Stardust Slow Balboa Weekend

Shawn Hershey grew up immersed in music as the son of two professional musicians, surrounded by classical, jazz, and RnB. He studied classical trumpet at Eastman School of Music but had to pivot after a lip injury, which led him to study computer science and become a software developer. After graduation, Shawn returned to music, studying jazz trumpet, and found Lindy Hop as the physical embodiment of the music he loved. This discovery sparked a lifelong passion for dance.

Shawn began teaching Lindy Hop in 2002 and co-founded New School Swing in Boston with Amanda Gruhl and Nicole Zuckerman, running it from 2010-2013 until he left for NYC. His journey into blues dancing began in 2006, teaching alongside Amanda Gruhl, and he soon became a force on the competition circuit, winning numerous blues titles with Amanda Gruhl and Julie Brown. His blues and swing band, The Fried Bananas, (co-led by Josh Fialkoff) played at major events across the country, leaving a lasting impact on the scene.

After moving to NYC in 2014 he began studying balboa with Mickey Fortanesce and went on to be mentored by Yurina Shin and Jen Barnett. Enthralled by the intricacies and deep communication skills of balboa he worked hard and started competing and placing in competitions, including 1st in the 2026 Open Cal Bal Mix & Match with Hannah Manning, 1st in the 2017 All Balboa Weekend Amateur competition, 1st in a Bal Love Strictly with Theresa Manney, 1st in a Snowball Mix & Match with Amy Lu, 1st place in the Slow Balboa comp at Bal week 2025 with Jen Barnett, 1st in a slow dance competition at Snowball, and more…

Recently, Shawn’s teaching has evolved to reflect his dedication to mindfulness and meditation, cultivating presence and flow. He brings not only technical expertise but also a desire to help others connect more deeply to the music, their partners, the joy of movement, and the underlying presence and flow that enables that. Shawn feels deeply grateful to participate in these historically Black American art forms that have enriched his life in profound ways.

Jen has been an integral part of her local scenes throughout the years and now calls New York City home, but you can find her all around the world. During her more than two decades of swing dancing, Jen has taught in North America, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and Europe. She regularly competes in Balboa and Slow Balboa and has placed in Strictly competitions at CalBal, Stardust, and Camp Hollywood among other prestigious events. A social dancer at heart, she has also won lots of Mix & Match competitions. In fact, she once even placed first and second when she was drawn twice. True story. As a teacher, Jen tries to balance her straight-forward manner and high expectations with lots of love, humor, and support for her students. She’s known for being able to teach truly multi-level classes where everyone is challenged to push their best a little farther. Never forgetting to address both follows and leads, Jen blends a clear, technical presentation of practical advice with the creativity and improvisational spirit that make swing dancing so enjoyable.

Jason Hammons hales from Los Angeles, California where he regularly plays music at Atomic Ballroom and LindyGroove. He has loved Slow Balboa since he first started dancing and hosts a Slow Balboa contest at Hot Rhythm Holiday and Camp Hollywood. He has played at Camp Hollywood, California Balboa Classic, Hot Rhythm Holiday, and Snowball, as well as Valencia Balboa Festival, Bal Love, Northwest Balboa Festival, Balorado, Great Lakes Balboa Escape, and Shanghai Balboa Weekend.

As an unsuspecting Southern California college student, Blake started swing dancing with a new year’s resolution in 2014. Little did he know, SoCal was one of the world’s largest scenes, with a rich history and dozens of the world’s best dancers and instructors. Immediately hooked, he developed a relentless obsession for Lindy, Balboa, and Collegiate Shag. He’s since gone on to win in a variety of international competitions and has taught around the world in places like Europe, Korea, Japan, Australia, and the US.

In his free time, Blake loves to study vintage dance clips. He has a deep reverence for the original dancers and loves to teach classes that focus on particular styles and techniques they used. As an instructor he also focuses on imparting his values of partner connection, tasteful musicality, and developing beautiful basics. While he loves practice, competition, and performance, his favorite thing about dancing is just having a simple, deeply-connected social dance with a like-minded partner.

