BIOGRAPHY
Douglas Mathews has been dancing swing for over 15 years, and fell in love with Balboa as soon as he was introduced. The subtle rhythms and connection of pure bal, and the turning stretchy feeling of bal swing became his focus in dancing. Since then he has competed across the country winning awards at ABW, Cal Bal, ILHC, Camp Hollywood and others. He has been teaching Lindy and Balboa in the SF Bay Area since 2013, and loves to share the joy and connection of the bal dances with anyone who will listen.
For booking information please email douglasbmathews AT gmail.com
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Douglas has been dancing and performing Lindy Hop since learning in Vero Beach, FL in 2001. After moving to California he began teaching Lindy Hop in Mountain View, CA at Wednesday Night Hop around 2009.
He discovered Balboa around the same time, learning from Randy Maestretti and Kara Britt in the San Jose Area. Completely falling in love with Balboa, learning, teaching, and competing in balboa became his singular passion. Since then Douglas has become a regular teacher at several other SF Bay Area swing dance organizations including The 9:20 Special and The Breakaway. He has taught balboa in Boston, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Durham, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati, and been a guest mentor at The Balboa Experiment in 2018 and 2019.
As a teacher Douglas is invested in creating a nurturing environment for students to build body awareness and empathy for their partner and themselves in addition to the history and vocabulary of balboa and lindy hop. He loves teaching understanding of movement fundamentals and helping students appreciate the unique joy of improvising with another dancer to swing jazz music.
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He regularly teaches both solo and with a number of dancers across the United States including: Desiree Roffers (balboa), Lori Taniguchi (lindy hop and balboa), Joy Jing (balboa), Brittany Armstrong-Morton (balboa), and others.
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Contest Placements
2nd place Hot Rhythm Holiday 2019 Open Strictly (with Desiree Roffers)
3rd place California Balboa Classic 2019 Open Mixed Couples
1st place Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout 2018 Open Strictly (with Desiree Roffers)
1st place California Swing Dance Championships 2018 Strictly Balboa (with Desiree Roffers)
1st place Hot Rhythm Holiday 2018 Open Balboa (with Desiree Roffers)
1st place 2017 NJC Am Classic Lindy (with Lori Taniguchi)
1st place 2017 California Swing Dance Championships Mix & Match
1st place 2017 Great Lakes Balboa Escape Pure Bal (with Joy Jing)
1st place 2017 Great Lakes Balboa Escape Open Shuffle
2nd place 2017 Great Lakes Balboa Escape Slow Bal (with Joy Jing)
3rd place 2017 California Balboa Classic Open Jack & Jill
2nd place 2015 NJC Open Balboa (with Katie O'Neill)
1st place 2015 ILHC Open Balboa Jack & Jill
1st place 2015 All Balboa Weekend Am ACBC (with Katie O'Neill)
2nd place 2015 All Balboa Weekend Pro Am (with Kate Hedin)
1st place 2014 Inspiration Weekend Am Mix and Match