MEET
YOUR INSTRUCTORS

​TRISHA SEWELLTrisha is a highly influential UK-based dance teacher, whose work spans Lindy Hop, Authentic Jazz, Blues, and Charleston.  She has been teaching since 1997 and on the international scene since 2003. Originally from Hertfordshire, she has played a significant role in shaping the European swing dance landscape, including a decade-long contribution to building the first major European swing dance brand. Now creatively directing her own company, SavoyHop.com, Trisha is widely respected for her innovative, dynamic, and inspiring teaching style, as well as her ability to clearly communicate complex ideas in a way that feels engaging, accessible, and fun. She has been instrumental in the revival of Authentic Jazz in the UK, working closely with and mentoring a new generation of dancers and teachers, and is known for leaving students energised, confident, and deeply connected to the dance.

With extensive formal training in ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, and musical theatre, alongside her experience as an accomplished musician, Trisha brings exceptional musicality, rhythmic understanding, and stylistic authenticity to her teaching. Drawing on her experience and cultural heritage, Trisha is a fountain of knowledge for blues dance, working closely with Dexter Santos to preserve, deepen, and share its roots and nuances. A sought-after international teacher, performer, choreographer, and DJ, she has appeared in major venues including the Royal Albert Hall and continues to teach and perform at leading events across Europe and beyond.

Find out more on Trisha's website

DEXTER SANTOS
​​Dexter discovered Blues dancing in 2005 in San Francisco, California and found himself immediately drawn to the rhythms and sounds of the Blues. The emotional depth and range, the varied subjects and stories, the gut-wrenching and the hip-shaking, the gritty and the smooth would give new inspiration and expression to his dancing. With a background in Lindy Hop, Dexter has studied with and collaborated alongside leading figures in the global Blues dance community, earning a reputation as one of the most respected and engaging instructors on the international scene.

Dexter’s dynamic style of movement has been honed and refined not only on the social dance floor but also through competition. Since the very first bluesSHOUT in St. Louis, Missouri in 2007, Dexter has won first place in numerous Blues dancing competitions around the United States and has won the title of Ballroomin' Blues champion at bluesSHOUT 3 times (2007, 2008, and 2010). In an unprecedented feat in which no one has ever duplicated, Dexter won all four partnered competitions at bluesSHOUT 2010 in Austin, Texas: Open Jack & Jill, Strictly Jook Joint, Strictly Ballroomin', and Champions Division.

As a teacher, Dexter aims to inspire dancers of all levels with the possibilities that Blues dancing has to offer while preserving its cultural roots, historic identity, and art form. Dexter travels around the world spreading his passion and joy for Blues dancing through his fun, inspiring, and challenging classes. A particular class favourite often referred to as the "Shim Sham of Blues," the Hound Dog routine (a solo Blues choreography danced to Big Mama Thornton's song of the same title) has been taught and performed with dancers around the world in four continents.

Watch this YouTube playlist and check out Dexter in action and find out more about him on his website.

​ADAMO CIARALLO

​Adamo is dedicated to nurturing, developing, and promoting the blues scene in Europe and beyond. He is the co-founder and organizer of Espanish Blues Festival, Spain’s first ever blues dance festival.  

Adamo has a professional qualification in teaching adults and he sees his role as teacher to facilitate the classroom in response to learner’s needs, enabling all students to achieve to their potential. His classes focus on highlighting the relationship between the dancers and the music and the importance of personal expression and creativity.

​He loves social dancing, teaching, competing, and listening to music, and spends his ‘spare’ time reading and learning about the history of the dance forms he loves so much.  But what makes Adamo’s dancing life worthwhile is the commitment, enthusiasm, and energy of his students and everybody else around in what he describes as “this beautiful community of dancers”.

Find out more about Adamo on his website www.adamoandvicci.com and check out his online dance school thebluesroom.com

VICCI MOORE

​There is nothing Vicci loves more in the world than dancing!  She has a broad knowledge of dance and the body, training initially as a solo dancer and gaining a degree in Contemporary Dance and Choreography, a diploma in Anatomy and Physiology, a professional qualification in teaching and a Masters degree in Education. Her background in a variety of solo dances proved invaluable when she discovered Lindy Hop, Balboa and Blues dance and she is known for approaching her partner dancing with grace, fluidity and intense body awareness. 

