July Bands

All events are hosted by Lilli Ann Carey of Dance for Joy! unless otherwise noted. Lilli Ann is also the organizer of Dancing til Dusk. danceforjoy.biz

Tuesday, July 9

Jacqueline Tabor Jazz and Blues | Swing and Blues

Westlake Park, 6–9:30pm

Jacqueline Tabor, also known as the "Seattle Chanteuse," is an accomplished jazz, blues, and swing vocalist who enchants audiences with her powerful tones, style, and dynamic stage presence. This 4-time Earshot Jazz Vocalist of the Year and Seattle-Kobe Sister City Association Award Winner continues expanding her talents to entertain every audience. Tabor's unique bluesy style and charismatic personality have made her one of the most beloved jazz vocalists and storytellers in the Pacific Northwest. Some call it the "Tabor Sound," which is drenched in the natural rhythm of everyday life. She brings herself to every performance that encapsulates an authentic feeling of humanity. Tabor combines excitement and professionalism to everything music with a unique ensemble of Seattle's most talented jazz musicians to create a community-centered experience.

Beginning Swing instruction with Lilli Ann Carey and Claire Carey. | danceforjoy.biz
Lilli Ann Carey loves to dance almost anything but focuses her teaching on Waltz, West Coast and East Coast Swing, Zydeco, Polka, Foxtrot, One-Step/Blues, Fusion and a few vintage dance forms. Lilli Ann promotes dance classes, workshops and events through her company, Dance for Joy!, and is committed to developing a creative, connected and playful dance community here in Seattle.

In line with that committment, Lilli Ann also coordinates this highly successful Dancing til Dusk program for Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Claire Carey began learning swing dance at the age of seven in 1998, and began teaching a variety of styles in 2008. They discovered their passion for the creativity and fluidity of West Coast Swing in 2010, where they have achieved multiple first placements, and competed in the All Star division. Claire has loved teaching Cross Step Waltz, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Blues, Foxtrot, Nightclub Two-Step, Zydeco, and other vintage waltz forms in Seattle for Dance For Joy! Claire and their mom, Lilli Ann have taught together both nationally and internationally, and are known for their fun, innovative, and technically-minded teaching. In class, Claire specializes in empowering follows to have strong skills in connection, intuition, and self expression, and helping leads build facility in communicating and customizing to each follows' needs. They also love teaching private lessons, and helping students find the nuances that make everything click into place!

Thursday, July 11

English Country Dance | ECD

Freeway Park, 6–9pm

English Country Dance, Caller/Instructor Laura Mé Smith, Musicians Laurie Andres, Sandy Gillette and Betsy Cooper English Country dance is similar to Square Dance — a called dance where a group changes partners in patterns. English Country dance has a decided Jane Austin flair accompanied by charming live music and called by a highly experience caller. Laura Mé Smith fits this description to a “T” and will spend 30 minutes from 6-6:30 teaching basic figures that will be called during the evening; new figures will be added as the evening progresses. If you are new to English Country dance, best to be on time for the 6pm workshop to fully enjoy the evening. Like all Dancing til Dusk events, you won’t need experience or to bring a partner.

Beginning English Country dance lesson by Laura Mé Smith
The ever gracious Laura Mé Smith has been delighting dancers with her top notch teaching and rapier sharp wit since 1980. Her repertoire encompasses a variety of dances, from English country dance to contras to squares, as well as many styles and types of couple dances and a smattering of folkdances. Her clear and concise instruction leaves more time to enjoy dancing to the wonderful tunes these dances use. She is known for helping dancers of all skill levels achieve maximum fun, from raucous wedding reception bashes to elegant balls. You will enjoy her entertaining way with the dance as much as she enjoys calling. She lives in the Seattle area with her husband and the most spoiled macaw ever, Max.

