Instructors

Irina & Natalia

Nothing brings Irina (she/her) 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.

My name is Natalia (she/her) 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 St. Louis Shag. What I love most about Swing dance is the 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.

Fancy & Albert

Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Fancy (a birth name) fell in love with Lindy and Shag in 2008, with Balboa trailing not far behind. She’s been hooked ever since, constantly endeavoring to improve her technique on a never-ending quest for connection, improvisational freedom in social dancing and the true jitterbug spirit. She has performed, competed in and taught Lindy, Balboa and Shag all over the world, and is a five-time winner of the National Jitterbug Championships in the shag division. She loves to dance with new people and beginners, so be sure to ask her to dance!

Albert has loved to dance since he was a child, and in 1996 finally discovered folk dancing. Then one magical evening in 2000, between waltzes at Plaça del Rei in Barcelona, he was invited to a swing dance. That’s when he started dancing lindy. Enthralled with social dancing, he discovered balboa in 2005, and towards the end of 2006, he and Gloria and began teaching this amazing dance locally and growing the scene in Barcelona. In 2011, they started teaching international workshops, and in June 2014 during a competition in the US, Albert had a personal crisis that made him question whether the way he danced was consistent with who he was and how he felt about partner dancing. That’s when he decided to embark on a different path.