ABOUT

PaoloLaurentina_SwingOut_full_FXwebphoto by Angelo De Rose.

Our love for all styles of swing from Boogie Woogie & Balboa to The Collegiate Shag & The Lindy Hop is a big reason why we are so well versed in these dances today. It’s what drives us in our continued pursuit of excellence while keeping us grounded & good humored. 

Our deep knowledge of the gamut of swing dance styles has brought us to showcase routines on some of the biggest stages in the world from Lincoln Center’s ROSE HALL NYC to The Umbria Jazz Festival ITALY and San Sebastian Jazz Festival SPAIN

In our workshops, we love sharing our knowledge and our joy for dance. Hopefully we will leave you with a stronger foundation of movement & vocabulary, improved techniques for partnering and an appreciation for the social dances that were born here in American in it’s heyday.

Dance Bio

Paolo Pasta Lanna
Choreographer | Dancer | Producer | Designer
Paolo is a 30 year veteran of Swing Dance specializing in the Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, Charleston and The Madison Time. Signore Lanna and his original partner Janice Wilson were the first Lindy Hoppers to TOUR with with Wynton Marsalis & The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and in 1998 they won the American Swing Dance Championships. The’ve performed with  “Swing Dance America”, “Forever Swing” The Musical Revue featuring Michael Buble and have appeared on multiple TV specials like Great Stuff CNBC , Today Show NBC, Good Morning America ABC, and even The David Letterman Show CBS. Signore Lanna co-founded and launched the first Summer Jamboree Dance Camp in Italy, The Shake, Rhythm & Roll Festival in Asbury Park, and he’s the creative director of Central Park Swings, Lindyland & The Swing Remix dance spectacular in NYC.

Joined by his long time dance partner Laurentina, their recent tours in Europe have included LIVE performances with Ray Gelato & The Giants at the Umbria Jazz festival in Perugia ITALY and the San Sebastian Jazz Festival in SPAIN. They currently appear in their newest At The Pier programs at LINDYLAND a virtual swing hub. Mr Lanna also coordinates & directs his dance teams Lindy Hop All-Stars, & The Rhythm Stompers, and continues to hone his skills in American born social dances, teaching, DJing, and performing throughout the world. 

Performances and Tours
DITTA Dance Imagined Thru The Ages | Thompson Theater NJ 2022 – 2024
Gunhild Carling Show Stadium Theater RI 2022 – 2024
The San Sebastian Jazz Festival, Spain. 2017
The Swing Era: Revolution in Rhythm, Jazz At Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater 2016
Umbria Jazz Festival, Perugia Italy, 2014 – 2024
Salute to Seniors, The Westchester County Center, White Plains NY 2016

City Rhythm Orchestra Italy Tour summers 2013 – 2015
Hep Cat Holiday, England. summer 2011 – 2012
A Century of Swing, a history of dance 2006 – 2008,
The History Channel tribute on the USS Intrepid, 2005
The Italian Tour, Winter 2004

Swing Dance America Tour, Winter 2002, Fall 2003
Forever Swing The Big Band Musical Revue featuring MICHAEL BUBLE 2001
For Dancers Only Tour with WYNTON MARSALIS and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra 2000,
Dudley Moore Tribute Carnegie Hall with Ryan & Jenny, NY 2001, JAZZ Premiere Ken Burns documentary, Harlem, Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Special 1999 CBS, Swingin’ the Duke Centennial Special with Wynton Marsalis , PBS
Great Stuff CNBC , Today Show NBC , City Arts PBS , The Swing Thing, VH1, Good Morning America ABC, The David Letterman Show CBS, Investigation Discovery Channel, Natalie Merchant Music Video “Break your Heart”, DisneyWorld Event featuring Bill Cosby, Gracie Mansion The Mayor’s Party 1999 , The Waldorf Astoria, The Manhattan Center, The Supper Club, Swing 46, Irving Plaza, Roseland Ballroom NYC, The Nasdac at Times Square, MidSummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center

Education Programs, Dance & Music Festivals
Columbia University Swing Club, NY
Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, NY
Count Basie Theater, NJ

Hep Cat Holiday, England
Houston Swing Dance Society Houston, USA
The London Swing Dance Society, England
Lincoln Center Young Adults Program, NY
Lindy Groove Pasadena, CA
Long Island Swing Dance Society, NY

