James and Jenna
Jenna and James have built a reputation both for inspiring students with their teaching and befuddling emcees with their unpronounceable last names. As teachers, they are known for their clear, accessible classes and their ability to instill confidence in students. Since they began working together in 2007, they have taught many weekly classes in Chicago, including several performance routines, and recently have been invited to offer workshops all around the Midwest, including at the Hawkeye Swing Festival and Lawrence University. Jenna and James also perform together and train the Big City Swing Performance Troupe.
James Pustejovsky
Since being introduced to the joys of social dancing over a decade ago, James has logged countless hours in workshops, led partners old and young, and sweated through many t-shirts while practicing with his friends. Somewhere in there, he learned to dance. As a teacher, James brings to class his knowledge of historical styles and music and an emphasis on learning by doing, dancing, and imitating. James' further teaching credits include lindy hop and balboa workshops for the Illinois Swing Dance Society, Brew City Hops (Milwaukee, WI) and the Galaxie (Chicago, IL). In addition to dancing, he deejays at venues in Chicago and elsewhere, and blogs about it at pustoblogsky.blogspot.com.
Jenna Stworzyjanek
Jenna loves joyful dancing and loves to share her exuberance with students. She has been dancing for most of her life. Since discovering lindy hop in 2003, she has dived in head first, becoming an instructor at Big City Swing, Chicago's premiere Lindy Hop and Swing studio. She has also become an accomplished competitor, with recent titles including 1st place in the LoneStar Dance Championships Advanced Jack & Jill, the Lindy On the Rocks Slow Strictly, the Bringin' the Heat Contest (with James), and the 2009 Midwest Lindy Fest Amateur Showdown. Jenna is the founder of the Tacky Annies, an all-girls vintage dance troupe that specializes in vernacular jazz dance, charleston, and blues.
Patty and the Buttons
The Buttons formed in the fall of 2008 when accordionist/vocalist Patrick "Patty" Harison returned to his midwestern home. Having been raised in the Minneapolis music scene, he knew just the guys to call. For the past 3 years, Patty had been traveling extensively with Loose Marbles and Panorama Jazz Band out of New Orleans, LA. With Panorama Jazz Band he appeared at many notable festivals including The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, French Quarter Festival, Veracruz International Jazz Festival and others. The Loose Marbles have been all over the world and back playing street corners, theaters, festivals, plantations, parks, squats, caravans, riverboats, ferries and various other locales to great aplomb. He also spent a year in New York studying and playing with some of the worlds finest musicians. While in NYC, he also founded the Baby Soda Jazz Band which features some off the finest young "hot" jazz players in the world. The Buttons is a continuance of Patrick's love of hot rhythm and happy feet. Patty's eclectic taste gives the band diverse influences including New Orleans Traditional Jazz, Western Swing, Gypsy Melodies, Dust Bowl Ballads, Jug Music and 1930's Popular Song. The core instrumentation of accordion, clarinet, guitar and bass is light and swift, but also beautifully melancholy and lush when it needs to be. The band also performs as a six piece with drums and fiddle for larger affairs. Patty, mostly known as an accordionist doubles as the bands vocalist. His voice is inspired most by the old time hollers and croons from the dawn of recording once described as "Tom Waits meets Rudy Vallee." More than anything, The Buttons is a group that is always enjoying themselves... Which seems to give audiences permission to do the same.