Grace grew up in a family of actors and musicians and has been performing since the age of four. With a lifelong love of swing music and vintage art and fashion, she was instantly hooked when she discovered her first Lindy Hop class in 2012. Soon after, she became a fixture on Southern California’s social dance floors—dancing Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and Solo Jazz up to five nights a week. Now a full-time international instructor, Grace teaches across the United States, Europe, and Asia. She is also a seasoned competitor, with titles from events such as ILHC, Camp Hollywood, and Hot Rhythm Holiday. In addition to teaching and competing, Grace is a sought-after DJ and vocalist, known for playing and singing classic tracks that inspire dancers of all levels to connect with the music, its history, and each other.

Grace brings passion, playfulness, and deep respect for the roots of swing dance to every class she teaches. She encourages joy, delight, and a drive for excellence in her students. Heavily inspired by original swing dancers—especially those from Southern California—she frequently studies and shares vintage clips to spark fresh ideas. Grace’s teaching blends deep technique with joyful connection – leaving dancers empowered, grounded, and inspired.

Michael Quisao plays music that moves you. He believes that there are few things better than well-written liner notes and helping to inspire creative, fulfilling dances through music that compels movement. Michael has served as Head DJ & Music Director at New Columbia Swing since 2018 and runs the DC Bal Social together with Annabel Quisao. He has had the privilege of DJing for numerous dance exchanges, weekend workshops, camps, and competitions, including national events such as the DC Lindy Exchange, California Balboa Classic, Camp Hollywood, Boston Tea Party, All Balboa Weekend, Bal-Ast Off, and Barcelona Balboa Weekend. Michael has served as Head DJ at events such as Lindy Focus, New York Bal Week, Great Lakes Balboa Escape, Stardust Slow Balboa Weekend, Swing Out New Hampshire, Slow Dance Soirée, and I Heart Balboa.

Tom Yi is a swing dancer and emerging swing DJ passionate about storytelling, connection, and community through the power of jazz. Since moving to New Orleans in 2022, he has come to experience jazz not just as a genre, but as a living conversation unfolding in real time. While the city’s abundance of live music means local DJing opportunities are rare, he has had the privilege of sharing tunes at major events like the Ultimate Lindy Hop Championship, Lindyfest, and Great Lake Balboa Escape, as well as weekly dances at Midtown Swing in New York City and Mobtown Ballroom in Baltimore. His sets are known for weaving together crowd favorites with hidden gems, surprising dancers with deeper cuts while keeping the floor alive with energy.
For Tom, DJing is both service and art — a way to honor the roots of swing while expanding its horizons. He strives to create inclusive, dynamic atmospheres that balance classic big band swing with lesser-played subgenres, such as bebop, hard bop, and west coast jazz. Through his work, he seeks to celebrate the joy of jazz and movement while inviting others to discover new rhythms and stories alongside him.

Allison began DJing swing music when she was a baby lindy hopper in college. Since then, she has become a regular swing DJ in the Durham, N.C. area and in the national dance scene, playing for dancers at events like Lindy Focus, Camp Hollywood, CalBal, All Balboa Weekend and more.
Allison is passionate about sharing swing music that inspires new and experienced dancers alike. She’s a fan of catchy melodies, small group arrangements and a good clarinet solo (not necessarily in that order).

Amanda is always captivated by the siren’s call of a slow swinging tune. Amanda is ever-exploring Balboa dancing, including Slow Balboa, as a social dancer, teacher, choreographer, and competitor. In addition to holding Balboa classes and practices in her local D.C. scene, she also competes in Balboa & Slow Balboa, including placing 2^nd in the Great Lakes Balboa Escape Slow Balboa competition in 2023 with Connor Cole. Amanda is one of the organizers of Stardust Slow Balboa Weekend.

