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:: INSTRUCTORS & DJ's :: |
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Joel Plys & Valerie Salstrom (San Diego & Cleveland) Joel Plys began his swing dance career in the summer of 1998 on a date in Chicago. He learned very quickly from countless workshops and non-stop dancing and brought his skills to Cleveland, OH. Joel taught swing full-time out in Cleveland, OH for 4 years (1999-2002) and started Get Hep Swing, LTD He co-created the very first All Balboa Weekend with Valerie Salstrom (June 2001) He moved to San Diego in 2002 and taught all over the world with Alison Scola. Joel continues to travel the globe sharing his love of Swing dancing. Joel has a high quality, energetic approach to the dance that makes every lesson with him and any partner a blast! As a regular teacher at major events all over the world, his down to earth, enthusiastic attitude is contagious. He has taught all over the US (26 states and counting) as well as Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Scotland and Sweden. Accomplishments: Camp Hollywood 2007 - Pro Balboa - 3rd place US Open 2005 - Lindy Showcase - 4th place US Open Swing Dance Challenge - Aug, 2005 - 4th place, 1st place for Lindy Camp Hollywood 2005 - Collegiate Shag - 2nd place Camp Hollywood 2005 - Showcase - 5th place Camp Hollywood 2005 - Pro Balboa - 5th place Camp Hollywood 2005 - Pro Lindy - 5th place All Balboa Weekend 2005 - American Classic Balboa Championship - 3rd place Rhythmic Arts Festival 2004 - CAKEWALK CHAMPIONS Rhythmic Arts Festival 2004 - Charleston Challenge Finalists American Lindy Hop Championships 2003 - Fast Dance Division - 1st place All Balboa Weekend 2003 - American Classic Balboa Championship - 3rd place American Lindy Hop Championships 2002 - American Showcase Division 5th place American Lindy Hop Championships 2002 - Fast Dance Division - 3rd place NADC 2002 - Pro Lindy 4th place American Lindy Hop Championships 2002 qualifier in Detroit - 1st place American Lindy Hop Championships 2001 - American Showcase Division 2nd place National Jitterbug Championships 2001 - Balboa 2nd place National Jitterbug Championships 2001 - Collegiate Shag 2nd place National Jitterbug Championships 2001 - Pro Lindy 3rd place American Lindy Hop Championships 2001 qualifier in Detroit - 2nd place American Lindy Hop Championships 2000 qualifier in Detroit - 3rd place Spring Fling Swing Thing 2000 Couples Division 2nd place American Lindy Hop Championships 1999 qualifier in Chicago – 3rd place Midwest Swingfest 1999 - 1st place Lindy Hop division.
Valerie Salstrom is one of America's busiest Lindy and Balboa teachers, Valerie has a reputation for her finesse on the dance floor. She emphasizes musicality and connection regardless of the style of swing. Since 2002 Valerie has taken home the 2003 National Jitterbug Championships (NJC) Grand Slam Championship, became both the 2004 NJC Balboa Champions and the 2004 American Lindy Hop Championships (ALHC) American Showcase Champions and most recently, (in 2005) she returned to ALHC to place 2nd in the same competition. Valerie is the organizer of the 'All Balboa Weekend' held annually in her home town of Cleveland. This Weekend event first started in 2001 and was the first major dance camp dedicated solely to Balboa. It features the American Classic Balboa Championships (ACBC), one of the nations most respected and sought after Balboa competitions. www.AllBalboa.com
April 2008,
International Balboa Championship - Balboa
Rendezvous - 1st place |
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Dan Rosenthal & Mike "the girl" Legett (Philadelphia, now Cincy) Dan Rosenthal is a jack of all trades, with a deep passion for all of dance. What started as a casual experiment with East Coast Swing while studying at Carnegie Mellon University became a full-on obsession. Beginning in the fall of 2008, Dan began studying Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, Balboa, Charleston, and Blues, quickly honing his skills to a high degree. In that time he has performed and taught with Swing Time in Clearwater, FL, with Hit That Jive! in St. Petersburg, FL, and is now looking for his next opportunity in Cincinnati, OH! Dan has been teaching since the summer of 2009. In addition to classes and private lessons, Dan has taught at the Augusta Heritage Festival, Blues Week 2009 and 2010, and Swing Week 2010. His accomplishments include winning 1st Place at the Blues Muse 2009 Jack & Jill, and 1st place at the 2010 Enter the Blues: DIY Weekend Jack & Jill.
Borrowing experience from his Guitar Performance degree, Dan brings a unique approach to teaching and practice, tailored to each individual or couple. Dan emphasizes a relaxed, dynamic connection, and repetition with variation to learn proper lead-follow technique, not just choreography. Along with an obsession with connection, Dan focuses on versatility - making each dance look different and authentic, and feel great. Dan strives to push himself and his students to always reach new depths of musicality, constantly searching for those "Ahhhh!" moments when music, leader, and follower all meld indistinguishably into each other.
Mike "the Girl" Legett began dancing in 2001 at a ballroom studio in Memphis, TN. She converted to swing a few months later in Knoxville, TN, where she fell in love with Lindy and Blues in the winter of 2002-2003. She flirted with Tango off-and-on before committing in February 2007, and it wasn't long before she left grad school to become a full-time dance junkie, a position she still holds in her current residence, Philadelphia, PA. Mike's true loves in life are teaching, dancing, following, and music. There's no order, because for her, these things are intrinsically linked. In addition to national events like Lindy Focus and Enter the Blues, Mike has taught at countless regional events in Lindy, Blues, and Tango, as well as traveling all over the country to teach and perform. She performed in an all-girls Charleston troupe at Camp Jitterbug's Jump Session Show in 2007, and in the all-girl blues troupe, the Hoodoo Ladies, at events from DC to BluesShout in St. Louis. Additionally, she spent one month as the Instructor-in-Residence for Philadelphia Lindy and Blues, teaching 2 workshops, a masters' class, a performance troupe review, a four-week series, and over 60 private lessons. She considers it to be one of the most challenging, educational, and rewarding experiences in her career. Mike combines an intuitive understanding of connection with an analytical speaking style to give her students technique, but also strives to challenge and inspire her students to push themselves further into the music. She aims to help leaders create artistic compositions that are clearly led; she wants follows to have the ability to be the completely literal follow, and the inspiration and freedom to be an imaginative and dynamic contributor. In the classroom or on the social floor, she seeks a connection that involves active communication from both partners, to make a dance together.
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Terry
& Kandy Thompson-Cannon (Cincinnati) have been performing and dancing Lindy Hop, Balboa and Charleston since July of 1998. In January 2001, they assisted in organizing a weekly Thursday night Lindy Hop club in Cincinnati called the SwinGallery (www.swingallery.com), which is now Cincinnati's premier Lindy Hop establishment. They have traveled the Country, from San Diego to New York studying and dancing Lindy Hop and Balboa with some of the best teachers the country has to offer and continue to broaden their dance horizon's by performing in theatre shows, big band events, corporate gigs, and public events. In 2004, Terry and Kandy won a “DayTony” award for Best Dance Ensemble for “Taking Christmas to the Troops” at the Rising Phoenix Theatre in Middletown. Strongly devoted to the propagation of Swing, they also manage CincySwing.com (www.cincyswing.com), a website devoted to keeping Lindy Hop alive and well by providing up to date information on the teaching, dancing, and performing of Swing dancing in and around Greater Cincinnati. 2009 - First Place Strictly Lindy Competition "Any Swing Goes" (Swing, IN, Indianapolis) 2009 - First Place Team Competition (Swing, IN, Indianapolis) 2008 - First Place Team Competition (Swing, IN, Indianapolis) 2008 - Third Place Team Competition (Smackdown, Dayton) 2007 - Third Place "Jill", Kandy (Swing Weekend) 2006 - First Place "Jill", Kandy (Knoxville Weekend) 2006 - First Place "Jack", Terry (Knoxville Weekend) 2006 - Third Place All Gal Bal, Kandy (All Balboa Weekend) 2005 - Best Choreography (Swing! at Westwood Town Hall) 2005 - Best Dance Ensemble (Swing! at Westwood Town Hall) 2004 - Best Choreography (Rising Phoenix Theatre, "Taking Christmas to the Troops") 2004 - Best Dance Ensemble (Rising Phoenix Theatre, "Taking Christmas to the Troops") 2004 - First Place (Battle of Ohio Swing Competition) 2003 - First Place (Battle of Ohio Swing Competition) 2002 - Third Place (Battle of Ohio Swing Competition) 2001 - Best Dance Ensemble (Rising Phoenix Theatre, "Taking Christmas to the Troops") 2001 - Fourth Place (Cincinnati Dancesport) 2000 - Third Place (Battle of Ohio Swing Competition) 2000 - Second Place (Cincinnati Dancesport) 1999 - Second Place (WSAI Swing Contest) 1999 - Third Place (WSAI Swing Contest) |
| :: DJ's :: The Smorgasbord ALL GIRL DJ Crew! | |
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Mike "the girl" Legett (Philadelphia)
Mike's
love of blues and jazz has been
obsessive for some time, and once she
started running a weekly blues dance out
of her home in Atlanta in 2008, she
committed herself to the art of DJing.
She has since gone on to DJ sets around
Atlanta, Orlando, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
New York, and Austin. She prides
herself on providing a variety of styles
and eras in each of her sets, and
strives to create a sound that is both
unique and inspiring; she also aspires
to expose people to new music, and to
challenge their dancing. |
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Kelly Gassert (Knoxville) Kelly has been DJing swing and blues in Knoxville, Tennessee and the surrounding dance scenes for over two and a half years. Born and raised in Cincinnati, she's always honored to be invited to DJ for Cincyswing's events. She's constantly in search of good ol' Dixieland swing tunes, and New Orleans and Chicago blues to keep you dancing all night long. You'll find plenty of piano, stringed instruments, musicality, and even the ocassional kazoo in her swing sets. And while nothing says 'blues' quite like the harmonica and electric guitar, she also has a soft spot in her heart for songs featuring the piano and horns. Whatever the tune, you can be assured that her music will make you feel all warm and squishy inside! |
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Lisa Curry (Cincinnati) Lisa doesn't really know how to play the ukulele, but she does know how to pick great songs to keep you swinging! She is very proud of her huge collection of vintage jazz and not afraid to use it. She learned to swing dance at Ohio State Swing Dance Club, but has settled in Cincinnati after graduation and found new ways to be involved with swing - teaching and DJing! Lisa teaches beginner swing classes with Adam Curry at Contemporary Dance Theatre, and occasionally teaches and DJs at Cincinnati's weekly venue, the SwinGallery. She also competes with the SnapShots performance troupe and helps to promote swing dance events in and near Cincinnati. |
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If you have any questions, comments or concerns please contact us at terry@cincyswing.com or lisahcurry@gmail.com
