Gaby Cook

Gaby Cook is a esteemed, active professional in the global lindy hop community. For nearly 20 years, she has established her career, teaching and performing worldwide for events such as Herräng Dance Camp, Paris Jazz Roots and Lindy Focus. She leads two swing and jazz based dance companies: Wild Rhythm Dance Company and Gatsby Entertainment. These companies have been featured on stages such as Jacob’s Pillow’s Inside/Out Series, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, The 92nd St Y, Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center and many appearances at the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center.
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Wild Rhythm was a dance company in residence for the CUNY Dance Initiative program (2019-2020 season)
In New York, Gaby curates and teaches a swing dance educational program with Caleb Teicher and Nathan Bugh at the 92Y. In class, she is playful, informative and honest. Through teaching dance, she seeks connect new audiences to the immensely rich history of swing-era dances. She prioritizes equality for followers and leaders in the classroom space — and has championed a movement first approach to teaching partnered dance content.

Nathan bugh

NATHAN BUGH is known worldwide for his intimately rhythmic style of Lindy Hop and vernacular jazz. He "rocked the stage" at Carnegie Hall, dancing Lindy Hop with the New York Pops Orchestra; he performed in Harlem’s famous Apollo Theater in Swingin' Frankie's Way; and he danced in the CT&Co's More Forever, at Jacob's Pillow. His on-film appearances include: "My Fair Wedding" S.3 E.3 Great Gatsby Bride, Fox and Friends Christmas, Rebel In The Rye, and The Weepies - Be My Honey Pie. As a national jazz-dance competitor, Nathan has taken 1st place in Lindy, Slow Dancing, Solo Charleston, Team, Jill&Jack, and Cabaret divisions. He is one of the most eminent solo-jazz contestants in the world, having won both the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown (2012) and International Lindy Hop Championships (2014), as well as achieving 3rd place in the ILHC invitational (2018). He was also the director and choreographer of “Yeah Man,” the 2015 ILHC Team champions. Nathan is based in New York City, where he performs regularly and teaches social-dance classes.

LINDY HOP is the most significant, swing-jazz, partnered dance. It was originated by the African-American community of the Savoy Ballroom, in Harlem, New York, circa 1928. Many other dances, swing and non-swing, are related to the Lindy Hop, including Shag, Push, Whip, West Coast, East Coast, Steppin, Hand Dancing, Boogie, Rock n Roll, and some varieties of Two Step.

Dee Daniels Locke

Dee started Swing Dancing at the age of four with her Dad in the basement, wearing her Mom’s heels and her favorite plaid skirt. With a hiatus into hip-hop during her school years, she was called back to Lindy Hop, becoming an influential member of the Minneapolis scene, where you can find her teaching at Uptown Swing. 

Dee loves feeling free on the dance floor. She advocates for self-expression and individual creativity as the spirit of solo jazz and Lindy Hop. She loves Lindy Hop's particular way of encouraging collaboration between music and partner, priding herself on making each dance unique to the musical experience and partner.

Dee has taught, performed, and choreographed nationally and internationally. She specializes in vintage jazz, Charleston, and Lindy Hop.  

Christian Frommelt

 
Hello, I’m Christian Frommelt (he/him/his), a swing dancer and musician from St. Louis, Missouri. As a teacher, organizer, and social dancer, I’ve dedicated much of my life to bringing people together through music and dance. The African-American vernacular dance values of spontaneity, rhythmic propulsion, and communal improvisation captivated me as a teenager, and I’ve been bent on learning jazz-based artforms ever since. It has become a privilege to also share the stories, sounds, and skills I’ve gained along the way as a teacher, writer, and performer. 

I’m proud to have been recognized with competitive accolades at the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown and the International Lindy Hop Championships, which include awards for choreography with Jenny Shirar. For nine years I served as co-organizer of the renowned Nevermore Jazz Ball & St. Louis Swing Dance Festival and Cherokee Street Jazz Crawl in the effort of collective expression. I’ve played piano for the Gaslight Squares jazz band since 2019.

natalia eristavi

 
Natalia (she/her) is a visual artist and a jazz dancer, teacher and performer based in San Diego, California. Her swing and jazz adventures began in late 2010 although she had been dancing since the age of 4 and considers movement to music akin to breathing. Since her first steps into the professional swing dance circuit around 2012, she has taught, competed and performed at many notable national and international dance events, acquiring numerous awards along the way.
 
While performing and teaching are a great source of passion for her, Natalia feels the most fulfilled when creating meaningful connections with her students and colleagues on the social dance floor.