From Harlem to the Isles: Tracing the Journey of Lindy Hop in Britain
We’re so excited to welcome Trisha Sewell back to Oxford for this year’s OLX, where she’ll be giving one of her incredible talks just for us. She’ll give us an overview of Lindy Hop’s arrival through film, music, and wartime exchanges, its decline in the post-war years, and the foundations that later enabled the UK’s resurgence of interest in the dance. Presented through a blend of history and cultural context.
Trisha is a UK based artist, educator, and creative director with decades of experience teaching and working internationally. She brings a deeply personal, culturally informed approach to dance, rooted in Black traditions, musicality, and lived social history. Her work centres on authenticity, connection, and immersion. Inviting dancers to move beyond patterns and sequences and into meaning. Trisha explores the shared roots of African American vernacular dances, encouraging students to understand where movement comes from, how it feels, and why it matters.