I don’t blog that much about my favorite dance “The Lindy Hop“, but for today’s post I want to share with you an event that is close to my heart-ULHS…The Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown in New Orleans. And why today? Well this weekend marks the very last time this event will run, as the organizer is hanging up her hat (after 14 years) and letting it become a slightly different event called the New Orleans Swing Dance Festival.
What was ULHS? Well simply, it was a weekend in New Orleans (birthplace of Jazz) that featured Lindy Hop Dance competitions, Live New Orleans music, jazz club dance crawls, Second Line Parades, cool vintage buildings for dance venues and so much dancing! It was pure magic and one of the best events I have every attended.
Check out this AMAZING Video created for its 10th Anniversary that features outstanding Lindy Hop and takes you from its original start in Minneapolis to its final stop in New Orleans (seriously..watch this video).
Now for today’s blog I wanted to fill it up with pictures and some videos of the weekends I attended (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012) to create one big I LOVE ULHS post.
Let’s Begin…
New Orleans
The Saint Louis Cathedral is the oldest Cathedral in North America, founded as a Catholic Parish in 1720 along the Banks of the Mississippi River in New Orleans.
My friends and I outside of Anne Rices Old House (I think it was lol).
We ate at so many yummy restaurants, like our favorite Coop’s. IT’S THE BEST PLACE TO EAT IN NEW ORLEANS!
And another favorite of ours “Yo Mama’s” even at one point had a very interestingly placed pole in their dining room (it sadly is behind a wall now).
The Music and Second Line Parades
d.ba. was a sweet place to listen and dance to music. They had a great selection of beers as well. -Washboard Chazz-
Second line parade through the french quarter.
The Lindy Hop Competitions & the Dancing
The dancing at night was in venues, but the Lindy Hop was still jumping!
Solo Jazz Competition featuring my friend Nancy Hitzig (front and center).
Lindy Hop at Louis Armstrong Park.
Liz aka ‘The Vintage Inn Blog’ doing her own bit of Lindy Hop at the night dances.
In 2009 at my first ULHS I was able to dance in the WW2 museum in the city. Simply..Amazing.
The Fun-Ohhh the fun! I was lucky that every time I went to this event, many of my Swing Dancing friends were attending as well so it always turned into a good party. Here a collection of some of those images.
New Orleans is always a party and you just never know who might grab you to dance (like this guy with me).
More pictures of all the Canadian Lindy Hoppers at the dance (My husband and I are in the background).
We even were able to dance on a historic Paddlewheeler-The Creole Queen one year.
My husband always manages to get in all the photos with the pretty ladies haha 🙂
My turn with all the handsome men…man…and ummm…..
Love this photo. Taking a break at a super outdoor market on Frenchmen street with a dear friend.
I’m going to end my post with a video from one of the late night dances on Bourbon Street in 2009. The band is the fantastic Loose Marbles at the bar Fritzels.
Thanks for the fun Amy Johnson and Team!
Question Time: Have you been to New Orleans? Or maybe you attended ULHS yourself and if so how was your experience?
FURTHER READING: Collection of Vintage Blog Posts on Swing Dance & The Big Band Era
Liz 🙂