CAMP BLUES

Andrew Sutton, Sacramento and the World

Whether you are a beginner struggling to understand the basics of a dance, an intermediate working on the details of making it feel better, an advanced dancer that needs that next inspiration to jump start his dancing, or a teacher looking for new & fresh ideas... Andrew's classes have provided all of that and much more to thousands of dancers around the world, taking them to their next levels, which is exactly what he will do for you.

Andrew stands out as a teacher that teaches for both the leads AND the follows. He stands out as a teacher that teaches Advanced material for Beginners in a way that they get it and don't feel it is too advanced. He stands out as a teacher that continuously blows open stereotypes and brings new developments and concepts to the dance and as someone who will open your eyes to see the world of dance in a new way. He will describe & break down your habits that you didn't realize were there and help guide you to build your style of dance based on what you want it to look/feel like, rather than what you are used to it looking and feeling like.

Throughout his classes, you might notice Andrew using physics, philosophy, specially-trained teaching techniques, socratic methods, group activities, special rotations, and/or any other variety of teaching techniques he has found to help develop your dancing. From his instant musicality technique of how to be ONE with the music, to his multi-layered concept of the layers of a lead, you can be sure his classes will be a unique experience for you to enjoy. www.smoothsavoy.com/

Beth Aucoin, San Francisco

Coming soon

Brenda Collins, Portland

Brenda is fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a professional dancer and instructor. She travels around the world teaching and training with various coaches and historians. Her primary strength is breaking down dances in a way that makes them accessible to anyone, even if they don't have a dance background. She strives to help her students find the dancer within themselves, taking inspiration from dancers of the past.

Brenda is a student of African American street dances from the turn of the century to the present and has become a major resource within the Blues dance community during its current time of growth. She is helping to develop curricula and events that raise the community's level of understanding of the music and the quality of dancing. Her hope is to provide structure for duplicable material, while maintaining the inherent character and nature of the dance.

Campbell Keatinge-Clay, Austin

When Campbell dances with a partner, it is a complete experience: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. She is grounded with a diverse technical background, but her dancing is unpretentious; she follows to make each dance the best it can be for her partner. She is known for melting into her leader's connection and making leaders more aware of their own movement by mirroring even the most subtle detail.

Campbell has taught Blues, Lindy Hop, Waltz, Tap, and more in San Francisco and around the country. Her passion for vintage and vernacular dance was born at Stanford University, where she partnered world-renowned instructor Richard Powers. She recently made Austin her new home, where she joined the faculty at University of Texas and teaches social dance courses celebrated to be the most popular on campus. Campbell's approach fosters an appreciation for fusion by drawing connections between the varied styles she has studied. While her warmth and patience create an inviting atmosphere for all levels of students, she carefully challenges them to realize their potential.

Chris Ransdell, Tulsa

Chris started swing dancing in 1998, and started teaching Lindy Hop and Blues in 2001; soon after had his national DJ debut at the first Cheap Thrills in St. Louis. Since then he has taught at over 30 local, 12 regional, and several international blues workshops including: Blues Rising (San Francisco), Enter the Blues (Atlanta), From Montreal With Love, and Denver Blues Summit.

Chris truly adores teaching. His teaching style bends the rules and incorporates many genres of dance into his blues. His goal is to create a well rounded dancer out of each student. After establishing a solid foundation of connection, he teaches you how to be creative and expressive through musicality and motion.

Dave Madison, San Francisco

At the Sunday Late Night of the 2001 Austin Lindy Exchange, Dave discovered Blues dancing thanks to the connivings of his friend Mel and the song Fallin', and his life took a turn. Soon after, he became instrumental in the origins of the contemporary Blues house party, helping found LindyBooty, the world's largest Lindy house Blues event, which then inspired blues parties across the West Coast and the states, eventually turning into much of the Blues dance scene as we know it today. Perhaps more importantly, though, he's widely unknown as the originator of the House Party Blues Crepe. In 2007 he organized and was one of the instructors at Blues Rising, the largest Blues dancing workshop of our time, bringing in a huge number of instructors and attendees from across the country. He's also taught Blues to classes across the globe, from San Francisco to Herrang and large Blues workshops from coast to coast and across Europe. Otherwise he can generally be found dancing and teaching Blues and Lindy on the road and helping evolve a powerful Blues scene when he's back home in San Francisco.

Greg Avakian, Philadelphia

Greg Avakian has been teaching Lindy Hop and West Coast Swing since 1992. He and his partner, Laurie Zimmerman have been dancing together for over 10 years. They specialize in Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, and Blues Dancing traveling the country teaching at workshops and dance camps while also teaching 3 nights a week at home.

