Meet The Team

Jeremy Chang loves dancing, ramen, and photography. He's been dancing since freshman year in college and fell in love with all styles of social dancing from salsa to waltz to lindy. He has been a part of the performance troupe for more than a year and has enjoyed every triple step, every aerial, and every swingout. He brings a passion for dance, performance, and crazy antics to the dance group.loves dancing, ramen, and photography. He's been dancing since freshman year in college and fell in love with all styles of social dancing from salsa to waltz to lindy. He has been a part of the performance troupe for more than a year and has enjoyed every triple step, every aerial, and every swingout. He brings a passion for dance, performance, and crazy antics to the dance group.
Julie Tsai, an original member of the Swing Cats, is happy to still be a part of the troupe after a long hiatus. A native New Yorker, she transplanted herself a number of years ago to the Bay Area for school. Upon graduating from Stanford, she found herself unable to leave such a swinging area and created many 'opportunities' to keep herself dancing here. Her dance background includes ballet and social ballroom. As an undergraduate (and beyond) she has performed with the Stanford Viennese Ball Opening, Stanford Vintage Dance Ensemble with Richard Powers, and the Knotts Dance Company. As former Artistic Director of the Academy of Danse Libre, she still performs with them as a current member. When not on the dance floor or at her clinic she can be found reading (anytime, anywhere), watching old movies or new theater productions, cooking (or just eating), gardening, and traveling the world.
Mathias Schmidt has been enamored by swing music ever since they locked eyes across the bar. Only in the last four years has he been dancing to it and performing with the Swing Cats since 2016 to have more fun with it. In his free time he fixes old VW buses and tries to avoid his Playstation. Mathias currently lives on a sailboat in Emeryville, CA.
Peling Lee has spent her entire life dancing, starting with ballet, jazz, and tap. In college she picked up social dancing from Richard Powers at Stanford and joined the Academy of Danse Libre following graduation. She started swing dancing to expand her social dancing skills and caught the lindy bug. In her free time, she likes to pretend to train for half marathons.
Wendy Tai discovered lindy hop in 2012 at Lindy in the Park in San Francisco and has been hooked on the dance since. When not dancing Wendy enjoys cooking, eating, and a good cold beer.

Founders



 Rob & Diane van Haaren are considered trendsetters and leaders in the world of swing. They frequently travel all over the United States and Europe to teach and perform. They were voted the No. 1 Swing Dance instructors in the Bay Area, as noted by San Francisco Magazine, "Best of San Francisco," January 1998. They are known around the globe for their style and flair on the floor. They've been featured numerous times on both Fox and ABC television specials, as well as the PBS special with Wynton Marsalis, Frankie Manning, Illinois Jacket, and Jimmy Slide on the life of Duke Ellington, "Swingin' with Duke." Perhaps you saw them on Wynton Marsalis's Lincoln Jazz Orchestra's year 2000 tour in the Bay Area called "For Dancers Only." What's more, they were the opening act for former President Clinton during his visit to San Francisco.