Sonny Hill Band on Facebook

The Sonny Hill Trio is keyboardist & lead vocalist Sonny Hill, guitarist & vocalist Jim Sanders, and Shawn Baurichter on drums.

Sonny Hill was born in Helena, Arkansas, (birthplace of blues legend Robert Johnson). His music career began at age seven, playing piano Sunday mornings in the little Helena Baptist Church and performing with a youth choral group on the now legendary "King Biscuit Blues Radio Station." Eventually Sonny hit the Chittlin' Circuit, touring with Blues notables Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Rufus Thomas and Jimmy Witherspoon. Hill was selected twice for the prestigious Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Blues and R&B Performer. Also to his credit: two consecutive wins at the Greater Cincinnati Blues Society which led him to represent Greater Cincinnati for the International Finals in Memphis, Tennessee. Sonny Hill performs a diverse selection of R&B, Jazz, Top Forty, along with the Blues. His own soulful ballads, Blues and R&B originals make any Sonny Hill "gig" a music fest.

Claire began their social dance journey at UC Berkeley in 2015 and has been sharing her love of Lindy Hop, Blues, and Solo Jazz as a teacher since 2017. As both a lead and follow, Claire has danced on and led several choreography teams, hosted workshops, and helped run weekly dance scenes. They also served as President of Swing Ann Arbor, where they aimed to grow and foster an inclusive and joyful dance space in the wake of COVID-19.

Claire's teaching philosophy centers on the belief that dance is more than just mastering moves—it's about finding joy and exploration in movement. She emphasizes body awareness, balance, connection, and the beauty of imperfection, encouraging dancers to embrace the learning process with curiosity and play. Their classes aim to create a welcoming environment where dancers can explore small but meaningful ways to feel more at home in their own bodies—and more connected to their partners.

SwingColumbus   SwingColumbus LinkTree   LindyRoos

Shannon Varner discovered Lindy Hop while living in New York City ages ago. Since then she has been fortunate to live in Lindy Hop-centric cities ever since. Whether Washington DC, Chicago, or Columbus, OH, they all have provided rich opportunities to hone her dance skills, and influence her dance styles. She enjoys sharing her passion for these dances with others and truly believes dancing is for everyone.

Shannon has won numerous awards, placing in such competitions as the American Lindy Hop Championships, Beantown Dance Camp, Nevermore Jazz Ball, SwingIN, Southern Swing Challenge, and Midsummer Night Swing in NYC.

Shannon also co-founded the award-winning competitive dance team SwingColumbus and served as co-choreographer.

SwinGallery on Facebook   SwinGallery Website 

Jesse got introduced to swing dance in Cincinnati in 1998 and jumped in head first from the start. After being inspired by classes with Frankie Manning, Ryan Francois and Kevin St Laurent, he quickly began to travel from coast to coast to learn and compete.

His most challenging dance success was the 2003 Heart Health Hop where 42 participants danced for 52 hours and 3 minutes to set a Guinness World Record for the longest dance party marathon.

Jesse is one of the original founders of the SwinGallery, Ohio's longest-running weekly swing dance. Since 2001 he's been teaching weekly classes and regional workshops in Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, Blues and East Coast Swing. Over the years, he's also been into West Coast Swing, Salsa and more recently, Argentine Tango.

SwinGallery on Facebook   SwinGallery Website 

Sam loved dance from a very early age when she aspired to be a Fly Girl on the 90's sketch comedy series "In Living Color" #CareerGoals!

She fell in love with Swing dance in college in 2007 where she got her start in the Louisville scene. She then moved to Nashville, then Cincinnati. Sam now dances and teaches regularly at SwinGallery, Cincinnati's longest running Lindy Hop event (every Thursday).

Her favorite styles of dance are Blues, Balboa, and Lindy Hop and she loves building the dance community. 

SwingColumbus   SwingColumbus LinkTree   LindyRoos

Mark hails from Columbus, Ohio and is a recognized dancer in the Midwest region. He is known for his musicality, technique, and methodological approach to partner dancing. 

As a competitor, Mark holds various contest awards from dance events like Beantown Dance Camp, Nevermore Jazz Ball, and Lindy Focus. He advanced to semifinals in the World’s Largest draw contest at Frankie Manning’s 95th Birthday celebration in New York City. 

With Shannon Varner, he co-founded the award-winning competitive dance troupe Team SwingColumbus serving as a core choreographer for over a decade, engaging the community through camaraderie and artistic expression.

Rhizome Roots Studio

Charlie is a diverse dancer; she can lead/follow in the styles of Blues, Brazilian Zouk, Bachata, Fusion, and more. She has been instructing movement and mindfulness classes since 2016, and is a practiced & international instructor and choreographer.

