Instructors

Sharon Davis

Sharon Davis hails from Perth Australia, and is internationally known for her distinctive and feminine style in Lindy Hop, 1920s Charleston, Blues and Burlesque. Sharon is now based in London, and travels the world teaching with her dance partner Juan Villafañe from Argentina. She holds 1st place titles at the International Lindy Hop Championships, Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown, Canadian Swing Championships, Camp Hollywood, Camp Jitterbug and Stockholm Jazz Jam, and has claimed numerous other awards internationally. As an instructor and a DJ, she is known for her dedication to the history of vernacular jazz dances and the music they evolved to. With her bright and bubbly personality, Sharon’s teaching style is energetic, creative and fun. She is also the founder of the European Swing Dance Championships. Visit www.sharonmdavis.com to find out more about her.

Mike Legett

Mike is a passionate aficionado of jazz and blues dances, known all over the world for her friendliness, teaching skills, beautiful following, and expressive dancing.  She brings both vibrant energy and technical precision to the classroom, and strives to make every social dance the best experience possible.  Mike’s teaching history is extensive; having taught at a range of events from residencies to international workshops to private trainings, she brings preparation and flexibility to every class.  A typical class could involve students morphing into robot penguins or seaweed, standing on one foot with their eyes closed, or analyzing chord changes- all in the pursuit of better dancing.  Regardless of the material, her classes always include a mix of abstract and concrete topics, plenty of levity, and challenging homework to help students improve long after class has ended.  Find out more at www.mikethegirl.com.
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Damon Stone

Damon has been dancing his entire life, starting with vernacular Jazz/Blues first taught to him by his gradmother. After nearly a decade of learning at the heels of his elders, went on to study well over a dozen different dance forms until coming full circle in 1995 to focus primarily on the historical and contemporary styles of Swing and Blues as his family danced them, with a special focus on the Southtern styles from the Mississippi Delta region. He has taught dance extensively around the world, and studied the development of vernacular Jazz/Blues dance, learning from a number of the original dancers. Largely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on Blues dance, Damon has been interviewed as a Black dance historian in documentary and for radio as well as performed on stage with the Lincoln Center, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie Orchestras.
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Shoshi Krieger & John Joven

Shoshi has been blues dancing since 2002, DJing since 2008, and teaching dance since 2011. As a dancer, she loves to explore the landscape of sound, rhythm, and emotion that blues music provides. As a teacher, she strives to create a fun and safe environment for students to explore the music and movement of blues dance; solo or with a partner; and what it truly means to lead and follow. In her classes, she encourages her students to use higher levels of thinking, and loves to see students working together through the learning process. Blues dance is simple; learn to express the music in your own body, embrace solid fundamentals, and anyone can have a fantastic dance. She is continually evolving as a dancer, teacher, and lover of music, and is thrilled to be on the team at Enter The Blues this year!

John discovered dance during the neo-swing revival of the late 90s and has been hooked ever since.  Over the years, he has expanded his interests to teaching, DJing, event organizing, and competing.  Before moving to Booklyn, he regularly spun at many Chicago blues and swing events, and has brought his DJing talent to numerous events throughout the Midwest and East Coast.  Dancing competitively since 2009, he won the Expert Jack & Jill, Slow Blues Strictly, Champions’ Jack & Jill at BluesSHOUT! 2011, and successfully defended the Slow Blues Strictly title in 2012.  His dancing and teaching are grounded in the blues aesthetic and an appreciation for the emotions of the music.  John is also the co-founder of CUBE, the Chicago Underground Blues Experience, an event that coincides with the Chicago Blues Festival, taking advantage of the opportunity to dance to amazing bands and showcases the best local and regional blues DJs.