Dee Daniels Locke (Minneapolis, USA)
Dee started Swing Dancing at the age of four with her Dad in the basement, wearing her Mom’s heels and her favorite plaid skirt. With a hiatus into hip-hop during her school years, she was called back to Lindy Hop, becoming an influential member of the Minneapolis scene, where you can find her teaching at Uptown Swing. Dee loves feeling free on the dance floor. She advocates for self-expression and individual creativity as the spirit of solo jazz and Lindy Hop. She loves Lindy Hop's particular way of encouraging collaboration between music and partner, priding herself on making each dance unique to the musical experience and partner.
Dee has taught, performed, and choreographed nationally and internationally. She specializes in vintage jazz, Charleston, and Lindy Hop.
We have been talking with Dee for years about coming to Vancouver, and we are so excited to feature her at RCMA 2026!
Felix Berghäll (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Felix Berghäll is an internationally recognized dancer, choreographer, educator, and DJ, deeply rooted in Lindy Hop and the African American jazz tradition. Having danced since the age of eight, his passion for the rhythms and history of jazz has shaped a career dedicated to exploring, preserving, and sharing these dance forms with the world.
As an artist and choreographer, Felix has created and performed in countless stage productions at prestigious venues worldwide — from the Apollo Theater in New York and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao to the Swedish National Arena in Stockholm.
Currently based in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he is completing his education at Nätverkstan as an International Culture Project Manager.
Nika Jin (Eugene, USA)
In February of 2013, Nika happened to see a poster advertising a free swing dance lesson and wandered into a Wednesday night class hosted by Nick Davis (now an international swing dance DJ.)
At her second class ever, she asked if you can mix together the 6-count and 8-count footwork, and now, Nika is delighted to answer that same question (and more!) for new dancers every week at Track Town Swing in Eugene, OR.
She is proud to support a local community of the most warm, welcoming and dedicated dancers, and to put on some banger yearly festivals: Track Town Throwdown and The Riff Weekend.
Nika has a special passion for solo movement, is a fiend for historical clips, and loves losing her mind to great swing dance music, whether it's Gordon Au's late night Louis Armstrong Tribute at Lindy Focus or Shane dropping a Dinah Washington deep cut in the kitchen.
Shane Allen (Eugene, USA)
Shane Allen has poured his heart into Lindy Hop for over a decade, since he did his first swing outs in Houston, TX's historic Eldorado Ballroom. Built on his career as a professional jazz pianist, Shane's understanding of the music's history is exceptional. Communicating the depth and relevance of jazz as social dance music is central to his teaching. Based in Eugene, OR, he has taught hundreds of Lindy Hop classes with Track Town Swing, led dance musicality workshops at Herräng Dance Camp (Sweden) and Century Ballroom (Seattle) and leads several of Oregon's favorite dance bands (The Stealin' Apples, Stomp Off Party, The Fat Dandelions).
Kofi Artiabah (Ottawa, Canada)
A favourite of RCMAs past, Kofi returns for the very lucky students of the Beginner Weekend. But we couldn't bring him all the way across the country without including a couple of classes with the unstoppable Kofi in the RCMA program. Catch his contagious spirit on the dance floor every night.
Zackari Faisal (Ghana/Vancouver)
Introducing, for his first time at RCMA, Zackari Faisal, originally from Ghana, now living in Vancouver. Zackari brings many years dancing and teaching Azonto, a West African Street dance, and related Afro-fusion dance and movement. We're so excited to welcome Zackari for RCMA 2026!