Jean & Bromley

Jean Ma and Bromley Palamountain first teamed up in August of 2004. Jean taught performance swing dancing to UC Berkeley students as part of "The [M]ovement". She is also well-versed in hip hop, having danced in the professional hip hop troupe Culture Shock.

Bromley's expertise lies in his gymnastics foundation. He trained under Olympic Gold medalist Tim Daggett and was able to pave his way through college as a competitive gymnast for UC Berkeley's men's gymnastics team.

Together they are known for their explosive aerials, high energy, and passion for the dance. Jean and Bromley love to showcase their talents in competitions, jam circles, and on the social dance floor. They would even practice their technique within the corridors of the B.A.R.T. stations if the security guards would let them. Jean and Bromley ardently spread the coolness of Lindy Hop wherever they go, enjoying teaching and the many friends they have met within the dance community.

Nathan & Audrey

Nathan Dias is an accomplished swing dance instructor, DJ and performer in San Francisco. Dancing since 1997, Nathan learned his chops on the social and competitive dance floor, at national and international dance camps, and as a performer with the SF Bounce and 3 Minute Maniacs swing dance troupes. Nathan teaches group classes on Mondays at Amura Dance Studio and Wednesday's at the Cat's Corner Swing Dance Party. He is a frequent guest instructor at Lindy in the Park and the 9:20 Special. Read more about Nathan and his classes at his Swing or Nothing Website.

Audrey Kanemoto has been tap dancing for 23 years with a smattering of jazz, ballet, tango, waltz, and lindy hop along the way. She enjoys executing big ideas, so when she first started swing dancing in 2001, she produced a music video with a 40-person cast and crew that included all of her new friends and instructors. She continued work on her technique, style, and stage quality with lindy hop performance groups SF Bounce, The Swing Cats Rhythm Revue, and the 3-Minute Maniacs.

In the last two years, Audrey has been traveling and competing at lindy hop events and camps earning a name for herself as an exuberant and passionate solo charleston dancer. Her most recent lindy hop success was a clean sweep of the three first place trophies at Inspiration Weekend 2007 in Orange County. When she is not dancing Audrey is an architect specializing in green custom residential additions and remodels.

Hep Jen & Ken

"Hep" Jen Holland started teaching Lindy Hop in Seattle in 1997, and it has been her full-time passion ever since. Upon moving to San Francisco in 2004, she started teaching the weekly free swing dance lesson at Lindy in the Park, which she continues to this day. Hep Jen currently teaches weekly classes in San Francisco at UCSF and at Lindy in the Park. Besides teaching, Jen's other projects have included organizing Lindy Hop events behind the scenes, DJing, performing, choreographing, traveling, and always social dancing. Above all, Jen seeks to support a friendly, vibrant, and welcoming dance scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read more about Jen at her website.

Ken Watanabe began swing dancing in 1987 with classes in West Coast Swing, 50's style "Jitterbug", and St. Louis Shag. Since 1995, Ken has focused on Lindy Hop, the original form of swing dancing, which emerged from 1930's Harlem. He has studied with many top Lindy Hop instructors and dancers, including Frankie Manning, Steven Mitchell, Ryan Francois, Rob van Haaren, Jonathan Bixby and Sylvia Sykes, and the Rhythm Hot Shots. Ken has been teaching Lindy Hop since 1998, including classes at Lindy in the Park (San Francisco, 2004-present), Tuesday Night Jump (San Francisco, 2006-2007), Page Street Studio (San Francisco, 2005-2006), the Doghouse (San Francisco, 2001-2005), and the Allegro Ballroom (Emeryville, 1998-2000), as well as in numerous workshops abroad: 2003 Japan Lindy Exchange, 2001 Lindy U. swing dance camp in Chicago, and the 2000 Frankie Manning Millennium Birthday Bash in Tokyo. Ken has performed at Swing Camp Catalina, is a co-founder, organizer, and DJ at San Francisco's Lindy in the Park, and served on the board of directors for the Northern California Lindy Society from 1998 to 2005.

Rye & Kelli

Rye Crowen is on his 8th year of dancing. He started with salsa and ballroom dancing, but once he discovered lindy hop, there was no turning back. Rye has danced with the San Francisco hip hop/modern/lindy group Loose Change for three years and the Bay Area lindy troupe 3 Minute Maniacs for a year. He also travels as much as possible to dance and compete. Rye's other passions include design, cooking and gardening.

