Instructors

Swing Dance Instructors In The Charleston Area

Aaron “Rat” Barse

Aaron “Rat” Barse... Just call him “Rat” he's more likely to respond. ;P

Rat moved to Charleston on January 5, 2010 from a town called Binghamton, in New York. He has been dancing since July 7, 2005. He started teaching about 6 months after he started with the Southern Tier Swing Dance Society. With the STSDS he worked on the executive board as the “youth liaison,” increasing the number of dancers under the age of 40 from a handful to almost half the dance scene. He worked to establish weekly dancing for almost every night of the week.

He left Binghamton in August of 2009 to travel the Northeast and better his dancing (as well as just have fun.) He attributes most of his advancement in style and dance vocabulary to this trip. He also learned how to Blues Dance and fell in love with it, while staying in York, PA.

Since Charleston, he has helped start the Holy City Blues Dance Club and he has motivated dancers to come out on Wednesday nights to dance at the live Blues Jam at Hometeam BBQ. Rat recently picked up teaching the basic and series lessons for the CSDA on Saturday nights. Starting January (2011), Rat will be instructing for the Rugcutters on the 1st Tuesday of the month.

Although Swing and Blues are Rat's passion, he enjoys dancing for the sake of dancing and can't help but move when he feels the music. He has brought a unique style to the Charleston scene and is excited to see what is to come from his influence. Without a doubt, you can tell Rat is having a good time when he's on the dance floor! ...Even if he's by himself! :P

If you would like to learn from him, send him a shout at barse03@gmail.com.

Sarah Corrin Barrett

Sarah Corrin Barrett started dancing in 2006, but she didn't discover swing dancing until the summer of 2008 in Columbia, SC. Since then, she has pursued continual improvement in both her following and leading skills. She taught weekly group lessons and the occasional weekend workshop class in Greenville, SC for a year while on the board for the Greenville Lindy Hoppers. Her studies in dance include Lindy Hop, Charleston, East Coat Swing, Balboa, and Blues as both a lead and a follow, along with West Coast Swing and Salsa as a follow; she has experience with ballroom dance as well. She is probably most known for playing around with the music (and her partner) as much as possible during a dance, and loves to find those moments of "immaculate connection." She currently resides in Charleston, SC.

You can contact Sarah at barrett.sarah.c@gmail.com

Stephen Duane

Stephen Duane is the Creative Director, DJ, and lead instructor for the Hot Jazz Dance Club.

Stephen is a sixth generation Charlestonian, a very enthusiastic Lindy Hopper, and a professional dance instructor. He comes from a long line of talented musicians, singers, actors, and artists, such as his grandfather, "Genial Johnny" Duane, a trombonist, who succeeded Kenny Sargent as lead crooner with Blue Steele and His Orchestra during the Swing era.

Stephen is dedicated to preserving the music of the Swing Age and vintage dances, such as the Charleston, in its namesake city. He holds a Lindy Hop dance on Fridays at Spirit Moves, 445 Savannah Highway, and is a huge supporter of the local Swing bands. He spends most of his free time collecting Swinging Jazz music and learning new dance steps, which helps him stay fresh as a DJ and instructor.

Stephen is available for private lessons, DJing, or performances by appointment and is also a fine choreographer for wedding dances. To contact him, feel free to call his cell phone at 843-557-7690, or email him at stephenduane@yahoo.com. And, his club information can be found at www.roaringtwentieshotjazzdanceclub.com. If you want to Swing, then you should look him up!

Daniel McClain

Daniel McClain is a native Charlestonian who has been dancing lindy hop for 6 years, teaching dance professionally for 4 years, and traveling for dance for 6 years. His dancing style has been recognized for its powerful moves, crisp accuracy, and creative musicality. As a result of his unique style and movement quality on
the dance floor, Daniel has been recognized in regional competitions, placing at competitions at Lindy Focus, the Atlanta Varsity Showdown (AVS), and Boston Tea Party. He has an amazing talent for teaching dance, being able to break moves down into pieces that dancers of all levels can understand, and having the unique ability to gauge his lessons to correspond to the level of his students. Daniel’s students absolutely love taking lessons with him, and even though he has moved to Raleigh, NC, his Charleston students continue to seek him out for
lessons to learn more from this very talented young dancer.
Check out these 2 videos of Daniel’s dancing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD6_pGBque4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vU0L_MBeWg
For more information and to schedule a lesson with Daniel, email dwmlindyking@gmail.com
or call 843-817-3616

http://www.dancechameleon.com/