Lindy Hop

Six Weekends on the Road – SC, NY, VA, NH, MD, and TN!

I’ve probably lost my mind, but I am beyond excited about the events coming in August and early September! The first two are for fun and the last four are gigs, which also happen to be fun – I love that singing has afforded me such great travel opportunities this year, performing with several different bands! Here’s where I’ll be, barring forces majeure:

August 8-10, 2014 – competing and social dancing at the Southeast Summer Brawl in Columbia, SC

August 16-17, 2014 – immersing myself in a 1920’s alternate universe and dancing like a mad flapper at the Jazz Age Lawn Party in New York City

August 21-24, 2014 – I’ll be pulling double duty at the International Lindy Hop Championships in Arlington, VA, DJ’ing and singing with the Jonathan Stout Orchestra and Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five!

August 28-29, 2014 – I’ll be joining Michael Gamble’s Rhythm Serenaders on vocals at Swing Out New Hampshire!

September 6, 2014 – the Mint Julep Jazz Band returns to the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo, MD, courtesy of the Jam Cellar!

September 12-13, 2014 – I’m back with Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five for the Knoxville Lindy Exchange!

So many exclamation points!!! Six states in six weekends – see you on the road!

The Process – July 18, 2014

The Mint Julep Jazz Band will kick off the weekend festivities at The Process, a Lindy Hop workshop weekend in Richmond, Virginia on Friday, July 18, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. The Process is a new event, in its first year, and seeks to answer the question, “What is the process guiding Lindy Hoppers to rapid improvement?” in its workshops throughout the weekend. With a great lineup of instructors (Casey Schneider & Mike Faltesek; Jaya Dorf & Michael Gamble; Chelsea & David Lee; Mike Herring; Abigail Browning & Adam Speen; and Sparrow Pants) and live music by The Low Down Sires, 504 Supreme, and Gypsy Roots, it looks like it will be a rumpus in Richmond! For more information visit The Process website.

Frankie 100 NC

The Mint Julep Jazz Band is proud to be performing at Frankie 100 NC, North Carolina’s Frankie Manning Centennial Celebration, a once ever event celebrating the life and legacy of Lindy Hop pioneer, educator, and global ambassador Frankie Manning, who passed away shortly before his 95th birthday. This year Frankie would have been 100 years old and the global Lindy Hop community is set to celebrate, with a huge event in New York, Frankie’s hometown, and smaller celebrations worldwide.

The Mint Julep Jazz Band will be performing at the main dance on Saturday, May 24, 2014 at the Carrboro Century Center from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Come join us for some Lindy Hop and be a part of this celebration for NC, which is drawing dancers from surrounding states and beyond!

DJ’ing at Lindyfest

I’m thrilled that I’ve been asked to DJ and coordinate music for the Balboa competitions at this year’s Lindyfest and the Lone Star Championships in Houston, Texas. It will be my first time attending an event in Texas and this particular event has been on my bucket list for some time, due to the alchemy that occurs in their competitions. It must be something in the water, or just that it’s Texas, because the grand performances that come from this event are a highlight of my YouTube dance video viewing for the year. I have also heard that I may be DJ’ing a tea dance, which sounds adorable. I’ll leave you with this video, one of my favorites from the 2012 Lonestar Championships – see you soon, Texas!

Interview with Alice Windley for Voices of the Jazz Era Ballroom

My grandfather, grandmother, and aunt, circa 1947

A couple of years ago I read about Voices of the Jazz Era Ballroom, a “web-based oral history project devoted to preserving and passing along the memory of dance in the Jazz Era through the lives and words of everyday people.” Anyone could contribute a video or audio recording of anyone who lived and danced in the 1920’s through the 1950’s. I knew immediately that I wanted to capture my grandmother’s stories and this project was the impetus to do it. Since I started swing dancing over 15 years ago, my grandmother, Alice Windley, would relay stories of her own dance history and I loved it, all the little tidbits of her life and how dancing was a part of it. It gave me the feeling that I had carried forward the legacy of the family jitterbug to the third generation (the second generation having adopted Carolina shag).

My grandmother grew up in eastern North Carolina, living a mostly rural life, but with the onset of World War II and her proximity to a military base, I believe she was exposed to much more music and swing dancing in her early years of social dancing than might otherwise would have occurred in this part of the country. But I’ll let her tell you all the stories, via YouTube.

