***Paul Fryer***
Paul can’t help but love the blues. His first “formal” swing dance lesson of any kind was in New Orleans-style drag blues. It was awkward, uncoordinated, and completely overwhelming. Yet a few months later, he was standing in a small classroom learning beginner blues. The music draws you in. It makes you want to move. He couldn’t stay away then, and he hasn’t in the years since.
In those interim years, Paul has worked hard at making his dancing look and feel the way that music sounds. He has honed his skills (i.e. removed the awkward) at local classes and workshops as well as prestigious events like Blues Muse in Philadelphia and Enter The Blues in Atlanta. He started teaching lindy hop in 2011 in his college dance club in Huntsville, AL. Once he graduated, he helped to start a weekly class series and social dance in called Thursday Night Swing, continuing the progress that had been made at his college. Paul found that he had a knack for breaking down dances into simple, relatable movements and building from there. He loves copious amounts of creativity and technique. Anybody who is willing to try something new will find Paul at their side, cheering them on.
***Heather Adkins***
Heather began dancing in college, spending two long years before finding blues. The first time she experienced the blues culture was at Bluesalicious in Memphis, where she fell in love with the sound and the movement. Since then, she has striven to build her knowledge of blues dance and music through traveling and workshops. Heather began teaching in Cookeville, TN, where she was as an officer for the community swing dance club. She also acted in an advisory capacity for a brief time for the swing dance club at MTSU. In her classes, she emphasizes technique, and musicality and individuality in movement. She wholeheartedly believes that music will move you in ways that go beyond the dance floor.