Salt City Stomp

We had an absolute blast with all of you at Salt City Stomp 2024! Thank you all for creating such lovely memories over the weekend! We’ll see you again next year!

For those local, or visiting, you can find more Lindy Hop every Thursday with Salt City Swing for social dances and classes (additional classes on Wednesdays). Go to saltcityswing.org for more details.

Thank you so much everyone for making Salt City Stomp such a wonderful weekend so far! The fun hasn’t ended yet as we have one more day of amazing classes and social dance! You can still by tickets for the workshops or just the main dance on the website. Address can be found on the site or below:

Ballroom Utah:
• 3030 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT

Three great choices for the 1:40PM instructor’s choice classes! These particular classes are not going to be based on the track system like the other classes the weekend. Notes for these specific classes.

• Karen & Dabney - as the class title suggests, you’ll be learning how to slide around the dance floor! Make sure to bring shoes that allow you to slide on the floor.
• Irina & Anthony - getting you more comfortable dancing to the lovely sounds of soul music!
• Sam & Calvin - if you don’t know what the term “switch” means, it is when dance partners change lead and follow roles throughout a song (usually multiple times).

Day two schedule! Live music from at the main dance. There are still spaces open for contest sign ups so make sure to sign up on the website (saltcitystomp.com)! Addresses can be found on the site or below:

Utah State Fairpark - Pioneer Bldg:
• 155 N 1000 W, Salt Lake City, UT

Ballroom Utah:
• 3030 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT

We’re so excited for the weekend ahead of us! What can you do to ensure that you and everyone else attending can also have that excitement continue through the weekend? By following our code of conduct!

Be respectful. Be welcoming. Be kind.

Our full code of conduct can be found here: https://saltcityswing.org/view/about.html

First night of Salt City Stomp is tonight! Live music from at the main dance. Passes still available and competition spots still open for strictly and solo at saltcitystomp.com.

Addresses can be found on the site or below:

Utah State Fairpark - Pioneer Bldg:
• 155 N 1000 W, Salt Lake City, UT

Ballroom Utah:
• 3030 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT

Important note for hydrating at the main dances on Friday and Saturday.

Please reach out with any questions.

Please reach out to Jessie with any questions on signing up to volunteer.

Swipe through for some recommendations on SLC coffee shops, cafes, and restaurants. This is definitely only a sample of some amazing places for great food and coffee.

If you have any other suggestions, make sure to comment so we can expand the list!

We thankfully gained even more prizes for the top 3 in each competition! And you can still sign up for a competition or four. Winners will take home passes to other future workshops and dance weekends happening in 2024 and 2025 including:

• Marie & Felix Workshop Weekend in Denver, CO with | May 31 - June 2, 2024
• BadAZ Balboa | 2025
• Phoenix Lindy Exchange in Phoenix, AZ | Nov 2024
• Salt City Stomp in SLC, UT | 2025
• SWINGdepenDANCE in Phoenix, AZ | Independence Day weekend 2024
• Summer Swing Fest in Mesa, AZ | Aug 16-18, 2024
• Oonta Goota Solo: Episode VI: Return of the Nick-I, starring Nick Williams in Las Vegas, NV | May 10-12, 2024
• Swinco De Mayo in Albuquerque, NM | May 4-5, 2024
• Breaking Bal - a Weekend of Balboa, Lindy, & Blues with Desiree and Ross in Santa Fe, NM | Nov 2-3, 2024

Come dance at the .city.swing Thursday night social before Salt City Stomp starts on Friday!

$10 ($7 students/military) at the door.

Ballroom Utah:
3030 S Main St #300, South Salt Lake, UT

Schedule for Saturday and Sunday workshops with these marvelous instructors! Track placement information below:

Track 1
You are a step above beginner. You know basic 6-count and 8-count swing. You know the basics of connection and are comfortable with slower music. This track is meant to expand on the basics and teach new moves at a comfortable pace.
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Track 2
You have been taking classes and dancing consistently. You have good connection. You know basic rhythms and steps and might have some variations and styling in your repertoire. You are comfortable with moderate tempos. You will be working on perfecting the fundamentals and learning new material.
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Track 3
You connect with most of the people you dance with and moves come naturally. You can handle a full range of tempos. You may be teaching in your scene. You are likely to travel for big events and might be competing. Here you will be getting into some of the nitty-gritty of your moves and learning new content at a faster, challenging pace.

Types of passes you can purchase for Salt City Stomp! There’s still time left to purchase weekend tickets and competition slots.

Purchase at saltcitystomp.com

Tickets still available! One week away from phenomenal world class instructors, incredible dancing to local live music and amazing DJs, and exciting competitions!

