Alice Meï

Alice (she/her) began dancing at a very young age, exploring a wide variety of styles before falling in love with Lindy Hop in 2003. What began as a discovery quickly turned into a passion, leading her to gain recognition in renowned competitions such as ULHS (Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown) and ALHC (American Lindy Hop Championships). Over the following decade, she became a regular finalist and prizewinner at ILHC (International Lindy Hop Championships), establishing herself as an internationally acclaimed dancer.

For more than 20 years, Alice has continued to evolve as an artist—still deeply passionate about dance and constantly seeking new challenges. She remains curious and committed to growth, pursuing new collaborations and expanding her repertoire with disciplines like tap dance.

Her focus lies in refining quality of movement, deepening rhythmic clarity, and embracing the playful spirit of swing. Whether dancing solo or with a partner, Alice enjoys translating musical ideas into movement, maintaining a strong sense of flow and exploring a wide range of textures.

While her appreciation for performance has grown significantly over the years, her heart remains rooted in social dancing. As a teacher, Alice strives to foster self-expression—encouraging students to explore connection within the partnership and respond authentically to the music.

Peter Kertz

Peter (he/him) began dancing Lindy Hop in Los Angeles, where he was born and raised. Immersed in a scene rich with inspiring dancers and a deep swing dance history dating back to the 1930s, he quickly fell head over heels for the dance.

Following his love for Lindy Hop and swing music, Peter began traveling the world, discovering and contributing to the vibrant international swing dance scene. In 2012, he moved to France and began teaching extensively around Europe.

Now based in Montpellier, France, Peter continues to travel internationally to teach and perform. To him, Lindy Hop is a language without words—one that brings people together and creates connection across cultures and backgrounds.

Grounded in the African American roots of Lindy Hop and Solo Jazz, developed in Harlem in the early 20th century, Peter’s teaching emphasizes freedom, expression, and musicality. He draws from the dance’s history and culture to help dancers connect more deeply with the music and with one another.

Andrea Gordon

Andrea (she/her) stumbled into jazz dance in the late ’90s with all the enthusiasm of someone who thought she hated jazz—until she discovered it could swing with humor, history, and heart. Today, Andrea is an admired Lindy Hopper, a cast member and understudy in the acclaimed stage production Sw!ngOut, a beloved emcee known for her quick wit and connection with audiences, and a respected advocate for inclusion and equity in jazz dance spaces.

Her work as a teacher, performer, and host is grounded in the African American cultural values of safety, individuality, and unity. Andrea’s classes and performances are known for being as engaging and joyful as they are technically rich—reminding dancers that learning, laughing, and community all belong on the same beat.

Photo by Luka Dolenc

Andy Reid

Andy (he/him) is one of the most well-known and influential swing dancers out there. Since he started dancing in the late nineties, Andy has left an indelible mark on the dance scene. Andy’s style is a balance of the refined and the eccentric. His proficiency with rhythm and partnering makes his dancing rich and inspiring to watch and experience. While Andy’s dancing has many influences, Andy credits his greatest influence as the Harlem-born Black American social and performance dance called Lindy Hop – the original swing dance.

Since 2002, he has performed and taught in countries around the world including Korea, Australia, Japan, and all over Europe. Always striving for harmony with the music, Andy’s experience playing music in his current hometown of New Orleans affords him the opportunity to give his students a deeper musical connection to their dance. Andy’s teaching aims to bring the best out of his students both physically and mentally.

Andy has been a part of numerous very prominent dance teams. He is a founding member of Silver Shadows–undoubtedly one of the most influential Lindy Hop dance teams. He is also a member of the highly innovative troupe Minnie’s Moochers. Finally, Andy is also a founding member of Mad Dog!, a Lindy Hop Crew who is infamous within the Lindy community for some reason.

Andy currently resides in New Orleans, LA, where you can regularly see him playing bass with local traditional New Orleans bands.

Irina Amzashvili

Dancing in all forms has been a lifelong passion for Irina (she/her). In 2009, at the age of 15, she stumbled upon Swing dancing and it took only one night of social dancing for her to fall head over heels in love with it. Though Lindy Hop was her gateway into the world of Swing, Irina's passion quickly expanded to include Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and solo jazz. She is proud to have spent her formative years of dancing in Southern California, home to some of the best Swing dancers, teachers, and music in the world.

Irina has since received numerous accolades from events such as Camp Hollywood, The International Lindy Hop Championships, and Lindy Focus and has taught these dances all across the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Australia. Additionally, she is honored to have been inducted into the Camp Hollywood Hall of Fame in 2019 and the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame in 2022.

Irina's teaching style can best be described as patient and encouraging. Her goal is to guide her students through building solid foundations while inspiring individuality in personal movement, as well as helping build confidence through dance.