Vicci is committed to studying the history of blues dance and music and, through her teaching, hopes to honour and celebrate the dance and the people who created it.  She is fascinated by the wider context of dance and its influences from and on society; when she's not dancing you can find her reading, studying and writing her blog about a variety of blues-related topics.

​As a trained teacher Vicci is passionate about providing high level pedagogy in her classes. In addition to organising ESBF she also organises Bluesology, a week long teacher training camp; The Jump, a week long dance and movement training camp; and runs The Blues Room, her online dance school.

Find out more about Vicci on her website www.adamoandvicci.com and check out her online dance school at thebluesroom.com

GAS FERNANDEZ

​Gas is a professional dancer and dance instructor, based in Madrid, Spain. He specialises in vintage dance styles including Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues and Tango. As a former gymnast he is known in the swing dance community for his powerful acrobatics and aerials, while his background in Tango gives his Blues style drama and strength, grounded in a sensitive connection with his partner. Gastón’s passion for Blues has taken him around the world, and he has taught and performed in Argentina, Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, England, Portugal, Australia, EEUUU, among others.

Gastón is devoted to promoting and fostering swing and blues dance and culture in Argentina and Latin America. He has directed two stage productions featuring live jazz and vintage dance in Buenos Aires and ran South America’s first and largest annual swing dance festival,LHAIF (Lindy Hop Argentina International Festival) each year in Buenos Aires, and the first Blues event Careless Weekend.

He has also been a major proponent of Blues dance in Buenos Aires and is now increasingly in demand to teach Blues internationally. With intense partner connection, Gas fuses Blues with Tango technique, though always striving to stay grounded in the essence of the Blues. His mission in life is to pass on his passion for Lindy hop and Blues to others. ​

ALBA MENGUAL

Alba met these dances in 2007. She started to teach them 'for fun' and  became a full time professional in 2013. She brought her analytic foundation from her old career (pharmacy, medical information) and found in teaching a new way to apply her love for communication. Seven years ago she opened a school alongside Gastón Fernández, in her hometown, Madrid. Her passion made her want to cover everything: from the local organisation to organising international workshops, local and international teaching (teaching all over Europe, with some incursions into China, Australia and the USA, having the pleasure to teach at iconic festivals such as Lindy Shock or Snowball), and little by little developing experience in choreographing and shows. Her true passion is teaching and social dance, letting go and allowing the communication magic to spark, being in the present moment and in her body. If she can teach both things, connecting the student with their self expression and how to express it through the jazz/blues language, she knows she has succeeded. 
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Alba also understands the responsibility of being a cultural surrogate of this culture, and is very aware that she has to keep learning herself and conveying in classes the love for the culture, so people don't isolate the dance from its roots and people. Everything framed by jazz culture, she has learned to love and study with devotion. One day they were walking through Harlem and Gas said to her “after this walk, your dance will never be the same”. Indeed, it was true.  

Find out more at www.gasandalba.com

SPECIALITY CLASS INSTRUCTORS​

PENNY & LUCAS
Penny & Lucas are a Blues dance teaching duo from Taiwan.  They met in 2017 through Blues dance and have been teaching together since 2018, creating classes rooted in natural movement, playfulness, and musical connection.  They carry deep respect for African-American culture, the birthplace of Blues, and their goal is always to help students understand not just how to dance, but why this dance exists — the music, the history, the emotion, and the freedom behind it.

This year at ESBF Penny and Lucas will be creating and teaching the student routine for he Sunday night cabaret! Here's what they have to say about the routine...

This cabaret explores the full range of Blues dance — group ensemble, solo expression, and partnered connection. We approach it like a community in motion: different roles, shared musical awareness, and a natural flow between the individual and the collective.
In this class, we will focus on: responding to music intuitively; embodying each role clearly (solo, partner, or ensemble); sharing energy without losing personal style. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s understanding the music, the role, and the moment.

If you would like to be part of the performance you will need to sign up for this class at the registration desk when you arrive.

MORE SPECIALITY TEACHERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON