LaTasha “Tasha” Barnes is an internationally recognized and awarded dancer, choreographer, educator, performer, cultural ambassador, and Tradition-bearer of Black American Social Dance from Richmond, VA. Currently based in New York, Barnes is globally celebrated for her musicality, athleticism, and joyful presence throughout the cultural traditions she bears: House, Hip-Hop, Waacking, Vernacular Jazz, and Lindy Hop. Her expansive artistic, competitive, and performative skills have made her a frequent collaborator to Dorrance Dance, Singapore based Timbre Arts Group, and Ephrat Asherie Dance. Her leadership and business skills have placed her in positions of service as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Ladies of Hip-Hop FestivalⓇ, Vice President of Marketing & Outreach for the International Lindy Hop ChampionshipⓇ, Board Member of the Black Lindy Hoppers Fund, the Frankie Manning Foundation and a contributing member to the NEFER Global Movement Collective. Expanding the scope of impact for the communities she serves, Barnes completed her self-designed Master’s in Ethnochoreology, Black Studies and Performance Studies thru New York University Gallatin School in 2019. Her thesis and continuing research are working to bridge the gap between communities of practice and academic cultural dance research, performance, preservation, and pedagogy. In concert with these efforts, she is honored to be a part of the Brain Trust developing the ground-breaking stage production Swing Out, bringing the passion and power of Lindy Hop and its community to the concert stage. She is also honored to be a developing partner of several intergenerational and intercommunal cultural arts exchanges and performances that will be presented in the near future. Also in support of this dialogue; Barnes is a contributing author to the forthcoming text 21st Century Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in Teaching and Choreography by University of Florida Press out in 2021. Through all her efforts, Barnes’ forever purpose is to inspire fellow artists and arts enthusiasts to champion artivism through cultivating an authentic sense of self and intention in their creative expressions and daily lives.

Jean-Charles aka JoYsS is an actor, who shares a huge love story with dance. He is well known for his multi-artistic experience.

He originally comes from the Hip-hop Culture, where the mission of every dancer is to raise your own style and respect all inspirations without taking off any nature of it.

His purpose is not to dance swing with "modern moves"... He just comes with his own experience, challenges himself and try to level up exactly like the old school dancers did by the time, like if they never stopped dancing until now.

Through his numerous teaching and training courses all over the world, his famous performances like the "Drunk dance on Take Five", his winning of the 1rst place solo Charleston at ILHC 2015 in Washington DC(...) He is today one of the most accomplished French figures on the international swing scene.

Beside all of this, he has his own signature move in the video game Fortnite by Epic Game, he worked for artists like Rita Mitsuko, Mika, La Femme, or even prestigious brands like Hermès or Tommy Hilfiger. He worked also for Caravane Palace concerts and Movie clips, and was part of the cast of the Fashion Freak Show by Jean-Paul Gauthier.

Laura Glaess is a jazz dance artist and researcher exploring jazz as a continuum of rhythm, movement, and cultural expression. Her work emphasizes musicality, improvisation, and a grounded connection to African-American vernacular dance traditions.

Alex is Benelux vice champion in breakdancing and has been

teaching urban dances for over 14 years. Later, McCormack

discovered old clips such as Hellzapoppin and Spirit Moves,

and said to himself “that’s how I want to dance this dance”. He

decided to ongo the never ending journey of studying

“oldschool” style of Lindy Hop and Authentic Jazz. For him,

originality and authenticity comes from individual expression

while remaining true to the dance and its founders. He will

jam for hours into the early morning to uptempo Bebop

Swing, shaky Mambo and slow Blues. Back in Brussels, he

trains with his group, the Old Soulz.

International reference, LeeLa is recognized as one of the most versatile performing artists, who over the past 25 years has developed an original approach of percussive dance, by blending the determining influences of her career - tap dance, hip hop dance, STOMP, jazz culture. Artistic director of the Hip Tap Project, producer and teacher, her career encompasses a variety of experiences, ranging from international tap dance, jazz and hip-hop festivals to several years touring internationally with STOMP. Her projects have led her to perform in various venues: the Opéra-Comique, Suresnes Cités Danse, the Joyce Theater in New York, the Rencontres de la Villette, the French Institute in Istanbul, the Maison des Métallos, the Casino de Paris, the Tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf... She was a guest artist at the International Body Music Festival in San Francisco in 2009, in Sao Paulo in 2010, in Istanbul in 2012, in Italy in 2014, in Athens in 2017. In October 2016, she produced the International Body Music Festival for the first time in France, in co-production with the Maison des Métallos. Over the years she was a guest performer in different shows including Keith Terry and Jep Melendez’s show « Body Music, see music, hear dance », « Repercussions » with Original Magic Step, « Unfinished Fragments » with Cie PGK, « About Tap » with Thomas Marek, « Fractales » with Patrice Moullet… In 2022, she co-published the book « Footwork, my life in dance » with and about her mother Sarah Petronio and produced a tribute stage production « Its about time » with an international cast of tap dance colleagues. She teaches extensively in France, Europe and across the world. She has developed a continuing education program around the Hip Tap Technique which is now proposed as a diploma with the Pôle Aliénor (higher education for music and dance) in Poitiers. Since 2021 she produces #pdf.

Ricky is a distinguished House dancer from Paris. His commitment and talent have led him to significant achievements in the dance community.

