Jordan Frisbee & Tatiana Mollmann
Jordan and Tatiana have been partners since 2000, and are 13-Time US Open Champions, Multi Grand National Champions, and the most celebrated couple in West Coast Swing. Their TV and movie appearances include 30 Seconds to Fame, Star Search, Good Morning America, The Polar Express, Love N’ Dancing, CMT Video Awards and LeAnn Rimes Swingin Video. They travel 47 weekends per year teaching and performing all over the world.
Jakub Jakoubek & Emeline Rochefeuille
Natively from Czech Republic & Reunion Island, Jakub and Em took their first steps into the dance world at the age of 16 and 12, both starting with Ballroom Dancing (Latin, Standard & line-dancing).
After her arrival in France at the age of 18, as Em sought to start a new dance form, she bumped into a video of Jordan & Tatiana, and fell in love with WCS right away. She was trained by Maxence Martin who gave her a solid knowledge from which she developed her own dancing and teaching style. Today, she acts in the WCS Community not only as a teacher, but also as a DJ and photographer.
Jakub’s dance world consists of social dances such as Zouk, WCS or Salsa but there is also a part of solo or group Modern and Contemporary dances. He started to dance and compete in WCS in 2014, guided mainly by Maxence Martin and Mario Robau, while using a lot of his background knowledge in his approach. His philosophy in dance is focused on communication.
They were both hooked since they discovered WCS, and were especially drawn to the creativity, musicality, and freedom within the dance. Just by pure chance, they had to teach together in a styling workshop in June 2016, thanks to Rita and Adam. At the end of the week-end the students suggested that they should partner up, so they did. :)
They have been traveling the world ever since, flying from country to country to share their passion for WCS, and they love it…
Maxime and Torri Zzaoui
Maxime, a European dance phenomenon started with ballet, jazz and all kinds of partner dances. His recognisable unique dance style and humour made him very popular throughout the WCS planet. He is gracefully switching to any dancing role, and he is also an outstanding spinner.
Torri has been dancing since she was 3. She concentrated on jazz, tap and ballet early on until she was introduced to West Coast Swing by Buddy and Laurie Schwimmer (Kauffman). Torri fell in love with swing dancing and competed at her first U.S. Open at the age of 7. She has not missed an Open ever since. She currently has been honored with winning the Young America Division in 2001 and 2002, and the Young Adult Division in 2006 with her previous partner, Josh Mosier; as well as the team division with her teammates on Jump Start II in 2005. Torri has also trained in International Style Latin Dance and competed for several years in this discipline, in which she won the Junior II Division title at Nationals in 2005. She has appeared in Disney’s Suite Life of Zack and Cody in 2006 as a dancer. She also worked as assistant choreographer to Benji Schwimmer on Fox’s hit television series So You Think You Can Dance in the United States, as well as Canada in 2007 and 2008. In April of 2009, she danced with Benji on ABC Dancing with the Stars performing with Demi Lovato.
Semion Ovsiannikov & Maria Elizarova
Semion has been dancing ever since he was eight. He started with ballroom dancing first, then got into social dancing, and finally into West Coast Swing. He is known for his musicality and great connection with his partners.
Maria has been dancing since 2007. In 2008 she fell in love with social partner dances. She started learning hustle/discofox and salsa. She had been dancing hustle and discofox for 4 years, working on her solo choreography as well when West Coast Swing came in to her dancing life. After that she couldn’t stop dancing WCS. She enjoys the versatility of the dance, bringing new emotions, options for musicality and styling to every dance.
Semion and Maria were the first Russians to ever get to US Open Classic finals in both 2016 and 2017. They also got second place at The Open Classic finals in 2018.
Their partnership emphasizes technique, musicality and connection. They love the possibilities for communication and dialogue between partners during every dance, and seek to help their students discover this incredibly fun aspect of WCS. They share a philosophy that care and attention are the best things partners can give to each other during any dance.
They moved to Lyon in 2022.
