We've invited four of the top blues instructors in the world to help you explore blues movement, partner connection, the roots of blues dancing, and what blues dancing is really about.
Joe Demers & Nelle Hatley (Denver, CO) — Joe and Nelle are known for being very versatile dancers ranging from modern jazz to vintage blues to performance lindy hop. They possess an aesthetic quality that flourishes as a dance couple. They continually train, travel and teach worldwide, study swing dance history and clips, choreograph, perform, and innovate new dance movements and techniques. They pride themselves with basing their dancing on original styles while continually striving for new ideas. In addition to their powerful presence, movement and technique, Joe and Nelle are masters at making the simplest of moves stand out. Not only are they great dancers, they are great teachers that effectively break down unique and advanced concepts. Joe and Nelle are passionate about sharing their understanding of all the details that create a good connection between partners and give the most energy to the dance. They have been competing since 2003, and have taken home several National Championship titles at events such as Blues Shout, ILHC, the Rhythm Arts Festival and Camp Jitterbug, while also dancing on the 4-time International Championship team, 23 Skidoo. Also, they have taught all over the United States, Europe and Asia. Joe and Nelle see Blues dancing as a very eclectic term and dance style. They love to express the wide range of blues music, from Eric Clapton to BB King to Norah Jones. The constant change and freedom within the music is what attracts them to this style of dance. For them, Blues is a feeling that comes from within, an expression and release of emotions and personality. When you dance with a partner that can match you, you'll feel like the only dancer in the room… just you, your partner, the music, and the floor.
Damon Stone (San Francisco, CA) — Damon has been dancing his entire life. Starting with vernacular jazz/blues he went on to Hip-Hop, and eventually studied over a dozen different dance styles until coming full circle focusing primarily on the history and styles of swing and blues, in 1995.
He's one of the very few instructors who both learned his blues dancing the old-fashioned way — from his family — and yet is known for his research into the history of the dance. He has taught dance extensively on both coasts and studied the development of vernacular jazz/blues dance regionally and nationally, traveling to New York, Chicago, Memphis, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, St. Louis, and New Orleans. He has been interviewed as a jazz dance historian in documentary and for radio.
Damon has been a featured instructor at numerous major blues dance events, as well as swing camps and jazz festivals and workshops and camps across the U.S. and Canada. He is a member of the California Historical Jazz Dance Foundation, and a member of the Northern California Lindy Society.
Natalia Rueda (Ottawa, ON) — A full-time dance teacher, Natalia's many competition awards include winning first place at the Canadian Swing Championships two years in a row. She's won Lindy Hop, blues and WCS awards at events such as CSC and Swing Niagara, Swingin' New England and the TOSDC in Toronto. Natalia coaches Swing Dynamite's award-winning all-girl team, the Dynamite Girls, famous for their blues dancing and Charleston, and she coaches two Lindy Hop teams! A native of Colombia, Natalia grew up dancing Salsa and Merengue. As she puts it, "I never went to a party where people didn't know how to partner dance until I came to Canada!" Her energy and creativity make her an exciting dancer to watch, and an equally fun teacher to learn from! Natalia's teaching has been featured at events such as the Quebec Swing Rendez-Vous and Montreal's Bagel and Blues weekend. Read more.