We're proud to announce our instructor lineup for this year's Emerald City Blues Festival!

Tina Davis & Don West

 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, Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago, Wichita, Minneapolis, Boston, Virginia Beach and Canada. Tina has competed in various competitions, most notably winning the Solo Blues Competition at Enter the Blues 2009, the Jack n' Jill competition at Blues Shout in 2007 and placing as a JnJ Finalist at Emerald City Blues Festival 2009. In addition to becoming a sought after DJ, Tina has also organized several Lindy and Blues events in Florida and Texas.

Don West has been dancing since 1997 and teaching since 2000 in Dallas. He’s been in a number of dance troupes including Smiley’s Lindy Hoppers, Uptown Swing, founder of the Madcap Maniacs, and the creative director for the ACME Swing Company. He was also the 2000 American Lindy Hop Championships Jack and Jill Champion as well as first place winner in several competitions in Austin and Houston, and served as co-organizer for Lone Star Championships in 2008.

Since joining up in July 2007, Tina and Don have spread their love of dance throughout the U.S. (and Canada!) teaching at events like Blues Shout Chicago, Austin Blues Party, Blues Boot Camp (Dallas), Down Home Blues Shout (San Francisco), Sweet Molasses Blues (Boston), MezzJelly Blues Weekend (Waterloo, Canada) and at a week-long stint in Minneapolis in October 2008. In their classes, Tina and Don like to emphasize sound fundamentals, the basics of rhythm, partnership in social dancing and love of the music. But most of all, dancing has just got to be fun.

Ogden’s experience with movement began studying martial arts at age nine.  In 1997, he walked into a swing dance and was hooked.  Over the last thirteen years, he has studied various swing dances, ballroom dancing, African dance, Argentine tango, lindy hop, and blues dancing. Amanda has been dancing since the age of five and has taught, choreographed, and performed: jazz, ballet, tap, lyrical dance, sacred dance, hip hop, east coast swing, lindy hop, and blues dance.  She has broad experience in many other dance forms such as Argentine tango, flamenco, modern dance, popping/breaking, and ballroom dance.

Ogden and Amanda have been dancing, choreographing, and competing in blues dance since 2000, and teaching blues dance together since 2002. They have created their own style of blues and have developed a national reputation for inspiring and emotional partnered blues dancing.  Ogden and Amanda are regularly invited to teach at national blues dance events, such as BluesSHOUT!, Down Home Blues, Blues Blaze, and Emerald City Blues Festival.   They also teach blues dance and lindy hop locally with New School Swing (www.newschoolswing.com) and Blues Union (www.bluesunionboston.com) in Boston, MA.   Their private and group classes showcase their humor, creativity, and enthusiasm and mix technical and easy to follow instruction with a deep understanding of connected movement and musicality.  In class, Ogden and Amanda encourage dancers of all levels to take chances and push their personal boundaries and they take every opportunity to communicate their passion for close, connected, blues dancing.

 

Karissa Lightsmith & -topher Howard

On an enchanted New Years Eve in 2004, Karissa discovered blues dancing in a steamy Seattle kitchen. Within a year, she was DJing, teaching at, and organizing blues parties, venues, and events. Blues + Karissa = Perfect Match. For the past ten years, Karissa has also studied many other forms of dance, including Argentine Tango, Hip Hop, Jazz, Ballroom, and Lindy Hop. She likes to weave influences from these dances into her blues. Karissa particularly loves to solo dance, listen and respond to her lead, and contribute subtle and sexy additions when partner dancing.

Karissa has taught at several national events, including, MezzJelly Blues Weekend (Portland), Blues Muse (Phillidelphia), Austin Blues Party, and L.A. Blues. She likes to keep busy at home being a regular teacher at every weekly blues venue in Seattle.Karissa is one of the four directors of Burn Blue, the weekly Tuesday Blues night in Seattle. She also regularly organizes local and national Blues events and trains local up-and-coming Blues teachers and DJs. In the last few years, Karissa has had a lot of fun in Blues Competitions. She was honored to win the Champions Jack n Jill at BluesSHOUT 2010 and the Strictly Blues at Emerald City Blues Festival 2009 and 2010.

-topher Howard caught the dance bug in the late 90's and began dancing blues and lindy hop in 2000.  Known for his enthusiasm, passion and positivity he has taught internationally and across the States.  He continually seeks to improve his craft as a dancer and teacher, training with some of the best dancers in the world, and brings his breadth of knowledge to the classroom.  If you take one of his classes be prepared to have fun, be inspired, and be challenged.

Kathy Warwick & Jerry Warwick

 Jerry and Kathy have been laughing, dancing and teaching together for over a decade. Sometimes a bit wacky, sometimes a bit serious, always loads of fun. They will drill you with technique, blues movement and moves, make you sweat, make you think, and teach you ways to stretch yourself as a dancer. Blues Dancers all over the USA are begging for more.

Who are they? Jerry and Kathy are a big part of the Dallas Blues and Swing dance scene since 2001. Hmmmm… National Blues events? Let’s just toss out a few places they have taught … Blues Shout, Down Home Blues, Mezzjelly Blues, Denver Blues Summit, Enter the Blues, Emerald City Blues, Frankie 95, Dirt Cheap Blues, Austin Blues Party, Blues Boot Camp, Houston Fusion, Lone Star Championships, various regional events throughout the USA and their own Red White and Blues.