I've known Lucky Skillen since we met at the Denver Lindy Exchange in 2004. In September of 2007 and again in February of 2008, we toured the UK together for a total of 11 weeks, teaching Lindy-Hop and Blues.

Regional Organizations

If you want a guaranteed night of good blues dancing in Chicago, some friends and I have gotten together to form Bluetopia, which takes place on the fourth or fifth Friday of every month. As our numbers grow, we'll keep looking for bigger venues and more nights. But for now, it's an exclusive monthly party.

Every June, we host the Chicago Underground Blues Experience during the Chicago Blues Fest.

When I go back home to San Francisco, I always make sure to stop off and visit Friday Night Blues, which is going strong with a rotating cast of local and traveling instructors and DJs.

I'm always keeping my eye on BluesShout, an event that originated in St. Louis called "Cheap Thrills." In May of 2009, Chicago had the honor of hosting BluesShout. What a treat!

If you want the scoop on Chicago Swing & Blues events, classes, and outings, Windyhop is the place to go.

National Resources

When I want to keep track of national workshops and exchanges, I pop over to LindyExchange.com or BluesCal.com and have a peek at the schedule.

BluesPulse is where I go to read the latest discussion about Blues dance. As of late, it seems that Gargle Blaster Blues is the other hotspot. When I want to catch up on the Swing gossip, I head over to Yehoodi.