Alice is very excited to be able to dance fun choreographies wearing spiffy costumes with Danse Libre this year.  She first got lured into the world of dance by the movie "Swing Kids," but upon taking several of Richard Powers' classes, was completely waylaid by the elegance and exhilaration of the waltz.  Previous to joining Danse Libre and performing in Stanford's Viennese Ball Opening Committee in 2004 and 2005, she enjoyed working backstage in theaters and hopes that being a dancer is different enough from being an actor that she is still allowed to call herself a techie (the first tenet of techie-hood being, "No actors!").  When not dancing, Alice works at Stanford University attempting to figure out how to farm fish without destroying the environment.  She also loves to cook, ride horses, enjoy nature, and sleep, although she never seems to get enough of the latter.

Carrie joined Danse Libre this fall because she was utterly addicted to social dance.  She spent her childhood years doing a combination of martial arts, Chinese folk dance, lion dance, and modern dance, and it was through these activities that she developed a passion for performance.  One fateful night during her freshman year at Stanford, Carrie was introduced to swing at an orientation event and has not stopped social dancing since.  Aside from waltzing down narrow hallways and teaching lessons in her dorm, Carrie is also pleased to be performing with the Stanford Viennese Ball Opening Committee this year.  Her other hobbies include musical composing and improvising, listening to Broadway musical soundtracks on repeat, organizing social activities and learning foreign languages.  She is incredibly excited to join Danse Libre this year!

Cin considers no dance style too outré. For 20 years, she has been dancing, costuming and performing with a number of Bay Area groups, including the Butterfly Bloomers Can-can troupe at San Juan Bautista, and Dickens Faire. Cin was a founding member of Danse Libre. She both danced and held comic roles in the Stanford Vintage Dance Ensemble. She choreographed a 20s styled "Trial By Jury" for Stanford Gilbert and Sullivan Society. Lately, she's spending lots of time with Renaissance dance forms and currently translating her second 15th century Burgundian dance manual.

Edoardo discovered social dancing in the spring of 1997 and joined the Academy of Danse Libre in the fall of the same year, at the beginning of its second season. Little did he know that dance would play such a pivotal role in his life: the elegance of Victorian dances and the energy of those from the early 20th century immediately captured him and haven't let go since. As his passion for dancing grew at a very fast pace, he joined the Stanford Vintage Dance Ensemble and eventually other dance groups on and off-campus, like the Knotts Dance Company, decadance, and SF Bounce. Edoardo choreographed the opening dances for the Stanford Viennese Ball in 2000 as well as a few pieces for the Academy of Danse Libre. He became Artistic Director in 2000 and held that role until 2006, when he passed on the flame thrower to Julie, with whom he is now co-directing the ensemble. He will do anything (within legality) for a serving or two of good fries.

Felix started dancing back in college the same reason everyone else did:  to impress other people with his fancy footwork. He grew up in Las Vegas and moved to the Bay Area to study chemical engineering at Stanford University, and is currently using what he learned to develop innovative drugs for the pharmaceutical industry. When not waltzing on the dance floor, you will most likely find him either at the bowling alley or the pitcher’s mound of a softball field perfecting his strike balls.

Jason grew up in San Diego before moving to the Bay Area to attend Stanford University, where he earned his BS and MS in Computer Science. Before being introduced to Social Dance through the classes of Richard Powers, Jason was a Second Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. Now in his fourth year with Danse Libre, Jason tries to remember that unlike the martial arts, while dancing he is supposed to do lifts and not take-downs, and to instill pleasure instead of inflict pain on his partner. Jason currently works for a large software company in Mountain View (the one that is not a misspelling of a very large number), and can often be found out dancing at Friday Night Waltz, Jammix, and Gaskell’s Ball. Jason co-choreographed his first piece for Danse Libre last year, and now in his spare time, Jason is busy choreographing and teaching rehearsals for the 2009 Stanford Viennese Ball Opening Committee.

Jed, originally from New York, now calls the Bay Area his home. While he didn't start dancing until his senior year at Stanford, he's been heavily into music and performing since he started playing the violin at age 2, having performed in concerts in 23 states and 6 countries. When not dancing or working on his computer tan, Jed enjoys board games, cooking, violin, pearl-milk tea, obsessing over dogs, more pearl-milk tea, trying new hair styles, and is a die-hard Jets and Yankees fan.

Jeff has always been interested in dance and is quite honored to be a member of Danse Libre. During the 1980s, he was involved with all aspects of professional theatre with a focus on musical theatre in Connecticut and Boston, Massachusetts. His partner dance experience didn't come until much later in life: a chance class with Richard Powers. When it did enter his life, it became a full-time passion. Since the fall of 2005, Jeff has been out social partner dancing most days of each week, taking classes wherever he can and dancing as much as possible. Every form of dance interests him: waltz, swing, mazurka, tango, hustle, blues, salsa, samba, etc. He finds dance venues to attend everywhere he travels. He studies dance privately with Anna Botelho and takes ballet classes at Western Ballet. You'll often find him dancing at Friday Night Waltz, Swing Central, and Steppin' Out. When he's not dancing or composing music, he's creating technology that you use regularly.

Jennifer grew up in San Diego and moved to the Bay Area to attend Stanford University. After graduating with a B.A. in Psychology, she earned her Psy.D. (Doctor of Psychology) degree in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Children and Families. She is a licensed psychologist and currently works as a Mental Health Clinical Supervisor at a community mental health agency. Jennifer enjoys many different types of dancing and has participated in folk dance performance groups and a hustle formation team. She is especially fond of vintage ballroom dance and has been a member of The Academy of Danse Libre for five years. When not dancing, Jennifer enjoys traveling, learning about financial planning, writing, cooking and spending time with friends.

Jeremy is not just a boring old person. He has been a member of Danse Libre since Autumn 2003, which means he has been in the group almost as many years as he unsuccessfully auditioned previously. He started dancing as an undergraduate at Stanford as a result of seeking larger events to setup, facilitate, and cleanup than mere dorm activities. His enjoyment of dancing has proven to be more than a fad. It has endured years of classes, workshops and weeks, dances, and a lack of any natural aptitude. It is even sufficient that he endures performing in exchange for the opportunity to learn more dances. He believes that rehearsals are *much* better when they include food and provides accordingly. When not dancing, Jeremy spends his days chasing frisbees, reading, playing with computers, or sleeping in. He spends his nights staying up far too late reading, writing, sitting in front of a computer, or going walking outside.

John grew up on a farm in southeastern Ohio, went off to Swarthmore College, and got as far as grad school at Stanford without any dance experience to speak of. One fateful Friday night, though, a colleague dragged him out of the physics lab and onto a local dance floor, and he hasn't stopped dancing since. He enjoys social ballroom dance as well as the vintage performance pieces. John performed with the Stanford Vintage Dance Ensemble for two years under Richard Powers, before joining the newly organized Danse Libre in 1996. He served as managing director of DL from 2001 through 2006, passing the baton to Rollie for the '06-'07 season. Off the dance floor (and sometimes on it), John does wedding and event video with his company Beale Corner Productions.

Julie has the honor of being the artistic director for the 2006-7 and 2007-8 seasons. A native New Yorker she came out west for undergraduate school and never left. As a founding member she took a hiatus for 3 years for physician assistant school before returning in 2003. Her previous performing experiences include founding member of the Stanford Vintage Dance Ensemble and the Swing Cats Rhythm Revue, Stanford Viennese Ball Opening Committee member and choreographer, and member of the Knotts Dance Company. When not dancing with Danse Libre, she may be found dancing lindy at local venues, wandering through bookstores, or reading - oh yes, and working at a community clinic.

Kimber is a California native who spent her formative years learning to be coordinated while cold (synchronized swimming) and pained (ballet). She discovered vintage dance while at Stanford University and decided that, not only was it better than being cold, it was great fun. She spent the rest of her time at Stanford performing in Richard Powers' Stanford Vintage Dance Ensemble and the Viennese Ball Opening Committee. After graduating with a B.A. in history and an M.A. in humanities, Kimber did some musical theater and cofounded Decadance, a social dance performance group. She returns to the Bay Area after a hiatus in Los Angeles, where she studied ballroom dance and lindy hop in between learning about the Constitution, and Arizona, where she experienced some very hot weather. When not driving to rehearsals, Kimber does dog agility with her dog Sara.

Laura's first foray into social dance was at Stanford in 2004, when she enrolled in Richard Powers' Social Dance I on a whim and a dare.  Within the first month of class she was hooked:  from salsa and swing to waltz and one-step, Laura wanted to try it all.  After participating in numerous social dance classes and performing with Stanford's Viennese Ball Opening Committee, Laura decided there was something missing from her dance experience:  more petticoats.  Laura joined Danse Libre in 2006 to fill this void, and the group's Victorian choreographies will always have a special place in her heart.  When she escapes from her corset and spaniel curls, Laura enjoys hiking, cooking, jewelry making, and chocolate. Especially chocolate.

