President ~ Rebecca Daskalova

Rebecca Daskalova started out her dance career in ballet and jazz, but she is now a devotee of swing and blues. She and her husband Aleks met at OSU swing club in 2001, and they have travelled to exchanges and events all over the world. Becky is a graduate of the Lonelle Yoder school of Bootyshakin’. She is a past OSU swing club president, and has been a long time board member with SwingColumbus. Becky is also a member of the performance team and competed (twice!) on 2 broken toes this year.

She loves 80’s music, and has been known to draw inspiration from the film classics Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Bring It On: All or Nothing and television’s Glee. Becky loves lasers, and she has worked on some of the largest and most powerful in the world. She currently runs a laser lab in Ohio State's Physics department and is helping them to upgrade their system... so they can take over the world.

Marketing Chair ~ Mandy Agler

Mandy blogs, tweets, writes, and networks to make sure everyone and their brother knows about SwingColumbus. She is also on the performance team and does teaching, event planning, DJing, and trip planning for SwingColumbus.

Mandy first started swing dancing in 1996 at home alone with a video from the local library and later debuted her skills (awkwardly) at a high school dance. In 2001 she made the bold leap to try dancing with other people, and almost never regrets her decision. She loves traveling to dance with people from all over the world and would one day like to be half as good as Frida Segerdahl (wouldn't we all?).

In real life, Mandy works for a software development company and enjoys biking when it's warm, and diving into the snow when it's cold!

Events Chair ~ Devin Fraze

Devin got his first taste of swing dancing during a class at Otterbein University in 2009.  His taste for dance led him to OSU's club and
SwingColumbus' monthly dance.  In 2010 he founded the Otterbein Swing Dance Club and continues to teach weekly lessons there.  Since his first workshop at Ohio University Devin has continued to travel to different Colleges and Universities participating in their scenes.  He has also traveled across the country attending workshops and enjoying great bands.

In October 2011 Devin was elected to the board to replace his elderly mentor, David Martin.  It is with his youth and focus that Devin plans to continue Dave's tradition of excellent events.  In his spare time, Devin enjoys working on mathematics, rock climbing, and teaching/mentoring.

Performance Chair ~ Shannon Varner

Shannon began her dance career as a kid, clogging her way through all the Steam and Gas shows and county fairs in Virginia. She was a dance major in college, studying ballet and modern dance. Moving to NYC to work at The Julliard School and Martha Graham Dance Company, she discovered Lindy Hop during a free lesson at Swing46 and the addiction with Lindy began. She spent every spare moment in workshops and lessons, and soon began competing at national events and even appearing on TV.

Her boyfriend (and future husband) moved several times for work, and Shannon eventually followed, digging into new and wonderful dance scenes along the way. She was in Washington, DC at the height of the Hollywood Lindy explosion, and in Chicago for their awesome groovy musicality. All these diverse styles of Lindy helped fuse her dance style into a bluesy, savoy- whip, charleston-frenzied mess.

It is her passion to teach and spread the joy of Lindy. With her dance partner, Mark Calkins, they are the Lindyroos and regularly perform through the Columbus community. Shannon and Mark are founders of the SwingColumbus Performance Team and continue to choreograph and coach for them. When not dancing, which is rare, she works for a marketing firm in Westerville. She lives in Galena with her husband, Jason, and enjoys naming all the wildlife that frequents their home.

Instruction Chair ~ Gail Clendenin

Gail Clendenin began swing dancing in 2004 at Ohio University, where she did not miss a single Jitterbug Club lesson or event all of her first quarter at school. She stayed with the OU Jitterbug Club all through undergrad, eventually organizing club events, teaching lessons, and marrying another obsessed club member.

When they moved to Columbus in 2009, Gail and her husband, Daniel, joined the SwingColumbus dance team and were pulled deeper into the scene. Now, Gail organizes lessons for SwingColumbus and loves going out to the Big Bang on Tuesdays, whenever she can escape from grad school.

Music Coordinator ~ Aleks Daskalov

Aleks has been collecting jazz and blues music for two decades. He has DJ'd numerous latenights, exchanges, workshops and house parties in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana and even in Shanghai and Dubai. He loves sharing less played gems with the swing and blues scene, but is always focused on playing to the dancers. Aleks loves live music and dabbles on the piano himself. He is excited that there is such a great variety of bands in Columbus, and hopes to showcase as many as he can.

He has been swing dancing ever since he came to Columbus for grad school in 2001. He has taught several different styles of swing and competed successfully at many regional events but he most loves social dancing, especially with his wife Becky. If he's not on the dance floor, chances are he's working on the design of a building in the Middle East or China. He's currently working on a hospital in New Orleans, and hopes to soak up the atmosphere and pick up some new tunes there!

Treasurer ~ Kasey Massitti

Kasey has been dancing since 2001. She learned about the world of dance while she was in college at Ohio University. She grew a deep love for dance. Kasey helped grow the OU club and was dancing 4-5 nights a week. She taught swing lessons, aerials and even introduced the Athens community to ASSLX, their first exchange.

After college she dropped out of the scene for a while but rejoined the Columbus community in 2007. She was happy that many friendly faces welcomed her back. She met lots of new people in the community that she loves, including her husband. Kasey has helped organize volunteers at the exchanges for 1 ½ years and was asked to join the board in Spring ’09 as the treasurer.

Kasey is a financial planner and tax preparer by day. She enjoys hiking, spending time with friends and running her small Amazon business on the side… in her free time.

Webmaster ~ David Martin

David got his first taste of swing dancing in 1996 when he pretended to be 21 to get into the Claremont Hotel Bar in Berkeley, CA. One lesson was all it took. For the next 5 years he went swing dancing whenever and whereever he could. While still living and dancing in the San Francisco Bay Area, he trained under Paul Overton & Sharon Ashe and joined a performance troupe. In 2001 life took over and he slipped away from dancing. It wasn't until after he moved to Columbus, OH that he went in search of the swing dancing scene that he had left behind.

In 2007 he found his way into a SwingColumbus monthly dance. It was like finding an old friend. He was hooked once again. By January 2008 he had joined the SwingColumbus performance team and in November 2008 became the Board President and later Events Chair. Outside of the 168 hours a week that he spends doing, thinking about and breathing swing dancing he uses years of experience running backstage operations and facilities at large concert venues to help churches, concert halls, parks, and universities choose the best audiovisual equipment and attempts to spend at least a couple minutes a week with his loved ones and garden.