Elena took her first rock step in 2017 and has been dancing across the country ever since! A lindy hopper who quickly got into every partnered descendant of the dance she could find, she now dances balboa, blues, and west coast swing, and dabbles in all four shags and some Latin dance. Elena has learned, taught, organized, and DJ'd dances in communities including Gem City Swing, SwinGallery, and Salt City Swing. She has placed in competitions across the country including Hard Knox, Flying Home, Salt City Stomp, and Blues Muse. She is a social dancing main who puts musicianship first, and loves the dance for the music, community, and cardio it provides. These days, she can be found teaching and dancing at New Columbia Swing in D.C. and the Mobtown Ballroom in Baltimore.

Frankie is an avid Lindy Hop and Balboa enthusiast who has been teaching for New Columbia Swing since 2020 and DJing even longer.

Sarah Chapin is a swing dancer, theater technician, and outdoors enthusiast who has been dancing since before she could walk. She fell in love with Lindy Hop while studying modern dance, improvisation, and choreography in college, and it's become her primary movement practice ever since. She loves experiential teaching and learning in all its forms, and is grateful for the community and relationships she's built through the DC swing dance scene. Ask her about our NCS swag! 

Also known to friends as Ju, Juju, Jujubeans, Jutapat, Jazzy, and Jazzamatazz. Once a self-proclaimed non-fan of jazz music and dancing, Ju's life took a joyful turn when she finally caved in to her friends’ invite and gave Lindy Hop’s drop in beginner lesson a try. Now, the social dance floor is one of her happiest places, and she's been hooked since that first class. Now she dances Lindy Hop, Collegiate Shag, Balboa, Heel Shag (is that even a real dance? *wink wink*), and is trying to dabble her toes in St.Louis Shag. She has danced in Thailand, Massachusetts, and has recently permanently moved to the DMV area to properly bother all of you on the New Columbia Swing’s dance floor.

A theatrical dancer by training, Aryn fell in love with social dancing in 2007 and has been teaching for New Columbia Swing since 2020. Aryn is a PhD candidate in American Studies at George Washington University and their dissertation explores Lindy Hop as a site of social signification in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to researching and writing about vernacular jazz dances, Aryn is an enthusiastic practitioner of these dances, particularly Lindy Hop and Balboa.

Kyle was introduced to Lindy Hop in 2014 at the University of Delaware. On his first night at UD Swing Club, the first song of the social dance was a jam circle of full of swing outs and contagious enthusiasm that began his obsession with Lindy Hop and Swing Jazz. By 2018 Kyle had become the President of UD Swing Club, where he was a regularly taught and DJed, co-organized the Lindy Hop curriculum for the club, co-created choreographies, and co-organized all club activities from weekly workshops and lessons to bi-annual events. Following Graduation he moved to DC where he continues to dance, DJ, and teach Lindy Hop whenever he can. He has DJed for dancers at Mobtown Ballroom in Baltimore, New Columbia Swing, TCNJ Swing Club, UD Swing Club, and Jazz Attack in Philly. Kyle has taught at UD’s Hot Steppin’ Weekend and Catholic University. Kyle has a passion for Lindy Hop and Solo Jazz with an emphasis on conversational partnership, comfortable technique, and connection to the music. He would love to share a dance with you as a lead or follow! 

Annabel is a social dancing addict who loves the communication, spontaneity, and musical interaction fostered on the swing dance floor. After hearing many enchanting stories of her grandparents’ favorite pastime—dancing to big bands—it was no surprise when Annabel became hooked on Lindy Hop in 2003. Over the years, she has also fallen in love with Charleston, Blues dancing, and especially Balboa. Annabel loves the challenge and excitement of competition and has taken away top prizes at many events including the International Lindy Hop Championships, All Balboa Weekend, Camp Hollywood, the California Balboa Classic, and BluesShout. While competition yields prizes, her true reward comes in spreading the joys of dancing. Annabel has been teaching regular local classes since 2006 from State College, PA to Memphis, TN to Boston, MA to Washington, DC. She also teaches at workshop weekends, camps, and festivals around the country and the world, as near as Baltimore, MD and as far as Seoul, Korea. She adores seeing students develop the technique and enthusiasm to inspire themselves and their partners to have fun, fulfilling dances. She is currently the Education Director of New Columbia Swing.

Daniel's mom has said that if he was ever made to stop talking, signs would grow out of his elbows. In the pursuit of finding ways to express himself other than verbally, he got a taste of Lindy Hop with the Gainesville, Florida swing community but really found his dance home at Washington DC in 2018. Daniel believes in following the fun in a dance through musicality and communicational partnership. He believes in creating a positive learning community in class so students can explore movement in a way that is safe and aligns with the values of the dance (no two people will ever dance exactly the same!). He mainly focuses on following/leading/switching in Lindy Hop and Balboa.

Michael Quisao grew up in Dallas, traveled the world with the Navy, and has been a proud DC resident since 2014. He took his first Lindy Hop workshop in 2006 and has been captivated by swinging jazz music and swing dancing ever since. Michael believes that the music is the heart of the dance and that attentive partnership and comfortable technique are the keys that unlock the door to exhilarating and creative dances. He enjoys dancing and teaching as both a leader and follower in Lindy Hop, Balboa, Charleston, and dabbles in other social swing dances like Peabody, Jazz Foxtrot, and others. In private lessons, he loves helping dancers refine their partnership techniques and preparing couples for their “first dance” for their wedding receptions. 

