the Team

 

Didier "Charmin' Dee"
Fearless Leader aka. Blackman of "Blackman & Robin"


A founding member and co-owner of the SAF Entertainement Group  , Studio 88 Swing (along with his partner Annie Trudeau) as well as co-organizer of The Canadian Swing Championships, Dee is one crazy workaholic! With a life-long love of Jazz and blues, a background in Hip Hop and a strong affection for partying, he took to swing like a trumpet player to Miles Davis. His stage presence and charisma earned him the nickname ''Charmin' Dee'' early on in his swing career.

Dee has been hired as a dance teacher, DJ, MC and judge for major swing events all over North America including The World Lindy-Hop Championships, Summer Hummer, Lindy Focus, Dance Renaissance, Balboa on the Promenade, Studio Hop Summer Camp, New Years Extravaganzza in Danvers MA, ALHC, Beantown, The Quebec Swing Rendez-Vous, New Year's Dancin' Eve, Toronto Open Swing Dance Championships, Canadian Balboa Championships, The Montreal Swing-Fest, Camp Hollywood and the infamous Austin , Toronto, C-Rex and C-Dex Exchanges. He has also become recognized on both sides of the border for his entertaining and effective teaching style. With his Notre-Dame MBA, and experience as a consultant with the firm McKinsey & Company, Dee is all business also outside of swing as Vice-President of Marketing & Business Development for the NEOMED Institute , a Biotech based in Montreal Canada.

Media savvy, Dee has been featured in The Gazette, Clin d'Oeil, La Presse, The McGill Reporter, La Nouvelle de Sherbrooke, Canoe.ca, Progres Watchman, Montreal Campus and the Taconic Press has been seen on Musique Plus, CTV, TVA, RDS, YTV, SRC, Mlle channel, ARTV, BESO TV, and Argenteuil TV. His voice has been heard in various movie/TV translations and on SRC radio1, CKUT, Argenteuil, JBCCS (Cree Nation) and CIBL radio stations.

 
 
Marty Klempner
 

  

Marty est l'un des danseurs de swing les plus en demande au niveau mondial de par son expertise non-seulement en Lindy mais aussi en Balboa. Il est réputé pour la clarté et la brièveté de ses explications ce qui permet à ses etudiants de se concentrer sur le pourquoi de leur présence... La danse! Sa philosophie tourne autour de l'énergie et le rythme dans la danse, pour lui la connexion passe par les changements de la dynamique du corps. Ayant commencé à enseigner et compétitionner a temps plein au niveau international en 2002, il a eu le temps de gagner quelques titres dont voici une sélection: Camp Hollywood - National Jitterbug Championships 2003 & 2006 NJC Grand Slam Champion (Pro Lindy, Balboa & Shag); 2004 & 2006 NJC Balboa Champion; 2006 Pro Lindy Champion American Lindy Hop Championships 2007 ALHC Champions Striclty Champion; 2004 ALHC American Showcase Champion; 2007/2008 Rhythmic Arts Festival Lindy Champion; 2006, 2007 and 2008 Swingin' New England Bookends Champion; 2012 Canadian Swing Championships Balboa Champion (voir les vidéos, ici!). De 2003 à 2007 il co-organise le célèbre "ABW All Balboa Weekend" de Cleveland en Ohio. Le plus gros événement de Balboa dans le monde. Ensuite, vivant a Denver au Colorado, de 2007 a 2012, Il entraine l'équipe locale de danseurs de Balboa Intermédiaires et Avancés avec l'aide de Heather Ballew. Ces troupes ont fait la fierté de Denver chaque année au Rocky Balboa Blowout (vidéos disponibles ici). En 2011, Marty a reçu l'honneur d'être admis au temple de la renommée de Camp Hollywood. Il a enseigné partout aux EU, Canada, Europe, en Asie et en Australie (il a été en France plus de 35 fois!) et nous sommes très fiers qu'il ait décidé aujourd'hui de partager les racines de sa passion au sein de la Swinging Air Force et du Studio 88-SWING ici a Montréal, au Canada.

 
 
Myles Munroe & Tessa Cunningham 
West Coast Swing Coordinators
 

Myles Munroe and Tessa Cunningham are Canada's West Coast Swing Champions, ranked in the top 5 in the world, but they are also known for being "multi-Swingers" (involved in the WCS, Lindy, and Blues scenes). Myles 19 years of diverse dance training includes 6 UCWDC World Championship titles. As a professional coach, Tessa brings academic expertise to the partnership, with university degrees in both Human Kinetics and Education. As performers, they are known for their cutting-edge artistic choreography, positive youthful energy, and enviable musical expression. Their extensive teacher training and experience and loveable delivery of correct foundational technique inspires and empowers students of all levels. They are ambassadors for modern, authentic West Coast Swing: teaching, judging, performing and competing all over the world.
 

