LaBLove (January 12, 2008)

History of LAB

LaB (Lindy And Blues) is an all-volunteer organization that puts on Lindy and blues dance events in Philadelphia. Our namesake and weekly dance, Philly LaB, began on Tuesday, January 16th, 2007, and has been steadily growing in attendance and greatness ever since.

Founding LaBtechs Jesse Young, Carsie Blanton, Cheryl Caraan and Jon Darvill began brainstorming in fall of 2006, cooking up the crazy idea to start a new dance venue in Philly fueled by their mutual love for super-connected, super-musical Lindy Hop and blues. Within weeks of it’s inception, LaB had gathered an enthusiastic pack of dancers and dancers-to-be, as well as a new LaBtech, Stuart Collins.

The techs met weekly over cheap chinese food to dream up and execute ever-more fantastic ideas including: workshops and lessons with guest teachers from all over the country (Sommer Gentry (Baltimore), Solomon Douglas (Seattle), Lucky Skillen (NYC), Carl Nelson (Montreal), and lots more); live bands including local heroes the ’LaB House Band‘ and nationally touring artist Amos Lee; our own series classes and Sunday workshops; and big events like the “Belles and Balls Ball” (a same-sex couples competition) and “Philly Blues Connection”, a workshop weekend featuring scads of national-level blues instructors (Mihai Banulescu, Andrew Sutton, Brenda Collins, Laura Glaess and more).

As LaB continued to grow, we found it prudent to take on two fantastic new techs, Kerry Genese, and Graham Hunter, as well as ever more ambitious projects. Some 2008 favorites have been our first LaBLove birthday party (with classes from Brenda Collins and Andrew Slac and music from Gordon Webster), our March dancer residency with Mike Legett, our May workshop weekend with Lindy superstars Kevin St. Laurent and Sharon Davis, and Blues Muse (the world’s first follower-focused blues workshop weekend) in October.

Besides the events, we LABtechs are especially proud of the innovative classes we teach, the great music we play, the enthusiasm and dedication of our students, and the friendly, fun, inspiring quality of our dances.