Instructor Bios
Andrew Sutton (Sacramento, CA)
Whether you are a beginner struggling to understand the basics of a dance, an intermediate working on the details of making it feel better, an advanced dancer that needs that next inspiration to jump start his dancing, or a teacher looking for new & fresh ideas... Andrew's classes have provided all of that and much more to thousands of dancers around the world, taking them to their next levels, which is exactly what he will do for you.
Doug Silton (Los Angeles, CA)
Doug Silton began dancing in 1992 and since 1999, he has been teaching, competing, and performing internationally. Doug is a three-time American Lindy Hop Champion, a 2-Time World Swing Dance Champion, and is a top competitor on the Lindy Hop circuit, NASDE West Coast Swing tour, and in CSA Carolina Shag competitions. Doug is also a professional Salsa and Bachata instructor, regularly placing in the top 5 of each competition in the past few years.
Doug is the co-founder of LindyGroove in Pasadena, CA, currently the nation's largest weekly Swing/Lindy Hop dance venue, teaching his popular (and free) Connection & Musicality class most Thursdays. He also teaches group and private lessons daily in Los Angeles, travels the globe sharing his love of dancing, and has a line of own instructional videos for sale available at www.DougSilton.com.
Carnival: The Choreographer's Ball - Doug Silton & Angel Jenkins - "THICKE" July 2009
Brenda CK (Portland, OR)
Brenda is fulfilling her childhood dream as a professional dancer and instructor. Brenda's early dance training included about 30 dance styles. She has also studied musical history and theory, dance history, dance instruction, several physical health methods, and other related subjects adding to her knowledge of the body, dance, music, and teaching. Brenda continues to study and train with coaches, historians, and practitioners, always striving to increase her understanding and ability.
Brenda has put the majority of her focus over the past many years into the Lindy Hop, Balboa, Blues, West Coast Swing, and Salsa communities. She believes we are all born with dance in our bodies, and that each of us can use this activity as a means for personal expression, connecting with others, and exercise. Brenda loves the image of being able to dance anytime, anywhere, to any music, alone, or with anyone. She spends her time living this dream for herself while assisting her students in accomplishing their personal dance goals.
Ben Long (Portland, OR)
Ben Long has been dancing Lindy Hop since 1999 (he is in disbelief that it really has been ten years). His first two years of dancing were with the Swingin' Hep Cats, a dance troupe from Bainbridge Island, Washington. In 2005 he was persuaded to try Blues and Tango. Since then he has been working to reconcile the three dance forces that are within him. Accordingly, he is known for his eccentric dance style, musical tastes, and socks. Among the many awards he has won, he is most proud of winning "Best Hell Costume" at Portland's Tuesday Blues Halloween contest in 2006. His other qualifications include a public speaking course and a degree in marketing. He emphasizes improvisation, musicality, and "..." in his dancing and teaching.
Lessa Jay Lamb (Seattle, WA)
Lessa started D.J.-ing at house parties way back when, and then was groomed as a "real D.J." at events across the country. She is most at home in the down-tempo and more contemporary music styles, but tries to express her idea of balance between old and new, fast and slow, groovy and just downright kick-your-ass. Her one true goal in D.J.-life is to make it categorically impossible for you to sit still while she is on the boards.
Campbell Miller (Austin, TX)
When Campbell dances with a partner, it is a complete experience: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. She is grounded with a diverse technical background, but her dancing is unpretentious; she follows to make each dance the best it can be for her partner. She is known for melting into her leader's connection and making leaders more aware of their own movement by mirroring even the most subtle detail.
Campbell loves living in Austin, where she teaches social dance courses celebrated to be the most popular on the UT campus. Her approach fosters an appreciation for fusion by drawing connections between the varied styles she has studied--some of her favorites being lyrical, waltz, lindy hop, and tap. While her warmth and patience create an inviting atmosphere for all levels of students, she carefully challenges them to realize their full potential.
Chris Mayer (Austin, TX)
Chris was drawn into Blues by the freedom and expression that sets this dance apart, and he's never looked back. As an addict since 2006, Chris has been slowly developing a style all his own, taking the parts he loves from other dances and molding them into the blues "aesthetic": the footwork and the precision of argentine tango, the energy and exuberance of lindy, the smoothness and sly attitude of west coast swing, the rhythm and motion of latin, and moves and tricks that could only come from the depths of his bizarre mind. Call it... Macro-Blango-Hop.... Yeah.
Though through all of this, it's musicality at the core of his dancing. You'll often see Chris on the side of the floor, too tired to stand, but still dancing with his hands and feet (or fingers and toes if its *really* late). Between this focus on rhythm and a strong sense of partnering, he keeps people on their toes.
Mihai (San Francisco, CA)
Mihai's teaching is defined by curiosity, creativity and compassion. He constantly grows and improves his pedagogy and curriculum, comes up with many unique exercises and loves giving individual feedback in a gentle, useful manner. Mihai started dancing in 1997 and has been teaching blues full time since 2005. He has taught workshops and festivals in over 20 states and has been invited back in almost every town. He has also been DJing blues, swing and tango since 2003 and organizes San Francisco's Friday Night Blues - the world's first and largest blues-only weekly dance.
David Chiu (Orange County and Los Angeles, CA)
David Chiu is an inspirational, innovative and cutting edge tango instructor. His students get immediate results in a fun and nurturing learning environment. David's clear teaching and keen eye guides his students to incorporate new movements in their bodies easily. His style combines classic elegance with nuevo in close embrace.
