Breaking Bal 2026
✨Balboa ✨ Lindy Hop ✨ Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA 🌶️⛰️
All information provided is subject to change.
Weekend Overview
Breaking Bal, episode 3, is a swing dance weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Santa Fe Swing Dance Society (SFSDS) is excited to welcome guest instructors Jenn Lee and Blake Croxdale from Seattle, WA. There will be workshop lessons, and social dance parties for Balboa and Lindy Hop dancers featuring live music!
This is Santa Fe’s biggest annual swing dance event! Enjoy 3 nights of social dancing, 2 nights of live music, 2 full days of workshop classes with 2 class tracks, performances and contests, history talks, late night festivities, and more. This year, we’re joined by legendary guest instructors Jen Lee and Blake Croxdale, two of the most talented, experienced, entertaining, and fun-loving swing dancers of our generation! Classes and dances will cater to Balboa enthusiasts and Lindy Hop lovers alike, with a healthy dose of neighboring dance genres like blues, soul, and tango.
Santa Fe is known for its scenic beauty, its delicious green Chile, and its incredibly friendly and welcoming dance community. Come visit us in the Land of Enchantment for an unforgettable weekend!
Sponsors
Guest Instructors
Jenn Lee
Jenn Lee (She/Her) is a renowned swing dance instructor with a passion for fostering an inclusive and collaborative learning environment. She emphasizes the importance of follow voice, ensuring equal attention to both leads and follows.
As a professional follow without a dedicated partner, Jenn’s versatile dance style adapts to various partners and teaching collaborations, enhancing her abilities as an instructor. Her strong music background allows her to seamlessly integrate rhythmic concepts and musicality into her classes, helping students express themselves on the dance floor.
Jenn is deeply aware that jazz, including swing dance, is a Black cultural art form, and she strives to honor its roots by teaching with respect for its history and the community that created it. Jenn’s love for social dancing and the swing community is evident in her warm approach and adaptable style, making her a valuable addition to any dance event she participates in.
Blake Croxdale
As a New Mexico native, Blake (he/him) learned early that there are two things you don’t mess around with in the Southwest: Walter White and balboa basics. He started dancing in 1997 when The Gap swing commercial made khaki-clad Lindy Hoppers visible to the mainstream. His teaching is focused on technique, musicality, and having fun with the dance (silly antics welcomed). He began competing and teaching in 2003.
A few years later, he moved from The Land of Enchantment to Land of Seasonal Affective Disorder, Seattle, where he remains today. Blake’s Balboa rap sheet includes suspiciously strong finishes at comps across the US. Authorities have yet to determine whether this reflects actual talent or simply an alarming willingness to enter contests.
Adonye "A.D." Jaja
Adonye Jaja is a lindy hopper to his core. With an emphasis on social dancing and technique; Adonye has been teaching Lindy Hop since 2002 and his love and vigor for the dance continues to grow. Originally from Lagos, Nigeria and raised in South Georgia, Adonye feels deeply connected to the rhythms and spirit that bring this dance to life. He is one of the founders of the Denver swing dance club and you can find him dancing weekly in the Mile High City!
Heather Ballew
Available for private lessons.
Heather hails from Denver, Colorado. Inspired to dance during the 1990’s swing dance craze, she has seen swing dancing styles and techniques evolve greatly over the years. A trained musician, for two years she taught ballroom dance at a local studio and she has dabbled in many forms of social dance, picking up as many technical and pedagogical ideas as she can find.
For nearly a decade she danced on the Denver Lindy Hop team, 23 Skidoo. She has coached multiple Lindy Hop and Balboa teams. In the classroom she strives to help her students be successful on the social and competition floor but her ultimate goal is to open up new avenues for creativity and communication within the partnership. She loves dancing with people of all levels and she is known for her connection, footwork and playfulness. She can be found teaching around the United States and abroad.