Greg is also a popular DJ, having spun music for dancers at exchanges, competitions, and other events across the USA, in Canada and Europe. For a long list of teaching/DJing events, see Greg's website: www.geocities.com/SwingboyPA

Locally, Greg hosts Philadelphia's Kaffa Cafe Blues dances and is a house DJ at Philadelphia's most popular weekly dance: Lindy and Blues (LaB). Greg's (blues) DJ style mixes 'Chicago' style and modern acoustic blues with other sweet & funky stuff.

Haley Smith, San Francisco

Haley Smith has had a life full of dance.

As part of a band of Gypsies, Haley started folk dancing in childhood, then moved to Lindy Hop in 1999, soon adding Tap to her repertoire. Infected with a love for dance, she then studied Modern and Ballet at UCSC.

Blues dancing hit her like a brick in 2004, and she quickly embraced her newfound love, competing, teaching and dancing across the U.S. She's dabbled in Tango as well, and has incorporated that connection into her dancing.

Lessa Jay Thieme, Seattle

Lessa has been studying and performing various forms of dance for most of her life. She learned lindy through a happy accident of fate, when at the '98/'99 New Years Eve dance in Tacoma, WA, she was petitioned by a then-acquaintance to become his teaching partner. Eventually she discovered Blues in a dark back-room at a Lindy exchange in Vancouver, and she's never been the same since.

The unavoidable pull of Blues' sultry rhythms has captivated her, drawing her in, willing her to discover ever more dizzying heights of elation through movement. In her continuous discovery of blues, she has found that her best, most creative, and most satisfying series of movements come when she stops thinking about what she's doing, and just allows the dance, the music, the connection, to flow through her. In this conduit-like state, she finds serenity. It is this experience of transcendent, divine dance that she strives to impart to as many people as she possibly can.

She recently discovered tango, and is hoping to grow her passion for dance in this new direction when she has more time. (She's trying not to hold her breath for this...)

Whatever direction life takes her, she knows her passion for dance will always keep her on her toes.

Lucky Skillen, Seattle

Through the magic power of his huge smile, Lucky Skillen brings dancing joy wherever he goes. Lucky started dancing in 1996 and began teaching in 1998. Since then he has taught and performed many styles of dances in Asia, Europe, and North America. He has also had the privilege of working with such celebrities as Neil Young, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Katie Holmes, and Frankie Manning. Lucky teaches a wide variety of dance classes in which he creates a fun and playful atmosphere. He believes that play is learning and learning is fun! Currently Lucky spends about nine months out of the year touring teaching blues across Europe and the United States.

Mihai Banulescu, San Francisco

Mihai's teaching is defined by curiosity, creativity and compassion. He constantly grows and improves his pedagogy and curriculum, comes up with many unique exercises and loves giving individual feedback in a gentle, useful manner. Mihai started dancing in 1997 and has been teaching blues full time since 2005. He has taught workshops and festivals in over 20 states and has been invited back in almost every town. He has also been DJing blues, swing and tango since 2003 and organizes San Francisco's Friday Night Blues - the world's first and largest blues-only weekly dance.

Solomon Douglas, Seattle

Solomon is well respected worldwide as a teacher of Lindy Hop, Balboa, Charleston, and Vernacular Jazz, and has a reputation as a Blues Dancing specialist; he has taught Blues workshops in Australia, Singapore, Korea, Canada as well as many of the 50 states.

He is also well known as a musician, playing piano and leading bands at swing dance events throughout North America and worldwide in such bands as the Glenn Miller Orchestra and his own bands, Back Pocket, the Solomon Douglas Swingtet, and Corner Pocket.

Ted Maddry, Seattle

Ted Maddry has been dancing since he was in diapers (and there are pictures to prove it), though if you ask he'll tell you he started in college, when he took his first lindy hop class. Since then, social dance has been a regular part of his life. In 2003, he moved to Seattle and joined Emerald City Swing, a dance performance team, for which he danced and choreographed, then went on to lead in 2006. Also in 2003 Blues Dance was gaining popularity and Ted was at the forefront of the Seattle underground scene. While he actively avoided teaching dance, he gave up in late 2007 and has been teaching since. Ted also dances tango, which he has studied in the US and Argentina, and has a guilty pleasure for Contra dance.

Ted believes that partner dance is an expression of two peoples connection with the music, and with one another. And that whether expressing sadness or joy, darkness or light, dance is a celebration. He looks forward to teaching, learning, and celebrating with you.