Tickets and additional information at saltcitystomp.com

Andre loves different styles of music and has been collecting vinyl and shellac records for a while. He has been DJing at the local SLC swing scene and at the local SLC Argentine tango scene since 2015. Andre DJ all his sets using shellac or vinyl records with several turntables and styluses designed for proper reproduction of those records. All sets are pure analog without any digital reproduction and intended to create “the feel of those old days” of DJing with vinyl and shellac records. His collection contains hundreds of original shellac recordings of big bands, jazz and country music and even more vinyl records of different styles.

Shaun (or DJ Abe) has been an avid collector of Jazz music since he began dancing in 2001. He values danceable music with a deep, consistent bass, excellent instrumental variety, and memorable melodies. Fats Waller and Jimmie Lunceford are among his favorite Jazz artists, whom he believes exemplify some of these qualities. DJ Abe has a particular fondness for vintage Jazz and enjoys dancing while DJ'ing. He has also occasionally contributed to the Hey Mister Jesse podcast on Yehoodi.com before its retirement.

Taka Yanagita has been dancing Lindy Hop since 2007. He quickly became involved with the dance community through teaching, performing in and coaching teams, organizing events, and DJ’ing the dances. Composed mainly of trad jazz and big band swing, Taka’s set also could include combo jazz, jump blues, traditional R&B, and contemporary sounds. But no matter what is played, his main focus is keeping the energy high on the dance floor and providing fun times for everyone there.

Ashley Cohen Conner has been dancing for almost a decade, focusing on Lindy Hop, Balboa, S**g (Collegiate and Carolina!), and Solo Jazz. She particularly loves prominent jump blues, swing, and soul artists that are popular in the Carolina S**g and Soul Lindy circles. Some of her favorites include Big Joe Turner, Freddie King, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Count Basie. She started DJing at local weekly venues in Mesa, Arizona, and quickly learned that she loved sharing the music she enjoyed with fellow dancers.

Ashley has DJ’d all over Arizona, most notably at SWINGdepenDANCE and the Phoenix Lindy Exchange. Additionally, she has DJ’d across the southwest for LA Jitterbug’s Swingin’ Soul Night, Downbeat Swing’s Big Sky Weekend, Salt City Stomp, SwingDanceVegas, 505 Swing, and Boise City Swings. She is so excited to be DJing at The Stomp this year, which was also one of the first swing dance events she attended!

Diana is a Utah native who has been DJing regularly for Salt City Swing for many years. An interest in swing music is what initially attracted her to Lindy Hop, and she hopes that she can inspire a similar appreciation for jazz in others. Diana’s goal is to play songs that make it more difficult to sit down than to get up and dance. Some of her favorite artists include Ella Fitzgerald, Jonah Jones, and Kid Ory.

Friday night we’ll be dancing to live music from Flamingo!

Called a "A sonic parade fit for New Orleans streets.." by The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah's Flamingo is a Jazz & Blues group inspired by New Orleans, Havana, & Miami. Their debut album "The Flamboyance" was called "An insane treat" by SLUG Magazine, while Utah Life Magazine said "The group both hypnotizes and electrifies, serenades and stimulates..." Flamingo currently plays weekly in front of a packed house in downtown SLC, and recently worked with the NBA for Allstar weekend.

We’re looking forward to dancing to the Hot House West Swing Orchestra on Saturday night at the main dance!

The Hot House West Swing Orchestra is an exciting ensemble whose mission is to create experiences of connectedness and joy through acoustic music.
The band has become a tight-knit community of some of the country’s top-tier jazz musicians, and the friendship and community spirit they share is immediately palpable. Group vocals, audience interaction, masterful improvisation, and a ceaseless swinging pocket keep audiences smiling, laughing, and tapping their feet from the first note to the last.

Sunday schedule! Our last night of the weekend, but sure to be a great one! Address can be found on the site or below:

Ballroom Utah:
• 3030 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT

Saturday schedule! Live music from at the main dance! Additional information on contests and prizes to follow. There are still spaces open for contest sign ups so make sure to sign up on the website (saltcitystomp.com)! Addresses can be found on the site or below:

Utah State Fairpark - Pioneer Bldg:
• 155 N 1000 W, Salt Lake City, UT

Ballroom Utah:
• 3030 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT

Friday schedule! Live music from at the main dance! Additional information on contests and prizes to follow. There are still spaces open for contest sign ups so make sure to sign up on the website (saltcitystomp.com)! Addresses can be found on the site or below:

Utah State Fairpark - Pioneer Bldg:
• 155 N 1000 W, Salt Lake City, UT

Ballroom Utah:
• 3030 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT

Dabney Hopkins loves to swing dance and has been actively doing it for over twenty years. His favorite thing is to spread his love of dance to everyone he can through teaching, social dancing, and organizing events. One of his greatest moments was when he and his partner were awarded the Golden Budgie (rock the house) award at Camp Hollywood in 2002!

