meet your teachers

Joel Plys

Joel Plys began his swing dance career in the summer of 1998 on a date in Chicago. He learned very quickly from countless workshops and non-stop dancing and brought his skills to Cleveland, OH.

Joel taught swing full-time in Cleveland for 4 years (1999-2002) and, with Valerie Saltrom, started Get Hep Swing. He co-created the very first All Balboa Weekend with Valerie in 2001. He moved to San Diego in 2002 and has taught all over the world. Joel continues to travel the globe sharing his love of Swing dancing.

Joel has a high-quality, energetic approach to the dance that makes every lesson with him and any partner a blast! As a regular teacher at major events all over the world, his down to earth, enthusiastic attitude is contagious. He has taught all over the US (26 states and counting) as well as Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Scotland and Sweden....and is very excited to be adding New Zealand to his list.

He has a full knowledge of various styles from years of study that he shares in his instruction of Balboa, Lindy, Charleston, Blues, Collegiate Shag, Jazz Movement, and Pre-Swing dances.

"To 'preserve' a dance, you must understand the technique and characteristic fundamentals of that dance. For a dance to 'evolve', you must be open to everyone adding creative elements to that dance." Joel encourages students to study and be open to “differences” so that they can make the dance their own. He embodies these qualities in his instruction and dancing while remembering the true reason we dance - for FUN!

Besides teaching all over the world, Joel also has a passion for organizing amazing dance events, including 2 giants on the swing calendar: Swing Camp OZ (Australia) and Balboa Rendezvous (San Diego).

Sophie Yesberg

After dancing Swing for two years, Sophie created Swing Zing in 2004 to share her Swing Dance passion. Swing Zing has since grown to become the biggest and longest running Swing Dance School in Perth.

Within the Perth Swing scene, Sophie is the only formally trained dancer, with a background as a professional contemporary dancer. Swing Dance was immediately attractive to Sophie, as it has similar concepts, playfulness and creativity to Contact Improvisation, another passion of hers. Sophie also enjoys the spontaneity of Jack and Jill competitions and took first place in the 2004 and 2008 Hullabaloo Jack and Jill Lindy Hop Competitions in Perth, first place in the 2007 and 2008 Balboa On The River Jack and Jill Competitions in Brisbane, and first place in the 2010 Jack and Jill at Camp Oz, Adelaide. Sophie has developed a huge passion for Balboa, has visited the USA several times to meet the 'old timers' of the dance, and established a Balboa scene in Perth.

Sophie's aim, in teaching for Swing Zing, is to impart the immense joy of Swing Dance to the Perth community. She has a strong dedication towards broadening the Swing Dance experience in Perth by teaching a variety of Swing styles. She has organised many events with international teachers in Balboa, Blues, Lindy Hop and Charleston, has created the only regular Balboa and Blues classes in Perth.

Swing Dance complements Sophie's work in alternative health therapies, where she practises privately as a registered homoeopath and acupuncturist.

Jake (Spincat) Meadley

Following in the footsteps of many of the dancers from the early days of the Swing era, Jake has devoted most of his life to sharing his passion for dance.

It has been 21 years since Jake first stepped onto a dance floor, and 15 years since Jake first started teaching. Then in 2000 he discovered Swing, and the rest is history. By the middle of that year, he was teaching with Swing Patrol and since then has anchored regular venues in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Jake has learnt from many leading international Lindy Hop and Balboa teachers, and is continually altering, adapting and reshaping the way he teaches and dances so as to bring his students the cutting edge of partnership dancing. Jake's passion continues to be seeing the development of his students, watching them having fun and putting a smile on their faces.

"Two of my highlights are stepping onto the main stage at Hyde Park at the Opening Night for the 2008 Sydney Festival to teach swing to over 8000 people, and in 2010 teaching a lesson on a tower 7.5 metres above the crowd before a Big Bad Voodoo Daddy concert"