David Keogh (Santa Fe, NM)

After experiencing the Portland Fusion Exchange, a plan was hatched: to compose an album of original music for dancers. One year later, I DJ'ed a set at the San Diego Fusion Exchange; eleven songs with an emphasis on rhythm, tempo, and musicality for blues dancing, tango, west-coast swing, and that magical combination of forms we call fusion. The next phase of the plan has been set in motion: to perform live at the Boston Fusion Exchange. My goal is to bring the experience full-circle: moving dancers with the music, while allowing the music to be influenced by the dancers, as it is played, improvised, looped, spliced, and re-arranged in a live-performance context.

Auditory Sculpture (Portland, OR)

For 10 years, Keith Schreiner's electronic music and experimental auditory sculptures have been the backbone of Portland's ever-burgeoning electronic/dj scene. His wildly successful days in Dahlia (five years of packed Tuesday nights at the Ohm) were only the starting point into a career that has included numerous production, albums, and collaboration opportunities. During downtime from Dahlia, Schreiner helmed the six-piece future jazz project The Down Band featuring Nate Query (The Decemberists) on bass, DJs IZM and Venom 33, and local jazz maestro Derek Simms on trumpet. During that time Schreiner also worked under his solo guise as Auditory Sculpture.

Auditory Sculpture began as a creative playground for Schreiner where he could test, pull, and meld beats and sounds. Some of which would later show up in Dahlia and other artists work. Over the past year and a half, Portland's East Chinatown Lounge, hosted Schreiner's Auditory Sculpture project on a weekly basis. The relationship was perfect. The uber-swank lounge sans stage setting at East allowed Schreiner the vibe he needed to compose ideas, explore new sounds, and create a chill ambiance for the drinking crowd. Schreiner found inspiration for these DJ sets through the work he has done with various artists over the past four years. For Schreiner those past four years found the demise of Dahlia, the invention a new sociopolitical hip-hop group Suckapunch and increased production work for various local artists including the latest Storm and the Balls remix record, Hush recording artist Corrina Repp's latest, and Portland favorite Nicole Campbell's last album. Schreiner has also busied himself with film scores and commercial music.

Emily "Mama" Smith (Seattle, WA)

From fast harmonica to sexy soul, Emily tries to play new tunes each time she spins a set. She loves to feel the energy of the room and keep the dance floor moving. She experiments with new vibes, while keeping the old favorites in the mix as well. She started to DJ blues after moving to Seattle 5 years ago, and has since been able to travel as a DJ to different events around the nation.

Julie Brown (Boston, MA)

Julie Brown is a blues and soul DJ from Boston, MA. She got her start DJing in Pittsburgh in 2006, making the rounds at house parties and smaller events until bursting onto the big scene at Emerald City Blues Festival 2009. She DJs for national blues events and for local events in Boston, where she lives, dances, works, and occasionally sleeps. Julie's musical tastes span from the soulful to the sultry, the dirty to the demure, but always with a healthy dose of attitude. What she loves most is to see you get out there and work it.

Will Shaver (Eugene, OR)

Will's introduction to partner dancing was a high school chemistry class. The teacher used the box waltz to illustrate atoms binding and separating as students traded partners around the room. He's been hooked ever since, dancing Ballroom, Latin, West Coast Swing, and most recently Blues. He's been an active DJ for years in Eugene and Portland, and have worked several West Coast Swing conventions including Reno Dance Sensation and Bridgetown Swing.

Ivy Grey (Portland, Oregon)

Ivy considers herself "just a girl with a lot of good music". Both a dance addict and a music buff -- it's no surprise that Ivy is always seeking out new music to share with blues, lindy, fusion, and west coast swing communities. She loves Texas Blues, contemporary blues, fusion, cheesy pop, and soul. Ivy helps to run Tuesday Blues and Thursday Night Swing in Portland, OR. Ivy first gained DJ experience as a goth, punk and industrial DJ from 1993 - 1997 for KSJS 90.7FM in California. When she's not DJing or dancing, Ivy is a bankruptcy and tax attorney.

Megan Repar (Houston, TX and Portland, OR)

When Megan began blues dancing in early 2008, she was already a big fan of the music. It wasn't altogether surprising when, a short while later, she started paying more attention to the music in her collection, and rating songs on danceability. A year after she started dancing, she was DJing house parties and loving it!

Chris Mayer (Austin, TX)

Chris likes to play music that not just moves your feet, but opens your creativity. He uses his musically trained ear to hunt down songs that have great instrumentation, drive, and style; and he uses his heart to find powerful vocals, lyrics, and sounds. He's been spinning at house parties for years, but he can be found now sharing his love of Blues at Kick Butt Blues in Austin, TX.