Beyond competitions, Ricky Soul has made substantial contributions as an educator, sharing his knowledge and passion for dance with students worldwide. His teaching emphasizes the cultural roots and technical aspects, inspiring a new generation of dancers.

Ricky’s influence extends to collaborations with other prominent artists and participation in international dance events, where he continues to push creative boundaries and promote the art of house dance on a global scale.

Uxue Martínez Oroz is a Jazz dancer, choreographer and teacher focused

on African American Vernacular jazz and Lindy hop. Her relationship with

dance began with competitive rhythmic gymnastics, contemporary and

classical dance, at the age of 7.

Her love for the Jazz culture and the roots of this art form started in 2016.

Since then, she has been exploring and studying different styles of jazz

dancing and jazz music.

To get a deeper understanding of the culture, she is actively investiga-

ting West African traditional dances, tracing the connexions between the

roots, the present and the future of these art forms. She believes in combi-

ning the experience gained from different dances, aiming for uniqueness

in her dancing.

At the moment she has accumulated more than 10 years dedicating her-

self to teaching dance at different levels. The last 5-6 years more specifica-

lly to Lindy Hop and Solo Jazz at Triple step School located in Barcelona.

Eyal Vilner is one of the leading voices in the New York and global swing scene. Saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, composer and bandleader Eyal moved to New York in 2007and started his big band the following year. The Eyal Vilner Big Band has been performing widely in New York City’s landmarks such as Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim, Birdland, Dizzy'sClub, Smalls, Minton’s Playhouse, Harlem Jazzmobile and Central Park SummerStage.Internationally, Eyal has performed at the Red Sea Jazz Festival, Tel Aviv Museum, Jerusalem Theater; Ghent Festival, Belgium; Teatro Alameda, Spain; Théâtre Plaza, Montreal, as well asParis Jazz Roots, the historical La Bellevilloise, LeDuc des Lombards, and Caveau de la Huchette in Paris, to name a few.

Eyal's interest in the exchange between sound and movement within the jazz idiom inspired hismusical journey and yielded collaborations with acclaimed dancers and choreographers. Amongthese projects are theater productions, dance festivals and competitions such as the InternationalLindy Hop Championships, The Xperience, Midsummer Night's Swing, and the celebratedSW!NG OUT show at the Joyce Theater (co-creator and musical director). This show, which theNew York Times has called "Groundbreaking," has toured throughout the US, in venues such asthe Jacob’s Pillow and the LA Music Center.

The big band performs Eyal's original compositions as well as his new arrangements of jazzclassics. Their music, which derives from the tradition of jazz, swing and the blues, strives tobring a unique voice to this beautiful art form. The big band’s first seven albums:Introducing theEyal Vilner Big Band,Almost Sunrise,Hanukkah,Swing Out!,Live in Washington Square Park!,The Jam!, andSwingin’ Uptown,received rave reviews and made it to the Top Jazz Radio Chartsof the US and Canada.

For Leti, jazz dances are inseparable from their cultural context. Her approach, both as a teacher and performer, strives to follow in the footsteps of the dancers who have carried (and continue to carry) this tradition. As the saying goes, we are dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants.

Constantly seeking groove and swing, Leti explores the ways the body resonates with music, as well as the development of improvisation and personal expression.

A Lindy hopper since 2011, her dance is nourished by the diversity of vernacular jazz styles and the stories and lives that surround them. Sharing and exchanging are at the heart of her practice.

Today, Leti teaches Lindy Hop and vernacular jazz full-time in Montpellier, at Montpeul' Swing school. As a passionate educator, Leti encourages her students to push their limits and find their own voice, while remaining stewards of this dance's rich tradition.

Leti is also pursuing an academic career and is currently dedicating her research to exploring and understanding how jazz dances are perceived in France, and their place within cultural policies.

Caleb Teicher is widely regarded as a leading performer, choreographer, director, musical collaborator, and curator of musically-driven dance and interdisciplinary collaboration.

A two-time Bessie Award winner (and five-time nominee), their work in concert dance and music has played some of the most prestigious venues in North America including Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, New York City Center, Carnegie Hall, the Joyce Theater, and countless others.
They’ve performed duets with Regina Spektor and Ben Folds on Broadway, television, and on music albums. They’ve graced the cover of Dance Magazine, and they’re the only dancer to be featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.

Many shows created by Caleb (SW!NG OUT, Counterpoint, Caleb Teicher & Nic Gareiss, B-Z-Z-Z) regularly tour performing arts centers in North America.

Clàudia Fonte explores and embraces all kinds of playful ways in her dancing. Her main source and inspiration is Swing music itself. Taking the classic rhythms and moves as the foundation, she challenges herself to keep them alive through her own perspective and interpretation. Even though considering and admiring the great historical tradition of Swing dances, she believes in its evolution and expansion; respecting but also transforming the roots she explores different ways of communication and expression, as in vernacular jazz also in the partner dance.

Chester Whitmore, who has been dancing since 1974 and is a protégé of Fayard Nicholas (of the legendary Nicholas Brothers). His energy and expertise will inspire and elevate the festival to new heights!

Nathan Bugh is a jazz movement and music artist based in New York City. He performs and teaches in the United States and internationally, specializing in Lindy Hop, Charleston, and other Swing-Era dances. jazzasmovement.com

Suhhee Song 

From Seoul, Korea, immersed herself in authentic jazz and Lindy Hop after moving to Europe in 2023. Known for her playful and expressive style, she is currently majoring in Rhythm at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, with Tap as her main instrument.