The Southwest Lindyfest: junior jitterbugs, soaring Canadians, and Frankie Manning! (video)

I just got home from an exhausting, amazing weekend in Houston for the Southwest Lindyfest, put on by the Houston Swing Dance Society. Lindyfest, now in its 13th year, is one of the most successful lindy hop  camps in the country, drawing hundreds of swing dance enthusiasts from all over the US. The four day  dance festival combines workshops taught by some of the best lindy hop instructors in the world with social dances that run into the wee hours of the morning. 

Lindyfest is a good example of what makes the lindy hop community so
awesome to me. We show respect for our elders like Frankie Manning, Dawn
Hampton and Chazz Young. And we raise up the next generation of dancers
like the Cleveland Junior Jitterbugs being taught by Valerie Salstrom.

So many highlights for me — dancing past 5am every night with 300+ lindy hoppers, learning jazz routines from legendary dancers Ryan François and Steven Mitchell, hanging with old friends over barbecue and fajitas, soul dancing to the DJ stylings of Peter Strom. Such bliss.

Here's some more video I shot of the amazing dance performances on Saturday night, including:

• The Canadian Swinging Air Force team (video above)
• Cleveland Junior Jitterbugs (adorable!)
• This hilarious country lindy hop routine by Andrew Thigpen and Karen Turman
• Annie Trudeau and Max Pitruzzella
• Another Swinging Air Force routine

Enjoy!