Melbourne Dance Exchange, Australia
Midsummer Night Swing, Lincoln Center NYC
Monsters of Swing Santa Barbara, CA
Musikfest, PA
Philadelphia Swing Dance Society PA
Rock That Swing Festival, Munich, Germany
Swing ‘O’ Roma, Swing & Soda, Italy
Summer Jamboree Dance Camp, Senigallia Italy
Slovenia Swing Dance Society, Ljubljana, Slovenia
School of Visual Arts, St. Johns University, New York University, New York USA
Swing Ring Montreal, CANADA
Swingin’ The Bay, GREECE

Championships
2003 1st Place “Open Routine” New York Lindy Hop Open
1999 2nd Place North Atlantic Dance Championships
1998 1st Place Showcase Lindy Hop Champion American Swing Dance Championships
1997 1st Place Jack and Jill Champion Virgina Open
1997 Lindy Hop Open Champion Virginia Open

DeeJay Bio

DJ PAOLO a.k.a. SHUFFLE PUCK  Has been collecting Swing, Rhythm & Blues, Jump Blues, 50’s Roots Rock ‘n Roll & Disco for almost 3 DECADES. His style combines Swing classics and 50s Jive in ways that keep everyone tapping their feet. Paolo enjoys tossing in his personal favorites that include the sounds of the Hammond B3 organ & The Leslie for which he recalls experiencing LIVE at the tender age of 7. And it’s always essential to include the newest recreative Swing & Jump Blues bands that are emerging today.

Shuffle Puck has been providing music for the New York Swing scene since 1998, the year he won the American Swing Dance Championships as a Lindy Hopper. Soon after that win, he became sought after for his music and dance knowledge. The first joint to come calling was SWING 46 Jazz & Supper Club who requested music mixes from their launch season and onward. Paolo has gone on to DJ every significant swing dance party/festival in NYC. These include The New York Swing Dance Society (Irving Plaza) since 1998, The Frim Fram 1999 – 2010, Connolly’s (NYC), MidSummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center (1999-2020), The Brooklyn Museum, Jacks Joint Fridays at Jack Rose NYC (2000-2004), Webster Hall NYC, Cache in Times Square NYC (2001-2003), Nells NYC (2002-2003), Supper Club NYC (1999-2003), Hudson River Park’s MoonDance, The Manhattan Center, NYC (2002), 92nd Street Y NYC (2003), The American Lindy Hop Championships, The SwingRemix 2007 – 2020, Swing 46 NYC (2001- present).

In California, The Dog House (San Francisco), Lindy Groove (Pasadena,CA), Swing Camp Catalina CA, Swingin’ New England MA, DogHouseHop NYC (2002). And Internationally, Shuffle Puck at been featured at Rock That Swing Munich, 2010 – 2023.

Background

I first got a glimpse of The Lindy Hop back in 1994 / 1995 while attending a nightclub show at BIMBOS 365 Club in San Francisco featuring Sam Butera’s Wildest Big Band (the original members of the Louis Prima Orchestra), I noticed three couples on the dance floor with a very unique swing style. Just my luck, they invited me to the Steven Mitchell workshop (coincidentally that following weekend in CA.) and I was hooked on the Lindy Hop from that day forward.

Credits:
This site is all about the dance styles that grew out of the 1920s – 1950s featuring videos, photos, info about my workshops/classes, performances, schedule, tours and other nick nacks.

credit to the dancers I learned from directly such as Frankie Manning, Ryan and Jenny, Marcus and Barble, Steven Mitchell, Eric and Sylvia, Sylvia Sykes, The Rhythm Hot Shots, The Jiving Lindy Hoppers. Their inspiring styles and dedication to educating future Lindy Hoppers helped to shape me and what I do today.

And of course credits to all the ground breakin originators who came before them from dance groups like Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers & The Harlem Congaroo Dancers that featured dance greats like Frankie Manning, Al Minns, Norma Miller to those based on the West Coast like Dean Collins & Jewel McGowel who appeared in countless films in the 1940’s and 50’s providing us with remarkable historic dance footage. Without these dancers, we would not have had such an amazing collection of styles to keep alive.