Mark Calkins and Shannon Varner

Mark and Shannon remain true to the roots of the swing era dances and are dedicated to preserving and teaching these dances that were "the cats meow" back in the swing era (late 1920s-1940s). -- Shannon Varner discovered Lindy Hop while living in New York City in 1997.  She has won numerous awards, placing in such competitions as the American Lindy Hop Championships, Virginia State Open, and the Jack & Jill Contest at Midsummer Night Swing in NYC.  She has performed in New York and Chicago with some of her credits including: PBS' “Swingin with the Duke” with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Today Show, and Chicago’s month long dance program, Dance Chicago.  Shannon rounds out her dance experience with a background in arts administration at The Martha Graham Dance Co and the prestigious Juilliard School.

Mark Calkins has studied under the best names in Lindy Hop and is motivated to promote social partner dancing for his generation. He started swing dancing in 2002 while attending Ohio University, and since his graduation he has traveled across the nation to extensively learn the Lindy Hop and other vernacular jazz dance movement.  Mark brings 10 years of performance experience and uses his vast collection of swing music to inspire his dancing.  In 2009 he won the Strictly Lindy contest at the Oberlin Jazz Dance Festival and placed 2nd in the Jack & Jill contests at both the Oberlin Jazz Dance Festival and Case Western's Spartan Lindy exchange. Most recently Mark and Shannon advanced individually to the semi-final round of the World's Largest Jack & Jill contest at Frankie Manning's 95th Birthday celebration held in New York City.

Mark and Shannon joined forces in 2006 to combine their shared love of the authentic music and dances of this era.  Together they have been featured dancers for the Columbus Jazz Orchestra's JazZoo and won Indiana's Any Swing Goes competition in 2008. They are also teachers and choreographers for Team SwingColumbus and have led them to First Place in the Dayton Smackdown competition for a second year in a row. They are passionate about the music and dances of the swing era and are happy to share this knowledge through teaching and performing.