Jazz Legacy Week – Al Minns Next Generation Project

Jazz Legacy Week

Al Minns Next Generation Project

Preserving the past. Investing in the present. Securing the future of Jazz Dance.

Jazz Legacy Week is the Al Minns Next Generation Project’s signature annual gathering—a transformative celebration of Black Jazz Dance in New Orleans, the birthplace of Jazz music and a cornerstone of American cultural history.

Each year, emerging Black dancers and mentors from across the country will come together for an intensive week of immersive, all-day training in authentic Lindy Hop, Vernacular Jazz, and the history, stories, and cultural traditions from which these forms emerged. At its heart, Jazz Legacy Week creates something increasingly rare: the opportunity for the next generation to learn directly from experienced tradition bearers and develop the knowledge, artistry, and cultural grounding necessary to carry these traditions forward.

Al Minns Next Generation Project

Why It Matters Now

Jazz Dance is a living cultural tradition rooted in Black American history, creativity, resilience, and community. Yet the knowledge embedded within these forms is vulnerable to being diluted, commercialized, or disconnected from the communities and histories that created them. As generations of dancers and culture bearers age, the opportunity to transmit this knowledge directly becomes increasingly urgent.

Funding Jazz Legacy Week means investing in the people who can sustain this legacy.

The week will provide emerging Black dancers with access to high-level mentorship and training that is often difficult to find, while creating a national network of artists committed to approaching Lindy Hop and Vernacular Jazz with authenticity, historical understanding, and respect for their Black cultural origins. Participants will leave not only as more accomplished dancers, but as more informed artists, educators, and future tradition bearers equipped to share this knowledge within their own communities.

Al Minns Next Generation Project

A National Gathering with Local Impact

New Orleans is not simply the setting for Jazz Legacy Week—it is an essential part of its purpose. Bringing this national community together in a city so deeply connected to the origins and evolution of Jazz creates a powerful connection between place, history, music, and movement.

The impact will extend beyond the participating dancers. The local community will be invited to participate in a free day of Lindy Hop, Vernacular Jazz, and Jazz History, opening the experience to people who might otherwise have limited access to this education. This public programming creates meaningful exchange between visiting artists and the New Orleans community while honoring the city’s extraordinary contribution to Jazz culture.

Al Minns Next Generation Project

An Investment in a Living Legacy

Jazz Legacy Week is not simply an event. It is a strategic investment in cultural continuity.

By funding this program, supporters help ensure that authentic Black Jazz Dance traditions are not merely preserved as history, but remain learned, practiced, understood, and carried forward by a new generation of Black artists.

The need is immediate. The opportunity is significant. With sustained investment, Jazz Legacy Week can become a nationally recognized gathering that strengthens the community of Black Jazz dancers, elevates tradition bearers, expands access to culturally grounded training, and ensures that the legacy of Jazz Dance continues to thrive for generations to come.

Funding Jazz Legacy Week means helping make sure that the future of Jazz Dance remains connected to its roots—and that the people entrusted with carrying that legacy forward have the knowledge, mentorship, community, and resources to do so.