Lee started dancing the Shag and Swing summers at Myrtle Beach while on vacation from Duke. To survive the Viennese Ball, he woke up early to sign-up for Duke's most popular class: Mrs. Trout's Social Dance I. Later he found the one ballroom dance class in Allentown Pennsylvania. In 1999 he moved to the Bay Area and was amazed at the dance scene. Lee met his wife Tatiana at a dance club in Santa Clara. He danced with Fezziwig's for a year, and then started stalking DL tryouts. He joined DL in 2005. Outside of dance, Lee loves games of all sorts and works as a software engineer for Apple working on OS X. He also likes cheese.

Liang joined Danse Libre in the fall of 2007. Being ignorant of dancing during his childhood and teenage in China, he started dancing with taking social dance classes taught at Stanford, and fell for it ever since. He performed with the Stanford Viennese Ball Opening Committee in the 2007 Viennese Ball and will continue with the 2008 Viennese Ball. Liang likes a wide variety of dances, with waltz being his favorite, partly because the Chinese translation of waltz sounds the best among all other dances. Besides dancing, Liang also likes tennis and chess, and recently regained interest with history.

Liz is excited to begin her first year with Danse Libre and to make fun of everyone else in the group for being old. She started dancing in Richard Powers' classes her sophomore year at Stanford and shortly thereafter could be found (bright red) at every social dance event in the area. Now a senior and a master's student in the biology department, Liz is generally either locked in the lab playing with viruses or dancing more than ever in an attempt to avoid questions about What She's Doing Next Year. She is also a member of Stanford's Viennese Ball Opening Committee. Liz spends her copious free time watching Red Sox games, keeping her dorm residents in line, and trying out new and exciting levels of coffee addiction.

Patty often jokes that she joined DL to learn to be a girl. As a bookworm who grew up in California, she knew nothing about make-up or dresses (historically accurate or modern) until she joined the group in 2002. She was introduced to social dancing in 1998. A degree from UC Berkeley didn’t stop her from attending dance classes and events on Stanford campus where she was first introduced to Vintage Dance. She danced swing with SF Bounce! and taught with Bay Aerials and Friday Night Waltz with her husband Edoardo. She has also assisted Joan Walton at Stanford Dance Week 2003 and other Bay Area events and Richard Powers in Prague 2004. She can be found in Fremont wrangling spreadsheets during the day. When not on the dance floor she can be found curled up with a book or experimenting in the kitchen.

Rebecca comes from a family of avid dancers and performers. She began dancing polka at age 9, "sneaking" into a polka mixer when her parents weren't looking. When her father realized what she was doing, he set out to teach her how to handle herself on a dance floor. Throughout high school, she performed Balkan songs and dances in regional costume with the South Hills Junior Tamburitzans. While working at Stanford University she began taking social dance classes with Richard Powers, and discovered frame. In addition to the lovely 19th and 20th century dances performed by Danse Libre, Rebecca enjoys lindy hop, balboa, bellydance, and the Madison. When not dancing, Rebecca rollerblades, snowboards, works as a biology research assistant, and plays mother to her 3 year old son.

Rollie has been dancing ever since being dragged to the Dickens Fair, kicking and screaming, in 2000. The next year he was seen escorting ladies onto the dance floor, and he's never looked back. He joined Danse Libre in 2005 and assumed the role of managing director in 2006.

Valerie has been dancing all her life.  Born into a family of big band jazz musicians, she trained in ballet and modern dance from an early age, receiving her BFA from California Institute of the Arts.  After a career of artistic dance and choreography, she developed the movement and vintage ballroom program at San Francisco Waldorf School for many years.  Now in private practice as a movement coach, therapist, and writer, she is a Spacial Dynamics practitioner, an affiliate of the Fourfold Healing Clinic using movement  to heal the emotional and physical body, and a licensed Lebed Method - Focus on Healing instructor, helping those recovering from breast and other cancers heal and thrive through movement and dance.  More about Valerie and San Francisco Movement For Health And Healing can be found at www.sfmovement.com.

Vanessa started dancing classical ballet at the age of 5 and studied ballet with The Joffrey Ballet before college. She discovered social dancing while studying management science and engineering at Stanford and performed with The Stanford Vintage Dance Ensemble and the Stanford Viennese Ball Opening. After college, she continued social dancing with The Academy of Danse Libre (7 years) and The Knotts Dance Company. When she is not rehearsing, she enjoys dancing Argentine Tango, traveling, and eating.