Kelli Wilkerson has been dancing Lindy Hop, East coast swing, balboa and charleston since early 1998 and has been competing and teaching for 8 of those years. She has placed and won many national titles in many esteemed competitions such as The American Lindy Hop Championships, Ultimate Lindy Hop Championships, Camp Hollywood/National Jitterbug Competition, Swing by the Sea, Jitterbug Jam, Triple Crown Los Angeles, Boston Tea Party and many more. She has also taught workshops and lessons at many of the above named competitions and also in places such as San Francisco CA, Los Angeles Ca, Denver Colo, Minneapolis Mn, Madison WI, Boston MA, Nashville TN, Portland OR, Stamford CN, Pasadena Ca, Davis and Sacramento CA. She is a masterful fast lindy and Charleston dancer with a knack for showmanship who encourages great basics and fundamentals so you can have fun dancing with anyone at any speed.

Heidi & Autumn

Autumn LaVarta has a passion for dance that has led him to pursue Swing, Argentine Tango, ballroom and salsa. Over the years Lindy Hop has emerged as his favorite. In 2002 he began teaching at The Metronome Ballroom in SF where (now Cheryl Burke Dance) he continues to teach. Autumn also hosts and deejays Friday Night Swing every week. He particularly enjoys sharing his love for dance with people who have never danced before.

Heidi Fite began dancing and teaching Lindy Hop and Blues in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1999 and has been dancing, teaching, and performing ever since. She now lives in San Francisco, California, where she teaches weekly Lindy Hop classes at the 9:20 Special and is a frequent guest instructor for the weekly Blues classes at Friday Night Blues. On weekends, she travels to teach at workshops all over the US and the world. You can learn more about Heidi and her classes at: blues-dance.com"

Trevor & Andrea

Trevor Gattis began Ballroom and Salsa dancing in 1995 and took up Lindy Hop in 1998. In 2001 he began teaching for Rob & Diane at Swing Central and in 2003 he took over the operations of the venue until 2005. Trevor currently choreographs new routines and performs around the Bay Area with his dance troupe, The Swing Cats Rhythm Revue. Trevor deejays at various Lindy camps, events and regularly at local swing dance venues. In addition, he teaches Lindy Hop Lessons at Wednesday Night Hop in Sunnyvale.

Andrea Owens' addiction to swing dancing began in 1998. Since then, she has not stopped dancing. She was a long time member of The Swing Cats Rhythm Revue. She can frequently be seen dancing at the Bay area's various swing dance venues, and teaching at Wednesday Night Hop at Starlite Dance Club.

Andrea has been in the fitness industry for many years teaching classes such as Cardio Funk, Step, Body Sculpt, Yoga/stretch, Body Pump, High and Low impact, Stability ball, Circuit, and Jump rope. She has also competed in the National Aerobics Championships with an appearance on ESPN in 1999! In 2000, she received her Master's in Kinesiology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and is currently managing a corporate fitness center.

Yon & Eddie

Yon Richner loves dancing Lindy Hop for its versatility and fun factor. She took her first East Coast swing dance lesson at the Hi-Ball in SF in 1998. She danced East Coast swing for a couple of years and was introduced to Lindy Hop in 2003. Since then, she has been addicted to Lindy and dances and teaches regularly around the Bay Area. She has also competed and made finalist in several regional and national competitions like Camp Hollywood and Boogie By the Bay.

Yon loves teaching because of the excitement she feels when she sees students apply their newly acquired moves. She is grateful to this dance because it has allowed her to connect with many, many great people in the dance community. When Yon is not teaching Lindy Hop, she is social dancing and searching for the next "perfect swing out."

Eddie Gutman is a Lindy Hop instructor and swing DJ in the San Francisco Bay Area. He started swing dancing in 2005 following a brief flirtation with contemporary dance. After dancing a year on the Central Coast, he moved to the Bay Area where he regularly teaches and deejays. You can find him here, or at any number of swing events across the country. For more info, check out his blog at edgutman.com.

Burnie Gipson has been dancing since the late 1990's and is well versed in many styles of Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa Swing, Collegiate Shag, Carolina Shag, Saint Louis Shag, Salsa, and bunches of Ballroom dances. Burnie runs Swing U in San Francisco, and is also the organizer of the SF Balboa Festival, Lindypendance Weekend, International Swing Dance Hall of Fame, North American Open & Northern California Open Swing Championships His mother, aunt and grandmother are cancer survivors but many of his friends have passed due to AIDS releated cancer; He hopes that even if you can't come out and dance that you contribute to help continue to support cures and support those battling these diseases!