Mint Julep Jazz Band With their little big band lineup of 4 horns, rhythm section, and vocalist, the Mint Julep Jazz Band recreates the hot jazz sounds of the 1920's,1930's, and early 1940's through arrangements based on original recordings from the jazz age and swing era. Influences are:  Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Boswell Sisters, Annette Hanshaw, Chick Webb, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Fletcher Henderson, Jack Teagarden, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey Booking Info: Laura Windley - email at mintjulepjazzband@gmail.com...

DJ Mike Shaw has been deejaying Motown Mondays at the Five Spot in Nashville for the last five years. Mike is extremely popular and is generous to boot! Mike specializes in all things Lindy, Balboa, Charleston, and Blues! More music styles include Jump Blues, Rockabilly and Doo Wop. He is the party music magician!  ...

DJ Mary Yang hails originally from Bangkok, Thailand and has been actively involved in the Nashville Tango community since 2011. For a year and a half, Mary hosted a very popular Black & White milonga at Belmont Mansion that emphasized bringing traditional milonga to Nashville. She is one of the house DJs at Nashville's weekly Pink Slip milonga and guest DJs at various other weekly and monthly events. Mary's favorite tango composers are DiSarli, Fresedo, and D'Arienzo. As a DJ, Mary strives to keep everyone's feet moving and dancing long into the night by playing the best, time-tested, and dancer-approved music....

Nick William's website ~Nick Williams~ Nick has embodied the passion and spirit of swing dancing ever since his first lesson in 1998. The depth of his understanding of Lindy Hop, Balboa, and Collegiate Shag stems from studying with the original dancers. Nick’s desire for authenticity, combined with his passion for dance evolution, leads to a style known for precision, lightness, musicality and dynamic energy. His successes include World Lindy Hop Champion, US Open Swing Dance Champion, American Lindy Hop Champion, National Jitterbug Champion, International Lindy Hop Champion, Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown Champion, American Classic Balboa Champion and California Balboa/Swing Champion. He is also an accomplished choreographer and has been featured on the hit television show So You Think You Can Dance. As an instructor, he is known for his ability to break down movements and technique to create a fun and light-hearted learning environment. His true love of music and dancing will ...

Sylvia Sykes website Sylvia Sykes began dancing in 1966, competing in 1970, and teaching in 1979. She has studied with many of the dance greats, including Frankie Manning, Dean Collins, Maxie Dorf, and Willie Desatoff. Her extensive studies and travels have made her an expert on regional dance styles and she is known for her expertise in, and the preservation of the older forms of Swing dance. In addition, she is credited with helping to preserve the Balboa by introducing the dance World Wide. In 1985, Sylvia and Jonathan Bixby co-founded the Santa Barbara Swing Dance Club--a twice-monthly live-music dance club that they continue to run. She is still teaching her weekly classes that she started teaching in 1979, plus she teaches out of town over forty weekends per year. She is the most sought-after head judge in the modern Lindy Hop & Balboa dance scenes and is now part owner and head judge of the International Lindy Hop Championships. Her dance troupe ran for fifteen years, per...

Ramiro's website A nationally renowned champion dancer, Ramiro Gonzalez grew up dancing in a West Texas town called Kermit. At the age of 16, he began teaching ballroom dance. Today he travels, performs and teaches many styles of dance, focusing especially on Swing, Swing-Out and Salsa. In addition, he operates his own hair styling business. Currently he resides and teaches in Dallas, Texas. Ramiro actively participated in the competitive swing dance circuit for more than 13 years with high success. He regularly won and placed highly in many "Strictly Swing" and “Jack-N-Jill” divisions. First place finishes include: the U.S. Open Swing Dance Championship, Dallas DANCE, Boogie by the Bay, Capitol Swing, Chicago Classic, Texas Classic, American Swing Dance Championships and the USA Grand Dance Nationals Championship. Ramiro was inducted into both the WSDC National Swing Dance Hall of Fame at the US Open Swing Dance Championships in Nov. 2013 and the National Living Legends...

Blues Dance Nashville ***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 p...