Mary Christensen (New Haven, CT)

Mary has been dancing, demoing, and teaching lindy, blues, and aerials around the world for the last nine years.  A native of Texas, she learned to dance first in Dallas, then in Austin, before moving to New Haven to head the community dance group, Yale Swing & Blues.  All of Mary’s classes are driven by two principles: it should be fun while you’re learning it, and afterwards it should make your dancing feel better on the social floor.  Appreciated as a dancer both for her clear leading and her playful following, she is proud to be part of the “ambidancetrous” movement to de-gender partner dance, teaching men and women to master both sides of the dance in the classroom and to choose either side on the dance floor. 

Tina Davis (Dallas, TX)

Tina Davis has been dancing Swing, Lindy Hop and Blues since 1999, first in Florida and now in her current home of Dallas, Texas. Tina started teaching Blues and Lindy in 2007 and has taught at events, large and small, across the nation in Dallas, Austin, San Francisco, Chicago, Wichita, Minneapolis, Boston, Virginia Beach and Canada. She is slated to teach with both her partners – Bryan Spellman and Don West – at the Dirt Cheap Blues Workshop in Virginia Beach and Blues Blast in Ottawa later this year.

Tina has competed in various Jack n' Jill competitions, most notably winning the Jack n' Jill competition at Blues Shout in 2007. In addition to becoming a sought after DJ, Tina has also organized several Lindy and Blues events in Florida and Texas. Tina currently teaches and dances in Dallas as an active member of the ACME Swing Company.

Emilio Estevez (Philadelphia, PA)

Emiliano Estevez has a background in the fusion of Lindy Hop, Blues, Hip-Hop, House, and a host of moves and styles from many other genres.  He has been dancing since late 2000 and continues to add new ideas and movements to his style. He has taught classes in Texas, Colorado, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.
Emiliano encourages his students to build on the basics and define their own voices for both leads and follows. Dance is about connection and conversation...

Noëlle Gray (New Haven, CT)

With a diverse dance background spanning twenty years, Noëlle Gray is one of Connecticut’s most prominent Lindy Hop and Blues Dance instructors. In addition to teaching for Connecticut Swing Dance Society (CSDS) and the Yale University Swing Club, Noëlle also teaches Lindy Hop, Blues and Styling in London, England (2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007) and throughout the Northeast at dance camps and workshops weekends such as Goodnight Sweetheart in England (GNSH), Swing Out New Hampshire (2005 & 2006),Junebug Jam, the Albany Lindy Smorgasbord (2005, 2006 & 2007) and the Gargleblaster Blues workshops in Connecticut and Boston (2006). Noëlle has also partnered Bill Borgida in Lindy Hop and Blues workshops - most recently at the 2006 American Lindy Hop Championships and at GNSH in 2007. Known for her solid technique, flawless isolations, and great sense of humor, she is an increasingly sought-after instructor in the US and abroad.

David Graybill (Wilton, CT)

Dave was born in Nashville, TN, raised in Kensington, MD and Wilton, CT, moved to New York City in 1993 for his undergraduate degree in Theater at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.  In 1994, Dave discovered his love for swing dancing and has been doing it ever since.  He has lived in New York, Singapore, Raleigh, Chicago, Oakland, and Los Angeles and has traveled to Japan, Indonesia, London, Paris, and Edinburgh for fun, and the love of teaching dance. He has worked with the Grammy-award winning folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary.  He has worked as a Production Manager for the Oakland Ballet, and a theatre instructor for the Oakland School of the Arts.  In 2003, he worked and traveled all over the United States with Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus as a lighting technician and pyro-technician. Dave started competing at Swing Dancing in 1998, and has since earned the titles of U.S. Open Swing Dance Champion, American Lindy Hop Champion, Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown Champion, Georgia State Open Champion, Virginia State Open Champion, New Year’s Eve Dance Extravaganza & Swingin’ New England Champion.  He currently lives in Connecticut teaching private, group, and club lessons and passes the time in between dancing, writing fiction, and articles for Swing Dancer magazine.

Mike “The Girl” Legett (Philadelphia, PA)

Mike (the Girl) Legett 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.

Mike 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.

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. Most recently, 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, and is pleased to be residing in Philly again as of March 2009.

Bryan Spellman (Dallas, TX)

Bryan's love for dancing came as quite a surprise to those that knew him in his early years. Growing up, he couldn't have found a beat if his life depended on it. Rhythm found him in college, rapidly leading to his introduction to swing dancing. After a three year period of very little dancing, his company transported him to Seattle, where he led two lives: a consultant by day, learning lindy hop by night.

Blues stole his heart at Cheap Thrills 2006, which provided him his first real blues classes. Since then, he's become a clinically diagnosed blues addict, traveling everywhere he can to get the next blues fix.

Bryan's passion for blues led him to create gargleblasterblues.com, and to try his hand at running a couple small blues events while he lived in New England. With the help of some amazing friends, he brought his brainchild, Blues Boot Camp, to Dallas in 2007.

His passion for blues took Bryan down the path to become a blues DJ and instructor, teaching for the sole purpose of helping bring Blues to the masses. Bryan feels that you can't truly dance Blues unless you have some knowledge of the history behind the music and the dance. He grounds his dancing within such history, and adds a significant portion of his silliness, playfulness, and inexplicable joy in for good measure.

He has taught and DJd at events from coast to coast (California to Atlanta).

He dances for the same reason he DJs and teaches--to have fun.

When teaching, he focuses on concepts that will help you become a solid, well-grounded blues dancer, and he makes sure you have fun doing it.