Chris & Campbell at BluesSHOUT! 2010

Emiliano Estevez (Philadelphia, PA)

Emiliano figured out quickly that he is driven by music with heart and soul and it must have groove. Music has to have a certain groove or feeling to feel good to play. Musical tastes include vintage to pop and everything in between. With the discovery of House music and all of the flavors contained in House music, it quickly led to the love of fusion.

Parisa Z. (New York, NY)

Parisa started dancing hip hop and salsa in 2000. But she couldn't stop there. She had to learn any and every dance available to her. In 2002, her quest for the dance of her soul ended--and her affair with tango began. Several dance forms, as well as tai chi and aerials, have inspired the way she moves and grooves on the floor. She believes that tango is a conversation and loves adding her own (slightly feisty, slightly sassy) voice to the mix.

Parisa and Ted perform Tango at The University Club

Jae Myong Wilson (Portland, OR)

Jae started as a Westie in D.C. in 2006 around the same time he started Lindy in college in Rochester, N.Y. When he wasn't in the mood for Al Greene, Bill Withers, Benny Goodman or Count Basie, he would hit the clubs for some Missy E, or Ying-Yang Twins. Although hearing Koko Taylor sing about how she's going to "romp and tromp till midnight" never fails to bring a smile of unadulterated glee to his face, nothing sets his creative spirit free like dancing to mash-ups of rap, hip hop and funk.

Lessa Jay Lamb (Seattle, WA)

Lessa started DJing at house parties way back when, and then was groomed as a "real DJ" at events across the country. She is most at home in the down-tempo and more contemporary music styles, but tries to express her idea of balance between old and new, fast and slow, groovy and just downright kick-your-ass. Her one true goal in D.J.-life is to make it categorically impossible for you to sit still while she is on the boards.

PFX 2009 - Lucky Skillen and Lessa Thieme Demo

PFX 2009 - Ben Long and Lessa Thieme

Josh Keroes (Portland, OR)

Joshua Keroes has been DJing for more years than he can remember. He's been a regular DJ at Portland's Tuesday Blues since the start, in every single venue. He's also a regular DJ at Portland's new alt-blues venue, Barefoot Blues. Joshua plays deep, dark, heart-wrenching blues, the kind you wanna sink your teeth into, rend asunder and devour; the kind that turns tofu-eaters to cannibalism. Joshua also plays chill, spare, lean blues, the kind you wanna quietly consider with someone else in a dark place out-of-sight. Joshua also plays things besides blues but you have to bribe him with happy good-time whiskey for that.

Whitton Frank (Los Angeles, CA)

Whitton learned Lindy and blues dancing while at college in Pittsburgh, PA. She got her first chance to DJ a blues event at Saturday Late Night Blues, which was hosted by Shawn Coyle. It has been her goal to bring a little bit of the "Pittsburgh Dirty Blues" to California. She has DJed many events in Pittsburgh including End of the Month Blues and Saturday Late Night Blues. She moved to Los Angeles 2 years ago and currently DJs at various venues in and around Los Angeles. You can catch her at DoSomethingBlue on the last Friday of every month. She has also DJed at The Juke, Blue Bella, and is a recurring guest DJ at SoulNBlues.

Blues Dancing in Sherman Oaks

Greg Avakian (Philadelphia, PA)

Greg Avakian is a popular DJ. He has played for dancers at exchanges, competitions, and other Swing and Blues events across the USA, in Canada and Europe. He has been the DJ coordinator at various events including the American Lindy Hop Championships. Greg's DJ style mixes classic swing with very groovy blues and other sweet & funky stuff. A fan of both struttin' vintage music a la New Orleans and sizzling south Chicago sexiness, Greg looks to the dancers -and what they like- in his quest to drive the floor into playful frenzy. Greg and his partner, Laurie Zimmerman have been teaching and dancing together for over 10 years. They specialize in Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, and Blues Dancing. They also teach the 35-person Lindy troupe "The West Philly swingers" who won first place in the 2009 Collegiate Team Division of ALHC.

Derrick Dingman (Portland, OR)

Derrick started DJing blues in late 2007. His first set consisted of three songs at a house party. He has since grown as a DJ pulling inspiration and guidance from other DJ's in the Portland dance scene. He has perfected his style and continues to further his variety of music. He is a reoccurring DJ at Tuesday Blues and Barefoot Blues. He also coordinates DJ's for Barefoot Blues, and has put on special events such as DJ battles. He someday aspires to be a national DJ. SDFX was the first exchange Derrick had DJ for. He played a 1 hour "funkafied blues" set which received a score of 4.5 out of 5.

