Last week, I made a case for each of the five finalists for the final round of voting for Best Lindy Hop of the 21st Century over on my Facebook page and my new substack. I’m putting them all here in one post for easy reference.
The public vote to determine the best overall Lindy Hop performance of the 21st century is still live, but will close in a few days on December 24, 2025.
Click here to vote for the OVERALL Best Lindy Hop performance of the 21st Century
The case for the Liberation Final at ULHS 2005.
I listen to a movie podcast called The Rewatchables and they have different categories to help break down a movie. One of them is called Apex Mountain, and it’s kind of a running gag how they never quite remember the definition of this category. Generally, the way I understand it, is that it is not usually the best movie in an actor or director’s filmography, but it is the one where they make a significant enough mark that gives them enough power to start calling their own shots. The ULHS 2005 Liberation Final is the Apex Mountain for The Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown as an event and it’s mostly because of the the other worldly performance of Naomi Uyama and Todd Yannacone.
Part of this comes from sheer timing. 2005 is the dawn of social media as we know it. Before that, the Lindy Hop community mostly interacted through online forums like Yehoodi, Jive Junction and dozens of custom regional sites. But by 2005 interest in those places had already started to falter and make way for new sites like YouTube.
I distinctly remember someone asking a question about fast dancing on a Yehoodi thread, and a bunch of people struggled to put their experiences into words. I posted a link to this video, which was initially hosted on Lindylibrary.com, and the conversation just stopped. Everything everyone wanted to say in that thread was invalidated by the ability to just see it done well by some of the best dancers around at the time. You know it was early because that was probably the last time people had nothing left to say in a comment section.
This video wasn’t uploaded to YouTube until September, 2006, but it was already viral within Lindy Hop. ULHS had already pioneered the idea of free distribution of videos when it started in 2002. Before that, most events restricted people’s ability to record their own videos in order sell VHS tapes or DVDs. Despite the availability of videos, the infrastructure for sharing was lacking until YouTube debuted. It became the perfect vehicle for carrying those videos to a wider audience.
Part of the virality of the ULHS videos came from the elevated, in person production values which literally put the world’s best dancers under the spotlight in 2005. Compare this video with the ULHS 2004 videos or even 2007. Despite being more recent, the 2007 videos are almost unwatchable because of how dark the venue is.
Then there’s the dancing itself, specifically Todd and Naomi, who I would argue, dance two of the most exhilarating spotlights of the modern era. The music is insanely fast. It’s Hellzapoppin fast. No sensible event director would authorize a contest to be that fast today because only masochists practice enough to be able to hang at that tempo. The actual greatest Lindy Hop performance ever from Hellzapoppin had to be endlessly rehearsed by Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers to look so effortless and smooth at that speed. These ULHS dancers only had that first and only shot to get it right, and Naomi and Todd leave them all behind with a dizzying array of footwork and partnered sequences.
This was the cherry on top for Naomi in particular who won all three of the slow, medium and fast contests that night with two different partners. It’s one of the few times a dancer could make a legitimate claim to being the best dancer in the world at that moment. Todd was also her partner and co-winner in the medium tempo contest and also made the finals in the slow competition.
ULHS was already a popular event, but this moment propelled it to become the worldwide scene leader. The high profile of this contest inspired more people to register and train specifically for this event for years to come.
The case for Ramona Staffeld & Remy Kouakou Kouame - ILHC 2016
I included the top 2 finishers for best couple routine because the voting was very close between the them. I wish I had more time to give regular polling updates during this process because the races were pretty exciting to watch from my end. There were a few times when I could have closed the voting for this category and this video would have won pretty handily.
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This Nina Simone song is a pretty bold choice if only because it is one of the most recognizable outside of Lindy Hop because of its use in mainstream media. However, after almost two decades of competing to a specific era and genre of music, I imagine that it’s becoming harder and harder for people to find the perfect song to choreograph to that is both unique and fits into their performance goals.
Ramona and Remy’s performance is definitely the most emotionally distinct from the other top nominees in its category. It is somehow both romantic and platonic at the same time which I think is mostly because they don’t resort to any cheesy tropes that other dancers would use denote romance. By both wearing tuxedos, they’re sort of invoking and subverting a classic movie musical feel with Ramona moving with a more Fred Astaire-like lightness to Remy’s Gene Kelly-esque groundedness. If you squint hard enough, you could interpret this wardrobe choice as a harbinger of the more fluid presentation of gender roles in relation to leading and following that increased over that decade and into this one. Ultimately the message is all in movement and rhythms.
The centerpiece is the thrilling soft shoe break at the bridge. I was there live and there was a collective gasp as it started. You could feel the room tilt as everyone leaned in wondering what would happen next. It was a truly shocking, but incredibly delightful moment.
The beauty of Lindy Hop and other swing dances is the option for two people to both work together as a team while also expressing themselves independently. At many points in a performance, couples will often mirror each other to provide maximum effect or to create a larger shape. Other times, one partner will “ be quiet” to allow the other to do something interesting. The hardest thing is for each partner to create independent but complimentary rhythms or movements within the same pattern. Remy and Ramona do all of these with excellence, but it’s the last one where they excel especially towards the end in a way that not many others can.
The case for The Silver Shadows’ Tribute to Frankie Manning at Frankie's 95th Birthday Festival (Frankie95)
There are very few times in a worldwide niche community where you can point at something and mark that as a major turning point, but there is a legitimate argument for 2009, and Frankie95 in particular, to be that moment.