Tuesday, July 16

Joel Astley and Friends | Blues

Hing Hay Park, 6–9pm

Since forming his first band in 2014, Joel Astley has performed all around the Pacific Northwest. and has been recognized by the Washington Blues Society with honors including Best Blues Harmonica (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), Best Male Vocalist (2019, 2021) and Best Songwriter (2020, 2021). He earned his reputation as a frontman and bandleader while performing with Northwest bands including Tacoma-based T-town Aces and Seattle-based High Note Group. facebook.com/joelastleymusic/

Beginning Blues lesson by Robin Chow (He/Him). Being a dancer who started later in life, and owing much to the discovery of a hip hop tutorial video at the back of a You Got Served DVD, Robin truly believes that dance is inside every one of us. Whether it's a fully realized passion, or a whisper of curiosity, he feels that dance should always be available to our selves, whatever ones dance experience or familiarity. His dance repertoire is based on solo movement learned from a studio hip hop background, with the journey into social dancing starting with Lindy Hop, and over time including Blues, Balboa & Fusion. And ever since his introduction to Blues dancing in 2018, he has become a passionate practitioner and advocate of the form and is dedicated to a continued journey of learning and sharing of Blues dance and culture.

Thursday, July 18

Hot Tango 4 | Tango

Freeway Park, 6–9pm

Bertram Levy, a Northwest Tango legend, returns to Dancing till Dusk with his new quartet the Hot Tango Four for an evening of authentic Argentine Tango dancing. Bertram has been dedicated to the performance of the bandoneon for the last three decades and spent years in Buenos Aires at the Conservatorio de Manuel de Falla studying this emblematic Argentine instrument. His ensemble Tangoheart has been an icon of both traditional and modern tango since 1999. Recently he has written and performed a show called Canarissimo which celebrates the 1920’s orchestra leader Francisco Canaro in Paris under the spell of the vintage jazz great, Josephine Baker. Bertram Levy’s Hot Tango Four will feature violinist Ruthie Dornfeld, guitarist Julian Catford, bassist Jon Green and the dazzling vocalist Robin Kallsen.

Beginning Tango dance lesson by Tony Fan and Ilana Rubin | seattletango.com
Well-loved Seattle based instructors Ilana Rubin and Tony Fan bring to the Tango a life-long interest in dance. Ilana's extensive dance training includes modern dance with Martha Nishitani, as well as ballet and folk dancing. She performed for five years with Radost, Seattle's premiere folk dance ensemble. Tony started his dance career studying modern ballet. Later, he continued with many different forms of social dancing before he discovered the Argentine Tango. Since, Tony has studied Tango in Europe and with Ilana in Buenos Aires. Tony and Ilana have been dancing Tango together for more than 27 years. The beauty of their movement comes from their maturity in the dance, strong connection, and deep respect for the music. Together, they have studied with such notable dancers as Juan Bruno, Osvaldo Zotto and Lorena Ermocida, Susanna Miller, Julio Balmaceda and Corina de la Rosa, Gabriel Angio and Natalia Games, Esteban Moreno and Claudia Codega, Graciela Gonzalez, Daniela Arcuri and Armando, and Omar Vega. seattletango.com

Tuesday, July 23

The Weather Birds | Swing

Hing Hay Park, 6–9pm

Hosted by Mark Kihara of SwingitSeattle

The Weather Birds are a Swing group excited to make their mark on the music scene. Featuring clarinetist Jesse Colford and guitarist Preston Murphy, the group delivers fresh arrangements of classic songs while introducing you to lesser known gems and original compositions. The group aims to deliver quality music along with a fun, engaging experience. From Lilli Ann — These musicians really deliver a great evening of Swing music and their singer is sublime!

Swing lesson with Mark and Kate Kihara | swingitseattle.com

Mark Kihara has been teaching, performing, and promoting African-American jazz dances since the late 1990s. His primary focus is Lindy Hop, the original Swing dance. Dance has taken him all over the world, most notably as a featured instructor at Sweden’s Herräng Dance Camp.

He has won or placed at a variety of competitions including the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown and the American Lindy Hop Championships. His instruction always shows great respect to swing dance’s originators. Inspired and tireless, Mark makes believers out of anyone who ever wondered if they could swing dance.

