Michel Tosto

Michel has been swing dancing since 1999. While in the beginning he was the worst student in the class, he never despaired and once he "got it", he quickly became a "regular", absorbing as much knowledge as he could. Today, he has danced in Canada, USA, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing. Keeping Lindy Hop a social dance, he never competed. Nonetheless, he has been a driving force behind many well-known swing events in Montreal, Canada. He's behind the Montreal’s mini-exchange in 2003; part of the group who revived the famous Swing Ring (the birthplace of Montreal’s Swing scene) for one special and packed night in 2005; the co-founder of Swing l’Été, now Montreal’s most crowded swing event with over 500 dancers attending; and the co-organiser of Montreal's first Lindy Exchange, the MTLX 2005. He also wrote an article (in french) about how knowledge is transferred between dancers in Montreal’s swing community.

Now in Saigon, Michel works for VinaSecurities, a securities brokerage company part of the VinaCapital group. He looks forward to contributing to the development of a vibrant swing dancing community in Vietnam.

Catherine Tran

Catherine has been swing dancing since 2001. She first learned East Coast Swing (ECS), then Lindy Hop and Balboa later on. She has quickly developed quite a passion for Balboa and joined the Montreal’s All Bal Team, the first Balboa only dance troupe in the world. Two years of dedication later, the troupe won the first place in the Eastern Canadian Swing Dance Championship in 2005 and second position an the Grand Nationals in Atlanta, USA in 2005, one of the most prestigious swing dance competition in the world. All those years, she also was a teaching assistant at Step n’ Swing dance school. Catherine just loves to dance, all the time. In Saigon since the beginning of 2006, she looks forward to spreading the gospel of Swing in her home country.

Now in Saigon, Catherine works for CSC Vietnam as an SAP consultant.

Catherine
Teacher
dance@saigonswing.com