Hop to the Beat Dance Studio was established in 1995 by Tony and Aurelie Tye and is based in the Boston, Massachusetts, USA area. It specializes in Lindy Hop (the original form of Swing and Jitterbug partner dancing) by providing dance classes, performances, dances, workshops and annual Beantown Lindy Hop Camp and Northeast Lindy Hop Championship. Other dance styles include Balboa, Collegiate Shag, St. Louis Shag, Blues, Authentic Jazz, '50s Rock 'n' Roll, Jitterbug, Charleston, Black Bottom and Big Apple. Regular classes are also offered in Hip Hop, the kind of dancing often seen in today's music videos. Hop to the Beat Dancers

Hop to the Beat Dancers

Hop to the Beat Dancers have appeared at events for the Ecotarium, Improper Bostonian, YPO International, Mix 98.5 Mixfest, Tower Hill Botanic Gardens, the Mt. Washington Hotel, GE Capital Management, Hyatt Hotels, Re/Max, Nieman-Marcus, Dance Umbrella, Dance Complex, Boston Theatre Works, Newton's Arts in the Parks, Muscular Dystrophy Association, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, United Way and many others.

Tony & Aurelie Tye

Tony and Aurelie run Hop to the Beat Dance Studio full time, teaching, performing and promoting events. They met as beginner dancers in Boston in 1990 and first experienced Lindy Hop while attending a week long dance camp featuring Steven Mitchell. Once hooked, they soon began to travel both nationally and abroad to take classes with the top international Lindy Hoppers. In 1993 they began to bring some of these world class instructors to New England. This led to the International Lindy Hop Workshop Series, holding two to three weekend workshops each year.

Tony and Aurelie initially started teaching in 1994 in Providence, Rhode Island where they held Lindy Hop classes for two years. In 1995, wanting to share their passion with others, and with Steven's urging, they established Hop to the Beat Dance Studio and began teaching in the Boston area, offering a full range of Lindy Hop classes. In 1997, along with Ivan and Elisabet Berggren of Sweden, they held their first annual Beantown Lindy Hop Camp, the first week long dance camp in the U.S. devoted to Lindy Hop which has become a major international event.

Besides their own classes, Tony and Aurelie have also taught ongoing weekly classes for Wheaton College Swing Club in Norton, MA. Regular classes with Tony and Aurelie have also been held in Mystic and Hartford, CT, Amherst, MA and at several local universities and high schools. They were instructors at Augusta Camp's Blues and Swing Week in West Virginia and at Ryan and Jenny's Camp Savoy in England. In addition, they have also taught at workshops and dance weekends throughout the East Coast from Maine to Florida. Weekends have included the American Lindy Hop Championships, North Atlantic Dance Championships, Virginia State Open Swing Championships, Swing Fling, New Year's Weekend Dance Extravaganza, The Boston Tea Party, Frankie Mania! and the FAC Oktoberfest. Aurelie has also had the incredible pleasure of assisting in weekend workshops with some of the world's best, including Steven Mitchell, Warren Heyes of the Jiving Lindy Hoppers, Eddie Janssen of the Rhythm Hot Shots and the legendary King of Swing, Frankie Manning.

While performing with The Kamikaze Jitterbugs, Tony and Aurelie toured in Asia with the Artie Shaw Orchestra and appeared with the Boston Pops Orchestra in a nationally-televised 4^th of July Esplanade Concert. At the 1994 American Swing Dance Championships they were members of the winning team. They have been featured twice in Chronicle, a Massachusetts based TV program, have made numerous cable TV appearances, and were the instructors for the Friday Swing Night at the Roxy in Boston during its one year run, one of the largest Swing venues in the country.

C. Calloway Brooks & Hop to the Beat Dancers

Tony and Aurelie and their Hop to the Beat Dancers have been featured at benefits, concerts, outdoor fairs, corporate functions, dances, weddings and private parties. Some of the bands they have danced with include Casey MacGill and the Blue Four, The Cab Calloway Orchestra, Artie Shaw Orchestra, White Heat Swing Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Girls from Mars, Winiker Swing Orchestra, Bellevue Cadillac, Royal Crown Revue, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Eight to the Bar, Blues Jumpers, Four Piece Suit and the Blue Suede Boppers.

Shows in which they have appeared include Ryan & Jenny's Camp Savoy Cabaret in Guildford, England, DanceTime's Winter Xtravaganza at Bedford High School in Bedford, Elvis-Loving You at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, Tap Dance By Design, A Musical Revue at The Garden Arts Center in New London, CT, and Stage Door Canteen—1940's USO Show at the IBEW Hall in Waltham.

David Liberge

David has been a Hip Hop instructor with Hop to the Beat Dance Studio since 2001 and currently teachers ongoing adult classes in Cambridge, Worcester and Auburn, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. He is an accomplished Hip Hop dancer and was a member of the Street Hop team whose Hip Hop Lindy routine won the Cabaret Division of the 1999 American Lindy Hop Championships. This past summer David choreographed the dance moves for Troy Brown of the Patriots for a Dunkin' Donuts commercial and has also choreographed and performed a group Hip Hop routine for the Somerville Arts Theatre Festival. David has been interviewed and filmed for the nationally broadcasted show Hip Hop Nation. David has also taught Hip Hop classes for children and teens at various dance studios throughout eastern Massachusetts. Besides Hip Hop, David is a Lindy Hop dancer, having taken his first classes with Hop to the Beat in 1997. He is a member of the Hop to the Beat Dancers as well as an instructor.