Aggie, originally from Poland, Aggie is known as one of the most stylish and graceful females on the circuit. With a background in Gymnastics, Aggie found her love for Modern Jive in 2009 after moving to London.

Since partnering with Kevin in the latter part of 2010 and going straight into the Open Category, they have won 8 x Open Freestyle and 6 x Showcase Championships together (including World and European titles), and are now considered one of the top teaching partnerships in the UK.

After retiring from MJ Competitions in 2013, Aggie has returned to competing in WCS both individually and with her partner Kevin and continues to work with a number of top teachers, not only in WCS, but also various different styles, which she believes will help her to continue to grow as a dancer and teacher.

Jo started dancing and performing through gymnastics at the age of 4. She was the youngest member of the Great Britain National Squad at the age of 10, winning various competition titles throughout the UK. As a teenager and young adult, Jo was teaching children to perform through Street Dance classes which led to creating numerous team cabarets and performances. She has a real passion for adding personality and character to all routines and has become an experienced modern jive judge. In her early twenties, Jo found modern jive and instantly became hooked on partner dancing in various forms. She became one of the founders of ijig, and subsequently Verve Dance based in Hertfordshire. Jo regularly teaches and performs throughout the UK and abroad with her partner and husband Mick!

Kevin began dancing Modern Jive and Salsa back in 2002 before spending a couple of years in Australia learning techniques and choreography from highly acclaimed teachers throughout the country. Competing and progressing through Intermediate and Advanced levels, he became Australasian Advanced and Showcase Champion in 2007 with his dance partner Ali before returning to the UK.

Since partnering with Aggie in the latter part of 2010, they have won 8 x Open Freestyle and 6 x Showcase Championships together (including World and European titles), and are now considered one of the top teaching partnerships in the UK.

After retiring from MJ Competitions in 2013, Kevin has returned to competing in the world of West Coast Swing, both individually and with his partner Aggie. Kevin has also gained LeRoc and WCS Teaching Qualifications, completed Intensives and continues to work with a number of top teachers, not only in WCS, but also various different styles, which he believes will help him to continue to grow as a dancer and teacher.

Melanie has been dancing for over 20 years. She began her training at the age of four and from an early age was competing in major competitions throughout the UK and Europe in disco and rock’n’roll where she achieved champion status and won many top titles.

Several years later she achieved a junior ballet scholarship with the Scottish ballet. Melanie trained in classical ballet and performed on many theatre stages throughout the UK. Her love of dance did not stop there, she has trained and performed in many dance styles including jazz, tap, modern jive and contemporary dance and one of her most exciting times was auditioning for the television programme ‘Strictly Dance Fever’ where she got to work with some of the world’s top dance choreographers.

Melanie’s passion is in Modern Jive and West Coast Swing, both of which she has been dancing for many years. She performs, teaches, and judges nationally and internationally and her ladies styling classes have been acclaimed as the best in UK.

Mick was introduced to modern jive way back in 1994 by Viktor Andeke. At this point, he sparked a passion for dance which still burns to this day, and inspired him to co-create Ijig and Verve, a dance company offering classes, workshops and events in modern jive, Tango, Blues and West Coast Swing, and now entering its seventh successful year.

Mick has competed many times but most memorably won the Double Trouble title in 1999 at The Empire Leicester Square and came second in The Jive
Masters, 2003. Mick has many years’ experience in judging modern jive competitions and with over twenty years teaching experience on the modern jive circuit in the UK and abroad, he is one of the most respected and loved modern jive teachers in the Country. Mick ultimately has a keen eye for style, musicality, and fusions of partner dancing.

Ekow started dancing with Salsa in his teens, he moved on to ballroom and street dance a few years after. He’s been dancing Modern Jive for over 15 years, bringing his own unique style to the scene to become Multi-time winner of Modern Jive and Blues Competitions, including winning the World Open MJ title twice. Ekow continues to develop his dance journey in other styles including Zouk and is a West Coast Swing All-Star level dancer and Judge. He also teaches at various dance events in the country.

Matt started line dancing at the age of 11. He moved to modern jive at the age of 17 and entered his first competition less than a year later. In the following twenty years he has won more than 50 titles over DWAS, Double Trouble, Top Cats, Pro-Am, Intermediate, Advanced and Open. He’s twice won the WMJC Open title.

However he is most proud of being in 2 Hot Rhythm and coaching the BUST (Bristol University Student Team) modern jive teams who won national titles with their routines.

Matt teaches all over the UK and beyond alongside his partner Sarah Price.

Sarah started ballet at the age of 3 when her parents sent her to lessons after watching her dance round the living room at home. She did ballet, character, tap and modern dancing up to age 17.

She started modern jive dancing at university in 2003 and was hooked from her first lesson. She qualified as a LeRoc Federation teacher in 2009 and now runs the class where she learnt to dance as well as teaching at national events.

She has Open, DWAS and Pro-Am titles to her name. She was also part of the 2 Hot Rhythm team and coached the BUST team (Bristol University Student Team) both of whom not only won national titles but also pushed the boundaries for what modern jive dancing could be.

Introducing Lee Perrott as our new MC.

Matt has been dancing Modern Jive for over 20 years and teaching for more than 8 years, with Modern Jive remaining his primary passion throughout his dance career. He first competed in 2011 in the Take a Chance category, before entering the Intermediate category in 2012, which he won at Blackpool on his first attempt.Since then, Matt has competed extensively on the Modern Jive circuit, achieving multiple Open, Jack & Jill, and Grand Master titles at regional and national competitions, including London, Welsh, WMJC, and South West championships, alongside numerous Lucky Dip and Pro-Am wins.

Matt began judging Modern Jive competitions in 2019 and has been a regular judge since. Alongside this, he teaches, DJs, and performs regularly at weekenders where he pioneered a Technical Challenge Workshop.  As a judge, he brings a strong focus on technique, musical interpretation and partnership, with an emphasis on pushing creative and technical boundaries within Modern Jive.

Simon has been dancing since the age of 3 and teaching many different styles of dance forms including ballet, ballrooms, tap, modern, salsa and modern jive.

He graduated from the Royal ballet and performed in ensemble for multiple pieces, as far as he was concerned study came second to dance. Simon was a recognised teacher of Salsa in London and whilst he continued his training he performed in the west end in Stomp and competed in Ballroom & Latin for over 5 years before starting modern Jive.

Modern Jive offered Simon a sense of freedom to dance to most genres of music and placed all his efforts into this form of dance. He has taught modern jive in excess of 30 years and now can be found teaching at High Wycombe every Tuesday night. Recognised and respected for teaching techniques which  have developed over time. Simon holds 16 times modern jive Open champion, with a further 15 showcase wins.

What will he look for in dancers? Technical Skill: Footwork and Body Alignment precision and clarity of footwork, as well as the overall alignment and posture of the dancers. Control and Precision: ability to control their movements, execute steps with accuracy, and maintain consistent energy throughout the Dance. Musicality: how well the dancers interpret the music and use their movements to express the rhythm and mood. Strength and Flexibility: Physical demands of the Dance and the dancers’ ability to execute them with strength and flexibility.