As dancer, organizer, and founder of Rhizome Roots Studio, she is dedicated to Building Community through Movement. Charlie’s career in HR and Safety & Wellness has bolstered her passion for creating safer & inclusive spaces in dance; she has developed robust policies/procedures/training for both Rhizome Roots and for use as a Safer Spaces Consultant at events across the country. She strongly believes there are only 2 types of people in the world; unpracticed dancers and practiced dancers, and to be the latter, all you need is a little bit of practice! 

Jay's Facebook Page

In 2003, as an 18-year-old college student in LA, I found swing dance at Memories (in Whittier). It changed my life.

Since then, I split my time between California and Chicago, with the exception of 2008 when I spent time in Cincinnati training and performing with Joel, Melanie, and the Snapshots. 'Sup my Cincy old schoolers!

In Chicago, I trained with and worked at Big City Swing under the leadership of Julee Mertz before moving to San Francisco. I spent over a decade in San Francisco deepening my movement practice, I returned to Chicago in January 2025 with renewed focus and intention.

Today, I'm dedicated to studio life and study in the styles of Lindy, Blues, and House dance. I have recently been training with Jo Hoffberg and the instructors at RhythmHood & Snipes.

I'm passionate about solo movement. I seek to help dancers build creativity, confidence, and musicality first alone, then with a partner.

As a non-binary queer switch dancer, I'm here to help break down gender norms in partner dance while honoring the Black American roots that built this artform. 

Swing Ann Arbor   Cobalt Blues Dance on Facebook

Megan started dancing and DJ-ing Ballroom, Swing and Blues in 2015 at Miami University. She then spent the next 4 years learning and teaching multiple styles of dance to classrooms and members of Miami Swing Syndicate. Around the end of 2019, she took a hiatus from dancing due to burnout. For 5 years she danced mainly in her kitchen teaching her husband how to dance Swing and Blues. Now since the beginning of 2025, she has begun dancing and DJ-ing with Swing Ann Arbor and Cobalt Blues. 

Megan believes in order to dance, one must first connect to the history and feeling behind the music.

She always hopes to foster an environment where students learn how to express the emotion behind the music and themselves in each dance. 

"The blues is a feeling, you can't get it out of no book. You can't write the blues on a piece of paper, you just feel the blues." - John Lee Hooker

Gem City Swing

Queen City Swing Dance on Facebook

Daniel fell in love with swing dancing over a decade ago, mesmerized by the healing power of dance. The more time he spent on the dance floor, the greater his curiosity grew about the music that drives the movement. As that exploration deepened, Daniel began djaying with a focus on making each playlist a unique experience. His sets feature a solid foundation in the original jazz of the 20s and 30s, paired with a healthy dose of current artists, complete with a surprise or two. 

SupermurgaNati! 

Hello, everyone! I started my dance career in 2018 as a sub-par Lindy Hopper, but shortly after going to school for Music Education, I discovered a drive to bring Swing Dance to a broader community here in Cincinnati! I believe that through community participation and visibility, the mostly forgotten art of partnered dance can rise anew! I love the idea of celebrating tradition by adding a modern twist to it - making these spaces inclusive for and of all different music genres, perspectives, creeds, and ability levels, and so I hope to aid in this cause by working within the SupermurgaNati brand to introduce as many people as possible to the culture and work with existing dancers to create enriching opportunities.

SupermurgaNati! 

Joel has been teaching, performing, community building, and producing events in the Swing Dance community all over the Eastern United States since 1997. His current project (since 2023) is SupermurgaNati!, a partnership with Delaan Sumler based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

SupermurgaJoel is a former Virginia State Open Jitterbug Champion and Southwestern Regional Lindy Hop Champion. He has served as Competition Coordinator and/or Head Judge for the American Lindy Hop Championships (Stamford, CT), Lindy Focus (Asheville, NC), and Beantown Dance Camp (Boston, MA) multiple times. Joel has taught classes at many events.

Joel is a founding and honorary lifetime member of the Piedmont Swing Dance Society in Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina and was a founding member and first president of the Atlanta Swing Era Dance Association. He has founded and directed three different Swing Dance Troupes: Bums and Bombshells (Greensboro, NC), Heavens to Murgatroid! (Atlanta, GA), and The Cinci SnapShots (Cincinnati, OH).

In Cincinnati, among other things Joel served as a co-producer of SwinGallery (Cincinnati’s longest running weekly swing dance event) from 2006-2016. He still tries to be there every Thursday that he can, DJing and/or teaching almost every month.