OUR STAFF

Samantha began dancing West Coast Swing at the age of 10 under the guidance of her mother, Kelly Buckwalter Casanova. Her competitive career began in 2001 and led to her first Juniors routine at the U.S. Open in 2002 with Ben Morris. She has competed in the Champion division as a follower for over 15 years and is also the highest-ranked All-Star female leader on the WSDC circuit.

Inducted into the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame in both 2012 and 2022, Samantha’s proudest accomplishment is becoming the first woman to ever lead in the NASDE Showcase division. Deeply passionate about inclusivity and equality in dance, she has been a driving force for change in competitive West Coast Swing—continuing the advocacy work pioneered by her mother and carrying it forward into the next generation. In 2016, she helped lead the movement that resulted in the WSDC changing its rules to allow dancers of any gender to compete in any role. She continued that work in 2018, playing a key role in pushing NASDE to adopt the same gender-inclusive policies for routines.

Samantha specializes in the unique art of switching, seamlessly leading and following at the highest levels, and is deeply committed to sharing this passion with the dance community. She continues to travel, compete, teach, and judge both domestically and internationally, using her platform to build more inclusive spaces while sharing her love for West Coast Swing with dancers around the world.

Christina discovered West Coast Swing in Freiburg just a few years ago and was immediately captivated by its creativity, expressive freedom, and sense of connection. She soon fully immersed herself in WCS, developing her skills both as a leader and as a follower, which naturally sparked her love for role switching. With her background as a dance teacher, she quickly began sharing the joy of WCS within the local community. Today, she travels extensively to deepen her knowledge, compete, and teach internationally.

With Tobias, classes are never not fun! He loves to focus on the playfulness of West Coast Swing, which makes stealing and switching some of his favorite topics to teach!

5 years ago, Tobias started learning the dance as a follower in his local community in Nürnberg. He's danced both roles since, competing as both in the Advanced division. Naturally, he was quickly intrigued by switching, adding it to his skillswt and soon teaching it at different events around Europe.

Hélène began her West Coast Swing journey in 2017. Based in Amsterdam, she travels internationally to learn, compete, and share. Curious and playful, she likes to explore other spaces to inspire her understanding of movement and the parallels between dance and psychology.

For her, dance is all about connection: with a partner, with oneself, with the music, and with the present moment. As a teacher, she loves helping dancers explore, reflect and connect, cultivating joy, curiosity and growth.

Raphaël discovered WCS almost a decade ago and fell in love with it ever since. He is based in Paris, where he teaches WCS and organizes workshops for the local community. He is an All Star Division leader and loves to follow or switch roles within one dance on the social dance floor.

Raphaël is known for being one of the most appreciated social dancers in the international WCS community. You will fall in love with his big smile, connection and creativity!

These two love switching together and are passionate about teaching and sharing their views on the dance.

Franz and Alicia met in 2015 during their first ever social dance in their local studio in Bonn. Two years later, they discovered West Coast Swing and soon fell in love with the dance and its community.

They learned both roles and switching early on and Alicia quickly became one of the first female leaders in Europe to compete as a leader as her primary role.

Stealing is another aspect of the dance they particularly love and developed together throughout the years. Both of them deeply care about the connection they create in their dances, are known for holding space for their partners and value a shared creative process.

Franz has a degree as a dance teacher and educated himself in an array of styles whereas Alicia has been running classes at the university of Bonn for many years and has taught and worked with teenagers in other fields for over a decade. Both of them are also full-time-students with Franz pursuing a degree in Informatics and Alicia studying English Literature.

Clevi - Clem & Evi - are two passionate West Coast Swing dancers based in Berlin. With a decade of experience each, they have joined forces to teach and dance together. Clement, an All-Star Division leader and an Advanced Division follower, brings a unique sense of musicality and creativity to the dance floor with his decade of musical studies and his background in solo dances like Ballet, Hip-Hop, and Contemporary. Evi, an All-Star Division follower with a professional contemporary dance background and experience in Ballet, Jazz, and Modern dance, adds her unique flavor to WCS.

These two dancers love the freedom that WCS offers, particularly in the ability to switch roles and experience one dance from both sides. They are known for switching and stealing at WCS socials and bring excitement and good vibes to every dance floor they join.