We are very excited to feature The Harlem Hot Shots of Sweden in the Jump Session Show this year!!

The Silver Shadows are known as one of the strongest young teams in today's lindy hop community. Its eight individual members currently hail from seven different cities and two countries, and can boast over 50 first place titles from the world's most prestigious dance competitions. They have been sharing their love for lindy hop as a performance team for the past five years and are dedicating this number to the legend and inspiration- the incomparable Frankie Manning.

Dancing since 1974, Chester Whitmore originally studied to be a cinematographer. An encounter with famed tap dancer Fayard Nicholas changed his life. Eventually, Mr. Nicholas became his teacher and mentor.

Mr. Whitmore has been jumping ever since. Lately, he has been traveling around the world on tour as dancer, teacher, choreographer, director and entertainer. He and his dance company, Black Ballet Jazz, have performed with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington, the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Frank Foster and the great Miles Davis.
The summer of 1999 sent him touring through Canada and Europe with the Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra in a tribute to Duke Ellington.

Chester Whitmore's choreography can be seen in music videos by Weird Al Yankovic, Tina Marie, Boys 2 Men, and most recently, Sugar Ray.

Has been swing dancing since the age of 15, only 19 years old he joined the Rhythm Hot Shots that later became the Harlem Hot Shots. Today at the age of 26 he is still performing with the company that is well recognized for it's spectacular shows worldwide. Sakarias has been teaching a lot both internationally and within Sweden. Sakarias teaches tap at the Swedish Ballet Academy. Sakarias masters several dances from the swing era including Lindy Hop, Charleston and Tap.

In Lindy Hop Sakarias together with Frida Segerdahl made it to the finals ”Hellzapoppin” New York (2004 and 2005) and ”The Battle (2006, 2007), he placed second in the fast and medium Lindy Hop divisions at the Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown 2007. As a solo dancer Sakarias has won the authentic jazz division at both ”The Battle” and ”Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown” 2007. He also made it through to the final in the Swedish dance reality TV show ”Floor Filler” where he competed with his swing dancing against other dance styles. He likes to compete for the fun of it but believes that no other person really is to judge a dancer.

The Killer Dillers are a troupe of professional dancers drawn from across the globe, specializing in performance artforms of the jazz era. Aiming to bring back the spectacular style of song-and-dance entertainment from the golden age of show business, the Killer Dillers' repertoire includes Lindy Hop, Charleston, Tap and a variety of other authentic vintage jazz dances, as well as comedy, acrobatics and burlesque. Visit www.thekillerdillers.com to find out more about them.

The Killer Dillers are Kevin St.Laurent & Emily "Jo" Hoffberg, Nathan Bugh & Evita Arce, Sharon Davis & Juan Villafane

Hot Club Stomp is a newly formed performance group composed of champion lindy hop, balboa and collegiate shag dancers from California. Among their many competition titles, they have also been featured in film, television shows and music videos. They were inspired to form the group in honor of Frankie's 95th birthday. Members include Mikey Pedroza, Nikki Marvin, Nick Williams, Carla Heiney, Jeremy Otth, Laura Keat, Shesha Marvin and Ria DeBiase.

Our lovely ladies that make up Sister Kate are:
Casey Schneider
Robin Nunnally
Charra Fulton
Lauren Kayda
Katie McLaughlin
Kara Noyes
Gaby Cook
Amy Best
Eva Robinson

Competing is fun for Carla and a great way to push her limits, but her real passion is teaching dance and social dancing. She travels all over the country and the world teaching this art form to others and is excited to call San Francisco home and be a part of the thriving San Francisco Bay area dance community. She has a down to earth teaching approach, but still takes learning seriously and focuses heavily on quality of movement, partner connection, musicality, and most importantly, enjoying the dance! Carla searches for that fine balance of staying connected to the roots of the dance, where it came from and why, while still pushing the envelope of where the dance can go. Lindy Hop is a constantly evolving dance that should be rooted deeply in its vibrant & extensive history, but still bursting with energy towards a brilliant future. Carla currently teaches, choreographs, judges, competes, & social dances all over the world & feels very fortunate to be able to do what she loves most.

Emily "Jo" Hoffberg calls California her home, though she spends most of the year traveling with her dance partner Kevin St. Laurent. She holds 1st place titles from the US Open, Canadian Swing Championships, Camp Hollywood, American Lindy Hop Championships, and Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown. She worked in Japan for Universal Studios and has taught in the US, Asia, Australia, South America and Europe. She is a passionate and avid dancer, instructor and competitor.

