Instructors Old

Meeshi Anjali

Meeshi Anjali is a 20-year Dance Instructor. Meeshi has studied and taught multicultural dances in San Diego to dancers of all ages for the past 20 years including Afro-Cuban dance, Afro-Brazilian dance, Lindy Hop Swing and Urban Soul Line Dancing. He is the founder of the Firehouse Swing Dance, San Diego’s longest running weekly Swing Dance since 1998. Meeshi is also the founder of GroovaRoo Dance which combines babywearing with soul line dancing.

Erin Griffith-Roos

Erin started swing dancing in Orange County in 2013. She was instantly hooked and found herself attending several dances a week. Despite her hopes of keeping swing dancing as just a fun hobby, Erin eventually ended up competing by the end of her first year. Since then she has gone on to place in major competitions around the country such as Camp Hollywood, Lindy Focus and the International Lindy Hop Championships. Erin loves teaching students of all levels and watching them and the San Diego scene grow. She believes that a solid foundation and good technique are what make dancers stand out on the floor.

Derrick Roos

Derrick has loved dancing since he was young but didn’t start swing dancing until 2011 after moving to San Diego and looking for a way to meet more people. He quickly found himself out 4-5 nights a week either at classes, social dances or working with performance teams. Derrick believes the most important thing about dancing is to have fun. Derrick's dancing voice is expressive and unique and he hopes to help his students find their own creativity as they progress.

MORGAN DAY

Morgan Day has been swing dancing since 1997 and teaching and DJing swing since 2003, when he became president of the UC Riverside Swing Club, and hasn’t stopped teaching and spinning music since. As a dancer, he is most known for winning the “Golden Budgie Rock The House Award” at the National Jitterbug Championships (aka Camp Hollywood) in 2011 for his “Super Mario Brothers” showcase routine, which went viral in the United States and Japan. He is also a member of the Camp Hollywood Hall of Fame. He is also a regular contributor to the “Hey Mister Jesse” Podcast and leads a swing jazz band called “The Mad Hat Hucksters”.

CelinA Avila

Celina began swing dancing in late 2006 when her dad took her to PBDA for the first time. She continued working on her dancing regularly and later went on to compete and win Amateur Strictly Lindy at Camp Hollywood with Jason Le. Her other accomplishments include being on the NJC and ILHC winning team, The Fly Rights, where she once did over 42 aerials in a single practice session and perfected the double kip (apparently while shooting laser beams from her eyes). Now you can find her teaching and dancing in San Diego and competing with the Finest City Shakers.

Jennifer Hamilton

Jenn fell in love with lindy hop nearly 20 years ago and has been dancing, teaching and performing in San Diego ever since. Jenn’s favorite thing about teaching is sharing the joy of social dancing with my students. For her, each dance is a new and creative experience – whether dancing with someone she’s known a long time, or with a person she just met. In her classes, she likes to focus on technique and connection while making sure everyone is smiling. Jenn doesn’t bite, but she does kick!

Jason Le

Jason began taking Lindy Hop classes in early 2007 after being inspired by the amazing swing dancers at Tia Juana's in Irvine. Since then, he's performed gigs with the OC Swing Team, won Strictly Lindy at Camp Hollywood and showcase competitions with Celina Avila, and won NJC and ILHC titles with The Fly Rights. After moving to San Diego in 2015, he joined The Finest City Shakers and started teaching at the Firehouse. As a teacher, he likes to focus on proper technique as well as mixing 20s Charleston into Lindy Hop. He also enjoys a good Mai Tai and long walks on the beach.

Pavel Tsinberg

Pavel Tsinberg has been dancing since he was eight years old. He discovered lindy hop in 1999, whereby he gleefully shed the shackles of a ballroom background. After years of social dancing, Pavel found a surprising escape from his natural introversion by performing on a dance team. From there, it was only a hop, skip and a swing out to teaching.
Blues was Pavel’s next big discovery; he fell in love with the genre’s intimacy and expressive nature, and has not stopped dancing blues since. Pavel’s passion for strong connection, partnering, and true nerdiness when it comes to the fundamentals is the basis for all his lindy and blues classes.