Magen Dean (Portland, OR)

Magen started with east coast swing back in 2006, did a little lindy, but really started dancing in 2007 when she discovered the wonderful world of blues. Shortly thereafter she fell in love with fusion and alternative blues (and Portland) after attending the Portland Fusion Exchange. Dancing is her passion, top priority, first love. She enjoys DJing fusion and alternative blues music because it is what really motivates her imagination for new movement. Magen has DJed for many house parties, Aspen Blues Recess, PDX underground and Tuesday Blues in Portland.

Keenan Kriegel (Portland, OR)

Keenan's love of music started from a young age banging pots and pans, then as a drummer before finding his love of sound engineering in High School. A few years back he jumped into swing and a bit of ballroom dancing before falling for west coast swing and blues dancing. Even though he enjoys a broad range of music, it would be more accurate to say that he enjoys a broad range of emotion. He listens to music when he's working. He want to FEEL music when he's DANCING. To this end, he likes rock, blues, techno, mash-ups, pop, and R&B depending on the vibe of the room. While he has DJed many events in Oregon, the Boston Fusion Exchange will be his first National Event and he is excited to inspire others.

You will know Keenan's DJing, because you'll hear people saying things like, "I never thought of dancing to this! This is awesome!", or "I've never heard this before, but I love it!", or even, "I haven't heard this in...forever! Let's Dance!" This is why Keenan is usually seen grinning from ear to ear while he DJs.

Emil Chuck (Fairfax, VA)

He was an aspiring ballroom DJ who was unfortunately disgraced when – in a fit of desperation to spark excitement in the crowd – he began playing "bad music" during the 10-dance finals of the Australian Ballroom Championships (starting with "I'm Not a F**king Drag Queen" by Peter Outerbridge). An itinerant DJ, he had an unusual following of groupies who were entertained by the variety of music he played at various salsa, swing, ballroom, and tango events; unfortunately, none of those groupies included the studio owners who insisted he play "good music". The crash of 2007-2009 resulted in a liquidation of all his DJ equipment, leaving him with just his 1990-purchased Sony walkman cassette-player and his master recordings of a planned Lady Gaga Christmas album ("Gaga Fa La La").

Homer & Cristina Ladas (San Francisco, CA)

Homer enjoys DJing both traditional (Golden Age) tangos, valses, and milongas, as well as alternative (alt) music for tango dancers. His first major alt dj act was to put 50 CDs (including assorted classic tangos, alternative songs and the 'Last of the Mohicans' sound track) into a player and press the random button. People loved it, but that was 1999. On July 9th, 2003, he pumped out the first 'less than perfect' DJ mixes for the weekly 'CELLspace alternative Milonga' in SF. But again, folks were happy to have a venue where two worlds collided.

Today, Homer continues to apply & develop his DJ skills at-large, both locally and abroad. Since his first major alt DJ gig in 1999, his focus has been to find the right balance, while making smooth transitions, between music from the Golden Age and the music that lies beyond...

Here's a link to a recent tango DJ workshop Homer presented in Perth:
http://tangostudent.blogspot.com/2010/11/homer-cristinas-tango-dj-workshop.html

Khrysti Smyth (Boston, MA)

Khrysti loves anything with a lot of rhythm and intensity, as exemplified by her DJ mantra: "Don't play anything that isn't AWESOME." She started lindy hopping and bellydancing in college (in TX, c. 1998), and was indoctrinated into the glory of the blues upon moving to St. Louis in 2004. The next year she began DJing house parties and local dances and has striven to keep peoples' butts groovin' ever since.

Suzanne Sluizer (Albuquerque, NM)

Suzanne first began to DJ as an FM radio "rock jock" in
Illinois longer ago than she cares to remember, and she
now calls Albuquerque home. Her musical tastes are
eclectic, and she spins a variety of styles for her sets.
She especially enjoys spinning blues fusion sets, but
also spins straight blues sets as well as "rockin' and
swingin' the blues" sets.

Stephen Jackson (San Antonio, TX)

From 1998 to 2007 Stephen experienced the swing world vicariously through his sister Jojo. When he suddenly realized that he enjoyed Lindy on his own, he gained a hobby. When invited to his first blues house party, he gained a passion. Armed with a creative and conversational blues style, Stephen began to scout the musical landscape for new territory to conquer in the name of the Fusion Empire. His experimental taste ranging from hip hop to quirky pop to graceful ballroom is best described in the immortal words of Marty McFly: "Alright, guys. This is a blues riff in "B'. Watch me for the changes and, uh, try to keep up." Since becoming an addict he has both danced and DJed at venues, houses, parks, gas stations, bus stops, and crowded freeways across America.

