aka Reasons you want me on your team
Teaching Experience
- Lindy hop and blues as both a lead and follow at the local level in Austin, TX off and on since 1999. Started teaching in blues in the Denver Area in 2023 and Nationally in 2025. Lectured and moderated panels on topics related to blues and the African American experience at the national level starting in 2014 (bluesSHOUT!). Event curriculum planning at the national level for blues starting in 2019 (bluesSHOUT!).
- Ballroom Dance instructor/assistant instructor 1999/2000 ish- Mostly Latin dances. East coast swing fell into that grouping and I ended up teaching Salsa, Mambo, Rumba, Merengue and more..
- In addition to teaching dance I have taught early childhood education and adult art classes.
DJ
- Lindy
- Breaking Bal 2024
- Lindy Diversion 2025
- Spring Fling Swing Thing 2025
- Blues
- Shimmy Shakin’ Blues 2024-present
- Lake Effect Blues 2025
- Steel City 2026
Organizer
- Swingset – 1999-2000 weekly on UT campus
- Austin Lindy Exchange 2000-2004
- bluesSHOUT! 2010-2020 – Volunteer coordinator, CFO
- Lindy Diversion 2025 – Day of Event coordinator
Panelist/Moderator
- Ask a Black Person – bluesSHOUT! 2014 – 2018. (Co-Panelist Damon Stone) Open dialogue. Blues dance is Black dance. But what does that actually mean? Take some time to ask about the experiences of our Black colleagues and fellow dancers in our dance community, the dance community at large, and in the world.
- Appreciation vs Appropriation – bluesSHOUT! 2015. (Co-Panelist Damon Stone. Susan Olson Moderator) Open Dialogue. Adopting elements of different cultures is a natural, human consequence of interaction between different groups. Some adopt as a form of appreciation. They make a conscious effort to learn and support cultures, and often find a common bond between themselves and cultural elements. Others adopt as a form of appropriation. They steal elements, often exploit them, and profit. More often than not, people cross the line from appreciation to appropriation and end up being labeled offensive and/or racist. The panel will discuss the history of cultural appropriation and what impact it has. They will also talk about reasons why and how people appropriate and go over what appreciation can look like and how different ways appreciation can take place.
- Making Lemonade – bluesSHOUT! 2017. Lecture Moderator for Dr. Chelsea June Adams. Many musicologists praise blues music for its ability to confront difficult topics—about race, gender, and politics, to name a few—despite existing taboos. This class will explore how musicians confront racial violence through two important examples: Billie Holiday and her iconic song, “Strange Fruit,” and Beyonce and her groundbreaking Lemonade album. And maybe more importantly, we’ll discuss our interactions with the works, what they’re asking of us as listeners, and the actions we can take as dancers to support and encourage awareness and change.
- Your Village, Your Community – bluesSHOUT! 2018. Panelist. Open Discussion. Are you concerned about the lack of diversity in your scene? Are you looking for ways to reach out to POC? Join our panelists for a discussion what community means, where you and your scene fit in to the big picture, and what can be done to bridge the racial divide.
- Blackness and the Contemporary Blues Dance Scene – bluesSHOUT! 2019 (Co-Panelist Damon Stone) Open Discussion. This session will be a discussion of current issues in our blues dance scene as they relate to representation, integration, identification, and promotion of blues dance to ethnically diverse audiences.
Competitions
- Judge
- Breaking Balboa 2024
- Competitor
- Steel City Blues 2025 MnM – 3rd Place