TINA "Diva" DAVIS - Dallas, TX

Tina started doing the DJ thang in 2003 in the great state of Florida. She now calls Dallas, Texas her home, after a 3 year stint in Austin.

No matter if it’s Blues, Swing, Soul or the occasional West Coast Swing set is moved to spin the music that moves folks to the dance floor. A song’s gotta have a little “ass” to make her set list.

In addition to being a featured DJ at dance exchanges and workshops across the U.S. and Canada, Tina has also taught Lindy and Blues dancing since 2007.

JERRY "Where's My Gravy" WARWICK - Dallas, TX
Jerry Warwick proudly claims the title of the Original Dallas Blues DJ, though he now shares his city with several other national Blues DJs. His love and passion for the music and the dance are evident in his sets. He manages to keep the music solid and entertaining, plus has been known to throw a few curve balls into his sets.

Jerry has DJ’d around the country to great reviews and thoroughly loves playing his music for you, the dancers. He returns to DJ at Dirt Cheap for the third year and is looking forward to another successful event.

GREG "Harlem" AVAKIAN - Philadelphia, PA
Greg has been teaching swing since 1992. He and his partner, Laurie Zimmerman have been dancing together for over 9 years. They specialize in Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, and Blues Dancing. In addition, Greg is a popular DJ, having spun music for dancers at exchanges, competitions, and other events across the USA, in Canada and Europe. Greg has also been the DJ Coordinator for the American Lindy Hop Championships.

Greg's style of Blues mixes very groovy/jazzy blues and other sweet & funky stuff. His basic philosophy is that a song must either have some ass-swaying breathless sexiness or some humor - or it ain't good Blues Dancing music.

Locally, Greg & Laurie teach at 3 different locations, host Philadelphia's Kaffa Cafe Blues dances and Greg is the house DJ at Philadelphia's most popular weekly dance: Lindy and Blues (LaB).

JOY "-ful" ARICO - New York, NY
Joy has been dancing her whole life. She started training with cheerleading from the age of nine yrs old to nineteen years old (dancer gone retarded!). At fifteen, Joy was coaching and assisting with choreography. From 1995 to 1996 during her college years at BYU, she sought out partner dancing with Country Swing and Two-Step. In 1998, she was introduced to Lindyhop and the true love affair with partner dances began. One year later, at a house party in Rochester NY, she met the blues and the relationship was forever established.

Today, despite her only 2 years in West Coast Swing, Joy is often admired for her "westie" styling in blues. She currently teaches private lessons and small group sessions in blues and lindy. She has introduced blues dancing to many NYC dancers at the bi-weekly blues dance parties run by JookJoint Shimmy Blues where she teaches regularly.

BRYAN "BluesAddict" SPELLMAN - Denver, CO
Bryan keeps his secrets and keeps them well: But we found out that he has a secret career as a mad scientist, finding inspiration in Doctor Horrible. And only a mere handful know of his training in the bunny martial arts. No one -still alive- knows of his dark years pirating the seven seas. Once secret, he hasn't kept well hidden, is his love for dancing.

Blues stole his heart at his first real blues class during Cheap Thrills 2006, opening the road for traveling, teaching, competing, and DJing from coast to cost. In his free time, he runs such events as Blues Boot Camp, and enjoys a day job in the aerospace world.

The inhabitants of Virginia Beach hold a special place in his heart. He plans to spin a variety of styles, feeling the vibe of the dancers and taking his listeners on a journey. His goal is to play a set that keeps you happily on the dance floor, challenging you to play with the music, making sure you're having a great time.

JEFF "Mojo" MILLER - Virginia Beach, VA
Originally from Chicago, Jeff grew up playing the sounds of Glenn Miller, Dave Brubeck, and Louis Jorda, who knew decades later he'd be dancing to the same songs. With Chicago Blues still in his heart and a closet Blues Harp player, he easily got hooked into Blues Dance after his first exchange's late night blues room and all went to Hell after that.

He got roped into DJing back in '03 and has been the house Dj at local and special events. He continues to "Keep You In The Blues" all across the country at workshops, exchanges, house parties and wherever music is to be played from NY to FL to TX to Vegas. Who knows where else? His lack of sleep helps him keep his his library growing by finding right songs to keep your butt on the dance floor and out of the chair. He'll find your oh-so-sweet faves, plus his famous curveball songs that make you say "What the hell is this? OOh yeah, let's dance!"

