Instructors

Amanda Gruhl (Boston, MA)

Verily, Amanda has been dancing since the young age of five. With the utmost experience in dance instruction, choreography, performance, and show production, she has taught blues dance, lindy hop, jazz, ballet, tap, contemporary, sacred dance, and hip hop. She has also apprenticed in other dance forms such as Argentine tango, flamenco, modern dance, popping/breaking, and ballroom dance. Amanda has been dancing, choreographing, and competing in blues dance since 2000, and has been a traveling dance master since 2003. She has taught at most national events and workshops, including BluesSHOUT!, Down Home Blues, Austin Blues Party, Sweet Molasses Blues, and Emerald City Blues Festival. Her style of blues dance combines strong connection, partnered improvisation, and elements from many of the different dance styles she has studied. This has given her a National reputation as an incredibly versatile and inspiring blues dancer and teacher. She currently teaches, performs, and competes with Ogden Sawyer, Shawn Hershey, and Paul Mandel. Amanda also runs the New School Swing Studio in Charlestown, MA with Shawn Hershey and Nicole Zuckerman.

Damon Stone (San Francisco, CA)

Gov’nah Stone has been dancing for verily his entire life, starting with vernacular Jazz/Blues first taught to him at the tender age of six by his grandmother. After nearly a decade of apprenticeship at the heels of his elders, he went on and eventually studied a score of different dance forms until coming full circle in 1995 to focus primarily on the history and styles of Swing and Blues as his family danced them with a special focus on the Southern styles from the Mississppi Delta region. He has studied the development of vernacular Jazz/Blues dance across the United States learning from a number of the original dancers. He is known near and far as one of the foremost authorities on Blues dance, and as such has been interviewed as a dance historian in documentary and for radio. Damon has been a featured instructor at camps, festivals, and workshops across four continents, in a classic tale of the apprentice becoming the master.

Devona Cartier (Boston, MA)

The lady Devona began swing dancing at the sweet and tender age of eight, as a Carolina Shagger taught by her goode father in his North Myrtle Beach kitchen. She then endeavored to become an educated woman, journeying to college in North Carolina, and whilst pursuing a BFA in dance performance and choreography, the historical dances of Lindy Hop and Blues became knownst to her, in the years of 1998 and 2000, respectively. She packed her wagon for NYC in 2001 and thus began a regular travel schedule for dancing as a participant, a DJ, and a teacher. In her daily life she is a practicioner of the modern wellness techniques of Body Therapy and Pilates.

Dexter Santos (San Francisco,CA )

Dexter Santos discovered Blues dancing in 2005 and was at once enchanted by the soulful and expressive quality of Blues music. Whether he is teaching, performing, or social dancing, Dexter is very passionate in his interpretation of the Blues. One of the things that doth make his dancing stand out is his musicality and the way he translates it on the dance floor. Dexter has served as apprentice the best Blues dance teachers, and collaborated with teachers and dancers who inspire him to make him who he is today in the Blues dance scene.

As a teacher, Dexter’s passion comes from his desire to teach Blues dancing with respect to its roots, identity, to celebrate its art form, and more importantly, to inspire dancers of all levels with the possibilities that Blues dancing has to offer. Dexter teaches classes locally in San Francisco and offers his knowledge as a traveling master for national exchanges and workshops such as bluesSHOUT (Chicago, IL), Austin Blues Party (Austin, TX), Down Home Blues Festival (San Francisco, CA), BamBLOOZled (Washington, D.C.), Winter Blues Intensive (Chicago), Steel City Blues Festival (Pittsburgh), and Mile High Blues (Denver).

When not teaching or performing, Dexter continues to refine his craftsman’s skills on the dance floor as a frequent competitor. At bluesSHOUT 2010 in Austin, Texas, Dexter won all four partnered tournaments: Open Jack & Jill, Strictly Jook Joint, Strictly Ballroomin’, and Champions Division. His other accomplishments include: 1st place at the 2007 & 2008 bluesSHOUT Strictly Ballroomin’, 1st place at the Emerald City Blues Festival 2008 Invitational Jack & Jill, 1st place at the Enter the Blues 2008 Jack & Jill, and 1st place in the Down Home bluesSHOUT 2008 Invitational Jack & Jill Champions Division. For more information about Dexter, check him out at his website.

