2013 Guests:

Chazz Young

Chazz Young, a spectacular dancer with a long and successful stage career, was first inspired by his father, Lindy Hop master Frankie Manning. Today he tours worldwide, spreading the gospel of Lindy Hop and Tap. In addition to his work as a choreographer and performer, he teaches Lindy Hop in his home town of Las Vegas to the most important dancers of today: the young people who are just now learning to partner dance.

Chazz became serious about dancing at the age of 12. Had it not been for his mother taking him to see his father perform, he may not have ever followed his father into the business. He enrolled in the famous Harlem dance school, Mary Bruce, and was with the school until he was seventeen. His father introduced him to a dear friend, Norma Miller, who was looking for some dancers. He performed with Norma Miller’s dancing troupe at the famous Apollo Theater with famous bands like Count Basie. He traveled extensively with the Norma Miller Dance Troupe to the likes of London, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In the 50′s and 60′s with the influx of Rock and Roll, partner dancing slowed down in the United States. Chazz married a dancer from the Norma Miller Dance Troupe and fathered four children. Like his father, Chazz taught dance while working for the New York postal service for 26 years. Currently Chazz lives in Las Vegas and teaches at the Austin Dancing School, which originated in New York. He continues to actively perform, choreograph and teach internationally. He has traveled to the famous Herräng Dance Camp, Sweden, to teach since the early 90′s.

Music by Gordon Webster’s Uptown Swing Band!

Pianist Gordon Webster is one of the most sought after musicians in the lindy hop world. His tremendous musicianship and passion, supported by his first-hand knowledge of social dancing, have inspired lindy hoppers at hundreds of dance events worldwide. Drawing on influences as diverse as Fats Waller, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson and Gene Harris, Webster serves up a smorgasbord of styles unified by one characteristic: irresistible danceability.

PAST GUESTS

2012 Guests:

Norma Miller!

Norma Miller (born 2 December 1919 in Harlem, New York) is an American swing dancer known as “The Queen of Swing”. Discovered at the age of twelve by the Savoy Ballroom’s legendary dancer Twistmouth George, Ms. Miller has been in show business ever since.

Norma, along with Frankie, was a key member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. The author of several books, Norma Miller’s Swing Baby Swing, chronicles the evolution of the swing dance culture into the 21st century. Norma Miller’s biography, Swingin’ at the Savoy: A Memoir of a Jazz Dancer, recollects her youthful encounters with Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Ethel Waters, and other jazz musicians.

Miller was honored with a 2003 National Heritage Foundation Fellowship from the National Endowments of the Arts for her role in creating and continuing to preserve “the acrobatic style swing dance, known as the Lindy Hop”.

Miller has been featured performing in a number of movies, including some of the most viewed vintage movies by Lindy Hoppers and swing dancers worldwide: the Marx Brothers’ A Day at the Races (1937) and Hellzapoppin’ (1941); Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (1992); Stompin’ at the Savoy (1992), John Biffar’s Captiva (1995), along with documentaries such as the National Geographic’s Jitterbug (1991) and the Smithsonian Jazz series on NPR.

In the 1960s, Miller began working with Redd Foxx at his comedy club and later joined him on his 1970s television series Sanford and Son, serving as a stand up comic, actor and choreographer. In Ken Burns’s documentary Jazz (2001), Miller’s recollections provide a first-hand account of the Harlem music and dance scene of the 1930s and ’40s.
Since her time at the Savoy Ballroom, Miller has also worked on film and TV with the likes of Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Her latest documentary, Queen of Swing, narrated by Bill Cobbs, takes an inside look at Miller’s influence in the globalization of America’s jazz culture and her and her fellow artists’ role in racial integration. The documentary features interviews with Bill Cosby, Bill Cobbs, the late Frankie Manning, and the late Leonard Reed. Miller currently lives in Fort Myers, FL.

Norma Miller and Frankie Manning talk about their time at the Savoy Ballroom:

Music by Gordon Webster’s Uptown Swing Band!

Pianist Gordon Webster is one of the most sought after musicians in the lindy hop world. His tremendous musicianship and passion, supported by his first-hand knowledge of social dancing, have inspired lindy hoppers at hundreds of dance events worldwide. Drawing on influences as diverse as Fats Waller, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson and Gene Harris, Webster serves up a smorgasbord of styles unified by one characteristic: irresistible danceability.

Naomi Uyama

Naomi will be joining on vocals and for a Solo Vintage Jazz Workshop. 

Naomi Uyama discovered lindy hop in her hometown of Washington DC during the late nineties. Over the past decade she has taught workshops all around the world and performed for dance and music legends alike. She has won the champion title at such prestigious competitions as the American Lindy Hop Championships, the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown, and the U.S. Open Swing Dance Championships. She founded the internationally renowned dance team The Silver Shadows, and was an original organizer of “The Jam Cellar”- one of DC’s best dance venues. When she’s not traveling in the name of triple steps Naomi currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

And Chachi!

Chachi has been on the top rung of the swing dance ladder worldwide for nearly 15 years. At 17 he began to travel the world to study with all the Lindy Hop greats. By the time he was 21 he had already made a name for himself as a top-tier dance instructor. His performance career took off during his 3 years living in Stockholm, Sweden where he was a full time member of The Rhythm Hot Shots, “The” Professional ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s dance company. He was also enrolled in the full time dance program at the Ballet Academy of Stockholm.

Chachi then moved to Chicago, where he started his own dance company, Forklift Dance Productions. They were featured in many Stage and Television Appearances including Dance Chicago, a highly esteemed showcase of Chicago’s best dancers and companies. While in Chicago Chachi continued to develop his traditional dance skills under the guidance of Joel Hall. Chachi was also a full time member of The Tyego Dance Project, a Modern Jazz/Ballet company. He is currently the Director and principal dancer of Capital Dance Productions a Toronto based performance troupe that specializes in 20th century North American partner and solo dances.