HETHER "LadyBlues" SAMUELS - New York City, NY
LadyBlues is Hether's blues alias which she has used since she started organizing blues house parties around NYC. After being disgusted with herself for complaining about music she decided to put her money where her mouth was. And with that, about five or so years ago, Hether began buying music and DJing at the blues parties. Hether currently organizes blues events in NYC through JookJoint Shimmy Blues. She frequently deejays JookJoint Shimmy's bi-weekly blues dances and some out of town dances.

Hether believes that like the dancer, the blues DJ needs to be connected to the music. She loves to see the crinching and contortions in facial expressions when music lovers really feel the music. Then, she knows they get it. She loves to see it in the blues dancers as they create cheoreography on the dance floor.

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 Blues music. He began collecting a wide variety of music that he felt was ideal for Blues dancing, with an emphasis on smooth, sultry Blues. The next logical step was for Patrick to begin sharing his music with others.

So be sure to ask him to dance, and don't be afraid of his groove - he's harmless.

...maybe.

DAVE "HotSauce" WARNER - Durham, NC
Having entertained a worldwide audience from his living room with his music selections on the Dave's Lounge podcast (www.daveslounge.com), he has taken his musical knowledge into the blues dance community, where he's building a reputation as one of the Triangle area's top blues DJs, and as someone who finds great danceable blues tunes where other DJs don't think to look.

Dave has been swing dancing for more than a decade. He has entertained the blues troops with his enrgetic dnacing and oh-so awesome tunes.

JOELLE "Moving To Spain" ANDREWS - Durham, NC
She began her dancing career quite accidentally. Hip hop, ballroom, salsa and Argentine tango later, she found Lindy Hop. In 2006, she was introduced to Blues Dancing and has been bluesing since. She loves the connection based partnering, and of course the music.

Joelle is a co-founder of, as well as organizer and DJ with, the Raleigh Durham Blues Dancers. She has attended many national blues workshop weekends and exchanges, including Austin Blues Party, Blues Muse and Enter the Blues. When DJing, Joelle enjoys playing all styles of blues, but gives special preference to classic female vocalists, double entendre lyrics, and her own special blend of modern-indie-gone-bluesy.

KATY "JelloFairy" LARSON - Virginia Beach, VA
Katy a.k.a. "The Jello Fairy" has been dancing since 2004 when she started with Lindy Hop and never looked back. She got her start DJing with the Connecticut Swing Dance Society (CSDS) back in 2006 and has not stopped since! She has DJed Lindy, Blues, and West Coast Swing at local dances in CT and Virginia including for CSDS, Swing Shoes, and West Coast Groove in Connecticut, and at Rumba, the Attucks, and Lindy Riot in Virginia.

She also has DJed at events such as VBLX 2007 and 2008, CTLX 2007, the DCBX 2006, and the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster Blues Bomb Beach Weekend 2006. Katy is always looking to find the right mix of music to keep people dancing, often into the night and on till dawn!

ALEX PAPIS - Virginia Beach, VA
She has been a dancer for several years and has danced all over Florida, New Orleans, Memphis, and Virginia Beach. She has DJed in Tampa, Orlando, and Gainesville multiple times. She moved to Virginia Beach in December of 2009 from Dunedin, FL (which is near Tampa) She has been inspired by many fabulous DJs such as J Wardell, Keith Johnson, Forrest Outman and Matt Kelsey.

She really just likes to make people feel good and happy and wanting to dance. And with her contagious smile and laughter, she is a true joy to dance with. She also likes to step out of the box and play songs that people would never think of to play, but love to dance to.

CHRIS "Spatz" " CRAWFORD - Charlottesville, VA
Chris endeavors to share the historic sounds that continue to move people just as they did in our treasured past. He displays music that shows the evolution from the big band era to the sounds of today. His goal is to blur the lines between old school and new school tunes and use the common ground to build a dance floor experience that transcends the boundaries of time.

You can expect Chris to play contemporary artists such as Maroon 5 and Tracy Chapman, blues infused swing artists, such as the Puppini Sisters and Room Full of Blues, as well as the straight up undeniable blues sounds of artists like Norah Jones and Marcia Ball. Perhaps you will even hear a touch of Asylum Street Spankers, and of course, no blues room would be complete without Muddy Waters.

EMIL CHUCK - WASHINGTON DC
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-ing 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”).