Joe “PapaJoe” Mahoney is a longtime West Coast Swing dancer, DJ, instructor, and community organizer known throughout the Northeast. Active in WCS since the early 2000s and earning All-Star status in 2007, he has helped build Boston-area communities such as The Dancing Fools, Boston Westie, and Dirty Water WCS. Papa Joe is a sought-after DJ at major national and International events, including Countdown Boston, Liberty Swing, Tampa Classic, Summer Hummer, Korean Open. Through his teaching, bootcamps, and music, he continues to nurture dancers across New England and beyond.

Elizabeth Lloyd is a lifelong dancer with roots in ballet and a background in competitive jazz, hip-hop, and lyrical. Originally from Minnesota, she moved to Boston in 2015 to attend Lesley University, where she earned her Bachelor’s in Expressive Art Therapy and Master’s degree in School Guidance Counseling. After taking Neal’s swing dance course during her first semester, she fell in love with West Coast Swing and has been part of the community ever since.

Elizabeth is now an All-Star competitor, instructor, and solo dance teacher active throughout the Boston area. She brings a strong foundation in technique and a passion for connection to every class and workshop she leads, helping dancers grow with clarity, confidence, and musicality.

Saya began dancing at age 4 - in many dance forms starting from ballet, modern jazz, musical theater. She found her love for Hip-Hop when she was 11 and then Ballroom (American smooth/rhythm) later on. She discovered West Coast Swing in 2013. Born in Tokyo, moved to Munich at age 11, and to the U.S. at age 19. She fell in love with WCS because of the uniqueness of being able to combine partner dancing and solo dancing.

Saya has been fortunate enough to be trained by many top champions and continues to work harder. She wants to give back to the community by sharing her love and knowledge. Saya is quick to adjust and adapt to different ways each student learns. She can be tough, but she is always honest and will push you to continue to strive for the next level. Her favorite thing to say about WCS is, 'When you dance WCS, be present, focus on yourself, the partnership, and the music because it cannot be recreated again.'

Roberto began dancing at age 8 and has been dancing many dance forms such as hip hop, line dancing, and ballroom. He fell in love with WCS almost 15 years ago. He is highly regarded for his smoothness, musicality, and isolations.

He loves being able to create with his partners and incorporate his solo dancing background. Roberto is compassionate and hears all the micro musicality. He is the frame in the partner dancing, and understands how to be there for his partner.

Willow started her dance career at the early age of two with ballet, and continued to dance ballet, contemporary, modern and jazz for 20+ years. She loved every part of dance, the practice, the performance, the emotion of it all.

In her early 20’s she was introduced to swing dance through her moms new partner, Neal Klein, as a way for us to connect. She was immediately bit by the West Coast Swing bug. Eventually she made it to the All-Star division as a competitive dancer. However her love for the dance is much more about the unique ability for two people to communicate and create without uttering a single word. Willow has been teaching and DJing around the country for the last 25 years.

Marcus has been dancing WCS for 25 years. Allstar level dancer, Teaching for 17 years , judging for 12 years. Marcus enjoys helping dancers improve their connection using my background in martial arts and yoga.

Alex started dancing west coast swing in 2016 and immediately fell in love with the challenge of the dance and the energy of the community. Drawing from his work as a personal trainer, Alex holds a unique lens, which integrates dance and musculoskeletal function. Alex’s approach aims to help each dancer understand how to find connection within their body and to another person’s.

Danielle started her West Coast Swing journey in 2011 with Neal Klein at Lesley University, and has been a proud supporter of Wednesday nights since her first time out in the wild. She began DJing in 2021, she loves curating groovy, feel-good sets.

Her goal is always to play music she would want to dance to so a set will usually feature fresh finds from travels to weekend dance events, late-night vibes, T-Pain favorites, classic funk, and nostalgic throwbacks. This mix usually keeps her wiggling in the booth and doing a little karaoke (with the mic turned off of course). When she’s not dancing she’s a proud cat mom and athlete coaching volleyball, skiing, snowboarding, and attempting to teach science to middle schoolers.

Starting his partner dance journey in 2012, David began dancing as a follower until he finally decided to start leading in 2015. Over the years, he has explored a number of other dance styles. Aside from West Coast Swing and loves Waltz, Country 2Step, Bachata, Kizomba, and Nightclub 2Step. He now focuses on switch dancing, and has moved away from competitions to work on being the best social dancer he can be.

Lindsey has been dancing West Coast Swing since 2016 but her foundation is in solo dance, having been a member of an accomplished competition company through middle and high school. She went on to perform and choreograph pieces for her college dance company and perform in shows as a professional dancer. As a body mechanics nerd, Lindsey loves the physics and possibilities that West Coast Swing provides a very cool container for and this informs the way she teaches both group classes and private lessons.

Anthony started dancing Lindy Hop in 2018, but shortly after moved to West Coast Swing! Currently he is an advance leveled dancer. He goes to law school and enjoys dancing freestyle hip hop.

Bitson found WCS when he needed a liberal art course, apparently he was taking way too many fine arts classes. One day he sat down with his advisor, and they spotted professor Neal’s Klein swing dance course. From that point on Bitson has been triple stepping his way into our hearts.

Dani is an All Star West Coast Swing dancer and educator who began dancing at the age of three, falling in love with ballet and as a child and through college. As an adult, she explored salsa and dabbled in ballroom, and even taught ballet in her early years. In 2011, she discovered West Coast Swing and never looked back. What drew Dani to West Coast Swing was the freedom that exists within the structure: the ability to interpret music in real time and have a conversation with a partner. It offered a level of creative expression she hadn’t experienced in her previous dance training, blending technique, musicality, and connection in a way that felt both grounded and limitless

Maria started dancing at the age of ten with ballet and continued to various styles on her high school dance team . She fell in love with WCS in 2015 when Neal Klein introduced it to her at Lesley University and has continued her dance journey on Wednesday nights. She began DJing in 2019 and has so much fun curating vibes for the Boston community. She is always looking for new music and you can usually catch her playing fun afrobeats, pop hits, late-night gooey tracks, and what is buzzing on the circuit. When she’s not dancing, she’s a proud dog mom, taking heated yoga classes, and is a licensed clinical social worker.