We thrilled to announce that Julia Loving is joining the board of directors of the Frankie Manning Foundation! This is in addition to her new leadership role for the new Lindy Hoppers of the African Diaspora Fund.
Julia Loving for the past 27 years has been a Teacher of Africana History and School Media Specialist in the New York City public schools. Her Lindy hop training began under the tutelage of Samuel Coleman in Harlem back in 2013. Her interest in Lindy Hop grew out of her watching the elders dance while attending outdoor community dance events in Harlem and attending MidSummer Night Swing as a teenager. She is co-founder of SwingWithUsNYC.com which organizes dance events in NYC, specifically in Harlem. She was honored to host the Frankie Manning 105/Norma Miller Dance Tribute in May of 2019. She has taught introductory level lindy hop to adults at the Marcus Garvey Center in Harlem as well as to her middle/high school students attending her after school program From Lindy Hop to Hip Hop. She prides herself as being an older and plus size Lindy Hopper in her blog biggirlslindyhoptoo.blogspot.com which encourages swing dancing free from stigma. She dances socially throughout New York City. She competes in various competitions always happy to note that she has won 3rd place at Lincoln Center’s MidSummer Night Swing and 2nd Alhambra Ballroom Jazz Vespers competition with her then 15 year old dance partner Brandon Barker laughingly “stating age is nothing but a number”. She is an avid supporter of swing dancing by weekly social dances in NYC. She loves to galvanize her Harlem Lindy Family and Swingout Group members to attend social dance through text and email. She travels outside of New York City to support the lindy, blues and balboa communities in other states. She is the creator of LuckyLindysNYC undergarments for dancers and yoga enthusiasts which has become a hit with many in the swing dance community. Ultimately, Julia says she is “a jazz lover that shares the African American experience through dance.”
Welcome, Julia!