Heidi Fite (San Francisco, CA)

Heidi entered into the dancing and teaching of Blues in St. Louis in 1999 and has been dancing, teaching and performing ever since. An early promoter of Blues dancing, she founded the first national Blues dance workshop (Cheap Thrills), which has since transformed into the nation’s largest Blues dance workshop and competition weekend (bluesSHOUT!).

She joined the rush west to California territory, and now lives in San Francisco. From this young towne, she travels the world teaching Blues dancing as a living tradition, with a rich history and an exciting future. From private lessons and local classes to international workshops and historical research and documentation of the dance, she is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Blues dancing.

Her classes are inspiring and challenging, but her focus on the underlying principles and fundamentals allows her to break down the most difficult concepts and moves so they are easy to understand and incorporate. Heidi is able to communicate and instill in her apprentices a love of dance and a dedication to the learning process. More important, her classes will put, as they doth profess in the western regions, some serious "boom boom boom" and "aw haw haw haw" in your dancing.

Jerry Warwick (Dallas, TX)

Jerry started dancing in college in the 70’s. This of course did mean a particular thing as a student at Texas A&M - Country and Western! Which served him well. But, in 1998, a bout of swing fever hit the country and changed his focus. But it wasn’t long before the live blues played at local clubs caught his attention. By 2001, he was now dancing both swing and blues. In 2004, Jerry, along with Kathy, started teaching at the few fledgling national blues events that were popping up around the country. And he’s been teaching ever since.

Firmly confident that blues and swing are brothers from the same family, he teaches weekly classes in both dance forms, but it’s the blues he most closely connects with. Concentrating on technique and movement, he will stretch you while you have a good time.

Now a cunning apprentice in this age of reason might inquire - Where has he taught? Let’s examine a few places you may have heard of … Cheap Thrills, Blues Shout, Down Home Blues, Denver Blues Summit, Enter the Blues, Emerald City Blues, Frankie 95, Dirt Cheap Blues, Austin Blues Party, Blues Boot Camp, Mezzjelly Blues, Houston Fusion, Lone Star Championships, various regional events throughout the USA and his own Red White and Blues.

Joe Demers (Denver, CO)

Joe DeMers hails from the faire city of Denver, Colorado where he is a champion and famed instructor of the Blues and Lindy Hop. He and his partner, Nelle Hatley, hath traveled the world from South Korea to France, Canada, and all over this Country, the United States of America. He doth profess his love of the dance, and is proud to be a dancer, performer, competitor, and instructor. He is soon to be the excited owner of Overstreet Dance Gallery in Littleton, CO, a club for the arts, music, and dance. He is also a proponent of Frame Matching and hath proposed a codified theory of connection, ?PTED, in which the follows match the changes in posture, tone, and tension established by the leader, in order to follow energy and direction. For more information, seek out his website at www.joeandnelle.com.

Joshua Boroff (Boston, MA)

In the far reaches of the Vermont hills young Joshua grew up with keen ear and love of music. A true wilderness education he was given - archery, horseback riding, and sport, yet alas, he yearned for the Arts. Following his passion, Joshua pursued the great art of theatre through High School, and was granted a degree in Performances of the Bard in College. He took his desire for movement and directed it into the skilled practice of that time-honored battle tradition, fencing, in which he competed and taught for ten years. It was in the year 1998, at Ye Olde Beantown Camp, that Joshua discovered the Lindy Hop, and it was not long before he found himself infatuated with that beautiful lady of the night, The Blues. Whether he finds himself leading a lovely lady about the Promenade, or engaged in pedagogy, Joshua carries with him his excitement and enjoyment for movement, as well as a critical eye for connection and performance.

Julie Brown (Boston, MA)

The faire Julie hath been teaching, DJing, and competing in blues since 2006. She cometh from a background in performance and solo dance, and is known near and far for her energy, musicality, and style. Julie teaches regularly in Boston, and has also taught nationally at events such as Down Home Blues, Blues Blaze, and Blues Muse. She has won honors in many national tournaments, including 1st place BluesSHOUT 2009 Juke Joint, 1st place Mile High Blues 2010 Jack&Jill, 1st place Bambloozled 2010 Showcase, 2nd place BluesSHOUT 2010 Ballroomin', and 3rd place BluesSHOUT 2010 Champions Jack&Jill.

