instructors

We are thrilled to announce Alredo Melendez and Greg Avakian and Laurie Zimmerman as instructors for this event.

  • Alfredo Melendez

    INSTRUCTOR

    Alfredo Melendez is a dance instructor from the Bronx, New York. He has been performing, teaching, and competing in partner dancing for over 20 years.  He has won multiple competitions in blues and west coast swing. He has collaborated and taught with nationally and internationally recognized artists, but his dance background has focused heavily on Argentine tango, west coast swing, blues, and fusion.

    His joy is imparting the knowledge he has gained and sharing his love of the beauty of partner dancing.  He specializes in the power of connection and musicality between partners.

  • Greg Avakian & Laurie Zimmerman

    INSTRUCTORS

    Greg & Laurie began teaching together in 1998. They specialize in Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, Blues Dancing and Fusion Dancing -having traveled the U.S., Canada, and Europe teaching at workshops, competitions, and dance camps. In addition, they have organized large scale workshops and hosted many live music events in their home town of Philadelphia, PA. Greg has been a popular DJ having spun at over 100 competitions and exchanges. He has been the music coordinator at events as diverse as the American Lindy Hop Championships and The Fusion Exchanges (but he acknowledges that Laurie probably has better taste in music).

    Greg & Laurie are best known for breaking down connection and musicality and teach very focused classes in song structure and finding musical elements. Their movement classes are based on simple principles which they systematically use to show how habits of movement create clear leading and following with minimal effort.

    Guided by the thought that teachers should share their experience of connection and movement along with a solid understanding of how music works, Greg and Laurie have produced many students who are comfortable social dancers, proficient teachers, and award winning competitors. Their favorite on-going endeavor is nearly 25 years of teaching a 30+ member dance troupe at the university of Pennsylvania -The West Philly Swingers- which performs new choreographies each semester every year.