Yehoodi
Encyclopedia
Yehoodi was founded in September 1998 by Manu Smith and Frank Dellario. Its central feature is a popular Internet forum
currently staffed by six volunteer administrators. Yehoodi.com is one of the oldest and most frequented swing
dance community website
s online today. Named for the Cab Calloway
song "Who's Yehoodi?
" and subtitled "The website for the hardcore hep-cat swinger!", Yehoodi is devoted to swing dances of every style, though the key focus is on Lindy Hop
. The Yehoodi main page features a comprehensive source of international swing dancing news, while the site itself hosts three radio shows, "Yehoogle" (a guide to swing dance resources online), and an international calendar of swing dance events. It also sponsors live dance events and has produced a CD specifically for swing dancers.
(and contemporary as well as vintage dance music), as well as facilitating international and domestic travel for hundreds of dancers every year. Eight years after its founding and twenty years after the revival of lindy hop, the Yehoodi discussion board remains one of the most significant features on the online swing-dancing landscape.
, Yehoodi hosts perhaps the most well-known swing dance discussion board in the world, with April 2006 seeing a total of 9,168 members and 654,790 articles. The most Yehoodi board users ever online at one time totalled 310 at 10:27 p.m. on Monday, January 24, 2005. The largest local swing dance communities in the world number around two or three thousand, while internationally, there are many thousands of individual dancers.
Discussion on the Yehoodi board is centrally concerned with swing dancing, though (as with every other online discussion board) the busiest section of the board is the Kitchen Sink (the "off-topic" forum). Yehoodi's forum topics are grouped by region (within the United States
and internationally) and topic (including dancing, music, events, workshops and classes), and are moderated by members of the community.
Jesse Miner; Yehoodi Radio, a streaming radio station DJed by guest swing dance DJs from around the world; and Yehoodi Talk Show, a talk show hosted by Manu Smith and Slick Rik. The Yehoodi Talk Show is known for several running gags, one of them including the "hotness" of a user named Westiegrrl.
The Yehoodi Radio Show often refers to the SwingDJs discussion board, the only internationally focussed discussion board in the world devoted to DJing music for swing dancing. SwingDJs is widely regarded by swing dancers as the most significant and reliable source of information about DJing swing
music for dancers of all swing styles (though with an emphasis on lindy hop, the most popular form). The Yehoodi radio show is often utilized by swing DJs as a showcase for their abilities, advertising their skills for swing dance event organisers, whose events can attract anywhere from several hundred to thousands of dancers. The latter is particularly true of major events such as lindy exchange
s and swing dance camps such as the Herräng Dance Camp
, which runs for a month annually and attracts thousands of dancers from all over the world.
and regular one-off events.
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
currently staffed by six volunteer administrators. Yehoodi.com is one of the oldest and most frequented swing
Swing (dance)
"Swing dance" is a group of dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s-1950s, although the earliest of these dances predate swing jazz music. The best known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, a popular partner dance that originated in Harlem and is still danced today...
dance community website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s online today. Named for the Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
song "Who's Yehoodi?
Who's Yehoodi?
The catchphrase "Who's Yehoodi?" originated when violinist Yehudi Menuhin was a guest on the popular radio program of Bob Hope, where sidekick Jerry Colonna, apparently finding the name itself humorous, repeatedly asked "Who's Yehudi?" Colonna continued the gag on later shows even though Menuhin...
" and subtitled "The website for the hardcore hep-cat swinger!", Yehoodi is devoted to swing dances of every style, though the key focus is on Lindy Hop
Lindy Hop
The Lindy Hop is an American social dance, from the swing dance family. It evolved in Harlem, New York City in the 1920s and '30s and originally evolved with the jazz music of that time. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based...
. The Yehoodi main page features a comprehensive source of international swing dancing news, while the site itself hosts three radio shows, "Yehoogle" (a guide to swing dance resources online), and an international calendar of swing dance events. It also sponsors live dance events and has produced a CD specifically for swing dancers.
Discussion boards in swing dance today
Discussion boards have developed as perhaps the most important online community structures in contemporary swing dance culture, bringing dancers around the world together online and promoting dance events and dance culture in local communities. They develop networks between local communities and among individual dancers that contribute to an international community of dancers with a passion for African American vernacular danceAfrican American vernacular dance
African-American cultural dance has developed within African American communities in everyday spaces, rather than in studios, schools or companies. These dances are usually centered on folk and social dance practice, though performance dance often supply complementary aspects to this...
(and contemporary as well as vintage dance music), as well as facilitating international and domestic travel for hundreds of dancers every year. Eight years after its founding and twenty years after the revival of lindy hop, the Yehoodi discussion board remains one of the most significant features on the online swing-dancing landscape.
Yehoodi discussion board
Occasionally criticised for its bias towards the East Coast of the United StatesEast Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, Yehoodi hosts perhaps the most well-known swing dance discussion board in the world, with April 2006 seeing a total of 9,168 members and 654,790 articles. The most Yehoodi board users ever online at one time totalled 310 at 10:27 p.m. on Monday, January 24, 2005. The largest local swing dance communities in the world number around two or three thousand, while internationally, there are many thousands of individual dancers.
Discussion on the Yehoodi board is centrally concerned with swing dancing, though (as with every other online discussion board) the busiest section of the board is the Kitchen Sink (the "off-topic" forum). Yehoodi's forum topics are grouped by region (within the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and internationally) and topic (including dancing, music, events, workshops and classes), and are moderated by members of the community.
Yehoodi radio shows
Yehoodi is home to three radio shows - Hey, Mr. Jesse, a talk show hosted by the popular DJDisc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Jesse Miner; Yehoodi Radio, a streaming radio station DJed by guest swing dance DJs from around the world; and Yehoodi Talk Show, a talk show hosted by Manu Smith and Slick Rik. The Yehoodi Talk Show is known for several running gags, one of them including the "hotness" of a user named Westiegrrl.
The Yehoodi Radio Show often refers to the SwingDJs discussion board, the only internationally focussed discussion board in the world devoted to DJing music for swing dancing. SwingDJs is widely regarded by swing dancers as the most significant and reliable source of information about DJing swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
music for dancers of all swing styles (though with an emphasis on lindy hop, the most popular form). The Yehoodi radio show is often utilized by swing DJs as a showcase for their abilities, advertising their skills for swing dance event organisers, whose events can attract anywhere from several hundred to thousands of dancers. The latter is particularly true of major events such as lindy exchange
Lindy exchange
A lindy exchange is a gathering of lindy hop dancers in one city for several days to experience the dance venues and styles of that local community and to dance with visitors and locals alike...
s and swing dance camps such as the Herräng Dance Camp
Herräng Dance Camp
Herräng Dance Camp is the largest annual dance camp that focuses on African American jazz dances such as Lindy Hop, boogie woogie, tap, authentic jazz, and balboa...
, which runs for a month annually and attracts thousands of dancers from all over the world.
Yehoodi calendar
Yehoodi also hosts a calendar of international swing dance events, generally considered one of the most reliable and comprehensive resources for an international community of dancers and teachers who travel regularly to dance. In any one month, Yehoodi also sponsors the weekly Frim Fram Jam in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and regular one-off events.