Jason Herron
Master of Schedules 

Thanks to his participation CSC staff got yelled at for running EARLY in 2010 for the 1st time in it's history; we told Jay it was ok and to do it again (... well actually to try to be only like 1 or 2 minutes early). Originally from Detroit where he founded the All Balboa Camp in Detroit in 2004 after three successful years with his event in Detroit, he decided to move Quebec City and brought his event with him changing the name to The Canadian Balboa Championships.  Jason with his partner Andie Tremblay merited second place at the Eastern Balboa Championships 2008 in their first competition together. This continued with them winning a string of competitions, including the 2009 International Balboa Championships (Balboa Rendezvous) and the 2009 Twin Cities Balboa Festival. Jason started swing dancing in Detroit in 1999, following the swing revival. He has a degree in kinesiology (the study of movement), accompanied with a teaching certificate and has taught BALBOA in Canada, the US and France.  Jason also likes ketchup and early 90's rap.  

Lance "Numbers" Shermoen
Competition Coordinator/Total Tabulator

 

Lance has been involved in Swing dancing for over twenty-five years, in many forms, and in many capacities. His lengthy list of dance credentials could be summed up with his distinction of being a five-time U.S. Open Swing Dance Champion. He has often been compared to a young Dean Collins and is known for his smooth and elegant style. He has served the Swing dance community for all of these years in every capacity: teacher, choreographer, and judge. He has created demo tapes, given exhibition performances, and participated in many Swing dance promotions - including an appearance in the TV special "In The Swing". Lance has given freely of his time and talents. For many years, he has actively taught and worked with children in Lynn Vogen's dance studio. His volunteer efforts have also been instrumental in the informational systems aspects of the World Swing Dance Council. His skills, thoroughness, and dedication are reflected in his well-known event competition computer scoring services. Over a dozen weekends a year, you will find him working with promoters, judges and contestants, for efficient and smooth-running events.

Andree-Anne Tremblay
Competition and VIP Valet


For her first year as a CSC team member, Andie will be handling the VIP relations, competition sponsors as well as competition registration. She packed on organizational skills working for the Festival de Sciences et Génie at University Laval three years in a row at logisitics and human resources from 2007 to 2009. But little did she know what was about to happen when she took her first swing dance class over the summer of 2007. A little bit more than a year later, she placed 2nd at her first competition at the Eastern Balboa Championships' IBC contest in 2008 with her new partner and soon-to-be husband Jason Herron. Within her two first years of competing and learning the dance, they placed 1st in the Strictly Balboa at Boston Tea Party 2009 and Twin Cities Balboa Festival 2009 and 2nd at their very first participation in the International Balboa Championships at Balboa Rendezvous 2009. Not only did they qualify for the finals of the ACBC at All Balboa Weekend 2009 during their first year of competing, but they placed 2nd the following year. She is now back to school so she can spend the rest of her career at school… teaching. After attending CSC 4 years in a row competing and teaching, she finally decided that the fifth year had to be extra special and busy!



Sandrine Lambin-Gagnon 
Decadent Decorator

 Bio coming soon!
 
 
Nathan "Nate-dog" Shetterley
Speaker of Truths aka. Robin of "Blackman & Robin"
 
  Originally from Detroit Michigan, Nathan was part of the very firts ECSC coming down with a bunch of Detroit dancers curious about this "Canadian competition?!#$@?!". He enjoyed the people and the scene so much that he moved here a couple of years later to learn french and eventually start working here both as an energy consultant and as a dance teacher for Port-O-Swing dance studios in Quebec City. As a member of the Quebec community, Nathan has had a large influence as the co-originator of the celebrated Quebec Swing Rendez-Vous (QSRV) and for his teaching of shag at various events. He has always been a quiet force behind the CSC but after last year's last minute co-MC performance alongside our very own Charmin' Dee, Nathan is back in force to reprise his role as part of that dynamic duo now affectionately dubbed "Blackman & Robin". When he takes off the tights and stops speaking in rhyme, "Holy secret identities Blackman"... Nathan is an energy consultant working on several projects related to "smart grid" for the well known consulting firm Accenture
 
 
Andréane Tardif, Dt.P., M.Sc.
 

Bio coming soon!

 
 
Joelle Jean-François
 

 

If the name doesn’t give it away, Joëlle is Dee’s little sister. Although one of her brother’s first dance partners as he learned the basics of swing many years ago, Joëlle was not exactly bitten by the jitterbug (yeah corny jokes run in the family). But that doesn’t mean she won’t work her little tail to the bone to have all the CSC participants have the best time possible at this year’s CSC! Besides a bachelor’s degree in architecture, Joëlle has a master’s degree in healthcare administration and is now pursuing Nutrition at McGill University in the hopes of finally finding her career bliss.

 

 
 
Chantal-Irène Coulombe
 

Bio coming soon!

 
 
Guillaume Bergeron-Archambault
 

Bio coming soon!


 
 
Marlie Bélanger
 

Bio coming soon!

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