Swing Dance Instruction & Event Production
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
home
Melissa Varriano, more notably know to all as Mel, was introduced to the wonderful world of Lindy Hop in the Fall of 1998 while residing in San Diego, CA. Since that day she has dedicated herself to traveling all over the United States and Europe, taking workshops from numerous talented instructors, teaching classes in several locations, competing at various events, organizing local events, and dancing the nights away whenever possible.
Organization:
Mel co-organized her first exchange in the spring of 2000, Swing Break San Diego, and found a passion for event organization which lead the way to the next SD exchange, the 2001/02 San Diego New Years Exchange. In 2002, she co-founded her first business LindyDreams.com and organized various workshops and events in San Diego, including the 2003 exchange: The Lindy Prom. Her most recent invention, Melindy Productions, is where she organized SDLX 2005 and plans to continue to merge her passion for both Lindy Hop and event organization. Mel relocated to St. Paul on July 1, 2007 and is excited to continue to share her passion for muisc and dance.
Competitions:
Here is a list of a few of the competitions Mel has placed in throughout her Lindy career...
2002 North Atlantic Dance Championships:
1st place - Just Dance Lindy
with Chance Bushman
2002 Boogie by the Bay:
5th place - Strictly Lindy
with Brien Brown
2002 American Lindy Hop Championships:
3rd place - Classics
with Chance Bushman
3rd place - Champions Strictly Lindy
with Kevin St. Laurent
3rd place - Champions Jack & Jill
with Justin Zillman
2003 New York Lindy Hop Open:
3rd place - Slow Lindy
with Chance Bushman
3rd place - Invitational Jack & Jill
with Matt Bedell
On October 23, 2003, Mel injured her knee and had ACL reconstructive surgery along with orthroscopic surgery on her Meniscus. She has since fully recovered and is back in the world of dancing, traveling, and teaching.
DJ:
DJing is a passion Mel found one day when a popular local San Diego venue, Lindy by the Bay, needed some tunes played. Since then, she has dj'd at many regular SD venues, national venues, and was a regular DJ at LindyGroove in Pasadena. For more info on DJing, visit the page DJ MEL.