Over 1600 dancers from around the world gathered to celebrate it’s most important mentor who had passed away only a month prior. It was a deeply emotional time. I was in a conversation with Norma Miller that weekend where she admitted that even she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of emotions for Frankie.
Everyone who was considered anyone performed that weekend either as part of the tribute show or in individual spotlights throughout the weekend. The Silver Shadows were designated a prime time slot and delivered one of the most emotionally impactful performances of the modern era.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find a video that fully captures the complete experience of the performance because it is supposed to start in silence with Skye and Frida deliberately out of the spotlight for the entire intro in deference to Frankie. What follows is an artful composition of Frankie’s signature moves and choreography to two of his favorite songs.
Many people note the irony of having no aerials included in a tribute to the man who is credited with bringing them to Lindy Hop. My reading is that this is more of a tribute to the way Frankie taught the dance as it’s primary ambassador during the later part of his life; as a way to meaningfully connect with another human being.
Frankie95 was also the symbolic moment when the generation of neo swing kids realized that they were now the adults in the room and had to take on the responsibility of guiding Lindy Hop through the rest of the 21st century. This performance effectively serves as acknowledgment they could not go forward without first paying one final tribute to their mentor.
The case for Frida Segerdahl & Skye Humphries - ILHC 2009
Everyone who has been dancing for any amount of time probably already has an opinion about the claps, so I won’t dwell on that other than to say that just the fact that so many people have an opinion about this is probably a good argument for this performance being the most significant of the past 25 years.
The pedigree of the performance is impressive. A total of five Skye & Frida performances were nominated for best couple routines. A high for this project. Four of them made it to the public voting round and three finished in the top six. This routine won the public vote in the couple routine category and was the top routine among the people who submitted nominations. Of course, they came in 1st when they performed in the Classic division at ILHC in 2009.
The thing that separates Skye and Frida is that they are wholly aware of their place in the scene and the expectations placed upon them whenever they compete, teach or social dance. Where most other competitors are trying to prove or express something about themselves in a contest like this, Frida and Skye know that they will be scrutinized beyond a reasonable level. Most people would wilt under that kind of attention, or make some sort of tacky attempt at aggrandizing whatever they think their brand is. However, Skye and Frida use these opportunities to advance an agenda that boils down to: Let’s Dance, let’s dance well, and let’s dance together.
Nowhere is that more evident than in Frida’s infamous swivels that are the emotional peak of this routine. They are so remarkable that they were quoted by your favorite dancer’s favorite dancer for years afterwards. It’s the spiritual descendant of the ethos that birthed Mad Dog in 2002 which in turn was trying to channel the joy of the dancers from the Swing Era. That ethos being that the dance is as much about feeling as it is about form. It’s a height that can’t be reached alone, so if you can find that some that you can trust, then you hang onto them for dear life and go for it. When you’re there, you sit into it and savor it. And if it feels good, do it again.
Which brings me back to the claps. The most cynical among us say that people do it in the wrong place, at the beginning when it only happens much later in the actual performance. But I would argue that is actually a manifestation of the power of this performance. Those people are not clapping early. They are renewing a clarion call to dance that is echoing through eternity.
The Case for Frida Segerdahl & Michael Seguin at The Lone Star Championships & Lindyfest 2013 - Invitational Jack & Jill
Regardless of the final results, one of the main take aways from this entire project is that Frida Segerdahl is the undisputed best dancer of the modern generation. If you have a differing opinion, then there is more than ample evidence out there that you are wrong.
She was nominated as part of 7 couple routines with two different partners. She was also a part of three nominated teams. She was a key dancer in the winner of 3 of 4 categories in this project.
I did a side project tracking some divisions at ILHC. I haven’t posted that yet, but I did find that Frida made the finals of the highest level of strictly Lindy Hop divisions at ILHC 7 times, placing 6, and winning 4 of them. She has also placed in every ILHC Invitational Draw that she attended. That is 7 out of 7 times; coming in 2nd place three times and 1st place, four times.
On the other side, Michael Seguin is a very good dancer.
Michael is actually a pretty well accomplished dancer in his own right, but his competitive heyday was about a decade prior to this. Frida is just hitting her prime. If she had stopped dancing right before this, she’d still be known as the best lindy hopper of the modern era. That is why this particular dance is known as the Michael Seguin dance to a lot of people, because he’s the one that has to step up make it interesting.
Incredibly, almost everything that makes this dance iconic is the result of a mistake. The thing you have to understand is that invitational level draws are more show than competition. Usually half of the participants hate being in them since one of the qualifications for getting invited is a willingness to look like a fool directly in front of your peers. Michael Seguin’s one goal was not to do that, and he failed almost immediately.
However, that this dance did not go off the rails multiple times is due in no small part to Frida and Michael locking in. They’re not deliberately trying to be entertaining like the way a lot of people attempt in these contests. Michael and Frida just ignore every miscue, but somehow that just builds the anticipation in the audience for what might happen next. It’s not the mistakes that define this dance, but it’s how they recover,; like a harrowing comedy adventure that’s fueled by chemistry and resilience.
The lesson is to never give up. Keep going. Great things can still happen if you trust your friends. Lindy Hop.
The public vote to determine the best overall Lindy Hop performance of the 21st century is still live, but will close in a few days on December 24, 2025.
Click here to vote for the OVERALL Best Lindy Hop performance of the 21st Century