Meet your Instructors
Luis Arredondo
Mallorca, Spain
Luis Arredondo is renowned for his energetic dance style, risk-taking moves, and never-ending smile. With a detailed approach to the learning process, Luis ensures every class is dynamic and tailored to meet the students’ needs. After a decade in Toronto, where he travelled, taught, and competed across North America, he returned to Spain to build the Balboa scene in Mallorca. His classes are filled with positive energy, creative partnership conversations, and a strong focus on technique, making learning both fun and effective.
Maria Acuñas
Mallorca, Spain
Maria Acuñas began her swing dance journey in 2014, quickly becoming a standout with her fun, carefree style. As a lover of high-energy swing music, Balboa was a natural fit for her. In 2015, she founded Jazz Bouncing, a dance studio in Mallorca, where she is the principal instructor for Lindy Hop and Balboa. Maria is known for her creativity, musicality, and strong partner communication. She has won numerous national and international competitions, including a recent first place at the European Balboa Championships.
Cara De Grandpré
Cara became hooked on swing dance in its many forms in 2013 and her involvement now includes teaching, mentoring, helping organize events and founding troops like the Bal Gals. She particularly enjoys Slow Balboa, which she loves to dance, explore and teach.
As an ambi dancer, Cara is committed to constantly improving her dancing, and her understanding thereof, in the hope of sharing insights with others. She is known to be caffeine fueled and hug powered. She firmly believes in the power of “sound effects” when she teaches and that “life is too short for boring socks.”
Montréal, Québec
Jennifer Barnett
New York City, New York
Known for bringing a little math and science into the ballroom (don’t worry, just a little), Jen began tap dancing in pre-school and continued learning and later teaching through high school. After putting aside dance to focus on chemistry in college, Jen was happy to return to dancing–-this time the partnered swing dance of Balboa. During that time, Jen began teaching and promoting, co-running beloved Philly events such as the Saturday Night Fish Fry, Tokio/Jazz Attic/Jazz Attack, Philly Bal Night, and Bal Jam ’08. She now calls New York City home and enjoys teaching locally at You Should Be Dancing! and dancing at White Heat among other favorites.
Lana Gu
Hailing from Shanghai, Lana is a dedicated swing dancer who specializes in balboa, blues, and tango. She has been sharing her love for dance since 2020 by teaching workshops, private classes, and performing in Shanghai. Lana is known for her commitment to the art of dance and her ability to inspire and guide fellow dancers. Her passion for swing dancing shines through in both her performances and teaching, making her a valuable asset to the dance community.
Toronto, Ontario
Dan Repsch
Montréal, Québec
Dan is immersed in the music and the movement. As a teacher, his enthusiastic approach brings a focus on innovation, connection, and attention to your partner. As a veteran DJ, he's played for events across 4 continents, DJing everything from international events to local dances. He’s also organized both locally and for international events, including a Head DJ role in BluesSHOUT! and The Balboa/Blues Experiment. In the end, Dan is most excited to work hard at improving the dance and to see people break through their boundaries.
Steve Murphy
Hailing from the “Land Down Under”, Steve took his first Balboa steps in Brisbane, Australia in 2012. He became smitten with the dance in 2014, taking every opportunity to learn from Australian and international instructors. Shortly after in 2015, he started teaching weekly classes and has taught in Australia and Canada since then. Apart from being nerdy and puntastic, Steve likes to focus on building efficient and fun technique that can be applied on the dance floor easily without losing your slide/shuffle/stride.
Toronto, Ontario