Jenn Martinez
Jenn has been learning partner dances since 1998. She started with ballroom, and East Coast Swing. But when she saw Lindy Hop for the first time in 2001, she was immediately hooked. She adopted Frankie Manning’s approach to learning – out on the floor. She became known for her style, energy, and ability to bring out creativity from her dance partners. In 2004, she was introduced to Blues. Jenn’s connection skills and natural musicality enabled her to once again learn by doing, and she has been exploring its possibilities ever since.
Jenn and Gui Cavalcanti teamed up to start teaching Lindy Hop and Blues lessons at the MIT Lindy Hop Society in the summer of 2006. They became one of the most popular and well-respected teaching teams at MIT. The teaching style that developed is rooted in fundamental physical principles (both were trained as engineers), and classes tend to feel fun and experimental in nature; past lessons have included class-wide jam sessions, mock bar scenes and a live house band.
Jenn founded Blues Union in 2009 with Gui and the help of several dedicated dancers and instructors.
Julie Brown
Julie has been teaching, DJing, and competing in blues since 2006. With a background in many forms of solo dance, she is known for her musicality, great body movement, and playful dancing style.
Julie got her start teaching in Pittsburgh, PA, in 2006, where she and her dance partner, Jeff, helped found a monthly blues dance. Julie and Jeff also helped found the currently successful Steel City Blues Festival, which happens every March in Pittsburgh, and brings national blues instructors, classes, and live blues music to the Northeast.
In her classes, Julie emphasizes individual body movement, musicality, and open communication in connection. Julie choreographs, performs, DJs, and teaches locally and nationally with a variety of partners, and has placed in many national competitions including 1st place in BluesSHOUT 2009 Juke Joint, 2nd place in Enter the Blues 2009 Solo and 2nd place Jack’n'Jill, and 2nd place in BluesSHOUT 2008 Open Jack’n'Jill.
Joshua Boroff
Joshua grew up loving music and moving to it. He pursued acting through High School, majoring in Theater Performance in College. He took this desire for movement and put it into fencing, which he competed in, taught, and coached for ten years. Learning Lindy hop in ‘98 at Beantown and starting his infatuation for Blues dancing in early ‘03. Regardless of what he is dancing or teaching, Joshua brings his excitement and enjoyment, as well as a critical eye for movement, connection and performance.
Joshua and Devona Cartier began dancing together in 2003. They dance in a way that incorporates vintage dances and modern variations, blended with their own personal style. When they dance, they want to express the rhythms, styles, feels, and tones of the music. They teach not just because they can or because they are good dancers, but because they feel they can offer something unique. They want to share what they love about music and dancing.
In their classes they place high importance on getting the message across clearly to the people at hand, adapting as needed. They believe difficult concepts should not be reserved for the advanced dancer or private lessons. As a result, they strive to present those concepts as an integral part of the dance in their group classes at all levels. Their classes include demonstration, feedback, lots of music, and most importantly, practice (see it, do it, do it again, try this, do it, do it, do it).
Devona Cartier
Devona first began swing dancing, at the age of eight, learning Carolina Shag from her dad in his North Myrtle Beach kitchen. While in college in North Carolina, pursuing a BFA in dance performance and choreography, she took her first Lindy Hop class in 1998, and her first Blues class in 2000. She moved to NYC in 2001 and began to travel regularly for dance as a participant, a DJ, and a teacher. In her daily life she is a Body Therapist and Pilates teacher.
Devona and Joshua Boroff began dancing together in 2003. They dance in a way that incorporates vintage dances and modern variations, blended with their own personal style. When they dance, they want to express the rhythms, styles, feels, and tones of the music. They teach not just because they can or because they are good dancers, but because they feel they can offer something unique. They want to share what they love about music and dancing.
In their classes they place high importance on getting the message across clearly to the people at hand, adapting as needed. They believe difficult concepts should not be reserved for the advanced dancer or private lessons. As a result, they strive to present those concepts as an integral part of the dance in their group classes at all levels. Their classes include demonstration, feedback, lots of music, and most importantly, practice (see it, do it, do it again, try this, do it, do it, do it).
Devona and Joshua travel around the country teaching dance, DJing, choreographing, competing, and judging competitions.
Amanda Gruhl
Amanda has been dancing since age five. Experienced in dance instruction, choreography, performance, and show production, she has studied blues dance, lindy hop, jazz, ballet, tap, lyrical dance, sacred dance, and hip hop. She has also had instruction 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 teaching blues dance nationally since 2003. She has taught at most national events and workshops, including BluesSHOUT!, Down Home Blues, Austin Blues Party, Mile High Blues, Sweet Molasses Blues, Emerald City Blues Festival, BFX, Blues Blaze, and many others. 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 Chris Mayer. Amanda also runs the New School Swing studio in Charlestown, MA (www.newschoolswing.com) with Shawn Hershey.
Shawn Hershey
Shawn Hershey came from an extensive music background, so when he started lindy hopping in the late 1990s with the Lindybaby studio, he quickly got hooked! He has studied extensively at camps and workshops with nationally renowned instructors and started teaching swing and lindy hop in Boston around 2002 with various partners. Shawn also began teaching and performing lindy hop internationally with his sister, Betina Hershey.
Shawn has won or placed in half a dozen blues competitions in the past few years, and started teaching blues with Amanda Gruhl in 2005. They have since traveled and taught together at workshops and events around North America, including Austin Blues Party, Down Home Blues, From Montreal With Love, the Blues Blast Workshop Weekend in central PA, and Albany Smorgasboard. Their style of blending lindy hop, ballroom, blues, and Argentine tango into their dancing is both beautiful and powerful, and earns them praise wherever they go, most recently at the Emerald City Blues Festival, where they took 2nd place in the Strictly Competition.
Currently, Shawn teaches with a collective of Boston dance instructors at New School Swing in Charlestown, MA and runs two successful swing and blues bands, The Fried Bananas and the Shawn Hershey Quartet.
Chris Mayer
Chris is known in the blues dance community for his musicality, creativity, and fun-loving spirit. A self-proclaimed lindy hop addict until he found blues in 2006, Chris was drawn into dancing by its unique freedom of expression. Since then he has created a style of his own, with influences from tango, ballroom, and everything in between. Chris loves the challenge and camaraderie of national blues competitions – give him any song and any partner, and he’s going to have fun. He is adored by students everywhere from Hawaii to Heidelberg, and his teaching and dancing can be summed up best by this
quote: “Technique? Check. Fun moves? Check. Playful attitude? Check!”
Ogden Sawyer
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 12 years, he has studied various swing dances, ballroom dancing, African dance, Argentine tango, lindy hop, and blues dancing, and has been teaching lindy hop, connection, and musicality classes in the Boston area for the past 7 years.
Ogden and his main partner, Amanda Gruhl, have been dancing, choreographing, and competing in blues dance since 2000, and teaching blues dance since 2002. Their style of modern blues combines historic blues dance with modern concepts of strong connection, partnered improvisation, and elements from many of the different dance styles they have studied. This unique blend has given them a national reputation for inspiring and emotional partnered blues dancing.
Their teaching style communicates their passion for blues dancing, and encourages dancers of all levels to take chances and push their personal boundaries. Since 2003, they have been teaching at national events and workshops, including Blues Shout, Down Home Blues, Cheap Thrills, Red White and Blues, and Emerald City Blues Festival, and encouraging and supporting the recent growth and popularity of blues dance.