Blues Teachers

David Madison is the head of The Rent Party as well as an internationally recognized Lindy Hop and Blues teacher.

Dexter Santos discovered Blues dancing in 2005 and has since been inspired by the soulful and expressive quality of blues music. Whether he is teaching, performing or just social dancing, Dexter is very .. (expand) passionate in his interpretation of the Blues. One of the things that makes his dancing stand out is his musicality and the way he translates it on the dance floor.
A frequent competitor, Dexter's accomplishments include: 1st place in the Emerald City Blues Festival 2008 Invitational Jack & Jill contest (with Amanda Gruhl), 1st place at the Enter the Blues 2008 Jack & Jill contest, 1st place in the Down Home bluesSHOUT! 2008 Invitational Jack & Jill Champions Division (with Michelle Richter), and is the 2007 & 2008 bluesSHOUT! Strictly Ballroom Blues champion (also with Michelle Richter).
As a teacher, Dexter's passion comes from his desire to teach Blues dancing with respect to its roots, identity, to celebrate its art form, and more importantly, to inspire dancers of all levels with the possibilities that blues dancing has to offer. Together with Michelle, Dexter teaches classes locally in San Francisco and at national exchanges and workshops such as bluesSHOUT (Chicago, IL), Austin Blues Party (Austin, TX), and Down Home Blues Festival (San Francisco, CA) and BamBLOOZLed (Washington, DC).

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Heidi began dancing and teaching Blues dance with Charlie Fuller in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1999 but she now lives in San Francisco, California, where she teaches weekly Lindy Hop classes with Manu .. (expand) Smith at the 9:20 Special and weekly Blues classes with Damon Stone at Roots. Heidi has been a featured instructor at numerous workshops all over the US and the world, including London, England, and the Herrang Dance Camp in Sweden. In addition to teaching, dancing, and performing, Heidi organizes annual Blues dance events such as Cheap Thrills and bluesSHOUT!

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Michelle Richter has been dancing for over 20 years and seriously studying dance for about 15 years. Her background in ballet and modern dance has inspired her to focus on technique combined with .. (expand) creative movement in her teaching style. She has studied the movement of the human body in many forms of dance, including African-Caribbean, Jazz, Contact Improvisation, Belly Dance, Hip Hop and various Ballroom styles. For the last 8 years, Michelle's main focus has been Lindy-Hop and Blues dancing. Her teaching focuses on connection, attitude and self-expression, proper body mechanics, and one-on-one attention. She finds that her profession as a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist, which gives her extensive knowledge of human anatomy, compliments her dance instruction in a unique way.

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Ruth Hoffman has been skipping and twirling through life since she began studying ballet and piano at the age of three. In high school way back in the '90s she discovered the joys of dancing with partner connection. She was .. (expand) introduced to Lindy Hop at a workshop when Frankie Manning came to town. While at the University of Oregon, she continued her passion for dance and music, studying both intensively and performing, choreographing and teaching extensively. Her intricate knowledge of body mechanics and posture allows her to help students fix difficult habitually ingrained problems and find new freedom and joy in their dance. Ruth values connection and musicality, and loves the wide range of movements that the human body is capable of. This shows in her passionate pursuit of Argentine Tango, Traditional Blues, Neo-Tango, Neo-Blues and every other dance she can get her feet on. (collapse)

Shannon began dancing when she was no taller than her current knee height. From those early beginnings in ballet and going on to jazz and hip-hop, she discovered partner dancing in the world of .. (expand) Renaissance dance.
Now she has trained in over 20 different dance styles with a focus on lindy hop and blues. She began teaching both styles in Seattle but has now moved to San Francisco where she is diving headfirst into teaching the dance scene.
She is known for adding a lot of personality into her dancing and bringing playfulness to all her classes. Aside from that, Shannon has gotten an assortment of dancing references including being referred to as Butterscotch Pudding, A Butterfly, Liquid, and The Perfect S'more.

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