To inspire swing dancing around the world and guide events in creating the ideal environment to promote community growth.
WSDC is non-profit organization focused on promoting and growing swing dance, by
Yvonne has been dancing, teaching and judging since the 1990s. She has served as a chief judge and judge at many events on the NASDE circuit and continues to stay active in the Chicago dance community. Yvonne also has experience as an organizer and an event director. She was a key member in a group which started the first WCS dance club, the Chicago Rebels, in Chicago. As a member of the Chicago Rebels she was then instrumental in organizing and creating the Chicago Classic, the first WCS dance convention in the city and one of the original national events to join NASDE. Besides Jack and Jill, Yvonne and her late husband Jim competed on a team that placed at the US Open. Yvonne is currently a full time real estate agent. Yvonne started her career in real estate simultaneously with her dancing career, 20 years ago. Over the years, Yvonne has been a top producer in the Chicago area and during the peak of real estate she was in the top 1% of agents in Chicago. Prior to Yvonne’s career in real estate she was instrumental in the start-up of a highly successful strategic planning firm (McMillan/Doolittle) where she worked with top executives in the retail industry (such as Mobile Oil, Sears, Ikea and Dayton Hudson, just to mention a few). She provided her clients with a high level of communication, knowledge of the market, customer service, and integrity. She brings those skills to the WSDC. Yvonne rejoined the WSDC Board on November 2014.
Jim Coakley has been involved in West Coast Swing for over 20 years and has watched the development of our dance over the years. He was a member of the Next Generation Swing Dance Club in the 90s and now lives on the east coast. He was one of the lucky ones that got to dance at the top of the World Trade Center, drinking champagne at the parties held by Gotham Swing. Jim is the president of the Young Adult Swing Dance Association and has worked to reach out to young dancers in our community to support them in their desire to learn West Coast Swing and to compete. Jim joined the WSDC Board in December 2016.
Jim Tigges has been active in the swing dance community since he started dancing in 1992. Jim and his wife Cathy have been competitors and ‘students of the dance’. Jim is a versatile and knowledgeable member of the swing dance community. He has been a competitor, judge, chief judge, scorer and emcee at numerous events around the nation. In 1997 Jim and Cathy were the directors/coordinators for the very successful Greater Phoenix Swing Dance Competition’s 4th of July convention. Jim has been serving on the WSDC as an executive director, event liaison, membership database facilitator and Swing Dance Hall of Fame coordinator. When not dancing or working events, Jim is also a studied and successful interior architect in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Jim joined the WSDC Board in 2000 when the WSDC was incorporated.
John Lindo is an International Award-winning West Coast Swing Dance Champion & Instructor. He is a man of style, grace and humor. Above all, he is one of the most joyful advocates of the dance. After beginning in country-western dance in 1992, John quickly made his mark on the West Coast Swing circuit by
garnering an astonishing number of awards and championships in Jack-and-Jill and Strictly Swing contests. First Place awards include the U.S. Open, Grand Nationals, and Phoenix Champion of Champions. John’s passion and talent for West Coast Swing has brought him international recognition. He actively participates in competitions and workshops around the world. John is sought after internationally for his knowledge, experience and teaching, in roles such as event director, organizer, judge, dancer, deejay
and choreographer.
John joined the WSDC Board in January 2023.
Kay Newhouse is co-director for three industry-leading west coast swing event weekends in the Washington, DC area: MADjam, Swing Fling and DCSX. Through her work with Dance Jam Productions, Kay wrote an innovative “Newcomer Welcome Program” curriculum, a statement of Expectations of Professional Staff, and a standard-setting Code of Conduct which has served as a model for many communities to put their values in writing. She is an experienced competitor and judge, and a social dancer at heart.
Twenty-five years of nurturing communities in the West Coast Swing scene undergird her friendly, warm leadership, her fascination with the intersection between individual and the systemic, and her attention to each of us as valuable individual members of a strong, respectful social dance community. Kay balances joy in the common experience of performance with a strong belief that the soul of social dancing resides within everyone’s reach, in connecting to one another on the musical playground of our shared dance floor.
Kay holds an undergraduate degree in Physics and English from Amherst College, and a master’s degree in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Outside of dance, Kay is a supervisor with University of Maryland’s department of Teaching, Learning, Policy and Procedure. She has extensive experience with non-profit board leadership in education; poverty and homeless services; and restorative justice, sustainable peace, and conflict resolution. She is also a creative writer: a finalist in the 3-Day Novel Contest and an emerging poet.
Jennifer Ferreira has been teaching and competing in partner dance for over 20 years. Her love of dance started at a young age growing up dancing salsa, bachata, and cumbia with family friends. Jen was a competitive ballroom dancer for nearly 8 years however, once she was introduced to West Coast Swing, she fell in love with the follower’s freedom and the versatility in the music, and never looked back.
Jen works as a director of Program Management for an out of home advertising agency in New York City, with a background in international business as well as Biology.
Her desire to create efficient and organized programs led her to start working for West Coast Swing events to create a more streamlined and efficient contest schedule. This has led to 11 years of contest coordination, training and mentoring coordinators and registration managers, event management, as well as event directing.