Matt Richey

Matt (he/him) has been dancing Lindy Hop and Balboa since the tender age of 11. His dance career started with a performance team, including dancing on cruise ships and at Disneyland. In 2004. Matt attended Camp Hollywood for the first time (he hasn't missed a year since) and he quickly fell in love with what swing dancing can offer; not just Lindy Hop but all swing.

He won his first local competition at age 14 hosted by Nevada County Swing Society and was asked to dance for the local TV station to promote NCSS.

Since then he traveled all over the world learning from some of the world’s best dancers such as Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Jean Veloz, Sugar Sullivan and Chazz Young, and many others.

One of Matt’s accomplishments he is most proud of is the Juniors program he started in Nevada County, CA. Matt has gone around to teach at countless schools to spread the love of dance. Over the 7 years he ran the program he brought juniors to competitions and events in California and also brought teens to compete at the International Lindy Hop Championships 3 years in a row. His students brought home the 1st place award in the Junior Jitterbug Showcase at ILHC in 2018.

Over the years, Matt has won hundreds of titles in multiple styles of swing, including West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop and Balboa. He is becoming the most recognized crossover dancer in the circuit as well as being a familiar face on the social dance floor everywhere! In 2018 Matt was inducted to the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame. As much as Matt loves swing dancing, he loves teaching and sharing his love for dancing and music just as much! He currently teaches adults and kids in several local schools and studios in Orange County.

He is known for fun loving energy, musicality, showmanship and performance.

Natalia Eristavi

Natalia (she/her) is a jazz dancer, teacher and performer from Southern California and based in St. Louis, Missouri. She has been dancing most of my life but discovered Swing dance in Southern California in 2010 when she was 17 years old, falling in love first with Balboa and Lindy Hop and soon after venturing out into Solo Jazz, Collegiate Shag and Carolina Shag.

What she loves most about Swing dance is Jazz Music and the freedom to improvise through movement, whether solo or with a partner. Being a part of this community and creating together with others, whether in a class, social dance or jam setting is a beautiful and vulnerable experience that she feels privileged to be a part of.

Photo by Rebecca K Clark Photography

Christian Frommelt

Christian (they/them or he/him), a swing dancer and musician from St. Louis, Missouri. As a teacher, organizer, and social dancer, I’ve dedicated much of my life to bringing people together through music and dance. The African-American vernacular dance values of spontaneity, rhythmic propulsion, and communal improvisation captivated me as a teenager, and I’ve been bent on learning jazz-based artforms ever since. It has become a privilege to also share the stories, sounds, and skills I’ve gained along the way as a teacher, writer, musician, and performer.

I’m proud to have been recognized with competitive accolades at the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown and the International Lindy Hop Championships, which include awards for choreography with Jenny Shirar. For nine years I served as co-organizer of the renowned Nevermore Jazz Ball & St. Louis Swing Dance Festival and continue to organize the Cherokee Street Jazz Crawl in the effort of collective expression. I’ve played piano for the Gaslight Squares jazz band since 2019.

Samantha Yeh

Samantha will be teaching
the Newcomers Special track.

Samantha (she/her) spent 18 years of her life believing she could never be coordinated enough to dance until she got hooked onto swing dancing at UC Berkeley. She quickly fell in love with the improvisation and partnership of the dance, and she danced probably waaaay more than she should have during her college years. Sam has since continued the entire gambit of dance, from teaching to organizing to traveling and competing. Currently, her big passion in dance is mentoring new dance teachers, creating curriculum for venues in the Bay Area, and learning more about the history, roots, and values of this Black art form.

Sam loves to incorporate silly playfulness, responsive partnership, and you-know-every-beat-in-this-song-don't-you musicality in her dancing. Coming from humble beginnings of gathering in random hallways and learning through YouTube videos, her dance teaching often emphasizes the tools needed for how to learn and how to take inspiration from an idea and make it your own. Sam’s endless lesson planning experience from being a high school teacher translates to even more endless lesson planning for dance; her lessons are crafted to emphasize partnership, connectedness, and having a blast while dancing. You can find her leading and following out on the social dance floor 'til the end of the night despite having to wake up at 7am to teach high schoolers.

Photo by Michael Tan

Calvin Lu

Calvin will be teaching
the Newcomers Special track.

Calvin (he/him), also sometimes known as "that guy who follows a lot," fell in love with Lindy Hop for its joyful expression, creative improvisation, and deep connection between partners. Since then, he has been actively involved in the community as an instructor, competitor, event organizer, and frequent up-past-3-am dancer. A lifelong student, Calvin always strives to make his classes fun and help students fall in love with learning and practice as part of the fun of being a dancer. In his teaching he also greatly values portraying dance roles as gender neutral, teaching to a wide variety of learning styles, and making good dancers who are also good community members.

In his home scene of San Francisco, Calvin helps organize The Switch Workshop, the Dancers Den, and the Bootleggers Ball. He also travels to various events and competes as a follower. At dances, he can frequently be seen drinking boba and trying to remember the names of the people he met that night.