A question and answer session with Sugar Sullivan and Barbara Billups, hosted by Bobby White.
2024 Testimonials
Camp is awesome! It mentally feels like an all inclusive trip to the tropics and gives you a dance workout to remember.
The whole experience is just wonderful! So much attention to detail is paid - the instructors, the campus, the activities, the food choices. It’s just such an easy, relaxing, stress-free time. I can’t wait for next year!
Besides the incredible teachers and classes, what I love about Beantown Camp is the chance to nerd out with other Lindy Hoppers from around the world, and learn and play together! It’s a magical experience and has helped my dancing tremendously.
It is so much fun to be around other dancers who are excited to be dancing. The atmosphere is encouraging and playful and positive. Beantown allowed me to fall in love with Lindy Hop all over again after 20 years of dancing.
It is so much fun to be around other dancers who are excited to be dancing. The atmosphere is encouraging and playful and positive. Beantown allowed me to fall in love with Lindy Hop all over again after 20 years of dancing.
Beantown is absolutely as fun and amazing as everyone says it is. Phenomenal teachers, warm and friendly people, top-notch bands, and so much dancing! Basically the lindy hop summer camp experience of my dreams :)
I travelled from Galway Ireland for the whole shebang. Excellent swing dance camp. Very well organised. I enjoyed every second of it if from start to finish. The instructors were absolutely fabulous and very thorough. Food top class. Met some lovely people. If anybody is travelling from Ireland for this event next year, it is a definite must go. You will have a very enjoyable experience, go for it. I cant wait for next years Beantown.
2024 was another amazing time at Beantown. On soul nite this year I had the best dances of my life, Everyone is friendly, the competitions are made to be fun and geared for all levels. It is my favorite dance camp to go to and I’m so thankful for all the hard work they do to continue this camp year after year.
Beantown is an amazing opportunity to learn and practice swing dance in a diverse, engaging community! The food, the accommodations, the lessons, and the instructors are fantastic! I feel so fortunate to have found this event!
I had the best week of my life at Beantown! To be fully immersed in this community all day and night for a whole week was something truly special. I learned so much and will treasure these memories for years to come.
Once again I am blown away by Beantown! The food is high quality, the beach beautiful…Incredible teachers amazing bands! Really nice people. Tony and Aurelie thank you so much for all you do for us. It is the perfect vacation!
I just had a wonderful time. It was so exciting to be able to dance all day with people who love to dance! I learned so much and feel more connected to the Lindy community. Counting down the days until next year!
Beantown is a non-negotiable “must attend” in my dance calendar! Every year it just keeps getting better, too! I’ve attended 7 consecutive Beantown camps and I have no plans in stopping. The instructors, the classes, the panel discussions, and the student performances are all so valuable and give me so much to ponder and focus on throughout the year. Having elders like Barbara Billups, Sugar Sullivan, and this year David Butts is such a treat and an honor, as we get to hear their stories and in some cases learn classic choreography from them. Beantown has such as “special energy” (to borrow the phrase Gordon Webster said on the last night this year) that it’s really hard to put into words, so you kind of just have to go and experience it ; )
As a first-time camper, I have to say that I met many great people, improved my dancing, and had a great time. Staying on campus and being sealed off from the real world, where the music, dancing, and people are all that matters for a few days, made it feel like a true vacation.
Beantown is an amazing Lindy adventure. I send in a check and show up and everything is taken care of. I get to eat, sleep and dance with no worries for 7 days. What could be better than that?
Beantown is truly a special event. Everyone there was welcoming and friendly. I had many fun dances with people of all levels and enjoyed meeting dancers from all over the country and Canada. The instructors were all top notch and the variety of classes were interesting, exciting, and challenging in a good way. Overall, I was impressed with how thoughtfully planned and organized the event was. Mostly, it’s worth it to spend a week or weekend surrounded by others who share a love of this dance at an event that is so dedicated to facilitating that enthusiasm and helping us all to grow.
This was my second Beantown experience and it was pure joy. I found myself overwhelmed by happiness and teared up every night I was n attendance. I feel like I had some big dance breakthroughs and pushed myself to challenge myself both physically, intellectually, socially, and emotionally. I danced with instructors, I joined a jam, I partied with strangers, and learned from some OGs. I couldn’t have had a much better experience! Thanks for hosting such an amazing event!