Lindy Focus XII Recap

Lindy Focus was such a tidal wave of positive energy this year – even though I didn’t have a lot of down time, all that energy kept me going and going! I got to work with some of the most amazing musicians and dancers, and even spin some tunes in the Balboa room. 🙂 It was an honor to be invited to be in the New Year’s Eve show, done to live music for the first time, and to work with Evita Arce, who is the creative genius who put together the show from scratch. It was a pleasure to perform with Jonathan Stout and his all-star band of musicians – the energy from the band performances was immense and infectious!

I’ve posted below my contributions to the New Year’s Eve show – a recreation of the Duke Ellington Short “Bli Blip” with whiz kid Jon Tigert and a performance of “Sunny Side of the Street” featuring tapper extraordinare Mike Herring – and a version of “Me Myself and I” performed with Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five. Campus Five first:

Lindy Focus: December 27, 2013 – January 1, 2014

I’m excited to announce that I will be DJ’ing and singing at Lindy Focus this year! I’ll resume my spot, along with DJ Kristy Milliken, at the Avalon Balboa Dance Party, the late night Balboa room at Lindy Focus. I’ll be joining Jonathan Stout‘s bands on vocals for three nights, singing with Campus Five, the Rhythm Busters, and the Jonathan Stout Orchestra on New Year’s Eve! To say that I am excited would be an understatement – looking forward to it and all the dancing, as well! 😀

Jammin’ on the James – October 18-20, 2013

I’m back in the DJ booth with my partner in crime DJ Bill Speidel for another wonderful weekend of workshops and dances in Richmond – Jammin’ on the James is the weekend of October 18-20, 2013, with international instructors Marie Nahnfeldt Mattsson, Skye Humphries, Mike Faltesek, and Casey Schneider rounding out the teaching roster. We’ll be enjoying live music from DC’s Blue Crescent Syncopators, Baltimore’s Bumper Jacksons, and Richmond’s own Doctors of Jazz. This is always such a fun, quality weekend of dancing, I hope you’ll join us!

August 15, 2013 – Rent Party: Oregon Trail Edition featuring Bumper Jacksons

August brings a new band to the RDU Rent Party lineup, the incredibly fun Bumper Jacksons. This five piece band from the DC/Baltimore region is a relative newcomer to the dance scene but is already making impressions and drawing attention for their versatility and showmanship. They’ll be playing two Triangle dances on their trip down south, one at TSDS focusing more on trad jazz while their Rent Party debut will trade out a band member and bring pedal steel to the mix giving the RP night a Western swing and country blues flavor.

And, of course, we can’t think about going out West without immediately jumping to that penultimate game of river fording and buffalo slaughter, Oregon Trail. Nothing quite rings in our childhood quite like the frustration of that 200lbs weight limit on carrying meat back from a 5 buffalo hunting excursion. Or pushing the party hard when someone got dysentery just so you could scrawl inappropriate messages on a digital headstone. And of course you’d choose to be a banker and load up on bullets because who cared about the points bonus when you could be rolling 20 oxen deep like a stretch limo of the open plains? This Rent Party will help you relive all those memories without the 2000 mile journey and you won’t have to change disks at Fort Laramie.

To check out why we are so excited for this band go to www.bumperjacksons.com

Rent Party dances are pay-what-you-can with a suggested $10 donation and all money collected going directly to the band.

Triangle Dance Studio
2603 S Miami Blvd Durham

Beginner lesson at 8
Band plays 9-midnight

NOTICE: Please be aware that street parking is NOT allowed. Please park at the dentist’s office or veterinary office across the street. Last Rent Party we got complaints about people parking on Rolling Pines in front of houses. Your cooperation in respecting the neighbors’ space is integral to us keeping Rent Party going. Thank you for your cooperation.

Queen City Lindy Exchange 2013

This Saturday, March 9, the Mint Julep Jazz Band hits the road to road to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Queen City Lindy Exchange. We are excited to appear as their Saturday night band for the second year in a row! As North Carolina’s only Lindy Exchange, we are looking forward to some stellar regional dancer attendance, including a large caravan of dancers coming from the Triangle.

Also, QCLX’s theme for this year is Dr. Who – Whovian Lindy Hoppers can participate in a costume contest on Friday night and in a Doctor/Companion Jack and Jill competition on Saturday night. 🙂

Chantilly Hall
2101 Shenandoah Ave.
Charlotte, NC

Band plays from 8:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Admission: Registration information for the weekend at http://www.qclx.org, $25 at the door on Saturday night

P.S. I’m also DJ’ing this weekend – woot!

Laura Windley

Hot jazz and swing vocalist