About


This year I’m celebrating 10 years from the moment I won the American Swing Dance Championships in 1998. So from Sept 2008 – Oct 2009 I will be competing a little bit again and fashioning a World Tour with various partners. Stay tuned for news on the official Launch Party for this website. In the meantime, see the new Videos section for some classic clips from my tours, competitions, and workshops, including some Bloopers too. I figured this was a perfect time to get this stuff out there.



Background

I first got a glimpse of The Lindy Hop back in 1994 / 1995 while attending a nightclub show 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.





Biography

Instructor/Performer/Choreographer/DeeJay
Paolo Pasta Lanna has been specializing in Swing partner dances (The Lindy Hop, Collegiate Shag and Balboa) since 1997. He traveled the States on The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's For Dancer's Only Tour in 2000 as the featured dance couple (Paolo & Janice). He also toured with Swing Dance America and Forever Swing The Big Band Musical Revue. Some of his most notable Television appearances have been on programs like CNBC’s Great Stuff and The David Letterman Show where Paolo has taken a liking to being in front of the camera. He's won competitions like The New York Lindy Hop Open Swing championships and the American Swing Dance Championships and has been a featured performer and/or instructor at the prestigious Mid SummerNight Swing every year at Lincoln Center since 1998. Drawing inspiration from dancers such as Frankie Manning, Dawn Hampton, Dean Collins, all who have storied experiences from the original Ballrooms of Harlem, Paolo continues to perform and teach these fabulous Swing dances. He runs the website savoycentral.org and is a staff instructor at Dance Manhattan. During Summer months, he hosts live music and dancing in Central Park.

Performances and Tours
A Century of Swing, 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, Winter /Spring 2001
For Dancers Only Tour with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra , spring 2000
Dudley Moore Tribute Carnegie Hall , NY 2001
JAZZ Premiere Ken Burns documentary, Harlem, NY
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, 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, Mid SummerNight Swing at Lincoln Center

Education Programs, International Instruction
Dance Manhattan Studios, Staff Dance Instructor/Promoter
Lincoln Center Young Adult Program
Mid SummerNight Swing at Lincoln Center
Summer Jamboree Dance Camp, Senigallia Italy,
Rock That Swing, Munich, Germany
NJ Swings, New Jersey
Slovenia Swing Community, Ljubljana, Slovenia
New York School of Visual Arts
New York University Medical Center Program
St. Johns University
Columbia Presbyterian Hospital,
Swing Ring Montreal, Houston Swing Dance Society Houston,
Monsters of Swing Santa Barbara CA
Philadelphia Swing Dance Society PA
Melbourne Dance Exchange Australia

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 "P Lindy" Paolo has been building his collection of jazz and swing for over 25 years. A solid music provider for the New York Lindy crowd since 1999, he began his long lived music consultant relationship at Swing 46 from the very first opening providing them with solid standards and unique collection that spans 60 years. Paolo has been in DJ rotation at the New York Swing Dance Society (Irving Plaza) since the late 1990's and had been featured at: SwingRemix (SOL NYC), Frim Fram (Club 412 NYC), Connolly's (NYC), MidSummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center NY (1999-present), The Brooklyn Museum, Dog House (San Francisco), Lindy Groove (Pasadena,CA), Jacks Joint Fridays at Jack Rose NYC (2000-2004), Webster Hall NYC, Cache in Times Square NYC (2001-2003), Nells NYC (2002-2003), Swing Camp Catalina LA, Swingin' New England MA, Supper Club NYC (1999-2003), Pier 25 Hudson River Park (N. Moore St on the Hudson River), The Manhattan Center Dance Party NYC (2002) DogHouseHop NYC (2002), 92nd Street Y NYC (2003), The American Lindy Hop Championships (Stamford, CT) Frim Fram Jam Swing 46 NYC (2001-2003)

Paolo credits dancers Steven Mitchell, Ryan and Jenny, Marcus and Barble, Sylvia Sykes, Eric and Sylvia, The Rhythm Hot Shots, The Jiving Lindy Hoppers, for their inspiring styles and dedication to educating future Lindy Hoppers. And of course credits all the ground breakin originators who came before them from Frankie Manning to Dean Collins for without them, we would not have had this dance to bring back to life.