About Us



Julie Shurtliff

Julie started swing dancing in 1996 while in high school. Her dance education began at an Author Murray Studio in Scottsdale, AZ. After graduating from high school Julie moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University. There she was placed on their performance swing team. It was there that she learned how to choreograph and perform. Those experiences pushed Julie into the competitive swing world. She has attended Camp Hollywood, American Lindy Hop Championships, the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown, and many other nationally and world known camps and competitions. Julie has placed in the top 10 for follows in many of these competitions.

Julie has Dj’ed in the Utah area for four plus years. She started Dj’ing when she was BYU’s Swing Club President in 2002. Since then she has Dj’ed at local events such as: The Utah Invitational, UofU Swing Club, and The Utah Lindy Exchange. Julie DJ’s regularly at her local venue, The Golden Skillet. Her music preferences range from the old classics like Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw to present day bands like The Boilermakers and New Deal Swing. Her music choice is usually up tempo and has Charleston influences.



Shane Shurtliff

Shane was introduced to country dancing in 1998, but was never fully satisfied with the country style. He discovered Lindy Hop swing in the year 2000, and never looked back. He began teaching swing dance at Utah State University in 2002, where he directed the beginner performance team for two years while dancing on the main performance team. After taking his first private lessons in 2004, he began traveling to various events taking private lessons from many of the top lindy hop instructors.

Julie and Shane became dance partners in 2004. They currently run a weekly dance called The Golden Skillet in Sandy, UT, coach a performance swing team called The Salt Lake Jitterbugs, and teach weekly dance lessons. They have won first place in every major Lindy Hop competition in Utah. They placed 8th in the National Amateur Lindy Hop competition of 2006, and 6th place in the American Lindy Hop championship Show Case Division of 2005. More than that, Shane and Julie’s love for swing dancing continues to inspire others to learn and enjoy this wonderful art.



Jake Hoopes

Jake started dancing while pursuing an undergraduate degree at Utah State University in Logan Utah in the summer of 2001.

Besides dancing, Jake is an avid outdoorsman, loves to travel, owns two pet box turtles, and enjoys mojito flavored Orbitz Gum.


Mary



Ryan

Ryan started swing dancing in February of 2004, or 237 weeks ago. During the past 237 weeks Ryan has been to approximately 521 dances, not including something like 24 national dance events. If Ryan danced to only 10 songs at each dance that'd be 5,214 individual dances. The actual number of times Ryan has danced is probably way way higher than that, but we need not get overly specific. The point is, in essence, that Ryan loves to lindy hop.

Ryan also likes long walks on the beach, in Alaska, with a fishing pole. He's never actually done that before, but since he likes fishing he figures it'd be pretty much amazing.