Katie Kihara has been dancing, teaching, competing, and performing Lindy Hop since 2007. As an instructor, she prides herself on partnership skills that empower both roles to dance their best. Katie is also a longtime member of Sister Kate Dance Company, Seattle’s longest running all-female chorus troupe.

Thursday, July 25

Swingin’ in the Rain with Dina Blade | Variety

Freeway Park, 6–9pm

Dina Blade is a refreshingly natural singer with a great sense of time and swing who specializes in singing American popular songs from the 1930s and '40s, preserving the work of master composers and lyricists from that era. An effervescent performer, she has written and toured several different thematic shows celebrating the Great American Songbook.

Dina has released six recordings, including her most recent, Shall We Dance, with songs ranging from the lively to the sultry and romantic. KPLU's "Jazz Northwest‚" DJ Jim Wilke praised her voice as "warm and inviting, fresh and original," and included her recent CD, "My Romance‚" on his "Best of the Northwest" list. dinablade.com

Beginning Swing instruction with Lilli Ann Carey and Claire Carey. | danceforjoy.biz
Lilli Ann Carey loves to dance almost anything but focuses her teaching on Waltz, West Coast and East Coast Swing, Zydeco, Polka, Foxtrot, One-Step/Blues, Fusion and a few vintage dance forms. Lilli Ann promotes dance classes, workshops and events through her company, Dance for Joy!, and is committed to developing a creative, connected and playful dance community here in Seattle.

In line with that committment, Lilli Ann also coordinates this highly successful Dancing til Dusk program for Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Claire Carey began learning swing dance at the age of seven in 1998, and began teaching a variety of styles in 2008. They discovered their passion for the creativity and fluidity of West Coast Swing in 2010, where they have achieved multiple first placements, and competed in the All Star division. Claire has loved teaching Cross Step Waltz, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Blues, Foxtrot, Nightclub Two-Step, Zydeco, and other vintage waltz forms in Seattle for Dance For Joy! Claire and their mom, Lilli Ann have taught together both nationally and internationally, and are known for their fun, innovative, and technically-minded teaching. In class, Claire specializes in empowering follows to have strong skills in connection, intuition, and self expression, and helping leads build facility in communicating and customizing to each follows' needs. They also love teaching private lessons, and helping students find the nuances that make everything click into place!

Tuesday, July 30

Lulu Swing | 1930s Hot Club Swing

Hing Hay Park, 6–9pm

Hosted by Northwest Dance Network

The Lulu Swing Band specializes in 1930s Hot Club Swing with a definitive French and Latin twist, as well as repertoire from the Great American Songbook. Since its founding in 2016 (originally under the name “Mes Copines Gitanes”), Lulu Swing has steadily gained a following, playing at farmers' markets, community and corporate events, and weddings.

Audiences love the unique and upbeat repertoire, and respond to the charm of an all-female band. Our current line-up includes acoustic guitar and bass, violin, and accordion/vocals and is based in Seattle, WA.

Lulu Swing's repertoire is always expanding and currently includes many Hot Club songs popularized by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. They also perform French, Russian, and Latin-style tunes, old and contemporary waltzes (or musettes), and an array of American Swing and traditional standards. luluswingband.com

Beginning East Coast Swing lesson with instructors Guy Caridi | NorthwestDance Network
Guy Caridi has been dancing since 1988, performing and choreographing since 1991, and teaching since 1993. He is a founding member of Seattle’s Savoy Swing Club and with his dance partner, Nancy Fry, the first couple from the Pacific Northwest to teach Lindy Hop and Balboa. He has taught and performed internationally and is well known for his respectful, sensitive, and humorous teaching style. Guy has been artistic director of the Savoy Swing Club Performance Troupe for over fourteen years. In 1999, Guy took home trophies in the Lindy Hop and Team divisions at the U.S. Open Swing Dance Championships in southern California. In total, four of five routines choreographed by Guy were place-winners.