My wife and I joined Bay Area Whip Dance Club after seeing West Coast Swing for the first time in 2008 and we’ve never looked back. We love the dance because of its artistic expression and that we can dance to such a wide variety of music. I’ve learned West Coast Swing techniques from some...
Author: Randy Downs (Randy Downs)
Randy Downs
Chuck Anders
I started dancing as a young man with Junior and Senior High School dances. I mostly learned from friends until around 1989. I wanted to learn the how, why, when, and timing of organized dance. I started learning Whip which later transferred into West Coast Swing around 1997 and my first competition was in the...
Dennis Brian Koi
Dennis was a long time friend and member of the Bay Area Whip Dance Club, and was a Whip Dance and Lindy Hop Instructor, along with his wife, Lavenia. He was also our Webmaster from the beginning. Godspeed Dennis. You are greatly missed.
Jean Freshour Payne
Sad news of our very dear dance friend, Jean Payne, she passed away December 19, 2007. She will be sadly missed by all that knew her. See original obituary– from Galveston’s Daily News.
Jeffrey Alan Walker
Jeff passed away from an accidental drowning while on vacation in Tahiti on Sept. 9, 2011. He loved to dance and was active in the dance community. He will be missed by all.
Ray Owen
Our beloved friend Ray Owen passed away on August 29, 2013, from a massive heart attack. Ray served as Vice President of our club from 2012 to 2013. He was a wonderful man, loved and respected by all, and he will be dearly missed!
Robert Hill
Our good friend, Robert Hill, passed away late Monday, October 21, 2013, after a brave 2-year struggle with pancreatic cancer. Everyone who met him liked him immediately and very soon came to love him. He was a loyal member of BAWDC and he cared about so many people in the club.
Johnnie Beck Wallace
Johnnie Beck Wallace served valiantly in the Navy on the USS Porpoise submarine during World War Il. After leaving the Navy he excelled in various professions. Anyone who knew Johnnie knew his great passion was dancing. There was never a time from his teenage years forward he did not dance. His last years were spent...