Our Instructors

Lauren Smith

Lauren Smith is a lifelong dancer in many styles, and started swing dancing in 2007 when a friend brought her to LA’s Lindy Groove. After that, she could be found dancing almost every night of the week, competing regularly, and teaching locally and around the world.

Lauren has headlined events across the globe, teaching at: Balboa on the River (Australia,) Minor Swing (Sweden,) Camp Jitterbug (USA,) Edinburgh Balboa & Shag Festival (Scotland,) Northwest Balboa Festival (USA), Cologne Balboa Festival (Germany,) and Swinging’ by the Sound (USA,) to name a few. She specializes in jazz era dances, including Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, Charleston, and Slow Jazz. Her degree in vocal music education allows her to bring a unique approach to classes, incorporating natural musicality, body efficiency, and Alexander method techniques.

Lauren regularly competes as both a lead and a follow, winning and placing in a number of international dance competitions: Balorado, Hot Rhythm Holiday, Camp Hollywood, Montreal Bal Jam, and All Balboa Weekend, among others. She is a sought after competition judge and DJ at major events, including California Balboa Classic, Snowball, Camp Hollywood, Camp Jitterbug, Hot Rhythm Holiday, The Balboa Experiment, and Balorado.

Steve Murphy

Hailing from the “Land Down Under”, Steve took his first Balboa steps in Brisbane, Australia in 2012. He became smitten with the dance in 2014, taking every opportunity to learn from Australian and international instructors. Shortly after in 2015, he started teaching weekly classes and has taught in Australia and Canada since then. Apart from being nerdy and puntastic, Steve likes to focus on building efficient and fun technique that can be applied on the dance floor easily without losing your slide/shuffle/stride.

(Bio from https://swingmoment.com/)