About the MLX5 Team

This year's MLX is run by the non-profit organisation the Melbourne Jazz Dance Association. Wendy, Di, Brian, Darren and Sam are the founding members of this group, and the organising team for MLX5.
Additional help is provided by a team of volunteers and 'consultants', without whom this exchange could not be run.

The organising team would like to apologise in advance to our families and loved ones for our distraction in the lead-up to MLX5 and over the weekend itself: we love you, but the lindy hop calls.

Wendy Renehan

Wendy started swing dancing in Melbourne in 2000. She has visited many Australian swing scenes to dance, and has drawn her inspiration for running dance events from these and her time at the Herrang dance camp in Sweden in 2001 and 2004. Wendy has volunteered in the last four MLXs, including managing the very successful late night 'rent party' in 2003. She has also volunteered at a number of social dancing events including a Blues Night in 2002 and the Count Basie Tribute Night in 2003. With her partner Brian, she founded the social dancing event Diga Diga Doo which ran fortnightly in 2003 and 2004. Outside the swing world, Wendy has also organised national youth group camps for a number of years.

Dianne King

Dianne has been swing dancing since 2000. She has travelled throughout Australia to dance and has been a big part of MLX from the start. She has been managed registrations for all previous MLX's and last year took on the role of managing not only registrations but also the workshops for Swing City. In a previous life outside dancing she worked in the event organising business and has tried to use that experience in the dance world through her own small events such as Dancing on New Years Eve and helping out at other peoples events such as Ballyhoo, the Easter Hop and Diga Diga Doo.

Brian Renehan

Brian started dancing to swing music in 2000 in Dublin, Ireland, where he became involved in developing the young Dublin scene. In 2001 swing dancing brought him to Melbourne. Brian has travelled throughout Australia and the world to dance. In 2002 he spent five weeks in the USA, visiting local scenes, and he values his time at the Herrang dance camp in 2001 and 2004 as inspiration for his dancing and swing dance event organisation. Brian has organised a number of swing dance events, including a "Swing Music Appreciation Night" and a "Count Basie Tribute night". With his partner Wendy, Brian ran the fortnightly Diga Diga Doo social dancing event in 2004 and 2005. He was the social events manager for MLX in 2003.

Darren Witt

Darren has been swing dancing since 2002, and danced in many Australian cities. In 2005 he spent three months in the US where he attended a number of swing dance events. Darren was a volunteer with MLX in 2003 and 2004, and with many other swing dance events in Melbourne during that time. He was also involved in running Swing Aid 2005, a Tsunami relief event. Darren began DJing for swing dancers in Melbourne in early 2004. He has also been involved in several Science Fiction conventions in Melbourne.

Sam Carroll

Sam began swing dancing in Brisbane in 1999, and has travelled to many swing dance events within Australia. In 2004 she attended the Herrang dance camp in Sweden, Camp Savoy in England and visited local British dance scenes. She was involved as a volunteer with MLX in 2001, and as an organiser in 2002. Sam has been involved in the organisation of many swing dance events in Melbourne since 2001, including Ballyhoo, the Easter Hop and the Australian Hellzapoppin' Prize. She has run Free Swing Press, the online guide to Social Swing Dance in Melbourne since 2004. Beyond swing dance, she has been heavily involved in organising social and academic events for university students and has volunteered in the Lorne pub-to-pier and other community events.

About the Melbourne Lindy Exchange

The first Melbourne Lindy Exchange was run in 2001 by Matthew Riddle and a team of volunteers. The first MLX featured local and international teachers. The second Melbourne Lindy Exchange - MLX: Get On The Floor - was held the following year, and hosted the first annual Australian Hellzapoppin' prize, whose goal was to provide funds for Australian dancers to attend the first Hellzapoppin' competition in the USA. In 2002 MLX was also run by a team of volunteers with Matt Riddle, and featured a cast of international teachers. The third MLX - MLX: Harlem Comes to Melbourne - was again a volunteer-run event, this time seeing Matt's partner Lotte Geldoff involved as a key organiser, and featured workshops with international teachers. Last year's Melbourne Lindy Exchange was run in conjunction with Swing City over a week, and again featured a host of volunteers and organisers, and showcased both local and international teachers and musicians.

About the MLX5 Website

The logo, code and text for MLX5 were created by Sam Carroll using CSS, scrap paper and a pencil. Content was provided by the organising team. We recommend using Mozilla or Safari when viewing this site.
Hosting and technical support for the site, and funds for the purchase of the MLX5 domain were provided by Dave Cheney.
General photos on the website were provided by Dave Cheney, Corinne Allen and Sam Carroll, and DJ bio photos were provided by the DJs themselves. All remain the property of their photographer.
The site 'title' photos feature Corinne Allen and Rob Goldsmith. They are available for dances throughout the MLX5 weekend.
All content and code beyond the photos remain the property of the MLX5 team.