Jenny started dancing when she was seven years old at Lasse Khülers dance school in Stockholm. She stayed in the school for ten years and became maybe a better performer than a dancer. She got her passion for jazz music and singing from her mother at an early age and when Jenny was sixteen she left Khülers dance school and started study theatre. Since then she has been in several plays and cabarets, both as an actress, singer and a dancer. She started dancing lindy hop when she was sixteen. After two classes for Mattias Lundmark, she went directly to Nalen (the most famous dancehall in Stockholm) to dance socially. Herräng Dance Camp was the place that got her hooked on lindy hop and she hasn't stopped since. 

2003 she started performing with the dance troup Shout n' feel it in Stockholm and 2005 she became a member of the perfomance group Harlem Hot Shots. Dancing and performing with the Harlem Hot Shots has also made her a skilled charlston and jazz dancer. Jenny has been teaching since 2004 with a variety of dance partners, her focus is on musicality and improvistion.

Lennart Westerlund started to dance Swedish style jitterbug at Lasse Kühlers dance school in 1980 and became a member of recently formed Swedish Swing Society in 1981. In the early years he competed frequently at different places around Sweden and he also spent lots of hours dancing socially. Around this period of time he furthermore became a member of the board of above mentioned society and was also an active part of organizing the very first Herräng Dance Camp in August, 1982. After getting his first impressions of African-American swing dancing in 1983 he was hooked and turned into becoming one of the pioneers of the first modern revival of lindy hoppin'. In 1984 he traveled to New York to meet and study with the late Savoy dancer Albert Minns, whom he later on the same year also invited to Stockholm for teaching and lectures. After mister Minns' visit Lennart together with a few dance friends formed Swedish swing dance company The Rhythm Hot Shots (later Harlem Hot Shots) in 1985 and started to study old film clips to learn more about not only the lindy hop but also the charleston, tap, acrobatics and other things related to the African-American swing dance tradition.

Juan hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina and has been a leading proponent in the revival of vintage jazz dances in South America. Today, he spends most of his time travelling the world with his dance partner Sharon Davis. His background in gymnastics, acrobatics and martial arts strongly influence his dancing and teaching, giving him a unique perspective on body movement and awareness, and a distinct - and often spectacular - personal style. Known for his high-flying acrobatics and eye-catching slides, Juan is a consumate performer, a creative dancer and an insightful teacher. Visit www.juanvillafane.com to find out more about him.

Originating from California, Kevin has kept in the spirit of CA divisity with both his dancing influences and international travels. Ten years on the professional Lindy Hop circuit has brought Kevin awards in all the major competions as well as appearances on TV & Film. He appeared on ABC's revival of the TV show Dance Fever in 2003 and was a featured dancer using Motion Capture technology in the 2004 Feature Film The Polar Express in 2004. His expertise is sought after by both amateur and professional dancers world-wide.
In 2007 Kevin teamed up with Jo Hoffberg to create a dynamic partnership for exhibiting the performance and social spectrum of Lindy Hop as well as for sharing their discoveries and knowledge of the dance through instruction. Kevin and Jo are known for their humorous, effective and approachable teaching styles.
As a founding member of the Vintage Jazz Dance Troupe The Killer Dillers, Kevin continues to push his dancing in new directions and strives to reinvent the progressive flavor of early 20th century Jazz music and dance. Whether through acro, jazz, lindy, soft shoe, tap, cane or hat tricking, Kevin promises to entertain and inspire.

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Hailing from Australia, Sharon now spends most of her time teaching and performing around the world with her dance partner Juan Villafane. In Lindy Hop, Charleston and Blues, she is admired for her unique and feminine style, musicality and improvisation. She is known for her dedication to the history of vernacular jazz dances and the music they evolved to. Sharon is also a founder of Australian burlesque troupe Sugar Blue Burlesque, with which she has delighted audiences with her graceful feather fan dances and sassy showgirl antics. Visit www.sharondavis.com.au to find out more about her.

Dax Hock & Alice Mei are a dynamic duo; a mixture of sweet and spice with a full plate of goodies to share with the dance community. They are well-known for both their outgoing and energetic presence at social dances and their genuine care for students while in the classroom. As teachers, Dax & Alice aim for positive results and share ALL the love, knowledge and experience they have mastered during their combined 15 years of experience in the swing world. As dancers they emphasize rhythm, body movement and actually dancing with your partner versus just holding hands. Dax & Alice also proved themselves as competitors placing in international contests such as ULHS, ILHC or ALHC. They are part of the Ninjammerz, that you'll have the chance to see perform over the week end.