David has been dancing for 15 years. Specializing in dancing and teaching tango for the last 10 years. He has studied extensively with Juan Carlos & Johana Copes, Osvaldo Zotto & Lorena Ermocida and Gustavo Naveira & Giselle Anne. In addition, he has been playing piano since the age of four, giving him the added ability to guide his students in the use of musicality in their dancing.
Jay Abiling (Portland, OR and San Diego, CA)
J. Abling started dancing tango in 2001 in Seattle. A year later, he began learning to dance and teach under Jaimes Friedgen. In 2003, he moved to Portland where he has been teaching ever since. Currently, he is traveling and teaching at different cities in the United States. The focus of his teaching is on the relationship between movement and the music, with an emphasis on technique. His teaching is influenced by his study in music, his training in sports, and experience in performance arts and other social dances.
Parisa Z. (Portland, OR or New York, NY)
Parisa started dancing hip hop and salsa in 2000. But she couldn’t stop there. She had to learn any and every dance available to her. In 2002, her quest for the dance of her soul ended--and her affair with tango began. Several dance forms, as well as tai chi and aerials, have inspired the way she moves and grooves on the floor. She believes that tango is a conversation and loves adding her own (slightly feisty, slightly sassy) voice to the mix.
Whitton Frank (Los Angeles, CA)
Whitton started dancing at eight, when she was enrolled
in a ballet class. As the years progressed so did her love of dance. Over the years she has studied, Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Tap, and Standard Ballroom. Whitton is originally from San Francisco, but learned to blues dance at college in Pittsburgh, PA. She moved to Los Angeles 2 years ago and became involved in the swing and blues scene. She is the house DJ at DoSomethingBlue, and also guest djs at various events in and around Los Angeles. She began teaching blues dancing with Tim in September 2008. Since then they have started a set of weekly blues lessons called the Blues Kitchen in Sherman Oaks, LA every Wednesday night.
Chris Ransdell (Tulsa, OK)
Chris started swing dancing in 1998, and started teaching Lindy Hop and Blues in 2001; soon after had his national DJ debut at the first "Cheap Thrills" in St. Louis. Since then he has taught at over 30 local, 12 regional, and several national blues workshops including: Blues Rising (San Francisco), Enter the Blues (Atlanta), and Blues Summit (Denver).
Chris truly adores teaching. His teaching style bends the rules and incorporates many genres of dance into his blues. His goal is to create a well rounded dancer out of each student. After establishing a solid foundation of connection, he teaches you how to be creative and expressive through musicality and motion. His classes include: Ballroom style blues, micro blues, traditional blues, tango blues, house blues and much more; pretty much "Blues Fusion."
Timothy O'Neill (Los Angeles, CA)
Tim started dancing in 1997 and never stopped. An active Lindy Hopper, he was a regular at the old Memories and Satin Ballroom until he was swept away to college in Santa Barbara. There he spent two years teaching ballroom at an Arthur Murray before quitting and studying Argentine Tango With Brian and Fay. Once back in LA, Tim Joined the Hollywood Hornets, three time National Jitterbug Champions, where he performed and competed with the team for three years. During that time Tim began learning Blues at house parties and exchanges. Now an avid student of the Blues, he seeks to grow the community through teaching as many people as he possibly can.
His current teaching project is the Blues Kitchen in Sherman Oaks: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=125663961856&ref=ts
Drew Robinson (Portland, OR)
Drew Robinson has been organizing blues and tango events in Portland, OR for also 3 years. She has run Tuesday Blues for that duration and is a founding member of the Oregon non-profit the Portland Blues and Jazz Dance Society.
She is known for her soulfulness and likes to challenge the floor to try new things. She has an affinity for alternative tango music, rock, and folk-blues. Drew Robinson is also a middle-school math teacher and has directed and stage managed countless theater productions throughout her years.
Andrew Smith (Portland, OR)
Andrew Smith began dancing five years ago. He travels nationally to dance, teach, and compete. At Emerald City Blues Festival 2008, he took 1st Place in the Open Strictly Blues Competition (partner: Karissa Lightsmith). He tied for 2nd Place in the Open Jack & Jill Competition at Steel City Blues 2009. He teaches locally in Portland and recently at East Meets West.
Andrew focuses on quality of movement, expression, partnering, and musicality. He believes that each person has tremendous potential and can bring something new and beautiful to the dance.
Andrew primarily trains with Brenda Russell, Barry Douglas, and Rebecca Bishop. Apart from his dance coaches, he draws inspiration from people such as Topher Howard, Stryder Crown, Lucky Skillen, and Mike Faltesek. Andrew actively trains in Blues, Ballroom (International Style), and Argentine Tango. He does Lindy Hop on the side, but no longer trains in it.
Lucky Skillen (New York, NY)
Lucky Skillen has been dancing since 1996 and teaching since 1998. In that time he has taught and performed a wide verity of dances in Asia, Europe, and North America. He has also had the privilege of working with such people as Neil Young, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Katy Holms, and Frankie Manning. Lucky teaches a wide verity of classes. Lucky offers a unique insight into technique, connection and the use of momentum due to the many forms of dance he has studied. In these classes he creates a fun and playful environment. He believes that play is learning and learning is fun.
Makeda Dread Cheatom (San Diego, CA)
Makeda Dread Cheatom founded the WorldBeat Center more than 20 years ago to foster a broader appreciation of various cultures. Dedicated to presenting and preserving African and indigenous cultures, the WBC welcomes visitors of all ages with low-cost classes and presentations in dance, drumming and art. An instructor from the WBC will join SDFX to bring the energy, excitement and history of African dance to social dancers.