INSTRUCTOR BIOS

JENI LEGON

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Jeni LeGon auditioned at the age of thirteen for the Count Basie Chorus Line. Rather than dance in dresses as most chorus girls did, LeGon always wore pants, allowing her to demonstrate her considerable talents as a tap dancer. With a combination of skill, attitude and style, LeGon became a featured dancer, and one of the first African Americans to secure a long-term contract in Hollywood, where she danced with such notables as Bill Bojangles, the Nicholas Brothers and Fats Waller, including a now-famous sequence with Bojangles in 1935s Hooray for Love. LeGon later went on to perform on Broadway and throughout Europe, and in 1969, she moved to Canada where she opened her own dance studio.

CHESTER WHITMORE

Dancing since 1974, Chester Whitmore originally studied to be a cinematographer. An encounter with famed tap dancer Fayard Nicholas changed his life. Eventually, Mr. Nicholas became his teacher and mentor. Lately, he has been traveling around the world on tour as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, director and entertainer. He has performed with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington, the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Frank Foster, and the great Miles Davis. Chester Whitmore's choreography can be seen in music videos by Weird Al Yankovic, Teena Marie, Boys II Men, and Sugar Ray. The NAACP Image Awards (1989-1994), Soul of American Music, and Stellar Awards (Gospel Music Awards) show Mr. Whitmore's versatility in choreographing for diverse groups, such as the Nicholas Brothers with Savion Glover, M.C. Hammer, Levert, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Vickie Winans, and in dance tribute to Dick Clark and The Artist (formerly known as Prince).

CORINA ACOSTA

Hailing from Los Angeles, Corina is one of L.A.'s favorite competitors and without a doubt one of the fastest follows dancing in the scene today. Her competition background stems from a long history of 1st place titles in the local, national, and world competition circuit since 1997. Corina was inducted into the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame in 2004 and excels in all areas of vernacular jazz dance, as well as other dance forms such as Polynesian, Hip-hop, Post-modern, and Ballet. She has made her mark in TV commercials, film, and music videos. Her recent performances include The Apollo Theater in Harlem, N.Y., The 55th Annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, and the Los Angeles Finals for the upcoming reality series called "Shall We Dance". Her desire to share her passion with others has introduced her as a guest instructor across the map from Hawaii, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, and Florida, to Germany, Norway, Sweden, England, France, and Japan.

JOJO JACKSON

Jojo Jackson is a world-renowned Lindy Hop, Blues, and Charleston instructor. Hailing from Ithaca, NY, she has taught, competed, judged, and performed vintage jazz dances since 1998. She is an American Lindy Hop champion, a four-time Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown champion, and has performed with teams such as Minnie's Moochers and Mad Dog. Jojo's dancing is dynamic, tends to defy gravity, and her creative vibe is spread throughout the dance floor. She always manages to improvise beautifully, with meaning, and with soul. As an experience partnered & solo dancer, Jojo strives to bring about passion, livelihood, and energy to peoples' dancing.

PEPPA

Peppa is skilled in break dancing, free styling, house, and other various forms of street dance. Some of her appearances include performances on CBS, Nikita's Clothing Team, Gwen Stefani's Clothing Line, Cultural Traditions Hip Hop Faculty, and the Black Eyed Pease Stage Show. As an instructor and performer, Peppa sees breakin as "a way of life, it's a culture, it's my escape from daily life stresses and frustrations. The feeling after a long practice session or a night out busting in a club is a natural high that I'm addicted to. Breakin is a vocabulary added to my freestyle dance form, which allows me to truly appreciate music to the fullest. There's so much good music out there and to enjoy it with powerful expressive moves is what makes breaking challenging and fun for my brain and my body."

SARAH REICH

Sarah "Sour" Reich began dancing at age 5. In 2002, Sarah started training with Jason Samuels Smith at Debbie Allens Dance Academy. Sarah is currently in Jason's tap group Anybody Can Get It, and is also a part of Jazz Tap Ensembles Caravan Project for gifted teenage tap dancers. In 2004, Sarah was featured in Mike Wittmer's instructional tap video, "The World is My Drum". Sarah is also being featured in an article titled 20 Hot Tappers Under 20 in Dance Spirit Magazine. She received an award for Performing Artist of The Year at the 2005 OMNI Awards. Sarah has performed at many venues around Los Angeles. Sarah has a deep passion for tap dancing and aspires to be a headliner in the tap world in the effort to keep tap dancing alive.