Contemporary Conversations: Blue Light Boogie—Examining Blues Dance

• Event Date: Thursday, February 18, 2021
• Time: 4:00 pm (CST)
• Location: Webinar Link (external link)
• Cost: Free Admission

• Talk
• Exhibit-Related tag

“Blue Light Boogie—Examining Blues Dance” is a panel discussion about blues dancing, presented as part of  Spurlock Museum's Contemporary Conversations  program series and in connection with our exhibit,  Blues Dancing and Its African American Roots. Panelists include Sara Cherny (moderator, co-director of  Bluetopia (external link)), Grey Armstrong (founder of  Obsidian Tea: A Blackness and Blues Blog (external link)), Katrina Rogers (director, The Throwdown), and Christi Jay Wells (assistant professor of musicology at Arizona State University’s School of Music (external link)). A Q&A will follow the panel discussion.

Webinar Details

Webinar Link

Webinar ID: 844 2601 8534

Password: 821633

Panelists' Bios

Sara Cherny (moderator)

Sara began blues dancing in 2001 and has been on the leading edge of the blues dance community ever since. She is co-director of Chicago’s longest running blues dance party,  Bluetopia (external link). She’s also former Director of bluesSHOUT!, the world’s premier blues dance event.

Grey Armstrong

Grey is a writer and instructor who travels the world teaching African American vernacular dances and giving lectures on Black history and culture. His work focuses on unpacking unconscious bias, cross-cultural communication, and culture formation. Grey is the founder of the popular blog and website  Obsidian Tea: A Blackness and Blues Blog (external link), which explores themes of the Black experience and much more.

Katrina Rogers

Katrina is an accomplished blues dancer and has taught blues dance at events across the country. She is the director of The Throwdown.

Christi Jay Wells

Christi Jay is an assistant professor of musicology at Arizona State University’s School of Music (external link) and affiliate faculty with ASU's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. They have been an active practitioner of social blues and jazz dancing for nearly two decades, and their forthcoming book Between Beats (Oxford University Press) explores jazz music's ever-shifting relationship with popular and social dance.