Private Lessons

Personalize your learning experience. 

There are no classes at I❤Bal 

Say it again, for the people in the back: there are no classes or workshops at I Heart Bal!

We're inviting some great instructors to attend & you can book a private lesson (or private small group lesson) with any of them!

To book your private lesson or small-group class, please contact the instructor directly, using the contact info below. 

Jennifer Barnett     (she/her)

mrs.jen.barnett@gmail.com 

Known for bringing a little math and science into the ballroom (don’t worry, just a little), Jen Barnett began tap dancing in pre-school and continued learning and later teaching tap through high school. After putting aside dance to focus on chemistry in college, Jen was happy to return to dancing after graduation–-this time to the partnered swing dance of Balboa. During that time, Jen began teaching and promoting, co-running beloved Philly events such as the Saturday Night Fish Fry, Tokio/Jazz Attic/Jazz Attack, Philly Bal Night, and Bal Jam ’08. She now calls New York City home and enjoys teaching locally and dancing at White Heat among other favorites.

Jen has taught in North America, Asia, and Europe and regularly competes in Balboa, having won lots of Mix & Match competitions. In fact, she once even placed first *and* second when she was drawn twice. True story 🙂 In addition to competing and teaching, Jen also enjoys performing. (What can you say? She’s an only child.) Jen’s favorites have been smack dab in the middle of the Museum of Natural History right under the giant blue whale and, of course, Lincoln Center.

As a teacher, Jen tries to balance her straight-forward manner and high expectations with lots of love, humor, and support for her students. She’s known for being able to teach truly multi-level classes where everyone is challenged to push their best a little farther. Never forgetting to address both follows and leads, Jen blends a clear, technical presentation of practical advice with the creativity and improvisational spirit that make swing dancing so enjoyable.

Annabel Quisao   (she/her)

annabel.truesdell@gmail.com 
Annabel Quisao is known far and wide for her huge grins and prodigious laughter on the dance floor. Always a student of music and a lover of swinging jazz, she was addicted to the communication and spontaneity of Lindy Hop upon her first exposure to it in 2003 at Colgate University. She continued to delve into swing dancing while at Penn State where she was also introduced to Balboa, Blues dancing, and Collegiate Shag. Through the years, she has social danced, taught, and competed in equal measure. She enjoys the challenge and camaraderie of competition, taking home top prizes in such events as the International Lindy Hop Championships, All Balboa Weekend, and the California Balboa Classic. Her enthusiasm for teaching began even earlier, first as a music theory instructor, and then as a swing dance instructor and curriculum developer in her local scenes from Penn State to Memphis to Boston to Washington, DC. In her teaching, Annabel emphasizes technique and critical thinking to give students the tools to explore their own abilities, inspire their partners, and have a good time!

Michael Quisao     (he/him)

mquisao@gmail.com

After growing up as a wallflower at school dances, Michael Quisao went to his first swing dance in 2006 and has been captivated by social dancing ever since. His love of swing music and social dancing has taken him across the country to dance, compete, and DJ swing music; he strives to share the joys of swing dance and swinging rhythm with everybody he meets.

Michael believes that the music is the heart of the dance and that attentive partnership and comfortable technique are the keys that unlock the door to exhilarating and creative dances.

Sara-Sofia Rentas (she/her)

sarasofiarentas@gmail.com

Sara-Sofia Rentas first discovered swing dancing in Orlando, FL in 2015 and is now proud to be NYC-based, sharing Balboa in the studio and anywhere jazz happens to be playing. With limited resources for learning Balboa early in her dance journey, she adopted social dancing as her first classroom where she would experiment with mechanics, musicality, and the relationship between leader and follower. This early learning process ultimately shaped her approach to teaching. In her classes you’ll find a blend of excitement for technique and playful improvisation, honoring the greatness of swing music and each student’s personal expression.

Dee Mathews  (they/them)

dmathbal@gmail.com

Dee Mathews is a balboa and lindy hop instructor based in Greensboro, NC. They learned balboa in 2010 both as a lead and a follow working with Randy Maestretti and Kara Britt, who taught them a love of pure balboa and the original dancers. 

Since then they have danced, taught, and competed all over the world. They have won balboa contests at California Balboa Classic, All Balboa Weekend, and the International Lindy Hop Championships, as well as been a mentor at The Balboa Experiment.

 Dee is invested in balboa as a dance of connection, playfulness, and dynamism. They are excited to explore the fundamental mechanics of the dance and help students find new ways to be musical, listen to their partner, and find new ways to enjoy balboa.

Nelle Cherry  (she/her)

thedancingcherri@gmail.com 

Nelle Cherry has been a dancer her entire life with professional training in ballet, tap and jazz. She was introduced to swing dancing, particularly balboa, in the spring of 2006, in Philadelphia where the spark of the love of balboa began. Soon after diving into the follower role, she also pursued a clearer understanding of the leader role. Over these many years, she's traveled around the world teaching, competing, and most importantly, social dancing. 

Within the classroom, she shares her passion and experience with her students, emphasizing partnership, musicality, and helping students to find the most full versions of themselves in the dance! Nelle also values co-teaching with a range of partners within both roles.

She recently relocated back to Philadelphia, coming home to where that love began, and she can be found balancing her life of working in the behavioral health field with the love of dance!

Jonathan Ng   (he/him)

jonathanng222@gmail.com

Jonathan Ng is a Balboa, Lindy Hop, Collegiate Shag, and Solo Jazz dancer based in Brooklyn, NY. He strives to give students the tools to develop their own unique voice in the dance by sharing the values of conversation, musicality, and play in each class he teaches. With a background as a jazz violinist, Jonathan approaches swing dancing with the same core philosophy as he would playing on the bandstand: the best ideas are born out of a combination of great technique and the willingness to explore beyond it.

We still have one more 2026 private lesson instructor left to confirm, so keep an eye on this page!