Rémy KouaKou Kouamé

Remy Kouakou Kouame, an internationally renowned choreographer, dancer and performer in the field of Swing dances. Remy is distinguished for his singular artistic practice, skillfully combining the authenticity of traditional dances with an innovative approach, drawing inspiration from various art forms.

His expertise spans styles such as Boogie Woogie, Lindy Hop and Solo Jazz, where he has gained professional recognition winning several awards in these areas. Remy stands out for his constant desire for artistic evolution, not hesitating to question his own convictions to progress in his practice and his teachings.

As an experienced educator and performer, he focuses on conveying the joy inherent in dance and encouraging artists to discover their personal creative voice. His presence in international festivals testifies to his influence by sharing his knowledge and his passion for Swing dances, while proposing an innovative approach which combines respect for traditions and originality.

Dee Daniels Locke

Dee Daniels Locke, a prominent dancer and choreographer whose expertise extends to the field of Lindy Hop, a traditional American dance. Dee inherited this tradition within her own family, within a culture deeply rooted in black expression.

After briefly exploring hip-hop during her college years, Dee returned to her roots by co-founding a swing dance club at her university, which propelled her to an influential career within the dance scene in Minneapolis. For over two decades, she has dedicated her time to sharing her passion for Lindy Hop as a teacher, performer and dancer, participating in various swing dance events.

Dee's philosophy is based on freedom of expression and the promotion of individual creativity, seeing these elements as the true spirit of Lindy Hop and vernacular jazz. She advocates an inclusive perspective, emphasizing knowledge sharing and valuing individual appropriation of black culture in the context of her courses.

Most recently, Dee Daniels Locke participated in a dance residency at the Joyce Theater in New York with Swingout!. She teaches, performs and choreographs nationally and internationally.

Marie N’diaye

Dr. Marie N'diaye (PhD) is a Lindy Hop and African American Jazz dance choreographer, performer and educator as well as a dance researcher.

A true scientist (She obtained her PhD in Neuroimmunology from Karolinska Institute, Stockholm Sweden in 2018), she has been applying her scientific method and dance education to conduct an embodied practice-based research of Jazz dance through the study of  original video clips and collaborations with many established dancers. She has also researched the cultural and social context of the Jazz dance era through literature study and interviews of artists. Her main focus is on the African American Jazz Women and Chorines (chorus girls) of the time. In 2023, Marie completed the Choreomundus Program, an International Master in Dance Knowledge, Practice, and Heritage. This program focuses on dance and other movement systems as cultural heritage and includes Ethnochoreology, Anthropology of Dance, Dance Studies, and Heritage Studies.

Marie worked and danced with the fantastic teachers of the Cat's Corner Studio in Montreal, Canada and Chicago Swing Dance Studio in Stockholm, Sweden. She also teaches internationally, in France, Spain, England, Australia, Russia, USA, China, Korea, South Africa... as well as at the world famous Herräng Dance Camp in Sweden.

Currently, Marie is a board member of the newly founded Black Lindy Hoppers Fund, an organization dedicated to support African and African diasporic dancers and artists in Lindy Hop and Jazz. She is also leading Collective Voices for Change a non-profit organization created together with other dancers and scholars in order to propose a platform to address social issues in the Jazz dance community. The current focus of CVFC is to address the issues of cultural appropriation and racial inequities in the dance scene.

Miche Love Dennery

Charismatic Quebec artist, Miche Love is a singer, author, composer and band leader of the group The Sugar Darlings. She has established herself as a musical figure in the Montreal blues and soul scene for many years. Her powerful voice is part of a lineage of strong singers such as Aretha Franklin or Etta James. Nourished by the repertoire of Afro-descendant culture, Miche Love honors soul, funk and also blues traditions thanks to her situated artistic vision. An artist in full expansion with her group in particular, it was together that they won the Québécois de la Relève prize to represent Quebec at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis (EU). Their first album "Thirsty for your love" has just been released.

Eyal Vilner

Eyal Vilner has become one of the leading new voices in the New York and global

swing scene. Born in Tel Aviv, saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, composer and bandleader,

Eyal moved to New York in 2007 and started his big band the following year.

The Eyal Vilner Big Band has been performing widely at some of New York’s

landmarks such as Lincoln Center, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, The Joyce

Theater, Birdland, Dizzy's Club, Smalls Jazz Club, Minton’s Playhouse, Harlem

Jazzmobile, Midsummer Night's Swing, and Central Park SummerStage. Internationally,

Eyal has performed on Israel's most prestigious stages such as the Red Sea Jazz Festival,

Tel Aviv Museum, Jerusalem Theater, The Tel Aviv Jazz Festival as well as the historical

La Bellevilloise, Le Duc des Lombards, and Caveau de la Huchette in Paris, France.

Eyal’s band’s performs his original compositions as well as his new arrangements of jazz

classics. Their music, which derives from the tradition of jazz, swing and the blues,

strives to bring a unique voice to this beautiful art form.

Eyal's interest in the exchange between sound and movement within the jazz idiom

inspired his musical journey and yielded collaborations with acclaimed dancers and

choreographers. Among these projects are theater productions, dance festivals and

competitions such as the International Lindy Hop Championships, Midsummer Night's

Swing, and the celebrated SW!NG OUT show at the Joyce Theater (co-creator and

musical director). This show, which the New York Times has called "Groundbreaking,"

has toured throughout the US, in venues such as the Jacob’s Pillow and the LA Music

Center.

The Eyal Vilner Big Band’s first six albums: Introducing the Eyal Vilner Big Band

(2011), Almost Sunrise (2015), Hanukkah (2016), and Swing Out! (2019), Live in

Washington Square Park! (2021), and The Jam! (2022), received rave reviews and made

it to the Top Jazz Radio Charts of the US and Canada.

Rémy Saminadin

Originally from Guadeloupe, it was gwoka that introduced him to music at the age of 6. Rémy became interested in drums a few years later. At 18, he left for France and joined several groups of varied musical styles. In 2006, he founded Electrophazz; entered the Hector Berlioz Conservatory in Jazz drums in 2008 and began teaching music. In Montreal since 2011, he has joined the local scene: notably with Greg Noël, Future Flight and BodySlam. Since 2014, he has worked on various projects by Hélène Simard (Danse 100, No FUN, Idiots, Papillon). Recently, he was a performer in Nightlight (Georges Stamos) and now teaches rhythm theory for dancers with the company Forward Movement.

Early Jazz Band

Originally from Stoke in Estrie, Jean-Sébastien Leblanc, musical director of the Early Jazz Band, obtained a Bachelor's degree in Jazz Performance in 2005 as well as two Master's degrees (Jazz Performance and Classical Performance) in clarinet and bass clarinet at the University of Montreal in 2007. Very active on the music scene, he has been heard in various styles over the last few years with the Early Jazz Band, Masson Stomp, Chomedey Inn, Speakeasy Electroswing, the Cosmovision label, the Afro-Colombian Jazz Orchestra, the Straight Pipe trio, Marco Calliari, Roberto Lopez, Frédéric Péloquin, as conductor, composer, arranger, instrumentalist and singer with all 7 fingers (circus) or as a freelancer with various ensembles. He has performed several times across the province including at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Quebec Summer Festival, the Francofolies de Montreal, the Rimouski International Jazz Festival, the Just for Laughs Festival as well as 'across Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Switzerland and Romania.

A regular on the swing and blues dance scene, he has given energy to body movements with his music since 2009 during evenings organized by various swing events in Quebec, Canada, the United States and Europe.