Akemi Kinukawa - Project Connect Founder & Director
With her life profoundly affected by Lindy Hop, Akemi has committed and dedicated her life to sharing and preserving the true spirit of Lindy Hop. She strongly believes Lindy Hop is a social dancing accessible to anyone. She also believes that it can empower individuals by inspiring self-expression and creativity, sparking ebullient emotion, and encouraging good partnerships through its movements, mechanics and music. Therefore, during her classes, she emphasizes techniques of connecting and communicating with a dance partner as well as individuality.
Based on her strong belief about the power and benefits of partner dancing, she has spent a significant amount of time sharing the dance in underserved communities. As a teaching artist of Dancing Classrooms, she teaches partner dancing to 4th and 5th graders in public schools in Bronx and Queens with the emphasis on respect, team work, and joy of self expression.
Her recent accomplishments include teaching and performing in front of the large number of audience at the Opening Night of Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center in 2017, one of the most prestigious swing dance events in the city. Furthermore, in 2016, she performed with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis at the Rose Theater in a 3 night sold out show, The Swing Era: Revolution in Rhythm. She currently teaches swing dance classes at major dance studios including You should Be Dancing Dance Center, Brooklyn Swings and Swing Dance Astoria which she founded in 2014 to build a diverse swing dance community in Queens.