Olga was born into a family of teachers and since early years has been an energetic live wire – studying music, doing athletics, martial arts and gymnastics. In 2007 she was introduced to Lindy Hop and this is where the real passion story begins. She got dance hooked and started to explore more of the dance world by getting into Blues and later Balboa. Later she began to share her love for swing music and dance by teaching. Now Olga is the international balboa instructor, teaching solo and couple Balboa all over the world. At her classes she pays a lot of attention to getting the students interested and involved by giving challenging and fun tasks, working both on technique and musicality and infecting them even more with the love of dancing.

For the time being she is passionately developing a new direction of swing dance practices – iSoloBalboa – offline and online solo classes for balboa leaders and followers which aim at polishing up technique and developing creativity and personal aesthetics.

Connor first learned Slow Balboa from Mickey Fortanasce, Jacob Wigger, and Kelly Arsenault and found that the dance opened up a newfound appreciation for the slow and swinging music that he had always loved. Along with Amanda Gerken, he helps organize balboa events in D.C. and holds placements in Balboa competitions, including a recent 1st place showing at the New York Balboa Week competition with Amanda Gerken. He is one of the organizers of Stardust Slow Balboa Weekend.

Andreas Olsson lives in Stockholm, Sweden. Andreas was introduced to Lindy Hop in 2001 and a few years later to Balboa and other dances. In his early career, Andreas focused on performance and competition. He often competes and was awarded first place at events as Balboa division at National Jitterbug Championships (Camp Hollywood), Lindy and Balboa division at International Lindy Hop Championships, American Classic Balboa Championships (All Balboa Weekend), Rendezvous Championships (New York Balweek) and Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout. Andreas is also the reigning champion of the American Classic Balboa Championships at All Balboa Weekend together with Olga Marina.

As a dance teacher, Andreas has a warm and comfortable approach towards students. He is known for being good at breaking down the dances in an understandable way through inventive exersizes and class contents.

Kelly, from Knoxville, TN, has been dancing as long as she can remember. As a child she took ballet and jazz, but she was especially drawn to modern dance. At age 11, Kelly joined the Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble. She was with the modern dance company for 6 years, performing around the globe including Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesia. Kelly attended the University of Tennessee from 1997-2001, during which time she was a member of the UT Dance Company. She was also a dancer and choreographer for Circle Modern Dance Company. In 2003, Kelly moved to New York City where she continued her modern dance career performing with Von Ussar Danceworks and MAD About Dance. When she met Mickey in 2004, she discovered her love for balboa and lindy hop; and so began their amazing friendship and partnership.

Mickey and his partner Kelly Arsenault took their first Slow Balboa and Laminu lessons at the Balboa Rendezvous in 2005 from Dean Raftery. Where Lindy hops and Balboa pulses, Slow Balboa swam across the floor. It was like nothing they had ever seen. Mickey attributes most of his success with this dance to Kelly Arsenault, who was one of Dean’s favorite slow balboa partners. She was also able to teach Laminu with Ray Cunningham. Together Mickey and Kelly started teaching Slow Balboa tasters everywhere they went to whoever would learn. Seeing the Slow Balboa scene grow so large with events happening all over the world has been a surreal experience. After years of hard work Mickey is incredibly excited to bring a new Slow Balboa event to D.C. in the United States as one of the organizers of Stardust Slow Balboa Weekend.

Join us in Washington DC November 20th-22nd, 2026 for a whole weekend of Slow Balboa!

Dive into Slow Balboa with international swing dance instructors

Beginner through masters level workshops with:

Ten hours of class time

Dance in the historic Glen Echo Park Ballroom

Two nights of live music

Mix of tempos for all styles of swing dance with a focus on slow music

Join in or watch a rare opportunity for a Slow Balboa competition

Amateur and Advanced strictly Slow Balboa competitions

Learn more about the history of Slow Balboa and slow swing dancing

Hear lectures on clips and memories of old-timer swing dancers with instructors

Learn more about the history of slow swing music with DJs and musicians

Come around and join us for our third year!