Laura Glaess

Laura Glaess has been an influential voice in Lindy Hop competition, performance, and education for the past 20 years. She has won countless awards and acknowledgments at international competitions, and has taught at festivals in 22 countries spanning 5 continents. She has performed at the Joyce, Jacob’s Pillow, and the Guggenheim, as well as at Lindy Hop and Authentic Jazz festivals worldwide. Her Youtube channel dedicated to Lindy Hop history, vocabulary, partnering, and body movement is one of the most popular and influential in the scene.

Class Description
Vernacular jazz is the original jazz dance. It has some overlapping vocabulary with tap dance, and roots derived from West African dances brought to America during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Emphasizing rhythms, body movement, and agility, vernacular jazz was predominantly danced to jazz music during the swing era. Dancers performed vernacular jazz on stage and screen, and there is also a rich social tradition of dancers improvising together and trading steps in ballrooms.