Portland Lindy Exchange 2024

Staff

Workshop Teachers

Nika Jin

Nika is based in Eugene, OR and has been teaching and organizing Lindy Hop related gatherings since 2013. She is known for her lighthearted teaching style, and she pays special attention to cultivating a warm and enthusiastic learning environment. Her ultimate goal when she teaches is to help people feel comfortable in their own bodies, and unlock the simple but infinite joy that is moving to music.

At the core of any dance is the music. Nika is so grateful to Lindy Hop and jazz dance for being the gateway to a powerful appreciation of jazz music on and off the dance floor. Finding a great tune will always be what inspires her the most, whether it’s preparing for a class or creating a choreography.

Nika has won several competitions and been a finalist in many others, but her priority will always be going ham on the dance floor.

Photo: Sophie Alexander

Shane Allen

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, Summertime Swingtet).

Photo: Braden Nesin

Austin Neverman

Austin Neverman started his dance journey in Iowa in 2007, and from 2009-2015 he helped to expand the Eastern Iowa swing scene as President of his local swing club, Slick Shoes. He moved to Portland, Oregon in the fall of 2015, and transitioned into the role of Artistic Director for the Portland Rhythm Shakers. Austin became the Event Director for the Portland Lindy Exchange in 2022, and in 2023 began to leverage his project management skillsets for the dance community as the CEO for the Portland Lindy Society.

Austin ultimately wears many hats within the dance community: event director, community organizer, international competitor, dance instructor, dance troupe director, DJ, and performing artist. He specializes in Lindy Hop and West Coast Swing, competing in both dance roles (lead & follow). With a professional repertoire that also includes ballroom dancing, Argentine Tango, Line Dancing, and West Coast Swing (to name a few), his dancing incorporates many influences. For more information, check out his website here.

Photo: Doug Silton

Kali Henson

Kali has been dancing since 2010 and is passionate about the connection our minds and bodies make to music and to each other. She’s taught Ballroom, Latin, and Lindy Hop and regularly competes in Lindy Hop and West Coast Swing. She also loves a variety of other dance styles like Hip Hop, Blues, and Bachata, to name a few.

Kali Co-Directed the Portland Rhythm Shakers for three years, a solo jazz dance performance troupe, and regularly choreographs and performs with her partner, Austin. Kali’s lessons aim to be thoughtful, inspiring, encouraging, and fun!

Darcie Juarez

As a sophomore in high school, Darcie attended a local swing dance with a friend on a whim. She loved everything about it! The music, the mechanics of social dancing, the technical and musical challenge, the community... She went to the dance week after week and fell head over heels for lindy hop. She has been involved in the swing dance scene in Portland since 2016, currently serving on the board of Portland Lindy Society and teaching at The Viscount Dance Studio in Portland.

Darcie teaches lindy hop, solo jazz, and balboa. She hopes for learners to find the same joy in the dance that keeps her coming back for more. As both a teacher and a social dancer she is known for her embrace of solid basic skills over fancy moves, as well as her love of improvisation, individuality, and musicality.

Photo: Jesse Frome

EMCEE: Pace Rubadeau

Having called Portland home for nearly six years, Pace now resides in Bellingham, Washington. He is a trumpet player, producer, community advocate, and co-founder of Lindy at the Leo, a swing dance hosted by B'ham Hop every Tuesday at the historic 1929 Hotel Leo ballroom in downtown Bellingham.

Veterans of the PDX scene may remember Pace as former frontman for early jazz outfit Inspirational Beets, well as curator for a number of prohibition-era events in support of uniting the people.

To include but not limited to: Stumptown Speakeasy at the Crystal Ballroom featuring The Two Man Gentlemen Band and local heavyweights; vintage excursions aboard the Portland Spirit with Tamar Korn; speakeasy field-trips on booze buses to secret ballrooms, and arranging a grand soiree for the Oregon debut of New Orleans' own Tuba Skinny.

This will mark Pace's eighth time as our emcee.

DJs

Nick Davis

Photo: Braden Nesin

Nick Davis (aka DJ Nick at Night) began dancing in 1998 and discovered Lindy Hop in 2002. Since founding Eugene, Oregon’s Track Town Swing in 2012, Nick has traveled around the globe to hone his dancing skills. He was the 2014 Frankie Manning Foundation Ambassador to Herräng Dance Camp in Sweden.

Nick can be found teaching in his home scene or DJing at events like Camp Jitterbug, Lindy Bout, Midwest Lindy Fest, Lindy Focus, or Herrang Dance Camp. He enjoys the work and believes that bringing people together through the joy of swing dancing and jazz music is his true life calling.