Our Parties
Dexter Santos & Heidi Fite
With a background in Ballroom dancing and Lindy Hop, Dexter has studied and collaborated with the best Blues dance teachers and dancers making him one of the most sought-after and admired teachers in the national and international scene. As a teacher, Dexter loves spreading his passion and joy for Blues dancing and aims to inspire dancers of all levels with the possibilities that this dance has to offer while preserving its roots, identity, and art form . Having taught in four continents, Dexter's classes are known to be inspiring and fun, and are favorites at nationally and internationally renowned exchanges and workshops such as bluesSHOUT, Austin Blues Party (Austin, TX), Steel City Blues Festival (Pittsburgh, PA), Rain City Blues (Seattle, WA), Mile High Blues Festival (Denver, CO), BamBLOOZled (Washington, DC), Fallin' In Blues (Grenoble, France), Bluesweet (Seoul, Korea), and Drag The Blues (Barcelona, Spain) among many others.
Dexter has won first place in numerous Blues dancing competitions around the country and has won the title of Ballroomin' Blues champion at bluesSHOUT 3 times (2007, 2008, and 2010). At bluesSHOUT 2010 in Austin, Dexter won all four partnered competitions: Open Jack & Jill, Strictly Jook Joint, Strictly Ballroomin', and Champions Division. For more information about Dexter, visit his website at dextersantos.com.
Heidi began dancing and teaching Blues dances in St. Louis in 1999 and has been dancing, teaching and performing ever since. An early promoter of Blues dancing, she founded the first national Blues dance workshop (Cheap Thrills), which has since transformed into the nation's largest Blues dance workshop and competition weekend (bluesSHOUT!).
Now busy raising a family of four daughters, Heidi no longer runs bluesSHOUT!, but she continues to travel the world teaching Blues dance as a living tradition, with a rich history and an exciting future. From local classes to international workshops and historical research and documentation of the dance, she is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Blues dancing.
Her classes are inspiring and challenging, but Heidi's focus on the underlying principles and fundamentals of the dance allows her to break down the most difficult concepts and moves, making them easy to understand and incorporate. Heidi is able to communicate and instill in her students a love of dance and a dedication to the learning process. Most importantly, her classes will put some serious 'boom boom boom' and 'aw haw haw haw' in your dancing.
