Instructors

Charlotte Simpson

Charlotte Simpson started dancing swing in 1999. She came to Austin to study at the University of Texas and received her Bachelors in Sociology/Philosophy. She taught swing dance during that time with Austin Lindy, and competed in the American Lindy Hop Championships in 2003. In 2005, she moved abroad to pursue a graduate degree, and has received an MBA in Conflict Resolution and Negotiation. During that time, she focused on blues dancing, and taught blues at the Houston Fusion Exchange in 2008. She moved back to Austin in 2008 and fell in love with Balboa. She has been studying Balboa since, and in 2009 won first place in the Lindy in Old San Antonio [LIOSA] Balboa competition. She is pursuing her Doctorate in Orientation and Mobility for the blind, and currently teaches with Four on the Floor and BalAustin. Her understanding of movement and genuine love for the dance inspires others to enjoy learning and feel good on the dance floor.

Email: charlotte@balaustin.com

Jeremy Brady

Jeremy started dancing in 1996 with a crash course in Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Tap, and Ballroom. Moving to San Antonio in 1997 he quickly fell into the Swing and Country/Western crowds: first as a member of Trinity University's dance troupes, and then as an instructor with the San Antonio Independent School District. Before leaving Trinity he was a founding member of the Trinity University Swing Bums - a Lindy Hop focused club that has continued to thrive over the years.

Moving to Austin in 2003, Jeremy fell in love with Blues. A couple years later he added Balboa to the mix. While he has had opportunity to take Balboa classes from many of the current national instructors he most treasures his basic classes with Willie and Lila Desatoff before Willie's passing. Jeremy's passion in dancing lies in figuring out all the little movements between each step in the dance. He comes from a strong sports, gymnastics, and martial arts background and is currently pursing his career in physical therapy. He loves uses his experience in body movement and mechanics to help break a dance movement down to the simple tweaks needed to take it from feeling ok to feeling great.

In 2008 Balboa turned from a simple enjoyment to a focus of Jeremy's dance. Since then he has worked in conjunction with BalAustin to grow the Austin scene in addition to teaching classes in neighboring cities. In 2009 he took 2nd place with Charlotte in a multivaried swing competition while dancing freestyle Balboa. He currently continues to teach Balboa with Four On The Floor and BalAustin.

Email: jeremy@balaustin.com

Jennifer Monk

Jennifer has been interested in swing for many years, attending Austin Swing Syndicate dances all throughout college. But she began really building a passion for dance in June 2008 when she started taking lessons with The Lindy Project. By March she was traveling to Lindyfest in Houston, where Nick Williams and Sylvia Sykes taught a Balboa track and provided a great introduction to Balboa.

She continued taking lessons and working on the dance back in Austin, but also travelled all over the world to learn from the best of today's Balboa dancers and instructors at All Balboa Weekend 2009 in Cleveland, OH and Studio Hop Summer Camp 2009 in Eauze, France (for the Balboa and Lindy Hop weeks). She's also competed in Lone Star Championships 2009 and International Lindy Hop Championships 2009, including one of the Balboa Competitions there.

Email: jennifer@balaustin.com

Dave Bradford

Dave started learning Balboa in the Spring of 2007 and quickly fell in love with it. In his quest to gain a deeper understanding of Balboa, he has traveled to some of the biggest Balboa events and learned from the best Balboa teachers in the world. Some of those events are: London Balboa Festival (2007), All Balboa Weekend (2008, 2009, 2010), Canadian Balboa Championships (2008), and the Eastern Balboa Championships (2009).

Dave has also been helping to build the local Balboa scene. In 2008, he started he started biweekly Balboa practices that have helped Austin's Balboa dancers hone their skills (In the LIOSA Balboa competition in 2009, 5 of the top 6 dancers had been regularly attending practices). He teaches the beginning Balboa class at Four on the Floor. In the Fall of 2008, he started DJing Balboa dancers (as well as Shag dancers and other swing dancers). He was the DJ at the Hot Rhythm Ball in 2009 and regularly DJs for Four on the Floor and the Austin Swing Syndicate.

Find about more at http://dbrad.net

Email: dave@balaustin.com

Teni Lopez-Cardenas

Graceful and fiery. Feminine yet dynamic. Known for her swivels. Teni Lopez-Cardenas started her dance career as a lucky fluke almost 5 years ago, while living in beautiful Northern Colorado. Since then, Teni has become an accomplished competitor, teacher, and performer, and has had the pleasure of working with many well-known leads.

In the classroom, Teni maintains a fun and accessible attitude while focusing on the importance of connection, body awareness, and technique. Her passion for the dance shines through in her teaching, and she strives to instill a sense of playfulness while encouraging her students to develop their own personal style. To achieve these goals, she makes a lot of sound effects, and will often reference Mel Brooks movies; she awards utterly pointless points to anyone who can correctly name the quote

Teni is happiest when dancing her heart out, and she loves to perform and compete; she has performed for events such as the Great Southwest Lindyfest and Camp Jitterbug's Jump Session Show, as well as for various events in the Denver area. On the competition circuit, Teni has garnered a long list of accomplishments, consistently placing in top Lindy Hop and Balboa divisions at many prestigious events such as the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown, the American Classic Balboa Championships, the American Lindy Hop Championship, Camp Jitterbug, the National Jitterbug Championships, and Lindy on the Rocks.

Find about more at http://www.tenilopez.net