Kathy Warwick (Dallas, TX)

Among this Country’s founding principles is the freedom of belief. Kathy believes learning to dance can be an amazing lifelong journey. She aspires to be just like the Renaissance artist Frankie Manning and be dancing and teaching well into her 90’s! Because everyone’s dance journey is different, Kathy provides dancers with a variety of tools and skills they need to navigate their own unique Blues dance map.

To recount Kathy’s own dance journey, we recall back to a time when she was a 6 yrs old apprentice in ballet and tap class. Her journey was put on hold one month after she started... not good enough “they” did haughtily scoff. Well, after a little bit of Disco and Country Western and several decades of being too afraid to dance, her journey delivered her to Swing and Lindy Hop in 1999. Within a few years her love of Swing and its history and music lead her to Blues.

Kathy can’t help but share what she has learned with others. Kathy doesn’t just teach dance, she teaches dancers how to learn. Through her fun playful teaching style with dance partner and husband Jerry Warwick, Kathy shares what she knows, explains how things work, provides unique challenges and gives dancers a reason to laugh and to think for themselves. Many of her apprentices are teaching and winning competitions today.

Hometown: Blues’n the Night - Instructor & Organizer, Swing’n at the Sons – Instructor, Dallas Swing Dance Society – Instructor & Board of Directors, ACME Swing Company – Director, Choreographer & Coach, Vow to Dance – Wedding Dance Specialist

National Events: Instructor at Blues Shout, Emerald City Blues, Austin Blues Party, Frankie 95, Enter the Blues, Denver Blues Summit, Lone Star Championships, Blues Boot Camp, Cheap Thrills, Red White & Blues, and Down Home Blues to name a few.

Mike Legett (Cinncinatti, OH)

Like a master of alchemy, Mike doth combine 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. Be it in the classroom or on yonder social floor, she seeks a connection that involves active communication from both partners, to make a dance together.

Ogden Sawyer (Boston, MA)

Ogden’s experience with movement began studying martial arts at age nine. In 1997, he walked into a swing dance and was promptly hooked. Since that time, he has apprenticed in various swing dances, ballroom dancing, African dance, Argentine tango, lindy hop, and blues dancing. Ogden has been dancing, choreographing, and competing in blues dance since 2000, and teaching blues dance Nationally since 2003. He has taught as a master at most national events and workshops, including BluesSHOUT!, Down Home Blues, Sweet Molasses Blues, Blues Boot Camp, and Emerald City Blues Festival; encouraging and supporting the recent growth and popularity of blues dance. His style of modern blues combines Renaissance blues dance with Enlightenment concepts of strong connection and partnered improvisation. His teaching style communicates his passion for blues dancing, and encourages dancers of all levels to take chances and push their personal boundaries. Ogden currently teaches, performs, and competes with Amanda Gruhl and Julie Brown. Ogden is also a new father, and you may see his lovely daughter Abby at SHOUT this year!

Shawn Hershey (Boston, MA)

Shawn Hershey cometh from an extensive music background, studying classical trumpet performance at the Eastman School of Music. Naturally, when he started lindy hopping in the late 1990s with the Lindybaby studio, he did soon become hooked! He has studied extensively at camps and workshops with Nationally renowned dance masters and started teaching swing and lindy hop locally in 2002, and internationally with his sister, Betina Hershey, in 2004. Since Shawn entered the national blues scene in 2005, he has won or placed in about a dozen national blues tournaments, and has taught and performed at workshops and events around North America, including Austin Blues Party, Down Home Blues, Fusion Exchange, Sweet Molasses Blues, and BluesSHOUT! His style of blending lindy hop, ballroom, blues, and Argentine tango into his dancing is both beautiful and powerful, and earns him praise wherever he goes. Shawn currently teaches, performs, and competes with Amanda Gruhl and Julie Brown. Shawn also runs the New School Swing Studio in Charlestown, MA with Amanda Gruhl and Nicole Zuckerman and heads two successful swing bands, The Fried Bananas and the Shawn Hershey Quartet.