The Track With Ryan Swift

In this episode, I am joined by swing dancer and musicologist, Dr. Christi Jay Wells. Christi Jay started dancing in 2003 and earned a PhD in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014. They conduct research on a range of jazz music and dance history topics, regularly present their work at national & international conferences and major universities, and has received multiple prestigious national academic awards. Christi Jay is a member of the musicology faculty at Arizona State University, where they teach a range of courses on music, dance, and how issues of race impact practices of sound and movement. Christi Jay is also a dance teacher and competitor, having taught at events including Korea Blues Camp and BluesShout! We sat down at Lindy Focus 2019, where Christi Jay presented on Duke Ellington’s “Jump for Joy,” exploring the layers of political and social meaning found in the groundbreaking revue show and its title song. In our conversation we not only talk about that pre