Chinatown Swing Out at SDR Park

Dance under the stars with sultry stylings of vocalist Annie YuRong Yu and jazz band led by Victor Lin. [Sat Oct 24, 6pm Class, 7:30 Performance at SDR Park] Dance under the stars with sultry stylings of vocalist Annie YuRong Yu and jazz band led by Victor Lin. Swing dance instruction will be provided in Mandarin and English. Special swing DJ set by YiuYiu of Chinatown Records. The night starts off with a bilingual dance class at 6pm. Followed by a DJ set to practice your steps. The jazz band takes the stage at 7:30pm with special dance demonstration from our instructors. To prepare for this big Chinatown Swing Out, look out for dance classes part of the festival calendar. This performance is part of Nights in Sara Roosevelt Park, a free evening event series presented by FABnyc (Fourth Arts Block) held in "The Pit" at Sara D. Roosevelt Park in collaboration with other local groups. This performance is also a part of the 9th annual month-long Chinatown Arts Festival presented by Think!Chinatown across Manhattan’s Chinatown. This event is a FREE outdoor event. RSVP above to get the latest info in case of changes due to weather or any other reason. Donate any amount to support our artists and Think!Chinatown’s work. ABOUT THE ARTISTS: Annie YuRong Yu 俞毓蓉 (@xoannie9851) is a professional singer from China currently based in NYC. She has performed her repertoire of traditional and popular Chinese songs in cities across China. In New York City, she has performed regularly at the Flushing Town Hall, the Flushing Library and the Make the Music NY festival in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Victor Lin (@linvector) is a jazz pianist and violinist, an educator with a doctorate in Music Education from Columbia University, where he has been on the faculty for the past 15 years. A 20 year veteran of the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Victor has been actively involved in developing and growing the AAPI jazz community in NYC. Molly (Hanzi) Meng is a movement artist, swing dancer, and one of the few internationally recognized female leaders and ambi-dancers in the global swing dance scene. Rooted in groove, her dancing brings joy to the space, with a deep care for rhythmic conversation and the beat. Molly has shared her love of Lindy Hop and Vernacular Jazz in NYC, Philadelphia, Seattle, and cities across China. Her stage credits include Jacob’s Pillow’s Inside/Out Series, the Jump Session Show at Seattle Symphony, and Works & Process at the Guggenheim. Michael Tan fell in love with swing dancing in 2016, captivated by the magic of two strangers seamlessly connecting through movement. Specializing in Balboa, Michael shares his passion for partner dancing, focusing on the art of melding two individuals and the interplay of lead-and-follow. Beyond dance, his third-degree black belt in Taekwondo informs his unique teaching approach, blending principles across different movement backgrounds. Chinatown Arts Festival, presented annually by Think!Chinatown, celebrates the cultural richness of Manhattan’s Chinatown. We present Chinatown folk artists and emerging Asian American artists in dialogue with each other to bring generations together and connect with a wider arts audience. Think!Chinatown 心目華埠 is a creative placekeeping non-profit here to create intergenerational spaces of art, joy, belonging and connection in Manhattan’s Chinatown. At the intersection of arts, storytelling and neighborhood engagement, T!C works to grow community agency in our own neighborhood’s built environment as well as the narrative of our own stories. T!C is the team behind Chinatown Nights (fka Chinatown Night Market), Chinatown Arts Festival, Chinatown Block Party, Chinatown Storytelling Festival. Our home is the Think!Chinatown Studio, at 1 Pike Street, where you can find exhibitions, cultural and food workshops, small performances and talks. Learn more at www.thinkchinatown.org. To stay up to date on program offerings, subscribe to Think!Chinatown’s email list. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Want to be a patron of Think!Chinatown’s work? Donate here Chinatown Swing Out is made possible with support from the SW!NG OUT Community Fund. Learn more here: https://www.swingout.show/community-fund