Karen Vizzard first became enamored with Lindy Hop in 2003, when she was introduced to the dance at a Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert in Santa Monica. Since then, she has dedicated herself to becoming an exceptional follow, as well as a versatile dancer with experience in Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate S**g, and Solo and Partnered Charleston. She is an award winning dancer who loves to compete and does so any chance she gets. She would rather be on the floor dancing than sitting and watching! She is also the director of Phoenix’s award winning all female solo dance team. Her other credits include performing with the Hollywood Hotshots, as well as being cast as a dancer in Katy Perry's music video "Thinking of You" and being cast as a principal dancer for the episode “Static” on the TV show “Cold Case.”

Karen and Dabney (along with their children Alice and Joe) collectively make The Lindy Hopkins. Lindy Hopping their way through every adventure they take since they started partnering in 2010! Together they have taught across the United States, perform regularly with bands in Arizona, California, and Nevada, were resident performers at The Cosmopolitan Chandelier Bar with Electro Swing Club, produce 3 annual weekend events complete with competitions and “licentious” social dancing until all hours of the night, and more. In 2020 Karen and Dabney were honored to be recognized by the Arizona Dance Coalition for their contributions to the dance community through the “Creating Connections Award” and they have been honored to be part of the elite group of dancers inducted into the Camp Hollywood Hall of Fame.

Calvin, also sometimes known as "that guy who follows a lot," fell in love with Lindy Hop for its joyful expression, creative improvisation, and deep connection between partners. Since then, he has been actively involved in the community as an instructor, event organizer, competitor, and frequent up-past-3-am dancer. A lifelong student, and a Game Designer by trade, Calvin strives to make his classes engaging and help students fall in love with learning and practice as part of the fun of being a dancer. In his teaching and curriculum planning, he highly values offering students multiple perspectives, supporting a variety of learning styles, and fostering good dancers who are also good community members.

In his home scene of San Francisco, Calvin has helped organize The Switch Workshop, the Dancers Den, Bootleggers Ball, and most recently, is the teacher coordinator for The Breakaway.

Sam (she/her) spent 18 years of her life believing she could never be coordinated enough to dance until she got hooked onto swing dancing at UC Berkeley. She quickly fell in love with the improvisation and partnership of the dance, and she danced probably waaaay more than she should have during her college years. Sam has since continued the entire gambit of dance, from teaching to organizing to traveling and competing. Currently, her big passion in dance is mentoring new dance teachers, creating curriculum for venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, and learning more about the history, roots, and values of this Black art form.

Sam loves to incorporate silly playfulness, responsive partnership, and you-know-every-beat-in-this-song-don't-you musicality in her dancing. Coming from humble beginnings of gathering in random hallways and learning through YouTube videos, her dance teaching often emphasizes the tools needed for how to learn and how to take inspiration from an idea and make it your own. Sam’s endless lesson planning experience from being a high school teacher translates to even more endless lesson planning for dance; her lessons are crafted to emphasize partnership, connectedness, and having a blast while dancing. You can find her leading and following out on the social dance floor 'til the end of the night despite having to wake up at 7am to teach high schoolers

Anthony's (he/him) first ingress into the performing arts was at age 8 when his parents convinced him to learn and perform Chinese lion dances. Naturally, he then stumbled upon breakdancing during a national speech and debate tournament in middle school, and he had his first foray into swing dancing at age 16 alongside other young interns from a research laboratory. Since then, he has trained in other dance styles including West Coast Swing and various modern street dances, but most of all he enjoys using this background to expand upon his technique and creativity in Lindy Hop. On the social dance floor he is known to be playful, musical, creative, and clear.

He holds first place titles from events such as International Lindy Hop
Championships, Montreal Swing Riot, Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown, Lindy Focus, and Lindyfest and Lone Star Championships. His love of both leading and following, combined with his professional background in education, make the classes that he teaches both clear and intuitive. He is an active scene builder in his community and founded Salt City Swing, a non-profit in Utah where he teaches locally.

Dancing in all forms has been a lifelong passion for Irina (she/her). In 2009, at the age of 15, she stumbled upon Swing dancing and it took only one night of social dancing for her to fall head over heels in love with it. Though Lindy Hop was her gateway into the world of Swing,
Irina's passion quickly expanded to include Balboa, Collegiate S**g, and solo jazz. She owes her rapid progression in part to spending her formative years of dancing in Southern California, home to some of the best Swing dancers, teachers, and music in the world.

Irina has since received numerous accolades from events such as Camp Hollywood, The International Lindy Hop Championships, and Lindy Focus and has taught these dances all across the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Australia. Additionally, she is honored to have been inducted into the Camp Hollywood Hall of Fame in 2019 and the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame in 2022.
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Irina's teaching style can best be described as patient and encouraging. Her goal is to guide her students through building solid foundations while inspiring individuality in personal
movement, as well as helping build confidence through dance.