27 Blanken Avenue, San Francisco, California 94134, United States
Dance Lessons
Jitterbug / East Coast Swing ~ This dance is great for beginners! This 6 count break step coming out of Lindy is danced to up tempo music like boogie woogie and rock & roll. This dance is fun and easy to learn!
Smooth Lindy / West Coast Swing ~ This is California's state dance! It combines 6 and 8 count rhythms using triple steps and moves in a slot. This dance can be danced to slower music like rhythm & blues. It also has syncopations that are good to dance to pop and funk music.
Lindy Hop ~ This is the original form of swing dancing that came out of Harlem in the late 1920's. You will learn lots of character steps and swinging Charleston kicks here! Danced to classic swing, Motown, and soul music.
Balboa ~ Originating out of Balboa Island in Southern California, this smooth 8 count rhythm is danced in a very close position with smooth subtle intricate footwork. It is great for catching your breath during fast paced songs. Also known as a dancer's dance that can be danced up to 300 beats per minute!
Charleston ~ From 1920's style to Swinging Charleston, this 8 count rhythm is all about leg kicks. These dance kicks are used a lot in the flashy dance, Lindy Hop.
Shim Sham ~ Frankie Manning's version of this classic soft shoe tap / swing "line dance". We close every Swing Dance Party with this routine!
Ballroom ~ Classic social dances like Foxtrot, Waltz, Rumba, Cha Cha, and East Coast Swing are an important repertoire to have!
Salsa ~ A blend of Cumbia and Mambo with styles from New York, Los Angeles, and Cuba.
Latin Mix ~ Add these popular Latin dances like Cha Cha, Mambo, Merengue, and Bachata to your Salsa dancing!
Kat's Bio
Dancing for almost forty years, including performing on television and working for the film industry in the Los Angeles area, I opened my first studio in San Francisco in 2008. I am blessed to have studied with legends Frankie Manning (Original Savoy Lindy Hop), Willie Desatoff ("Dean Collins" or "Hollywood Style" Lindy), Maxie Dorf (aka "the King of Balboa"), and Eddie Torres ("New York Style" Mambo/Salsa). As well as excellent instructors Erin and Tammy Stevens from Pasadena Ballroom Dance Association (Ballroom, Salsa, American Tango, Savoy Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing/Smooth Hollywood Style Lindy), who purposely found Frankie Manning working in a post office since the sixties, and asked him to teach them everything he knew about Lindy Hop. Thanks to them, and to the Swedish Rhythm Hot Shots, for finding Al Minns, and simultaneously reviving Swing and African American vernacular dance in the late '80s).
I am also thankful to have learned from other master teachers, Ryan Francois (Savoy Lindy Hop), Alex de Silva (LA Style salsa), Sylvia Sykes (Authentic Balboa), Rob van Haaren (Savoy Lindy Hop, Charleston), and Lennart Westerlund (The Rhythym Hot Shots, who won first place at New York's Apollo Theater for their 1941 amazingly fast, difficult and athletic rendition of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers dance scene in the movie 'Hellzapoppin").
I hope to share all of my knowledge of dance and my love and passion for music with you!