aka Reasons you want me on your team

General Teaching Experience

• Lindy hop and blues as both a lead and follow at the local level in Austin, TX off and on since 1998. 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. Event curriculum planning at the national level for blues starting in 2019 .
• Ballroom Dance instructor/assistant instructor 1998-2000 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.

Local Dance Teaching

• Shimmy Shakin’ Blues (Denver) – June 2024 – Present
• Power House Blues (Philadelphia) – February 2025 – Guest Instructor
• Blues Union (Boston) – May 2025 – Guest Instructor
• Baltimore Blues (Baltimore) – August 2025 – Guest Instructor
• Capital Blues (DC)- August 2025 – Guest Instructor
• Bluetopia (Chicago) – September 2025 – Guest Instructor which included mentoring a new teacher
• Legato Blues/Transcendent Femme Art Installation (Colorado Springs) – October 2025
• Blues Union (Boston) May 2026 – Month Long Residency which included mentoring a new teacher
• Bluesy Tuesy (Boston) May 2026

Regional Workshops

• Blues Dance Workshop with Julie Brown (Denver) – October 2023 – Assistant teacher
• Bluetopia September Mini Workshop with Jen Delk (Chicago) – September 2025
• Bayshore Blues Deep Dive: Piedmont Blues Dance Winter Workshop (Oakland) – December 2025
• Blues Dance Madison Spring Workshop with Jen Delk (Madison) – April 2026
• Blues Union Sponsored Workshop (Boston) – May 2026

National / International Teaching

• Lake Effect Blues (Cleveland) – January 2025 – Saturday Night Pre-dance lesson
• Mile High Blues (Denver) – June 2025 – Instructor for Fundamentals track
• Express Track Detour Blues (NYC) – August 2025
• Hot Night Fusion Weekend (Denver) – August 2025
• Blues Muse 2025 (Philadelphia) – October 2025 – Friday Night Pre-dance lesson
• Montreal Bagel and Blues (Montreal) – May 2026

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 Blues 2025
  • Blues Union 2025
  • Mojo Monday 2025
  • Capital Blues 2025
  • Mile High Blues 2025
  • Deep Dive: Piedmont Blues Dance Winter Workshop December 2025
  • Blues Dance Madison Spring Workshop with Jen Delk April 2026
  • Blues Union May 2026
  • Bluesy Tuesy May 2026

Organizer

• Swingset – 1998-2000 weekly on UT campus
• Austin Lindy Exchange 2000-2004
• bluesSHOUT! 2010-2020 – Volunteer coordinator, CFO, Webmaster, Registration, Contracts, Content Curation, Curriculum
• Shimmy Shakin’ Blues 2025 – event co-host
• Lindy Diversion 2025 – Day of Event coordinator
• Mile High Blues – Music Coordinator
• Lindy on the Rocks/Hot Night Fusion Weekend – Registration Build out

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 Open MnM – 3rd Place
  • Slow Dance Soiree 2025 MNM – 2nd Place
  • Blues Muse 2025 Open MnM – 3rd Place Follow