Jayna Morgan began dancing in the fall of 1998. She began dancing while attending the George Washington University in Washington, DC, and her passion for dancing motivated her to become the head of GWU's Jitterbugs Swing Society, which taught Lindy Hop lessons by some of the world's most renown instructors, produced the first ever Inter-Collegiate Swing Dance Competition, and hosted dances with up to 400 attendees. Jayna has also competed at the Virginia State Open and the American Lindy Hop Championship. After studying with some of the world's top Lindy and Swing dance instructors, Jayna moved to New Orleans and continued her love of dancing by going to the local jazz venues where she met her dance partner, Michael Norris. You can find Jayna shopping around Magazine Street for vintage duds and giving lessons on how to style 1940's hair.		Michael Norris started dancing Lindy Hop in 2001and has taken lessons from many Lindy Hop instructors from all over the U.S, including one of the original founders of swing dancing, the legendary Frankie Manning! Michael is one of the founding members and organizers of the Fort Worth Swing Dance Syndicate and is also responsible for raising significant contributions for the San Antonio Swing Dance Society. Michael's main goal is to teach swing dancing in New Orleans to make sure that everyone has fun social dancing. When asked why he dances, his response was, "I dance for the love of the music, the love of dance & most importantly the ability to bond with friends."
Albert Lee began Lindy Hopping over seven years ago in San Francisco where he honed his craft. He was a member of Swingcats, a performance troupe founded by Rob and Diane van Haaren. He's also performed with SFBounce, another performance troupe founded by some of his friends. Since then, he wandered around the country, seeing some of the other Lindy Hop scenes that dot the nation.		Ellen Boyer was born and raised in New Orleans, Ellen began dancing Lindy Hop on Labor Day, 1997, and has been hooked ever since, taking classes from some of the world's Lindy greats, including Frankie Manning, Steven Mitchell, Bill Borgida, and Sweden's Rhythm Hot Shots. She began dancing Collegiate Shag in 1998, learning it from top shag duo Erik Robinson and Sylvia Skylar, and found her shag match in 2002 with partner Robert Claypool. She also started picking up 20s Charleston in 2002 during New Orleans Jazz Vipers shows at the Spotted Cat with partner Dustin Liles. Ellen's love of all forms of swing dancing comes through in her playful, graceful dance style. She brings passion and a sense of humor to her lessons, and above all, wants her students to have fun and fall in love with the dance and music. .
Nathalie Gomes is the founder of Hop Swing & A Jump, a NYC based company. She is a world renown instructor and an award-winning performer: 7-time American Lindy Hop champion, 4-time National Jitterbug Champion, 2004 World Swing Dance champion. She performed with Will Smith for the President of the US, Bill Clinton, and was a featured dancer in Mona Lisa Smile starring Julia Roberts and The Polar Express starring Tom Hanks. She has taught all over the world, in all 5 continents, and is now in New Orleans to share her passion. Check her website (Bios, photos, videos) at http://www.hopswingjump.com.		Robert Claypool is a guest instructor for NOLA Swing. Besides helping us teach, he has put a lot of energy into the swing scene in New Orleans. Starting with East Coast back in 1996, he took lessons with Al & Cathy at Rock n Bowl. He then started to get the "Lindy Bug" and was instrumental in founding Dance New Orleans. Since that time he has helped promote the scene by promoting Swing Dance instructors, venues, and bands. He and Rocky Russo, another founder of Dance New Orleans, have started Gumbo Groove (www.gumbogroove.com), as the next step in a New Orleans Community website.