Thibault Ramirez and Nicole Ramirez
Thibault and Nicole have been together since the beginning of 2019, quickly building a strong partnership and establishing a name for themselves. Becoming the World Champions of 2019 with their winning Showcase routine, they immediately began traveling all over the world teaching, performing, judging and competing. They choreograph routines and coach dancers all around the world with an emphasis on mentoring and competition.
They are the creators of Flash Choreo, a mini choreography intensive for dancers to challenge themselves and perform a routine in short amounts of time.
They have developed great rhythm teaching classes and intensives together, offering great technique in a relaxed and fun environment.
With over 20 years of knowledge in West Coast Swing and other partner and solo dances, their teaching style is very appreciated everywhere they go and benefits dancers of all styles. Their emotive, passionate spirits shine when they are on stage and while teaching. They love to motivate their students to excel and reach their maximum potential. Their personalities are very energetic and open to connecting with people, on and off the dance floor.
Ben Morris & Victoria Henk
Victoria Henk´s shenanigans began at age 4 with ballet and gymnastics, with hip hop and jazz soon joining the mix at age 6. At the age of 8 she started training at the Schwimmer´s 5678 Dance Studio where she was quickly placed onto both the juniors West Coast Swing and Jazz teams. Victoria´s passion and ability for both the solo dances and West Coast Swing was cultivated at the studio until she began to dedicate as much time to it is as she possibly could. When she began to compete she quickly met with success, culminating in her winning the 2014 NASDE All Star Tour and immediately afterwards beginning to place and final in Champions divisions. She now teaches hip hop at Buddy Schimmer´s Dance Center, continues to train at the Edge Performing Arts Center in LA with the top choreographers in the world, travels around the globe to teach West Coast Swing with her new partner Ben Morris, and is a full time student at a University. In her spare time she likes to…wait…spare time? What spare time?
Both a Champion Lindy Hopper and a Champion West Coast Swing Dancer, Ben Morris began swing dancing at the age of 12 and is now a 2 time World Swing Dance Champion, 3 time U.S. Open Swing Dance Champion, Spirit of Lindy Hop award winner, a California Swing Dance Hall of Fame award winner, and a featured dancer in the movie Love N’ Dancing and the Leann Rimes Music Video “Swingin.” A graduate of UCLA, he currently lives in Orange County, California, running his weekly dance Swingin the Blues and regularly guest teaching at several local colleges during the week. On the weekends Ben travels all over the world to teach, compete, MC, judge and perform, and is known for his fun dance style, infectious personality, and enjoyable workshops.
Maxence Martin & Aymeline Felmy
Maxence is the first french dancer who reached the West Coast Swing Champion title. Ex-Champion of judo and black belt, he started his dance carrier in Lindy-Hop. Quickly falling in love with WCS, he started his training in 2007 with the Greatests in California. He reached Champions level in less than a year. Involved in the West Coast Swing community and travelling all over the world to share his knowlegde and his passion for this dance, he was rewarded with Award of the Best International Dancer at the Westie Awards Nominations ceremony of 2011. He showed his 2 first routines at the US Open with his famous partner Kelese Key (Texas). Maxence is one of the most talented, appreciated and kind dancers of his generation.
Aymeline is driven by a deep passion. Her journey with West Coast Swing (WCS) began in 2008 when she came across “Pump It” by Jordan & Tatiana—an absolute revolution! She temporarily paused her dancing pursuits for 8 years to focus on studying osteopathy and physiotherapy.
Her venture into the dance scene resumed in 2016, marked by her participation in events where she experienced the joy of social dancing alongside individuals from diverse backgrounds. The connection, the sensations, and the boundless creativity that WCS offers ignited a constant drive within her to delve deeper into her personal practice. This pursuit aimed at refining her movement quality and fostering profound harmony with her dance partner.
Moreover, her fascination with biomechanics, the human body’s intricate workings, and movement analysis propelled her into the realm of WCS instruction. She embarked on a journey of teaching regular courses, driven by a desire to share her expertise. Her commitment to excellence led her to receive training from esteemed instructors like Maxence, equipping her to provide the utmost guidance to her students.