Michael is the Head DJ & Music Director at New Columbia Swing. He has DJd for Camp Hollywood, Lindy Focus, DCLX, and all the big U.S. Balboa events, including as the Head Competition DJ for Bal Week 2023.

Skyler is a lover of deep swing dance history dives, obscure dance forms such as heel shag, and above all, Collegiate Shag. He focuses on stretchy partnership connection and is never short of a tricky redirection. He’s an old man of the dance trapped in the younger body of someone who’s trying to gain distance from 2016 at 290BPM. He has been teaching at New Columbia Swing since 2024 and was a fixture at Lindy Hop events all around the Southeast for more than a decade prior to becoming a DC resident.

Jason is a founding board member of New Columbia Swing. He has been Lindy Hopping since 1999 and enjoys other early jazz dances such as Charleson, Cakewalk, and Jazz Foxtrot. He has been living in Washington, DC since 2007 and teaching dance for more than 20 years.

In an effort to redirect some of her boundless energy, Heather's parents enrolled her in gymnastics at the age of 3. When that wasn't enough to rein her in, they added dance classes to the mix and Heather found her first true love. While living in Boston, in 2009 she decided to try her hand (erm, feet) at Lindy Hop and from the first class she was hooked!  She began teaching in 2015 and believes that dance and movement can break down barriers and increase joy, and she sees great value in social dancing as a means to making the world a better place. As a dancer she loves the communication between partners and taking inspiration from the music and her partner. As a teacher she strives to provide clear instruction and assist in increasing body awareness in her students. She also regularly travels to regional and national events to dance and learn (and she thinks you should, too!). But above all she believes that dancing should feel great and be fun!  Ask her to dance!

Erin tried out a swing dance class in college to satisfy a single elective credit and proceeded to spend the rest of her electives and most of her spare time on the dance floor. After a brief hiatus, her search for community in DC brought her back into the swing of things. An introvert at heart but practicing extrovert by choice, she started taking classes and volunteering so she’d have a reason to talk to people. Now most of her closest friends are fellow dancers and she gives back to the scene that made her feel so at home by serving as a member of the teaching staff and Director of Community Partnerships for New Columbia Swing. Erin’s primary goal is to help build a welcoming inclusive space for everyone to fall in love with dancing, but she has a special place in her heart for newcomers and fellow introverts. After all, when she isn’t on the dance floor you’ll usually find her observing the room from the comfort of a wall or corner with a smile on her face. Feel free to join her if you need a break or go ask her to dance! Erin enjoys multiple forms of swing dancing, but she’s partial to lindy hop and has a growing appreciation for balboa. The fact that she loves collegiate shag and heel shag (yes, it’s a real dance) is one of her worst kept secrets. Erin is a primary follow but she’ll probably do some leading if you can put up with her, and now you know she can’t resist if you throw a shag finger in the air.

Amanda got her first taste of swing dancing as an undergrad in Austin, Texas, but really became obsessed after moving to DC and finding the vibrant swing scene here.  She enjoys exploring the variety of early jazz dancing, including solo jazz, Charleston, Lindy Hop, Collegiate Shag, St. Louis Shag, and holds a special place in her heart for Balboa. As an ambi-dancer, she approaches dancing and teaching from multiple perspectives and appreciates the complexities of both leading and following. Whether teaching second graders how to read or adults how to swing dance, Amanda views teaching as an opportunity for mutual learning and empowerment. For Amanda, swing dancing provides a conduit though which she can explore connecting to others, self-expression, and improvisation.  She would like to share a dance with you.

Julianne has danced and taught Lindy Hop and solo Jazz all around the mid-Atlantic as well as across the Atlantic, having spent time as part of the Valencia Lindy Hop community. She has been teaching for New Columbia Swing since 2023.

David has been passionate about swing dancing since he first started in 2006. He loves to share his enthusiasm for Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, Charleston, and numerous other swing dances. He is known for his musicality and creativity on and off the dance floor and excels at breaking down mechanics in a way that is accessible to dancers of all levels and learning styles. His dance accomplishments include placements at All Balboa Weekend, the International Lindy Hop Championships, Lindy Focus, and Hot Rhythm Holiday. He has taught with his partner Chelsea at events such as the Eastern Balboa Championships, the Twin Cities Balboa Festival, the Canadian Balboa Championships, Hot Rhythm Holiday, and Shag Explosion, and was a special guest mentor for the 2012 Balboa Experiment.

Swing dancing has been a major part of Lee's life for over fifteen years, and he has become a fixture of the local and regional dance communities wherever he goes.  Having recently returned to the District after several years in Boston, he's excited to bring his knowledge and experience as a teacher and organizer to the DC area once again.  Lee believes in the importance of Lindy Hop as a social dance, and his teaching style emphasizes developing the techniques that give both leaders and followers more space to explore their own creativity.  Lee is Infrastructure Director of New Columbia Swing, a former board member and instructor of Boston Lindy Hop, and also the lead developer of the Django Dance School project, an open source solution for dance registration, administration, and financial management that has been adopted by dance organizations across the country (including this one).  Ask him to dance!

A Virginia local, Kate grew up in the ballet world and found Lindy Hop in college. She values the connection, history, and improvisation that undergird the dance and can generally be found making weird faces on the dance floor. Kate has been teaching Lindy Hop and solo Jazz since 2008, primarily in Boston, Charlottesville, and DC. (PC: Devon Rowland Photography)

Kevin has danced and taught Lindy Hop and solo Jazz all around the mid-Atlantic as well as across the Atlantic, having spent time as part of the Valencia Lindy Hop community. He has been teaching for New Columbia Swing since 2023.