Beantown is my favorite Lindy Hop event of the year! Your dancing improves so much over the course of the camp, and you make so many new friends along the way!
Beantown is an awesome experience where you can take a break from the day to day grind and focus on the joy of dancing. Many options are available for lessons to improve and enrich your skills, and you can dance and learn as much as you want. The food is delicious, and the company is great. The people who run this event do an amazing job and their love of the dance and the people connected with it is evident in every aspect.. Bonus points for a beautiful, setting complete with a beach!
It was a fantastic experience. Excellent food, accommodations, instructors, and students. Everyone was friendly, welcoming, and inclusive. I learned so much - can’t wait for next year!
This is genuinely my favorite event in the country. Everyone needs to experience it. I learn so much at Beantown, and every year I feel I grow closer with my friends. It’s a dance camp and a family reunion. I’m really grateful for this event.
Beantown was awesome. The communal dining and activities go along way to fostering community. The tracks are a great way to meet other dancers at your level and also figure out what you need to improve. And being able to perform regardless of track in a choreographed routine is awesome!
An unmatched experience for all skill levels, amazing bands, crazy parties, tasty food with lots of varieties and very pretty campus where I got to live in a dorm with an ocean view. I loved every minute of it and had the most fun dancing Lindy I’ve ever had (having danced for almost 10 years on three different continents). Definitely coming back!
Beantown is my favorite week of the year! A chance to forget about all outside responsibility and stress and focus on an art form that is unbelievably joyful.
This was my first time attending Beantown and the first time in nearly five years that I had the opportunity to Lindy Hop! Hands down, this is the best dance experience of my life, and it is one of the best experiences I’ve had overall. Five minutes into the first lesson, I already knew I wanted to return next year, and for the entire week if possible. The people involved, from teaching to performing to attending, made this a magical experience and I cannot wait to return.
My first time at Beantown not only gave me concrete skills to work on, but embodied the spirit of Lindy Hop and showed me the breadth of dancing outside of my local scene. Performing was like dancing in front of a group of friends who provide supportive and enthusiastic camaraderie. The joy and warmth of this community will not be forgotten.
Beantown is fantastic. I describe it to non-dance friends as summer camp for grown ups who swing dance and everyone is jealous I get to go. It is one of the highlights of my summer – and I live in Maine where our summers are already pretty fantastic.
As a beginner with only 7 months experience in Swing dance, I attended the 2024 Beantown Whole Shebang on a whim, registering on the Tuesday prior to the Thursday start date! I cannot speak highly enough of the whole experience at Beantown. Administratively, they were very professional and friendly during the registration process, were very quick to reply to emails, allowed me to change rooms. Everyone was very welcoming and it was such a friendly, positive, atmosphere. The food was fantastic, with many delicious options, no matter what your particular tastes. The instructors were incredible and the more experienced dancers were very welcoming and patient on the dance floor. The after hour socials were also a blast, with many staying up into the wee hours of the morning. I highly recommend the Beantown Dance Camp to anyone, no matter your dance skill level. They definitely got me hooked!
I’ve attended Beantown twice, and both times it has dramatically improved my dancing. I’m looking forward to going for many years to come.
This was my first time at Beantown, and it was such an incredibly welcoming and diverse group. I learned so much and had a positively splendid time! You do a beautiful job of running Beantown, you have my awe and gratitude. My most severe complaint is that I have to wait a whole nother year…Thank you so much!
It’s my fourth Beantown, starting in 2018 as a super shy, brand-new dancer. (Had I started at a different, less welcoming event, I don’t know if I’d still be dancing today.) While Beantown has always been a highlight of my year, I reached a new depth of sheer euphoria this time around that I never knew possible. While Beantown may evolve slightly from year to year, in the most important ways, it stays the same. For me, this is remarkable, because it’s served as a benchmark and backdrop to see how I’ve changed and grown throughout the years in an incredibly meaningful way.
Beantown exemplifies all the best parts of what Lindy Hop — the dance, culture, and community — are and should be. Thank you for making that happen.
Thank you so, so much for making possible one of the most magical weeks of my life. I’m so grateful for the love and work that you have put in to create this community, which is so filled with love, and has made me feel so loved in a time when I needed it.
