BFF INSTRUCTORS:
Corina Acosta***
*** Corina will be having knee surgery in August
and will not be able to teach at the event.
We wish Corina a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her on the dance
floor again soon!!!
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Alison
Plys
Assisted by: Joel Plys
Alison Plys is your hostess for the BFF...
She fell in love with the Balboa over 8 years ago and has been a passionate
student of the dance since.
Today, Alison is known for her ability to add her own style and creativity to
Balboa and Bal-swing.
She enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for Balboa innovation with others as she and
her husband Joel teach internationally.
Alison has noticed a desire from followers everywhere to learn how to express
themselves more fully while dancing their Balboa.
There is a need to learn more about the history of the legendary followers that
originated the dance that we all love.
Who are these ladies of Balboa and what was it like from their perspective?
What stories and words of inspiration do they have for us?
It was these things that motivated Alison and Joel create: The BALBOA FOLLOWER
FESTIVAL a celebration in honor the Ladies of Balboa.
Heidi Salerno
Assisted by: Steve Garrett
Heidi, known for footwork and phenomenal spinning, started swing dancing in
1999.
While she learned the “Balboa Basic” in 2001 and
danced Balboa socially, even entering a Balboa competition with her partner and
placing, it wasn’t until 2002 when she became friends with Steve Garrett that
she decided to really learn Balboa, an easy dance to learn yet a hard dance to
master. He gave her the great advice to watch the dance clips of the old timers
and focus on the follows; she watched, was especially wowed by Carolyn, Maxie
Dorf's partner, and taught herself everything on the clips.
After her basics were solid, Heidi began to
experiment with her decades of jazz, ballet and tap dance training, making the
dance her own.
Anne Mills and Natalie Esparza commended her dancing, telling her to keep on
kicking up her heels and make the dance as fantastic for the follows as the
leads.
In 2003 Heidi (and Steve) won their first of many
Balboa titles, the California Balboa Championships, competing against the best
and judged by the old timers. Heidi (and Steve) quickly became known as the
couple to beat, winning the National Jitterbug Championships and the
International Balboa Championships and placing second at the American Classic
Balboa Championships. They have been teaching worldwide ever since with Heidi
consistently giving as much to the follows as Steve gives the leads.
While a firm believer in solid following skills,
Heidi always strives to have just as powerful styling, exciting footwork and
accomplished moves as the leads, endeavoring to dance within the music
with elegance, grace and finesse. “It may be a dance from the 30’s but our
approach as Bal dancers should not be like we're living in the 30’s."
Anne-Helene Cavasa
Assisted by: Zack Richard
PICTURED - Bernard Cavasa - that's not Zack!
Anne Helene, previously a jazz dancer learned her swing dancing skills from the
very best international teachers and is now
well known as a teacher on the international dance scene in both Europe and the
USA. She has been dancing Swing since 1998,
Balboa since 1999, and teaching professionally since 2001.
Her love of Balboa comes from the feeling, the connection with a partner, the
fluidity of the dance.
She is noted for clarity in her teaching methods (but always with a bit of humor
thrown in), her emphasis on musicality and connection,
fluid style and the originality of variations.
Passionate for the continuation of Balboa,
Anne-Helene and Bernard run the Frenchie Balboa Festival held every year in
December.
Maryse Lebeau
Assisted by: Zack Richard
Maryse has been the Canadian Swing Champion for the past three years and, on the
dance floor, is easily spotted by her smoothness and the fine subtlety of her
movement. As a teacher, she'll know how to get the perfection she seeks.
Kelly Arsenault
Assisted by: Mickey Fortanasce
Kelly Arsenault has been a dancer for the majority of her life. She has
participated in ballet and jazz, but particularly modern dance. At an early age,
she joined the Tennessee Children's Dance Ensemble, staying with the dance
company for 6 years, performing around the world.
Kelly has had the joy of performing with several dance companies; including the
UT Dance Company as well as the Circle Modern Dance Company, acting as both a
dancer and choreographer for each of these companies. Involvement with Circle
Modern Dance Company was a particularly great experience for Kelly, as it
allowed her the understanding and importance of improvisation as well as
partnering. At this time, she first learned to Swing dance. Becoming a part of
the Knoxville Swing Dance Association, Kelly took workshops whenever she had the
opportunity. In 2003, Kelly moved to NYC in pursuit of her dreams of dancing
modern and Swing.
Kelly has now been a resident of NYC for 4 years. Her love of the dance has only
grown more and is currently a member of two local modern dance companies: Von Ussar Danceworks and MAD About Dance. She teaches class in Manhattan with her
partner Mickey Fortanasce and also goes out social dancing as much as possible.
Laura Keat
Assisted by: Jeremy Oth
Laura Keat didn't fall in love with Balboa right away. In fact she was turned
off by the lack of room for ladies to style and play when she first began but
continued anyway. She quickly started seeing how the style for ladies is within
the mechanics of the dance itself, and how much room there is for followers
expression within this dance after all... she was hooked.
Since then Laura and her partner, Jeremy earned several National Championship
titles and most recently took both the Northern California Bal-Swing
Championships and Northwest Bal-Swing Championships, as well as winning 3rd in
the American Classic Balboa Championships.
Laura's classes emphasize the use of excellent connection and technique to
enhance individual style. Her passion for teaching compliments her passion for
swing dancing itself, bringing an energy to her classes that is a unique benefit
to her students.
Brenda Collins
Assisted by: TBD
Brenda is living her childhood dream as a professional dancer and teacher. She
travels across the country bringing her passion for vernacular partner dancing
to people of all ages. Whether it's Hustle for middle-school kids or
octogenarians dancing the Balboa, everyone walks away a better, more inspired
dancer. In addition to partner dances, Brenda has trained in and taught Ballet,
Modern, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Gymnastics, African, and Middle Eastern forms. Her
unique teaching style incorporates their focus on individual movement and body
control with solid partnering techniques. Today Brenda conducts workshops, group
classes, performance coaching, and private lessons in Salsa, Lindy Hop, Balboa,
Blues, and West Coast Swing.
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