Michael Gamble
(Asheville, NC) Michael is a world-renowned swing DJ who has been of doing his thing for events large and small for the better part of 10 years. He has played for countless exchanges and workshops in over 35 US cities, including the Rhythmic Arts Festival, the International Lindy Hop Championships, Stompology, Lone Star Championships, and many others. He has had the pleasure of being an ongoing head DJ for Beantown Lindy Hop Camp and European Swing Dance Championships, and is the competition music coordinator and a head organizer for Lindy Focus.
Michael believes in playing music that was created with swing dancing in mind. Depending on the event, that can include a wide range of music from the bouncy two-beat of early jazz and Charleston music, to hard swinging-out music from the mid- and late-30′s big bands, to the more boogie, bop, and modern-twinged combos of the late 40′s and early 50′s. Contemporary “trad-jazz” and New Orleans musicians are not to be neglected, though, and he takes some time within each set to acknowledge the efforts of the many amazing living musicians of today.
Overall, Michael relishes in the unlimited joy and energy of all styles of swing music, and looks forward to sharing that enthusiasm with the dancers he meets at each swing event.
Mary Freitag
(Orange County) The only dance experience Mary had as a child was when she attended a month long after-school ballet program that culminated with a performance with her in a giant, stuffed dinosaur suit. Ten years later, she took her first swing dance lesson at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, was hooked, and couldn’t stop dancing everywhere she went! She took every dance class she could: Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Salsa, and even Hip Hop to help her become a better dancer. Hungry for more, she sought out all the information she could on swing dancing. Mary found herself spending countless hours studying video clips of Lindy Hop, Charleston and Balboa. Watching and learning through osmoses she fell in love with the American tradition of vintage swing dance.
Determined to excel in the world of dance, she moved back to OC, the best swing scene in the world, to seek help from the dancers she so admired. With her heart full of passion and humility she took all the classes she could and quickly raised to a rank of notoriety amongst her fellow dancers. Portraying the timeless look of swing and adding her very own flare to the dance is fast becoming her trademark with placements in contests such as the International Lindy Hop Championships, Camp Jitterbug and the American Classic Balboa Championships.
She now spends most of her time at Atomic Ballroom where she teaches and practices as hard as ever as she continues her never ending search for self improvement through dancing. She finds such deep and lasting joy in dancing to swing music, and wants to share that joy with as many people as she can!
Ed Morales
(Saint Paul, MN) Ed got his start as a DJ on WRNC-FM in Ashland, Wisconsin, where he worked DJ and station manager from 2005-2011, hosting a variety of music and public affairs programs. He refocused his musical efforts on the dance scene in 2011, debuting at SolFest in Northfield, MN, and since then has become one of the most sought-after DJs in the Twin Cities, spinning for several Midwest Lindy Fest Productions events, joining the rotating DJ staff at Rhythm Junction in Minneapolis, and representing at several other regular and special dance events around the Twin Cities.
Ed loves tracking down scratchy seventy year-old songs for dancers, and has a big space in his heart for traditional Black gospel, jump blues, the jankiest New Orleans jazz and Motown soul. Plus, you know, the more hand-claps, the better.
