Ben & Gen

Benjamin Ricard grew up on stage.  With formal training at the renowned École des Petits Chanteurs de Trois-Rivières, and at the Musical Comedy Program at the Séminaire St-Joseph in Trois-Rivières, he studied the crafts of comedian, singer and dancer.  He discovered swing dancing in January 2000, and it rapidly became a true passion for him.  In 2002, he joined Hop Swing & A Jump, New York City’s prominent performance team that went on to win multiple international competitions, including two World Swing Championships.   Benjamin is the founder of Québec’s Studio Port-O-Swing, where he and his team of experienced teachers developed a unique and reputed swing dance training program.  In 2003, he started his own 5-couple acrobatic swing dance team, Vintage Port-O-Swing, which is not only the Canadian champion, but also the first Canadian team to win the American Lindy Hop Championships in October 2004. His passion for dance has driven him to diversify his skills and develop several connected styles like tango, hip hop and Latin dances.

A passionate, active and creative child, Geneviève Kerouac joined the “art classes” at Sacré-Coeur Elementary School in Sherbrooke, where each day she was trained in dance, singing, violin and piano lessons.  At 10 years old, she fell in love with the world of competitive gymnastics in which she excelled for many years.  Her love of sport, movement analysis and her will to outdo herself led her to study in Physical Education Sciences at University Laval, where she was awarded a scholarship for her excellence.   Geneviève also studied as a circus artist at the École de Cirque de Québec, and pursued a professional career as a circus artist.  After graduating, she performed with several circuses at various festivals and events, and created and choreographed many circus acts and shows, street acts and dance numbers.  Trained in everything from classical ballet to contemporary dance, Geneviève fell in love with acrobatic swing in 2000.  Utilizing her talents as an acrobat, a clown and a musician, she has competed internationally with Benjamin and the Studio Port-O-Swing.

Michael & Evita

Michael Jagger and Evita Arce are full time professional dancers in New York City.   They just returned from performing in the 2008 Japanese tour of the Broadway musical Swing!   As principle dancers, they starred as the Lindy Hop couple and performed the same role in California at the Sacramento Music Circus.   They perform all over Manhattan including hot spots like The Rainbow Room, The Waldorf Astoria and The Plaza at Lincoln Center.   They have numerous TV appearances, including season three of FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” where they made it to semi-finals in Las Vegas.  Other TV credits include the History Channel's celebration of the 60th anniversary of VJ Day, a national holiday spot for Shoe Carnival and an international for Amena Cellular.

With regard to the Lindy Hop world, Michael and Evita have each been dancing for over 9 years and with each other for over 3 years. They work with world renown Lindy Hoppers Ryan Francois and Jenny Thomas in their company, Swing Xtreme, and have performed at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival in Scotland.  More recently with Swing Xtreme, Michael performed a one-night tribute to Cole Porter and Glenn Miller in Dubai.  This past spring, Evita was featured in Mark Eckstein’s dance company premier.   They also dance for The Lindy Hop All Stars in NYC, directed by Paolo Lanna, where they have performed and Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center.  They both teach regular swing classes at Dance Manhattan and have taught at several national and international dance camps including: Swing Out New Hampshire, Swing Out North West, Lindy Focus, Beantown Swing Camp, Boogie Bären and Camp Savoy.  They have placed 1st and 2nd in several national competitions and have won a number Charleston competitions. 

           They have taught at Swing Out New Hampshire, Swing Out Northwest and Camp Savoy.   Now we are pleased to present them at Sving du Nord!