John Vigil (Albuquerque, NM)

John is extremely passionate about dancing and listening to music, whether it's seeing The Cure live -15- times, randomly dancing in a grocery aisle simply because MJ's "Rock With You" is playing over the loudspeakers, or dancing almost every night in London and Barcelona (when he should be sight-seeing!). Because of this passion, it has allowed him to continuously experience many different types of music and artists, and just as important, recognize what people enjoy dancing to.
His thirst for dancing started in the early 90s as he frequented clubs that played goth, industrial, 'alternative', 80s, hip/hop, R&B, and techno, and later added house, punk, trip hop, drum'n'bass, and indie to the list of music that he danced to. This ultimately led to getting into Latin dancing, and more recently, Lindy, Blues, West Coast, and Tango. Since he dance about 5-7 times a week- to all different flavors of music- you can imagine the SHEER delight when he discovered the Fusion Exchange!

Adin Van Duyne (Fort Collins, CO)

Adin learned to dance and got his start as a DJ in Lawrence, KS back in 2002. After briefly living, dancing, teaching, and DJing in Memphis, TN, he found his home out in Ft Collins, CO. Ever since, he has been an integral part of the local scene, teaching, DJing, and running a weekly dance. He has had the privilege to DJ for such
wonderful events as Lindy Diversion, the Albuquerque Lindy Exchange, the Denver Lindy Exchange, Mile High Blues, the Aspen Blues Recess, and Blues Fever. Adin DJs regularly at the local venues as well as occasionally at a number of Denver venues. Music has always been a passion for Adin and as a DJ he loves nothing more than to find songs that inspire people to dance, even if they wouldn't initially think of it as "dance music."

Allyson Rice (Los Angeles, CA)

Allyson's love of blue music led her to DJing dances and parties at Northwestern University, while living in Chicago (back in the day). But after many years away from it, where her eclectic music sets were primarily played during the 10 years of group retreats she's been running through her business, The Total Human, it was discovering The Fusion Exchange that inspired her to jump back into the DJing world. Her sets can now be heard at different blues dance venues and private parties around the Los Angeles area. When not sitting in the dark playing music for people, or running retreats, Allyson designs her one-of-a-kind jewelry line called Spiritual Bling®, has created coloring books for grown-up women called "The Color Of Joy" and "Dancing With Life"; and before that, spent many years as an actress/dancer on stage and in television, including 7 years as Connor on "As The World Turns". A random series of unrelated career moves? Or just a perfect example of living Fusion...

Patrick Warren (Austin, TX)

Patrick began dancing in 2002 after being dragged kicking and screaming to a Swing class. He was instantly hooked. Introduced to Blues dancing in 2004, Patrick began attending several Blues weekends. After taking Blues musicality through a Jerry & Kathy class at Cheap Thrills, he became hooked on music. He began collecting a wide variety of music that he felt was ideal for Swing and Blues dancing. The next logical step was for Patrick to begin sharing his music with others.

Patrick has DJed Blues and Lindy at several national events including Blues Rising, Enter the Blues, Austin Blues Party, Austin Lindy Exchange, San Francisco Lindy Exchange, CBUS, Do Something Blue, From Montreal with Love, and the San Diego and Portland Fusion Exchanges.

David Chandler (College Station, TX)

From his first hit on the floor of a College Station house party, David has been living, breathing, dreaming and tripping on fusion. And to share his sweet sweet addiction, he takes dancers with him down the rabbit hole he digs with music that inspires altered states of movement and a high from the bottle labeled "Dance Me".

Justin Riley (Lawrence, KS)

Justin has been dancing, DJing, and instructing for over seven years and continually strives to find new music that stretches the musical styles and aesthetics of both his fellow dancers and himself. For the majority of the past six years Justin has lived, traveled, and danced in such places as Buenos Aires, Cuba, Morocco, Italy, and India, bringing international influences to both his dancing and DJing styles. Most recently his musical tastes have moved to down-tempo trip-hop, world electronica, DJ remixes of old blues and jazz classics, Tango Electronica, New Delhi Wave DJs, and music which can only be properly classified as Lyrical. He specifically picks music that inspires the dancer not only rhythmically and musically, but emotionally as well.

Kayce Spear (Portland, OR)

Kayce is as fickle about her blues as she is about her peanut butter - sometimes she likes it chunky, sometimes smooth. Either way, though, she likes blues with a bit of distortion and a lot of depth. She digs a long, sexy harmonica solo and piano players with some oomph and quick fingers. When Kayce isn't dancing or djing in Portland, she's getting paid to stare at Mt. Hood and think about wind mills (...and their transmission of power).

Gideon Syfrett (Portland, OR)

Gideon has been dancing for the past 10 years, dabbling in swing, ballroom and blues. Blues has been his passion for the past three years, leading him to both teach and DJ for Portland's weekly blues dance venue, Tuesday Blues. Professing a weakness for classic blues, some of his favorites include artists such as James Cotton and Elmore James.