Nothing brings Irina more joy than sharing a dance and building community. Since discovering Lindy Hop at 15, she has been a lifelong lover of social dancing — a passion that grew to include Balboa, Collegiate Shag, Solo Jazz, and West Coast Swing. Raised in Southern California, she feels fortunate to have learned in a scene shaped by some of the world’s finest dancers, teachers, and musicians.

Irina’s dancing has since earned recognition at Camp Hollywood, the International Lindy Hop Championships, the California Balboa Classic, and All Balboa Weekend, and she is honored to be a member of both the Camp Hollywood Hall of Fame (2019) and the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame (2022). She has also taught across the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Australia.

Just as meaningful is her work in Salt Lake City, where she co-leads Salt City Swing with her partner in both dance and life, Anthony Chen. Investing in her local scene — teaching, organizing, and creating space for others to connect — has been one of the most rewarding parts of her journey.

As a teacher, Irina strives to be patient, encouraging, and approachable. Her goal is to inspire students to value the foundations and culture of these dances while also celebrating individuality, expression, and confidence through movement.

PC: Jerry Almonte http://jsalmonteproductions.com/

My name is Natalia and I am a jazz dancer, teacher and performer from Southern California and based in St. Louis, Missouri. I have been dancing most of my life but discovered Swing dance in Southern California in 2010 when I was 17 years old, falling in love first with Balboa and Lindy Hop and soon after venturing out into Solo Jazz, Collegiate Shag and Carolina Shag.

What I love most about Swing dance is Jazz Music and the freedom to improvise through movement, whether solo or with a partner. Being a part of this community and creating together with others, whether in a class, social dance or jam setting is a beautiful and vulnerable experience that I feel privileged to be a part of.

PC: Morgan Day

Jacob started swing dancing in 2003 and has been hooked ever since.

Jacob discovered his love of Balboa in 2005 and began traveling to various events and competitions not much later. His first love is social dancing but he also enjoys competing as a way to set goals and push himself. As a teacher he enjoys using a mix of humorous analogies and serious instruction to create a fun and exciting learning environment.

Jacob has been teaching at national and international events for the last 15 years. He has honed his ability to break down and analyze the dance to make complex and dynamic movement happen with ease and comfort. He is known for his intricate, yet traditionally based, Pure Bal, as well as his unique shapes and movement in Bal Swing. He is also known for his continuous flow and effortless way of floating across the dance floor, while maintaining a highly rhythmic feel.

Jacob’s primary goal in all his partnerships has been to connect in a way that works for both him and his partner to find what they can create together. This has resulted in numerous placements and wins at all levels of competition, but more importantly, having ever-evolving social dances.

As a native Southern California college student, Blake discovered swing dancing with a whimsical New Year’s resolution to try learning the dancing he saw in Swing Kids (1993). Little did he know, SoCal was one of the world’s largest scenes, with a rich history and dozens of the world’s best dancers and instructors. Immediately hooked, he developed a relentless obsession for Lindy, Balboa, and Collegiate Shag. He’s since gone on to win in a variety of international competitions and has taught around the world in places like Europe, Korea, Japan, Australia, and the US.

In his free time, Blake loves to study vintage dance clips. He has a deep reverence for the original dancers and loves to teach classes that focus on particular styles and techniques they used. As an instructor he also focuses on imparting his values of partner connection, tasteful musicality, and developing beautiful basics. While he loves practice, competition, and performance, his favorite thing about dancing is just having a simple, deeply-connected social dance with a like-minded partner.

Gabi’s swing dance journey began in 2016 when she was seeking a new community to replace the Scottish Highland dancing of her childhood. In her college town, Athens, GA, Gabi soaked up a variety of dance content, learning many social styles, ballroom, contemporary, modern, and ballet. Soon, she was traveling for Lindy/Bal and teaching in the local college scene. Once she moved to the Twin Cities in 2018, her love for Balboa grew, and she now helps teach and DJ for Twin Cities Balboa Connection while volunteering and DJing at Rhythm Junction. 

Gabi's goal as a dancer and teacher is to have fun, be creative, and grow an inclusive space where everyone can connect with the feel of the music. Valuing playfulness, comfort, and joy, Gabi’s teaching integrates technique to strengthen dancers’ connection to both the music and partnership.

(PC: Bryce Peterson)

Dylan’s dance journey started with hip hop in school and college. His swing dance journey started in 2017 right after moving to Minnesota. He also has a classical music background and loves encouraging creativity and taking risks. 

He is an active DJ in the local scene and enjoys supporting local artists.

As a scene builder, Dylan focuses on building a supportive and encouraging environment to further the art form and keep people motivated to move forward. 

As a teacher, Dylan enjoys focusing on musicality, connection and comfort along with building individual aesthetics.

(PC: Bryce Peterson)

Griffin started dancing with the Colorado School of Mines Sliderulers Lindy hop team in 2018. He was introduced to Balboa in 2022 just before moving to Baltimore and sought out every opportunity to get more Bal, ultimately transitioning into a primary Bal dancer over the next year and a half.

Griffin moved to the Twin Cities in 2024 and is totally jazzed to contribute to the awesome Bal scene that Twin Cities Balboa Connection has cultivated.

When dancing, Griffin loves exploring internal rotation and the limits of communication through listening to his partner’s momentum.