As an active teacher, judge, and competitor going to at least 15 events a year, Jen still prioritizes her community. She coached the Rutgers University Swing Team for 3 years, teaches private lessons and workshops, and is currently a board member of the Gotham Swing Club in NYC.
Jen is honored to give a voice to the active competitors on the board as well as give insight to the admin roles that are needed for a successful event.
Jen joined the WSDC Board in April 2025.
Paul, a seasoned West Coast Swing dancer and teacher, has been competing and teaching for nearly 22 years. His competitive career began in 2008 after winning multiple world titles in line dancing. In 2010, he won first place in the Open Jack & Jill at the US Open Championships, transitioning from line dance to West Coast Swing the previous year. He’s competed in Jack & Jill, Strictly, and Classic divisions with partners worldwide, traveling from Brazil to Russia, Australia, and Europe.
After a brief hiatus in 2014, Paul returned in 2016, passionate about teaching and judging in the UK, Europe, and internationally.
Before pursuing dance, Paul worked as a successful retail manager for 10 years. He was one of the first dancers to travel internationally and a key member of the growing European West Coast Swing community.
He remains current with the West Coast Swing community while staying true to its authenticity. He coaches and mentors students through workshops, private lessons, and online, and recently took over coaching JT Swing Teams London with his partner, Coleen Man.
Paul, a judge and chief judge of competitive West Coast Swing events since 2016, has judged worldwide. He recently passed the World Swing Dance Council Chief Judge certification, reflecting his experience, knowledge, and attention to detail.
Dedicated to teaching and developing dancers, Paul’s passion, professionalism, and energy make him a popular teacher and social dancer. His influence extends beyond the dance community.
Over the last 50 years Annie Hirsch has been the chief judge at almost every major swing event across the country. Along with Skippy Blair, Annie started the World Swing Dance Council as a means to promote swing dancing and keep it alive. Annie implemented many of the swing competition rules, guidelines, scoring systems and the Dancers Registry that is in use today. Her efforts have been instrumental in the popularity of swing today. Annie passed away in 2023.
Skippy Blair’s dance resume is formidable: co-founder of the World Swing Dance Council, Feather Award recipient, founder of the Golden State Teachers Association and developer of the Universal Unit System® a complete system of dance notation that allows dancers to “read” a dance much like musicians read music. Skippy Blair was a significant figure in the world of dance and, particularly, West Coast Swing since the early 1950s. She is generally credited with popularizing “West Coast Swing”. In 1958 she opened her first studio and started training Champion Dancers and Teachers. In 1974 she inaugurated National Dance Teacher Intensives which involved detailed, comprehensive training in dance knowledge, teaching and judging. Skippy coached some of the leading swing dancers in the country. She remained extremely active in the dance world until her passing in 2021.
Dani Canziani started dancing and competing about 35 years ago in the country-western circuit, and over 30 years ago on the swing circuit. She has competed in both couples and team divisions, as well as performing on two dance cruises, and also placing at the US Open two-times with the award-winning west coast swing team, River City Rhythm.
Dani has been teaching WCS private and group classes for over 25 years as well as coaching and choreography. In addition to teaching and coaching, Dani is well known as a national judge, working swing and country events from the west to east coasts. Prior to judging, Dani administered and ran scoring systems for country and swing events for about ten years.
Dani has also been inducted to the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame for her contributions to dance in California. She was the convention chair for the Capital Swing Dancers’ Presidents’ Day Convention, Sacramento, for 23 years before retiring in 2018. Dani joined the WSDC Board in 2000 when the WSDC was incorporated.
Swing originated from jazz and early African traditional dances. Along with the more familiar Charleston, early forms of dances included the Texas Tommy (also known as the Mooch and Sugar, and the Breakaway), Turkey Trot, Apache Dance, Black Bottom, The Shimmy, The Strut, Cakewalk, The Frisco, Foxtrot, Tap. These partnered jazz dances eventually evolved into Lindy Hop. In 1927, this style was given the name Lindy Hop by the swing dancer from Harlem named George “Shorty” Snowden. “Shorty George,” as he was known, called the dance the “Lindy Hop” after the famous pilot Charles Lindbergh, who was the first person to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. Short George and many other famous Lindy dancers like Frankie Manning and Norma Miller danced at the Savoy Ballroom, which opened in 1925 and was well-known as the go-to venue for swing.
Lindy is often called the original swing dance, from which many other forms of swing evolved, include West Coast Swing, Carolina Shag, Texas Whip, Boogie Woogie, Rock and Roll, Balboa / Bal-Swing, and many more regional dances. West Coast Swing is the Official State Dance of California. West Coast Swing’s origins come from the Savoy Style Lindy, which comes from the Savoy Ballroom in New York in the early 1930s. Although it was not invented by Dean Collins who also came from the Savoy Ballroom, he was instrumental in creating the dance we know as West Coast Swing (WCS). Swing dancing continues to evolve, has grown tremendously, and is now danced throughout the world.
Thanks to Sonny Watson, WSDC Dance Historian and Bobby White from Swungover
