in an actual juke joint, (45:00) The spiritual affect of a home space on a dance, (47:00) How do you get students comfortable inventing, (50:00) On jam circles, (52:00) Comfort with solo dance.

Consider supporting Kenneth, a Black Business owner! You can find him at facebook.com/commandershipp 

And consider supporting the Ujima Blues Foundation at ujimablues.org

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things. In this episode...

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

In this episode, Bobby & Chisomo talk with swing historians and history lovers LEWIS ORCHARD (a White British man) and SHANI BROWN (a Black American woman) about not being Black and researching Black people in history. Specifically, they will tell the story of researching the great Whitey's Lindy Hopper John Wesley "Tiny" Bunch, and discuss the process. 

(1:30) It all began when…, (3:00) A really interesting sentence to read, (4:30) Lewis takes on the investigation, (8:00) Using draft cards, yearbooks, family records, and the American census, to find out John Bunch's story…, (18:30) How the way you say "Wilkes barre" might have something to do with the great migration. (22:00) John Bunch and Northern Racism, (26:00) What makes researching a Black dancer different than researching a White dancer. (30:00) Draft card skin color listings, (37:00) White newspapers and Black newspapers and Swing dancers, (42:00) How are we to know?, (46:00) Non-Black dancers researching Black dancers, (50:00) On Black bodies in jazz dance and Black culture, (55:00) lifting something up but then getting out of the way, (58:00) Stories change

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things. In this episode...

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White

This week we talk with international instructor of Balboa and Lindy, Shani Brown , about learning from the original SoCal swing dancers, the reality of their culture and lives, and the invisibility and visibility of herself as a Black woman in the scene.

We also briefly reflect on and respond to the events that happened at the Capital on Nov 6, 2021. (The day before this podcast was released.) Chisomo mentions a Black woman who stormed the Capital in 2013 and was killed.  Her name was Miriam Carey, check out her story. 

(0:00) Integrated Rhythm's response and reflection on the storming of the Capital, (6:30) Shani's journey in dancing, (9:00) meeting the old timers, (12:00) working with the old timers, (20:00) training the body, not a move, (23:00) how much did the Old Timers think of your identity as a Black Woman?, (26:00) a little bit on Swing-era SoCal Cultural make up, (30:00) spending time with Old Timers, not just learning from them, (34:00) How much were the original SoCal dancers vocal of racist ideas?, (38:00) racism is the water we swim in…, (43:00) some people don't realize Shani is a Black woman…, (46:00) Shani's experiences around the world, (48:30) invisibility and visibility, (51:00) when Chisomo met Shani for the first time.

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Welcome to Integrated Rhythm! Two Swing Dancing besties (Chisomo Selemani & Bobby White) navigate race and the Black Experience in the world of Jazz Dance and other Afro-centric social dancing. Our goal is comfortable conversations about uncomfortable things. In this episode...

Our music is by Laurel Ryan & Michelle Stokes, our "We're back! song" was an improvisation by Steffanie AK Schilling, and the background drumming is by Bobby White