Our Teachers

Gwen hails from Brooklyn, New York. She
grew up in various dance and movement
traditions, and has been Blues dancing for
over a decade. She is passionate about
crafting partnership and blues music, and
loves to explore all the ways to find rhythm
and space in a dance. Gwen’s dance
technique and approach to practice
developed her dance voice and has led to
national acclaim- BluesShout, Blues Muse,
Signifying Blues, Lindy Focus, Sweet
Molasses Blues. As a teacher, she
encourages dancers to explore the
partnership space and bring their own
individual voice to each dance.

It was a (most likely dark and stormy) night in 2011 when Zach Brass wandered into a group of people dancing and accidentally fell in love with it. Ever since then, he's spent over a decade putting his pure, unbridled enthusiasm into dancing and teaching both lindy hop and blues dancing. He's danced and taught all around the world, from Canada to Italy to the Middle East, but is passionate about developing the local scene in New York City. As a teacher, Zach is always looking to make sure everyone walking into a class for the first time not only learns, but also relaxes enough to have a great time. As he puts it, "Dancing ruined my life in the best way possible!"

Julie Brown (any/all pronouns) is a Boston-based blues dance teacher, DJ, choreographer, competitor, organizer, and enthusiastic student. She has been participating in blues dance since 2004 and has since gone on to teach blues dancing around the globe and won many national competitions.

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As a teacher, Julie aims to help students connect with and understand blues dance’s deep roots, find their own voice, and connect to themselves & others authentically, joyfully, and respectfully. Julie has taught blues dancing in Austin, Boston, San Francisco, Seoul, London, Chicago, Zurich, and many places in between. They are grateful to have won or placed in many solo & partnered blues competitions, including at bluesSHOUT!, Blues Muse, Mile High Blues, Steel City Blues, Northstar Blues, and more.

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During the past year, Julie has been reconnecting to their love of solo blues dancing, continuing to work on Chicago-style Stepping, leading blues, & headstands, as well as continuing to learn about blues history and its connections to later and present-day Black social dances & music.

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For dance videos, pictures, and more info, check out https://dancewithjulie.wordpress.com.

Dan is immersed in the music and the movement. As a teacher, his enthusiastic approach brings a focus on innovation, connection, and attention to your partner. As a veteran DJ, he's played for events across 4 continents, DJing everything from international events to local dances. He’s also organized both locally and for international events, including a Head DJ role in BluesSHOUT! and The Balboa/Blues Experiment. In the end, Dan is most excited to work hard at improving the dance and to see people break through their boundaries.

Katrina Rogers is an International Blues Dance Instructor with a strong musicality and quality of movement who has been helping students find their groove for over 8 years.. She flows with a sense of grace and playfulness. Music and dancing are food for Katrina’s soul. She feels the music on a very deep level and her body simply responds. Dancing has always been and will continue to be a place for Katrina to explore and express who she is, and she encourages everyone to do the same.

Katrina has been instructing various forms of movement; from personal fitness to track and field to dancing for over 17 years. While she is a technician; she wants her students to find how they can come alive through dancing. To learn how to make each movement their own and groove with confidence.

Kenneth Shipp hails from St. Louis, MO as an instructor who grew up dancing hip-hop and DJing breaking comps before jumping into blues. He has spent the past few years passionately studying the family of blues idioms, incorporating his nerdy personality along the way. Kenneth’s life experiences inform his dancing and teaching style so that students walk away with a better historical and contextual understanding. With every class and practice, he'll encourage you to approach social dancing with coolness, relaxation, or in other words “Chill The F$%& Out.” When he’s not dancing, you can likely find him ranting about the latest blockbuster movie, game, or nerd convention, or desperately trying to dismantle toxic institutions.

Alfredo has been teaching partner dancing for over two decades.  He has taught workshops, performed and competed (and often won) at multiple dance events, and developed teacher training programs all over the world.

His approach to the dance experience is centered around the conversational aspect of partnering and he is excited to be a part of Montreal Bagel and Blues again.