Our Club Directors
Ana Madigan - President
In 2010 I retired to Idaho and it was in 2011 that I was introduced to the HDSDC' monthly dances and lessons. Music holds a special place in my heart as I grew up dancing Salsa, Cha cha and merengue. I have served in three different positions on the board and look forward to helping others enjoy dancing as much as I do by providing music they can dance to. I have 5 grandsons that also keep me busy and two daughters I love dearly.
Jennifer Babione - Vice-President
Jennifer has been couples dancing since October 2002, after stumbling upon free dance lessons at Shorty's. Soon after, she found the High Desert Swing Dance Club and became a board member in 2004, serving for the next 8 years. Jennifer began teaching swing dance in the Treasure Valley in 2005 and opened the Lessons in Dance studio in February 2006; she has been teaching swing and country dance in the valley ever since. As well as teaching locally, she has enjoyed competing, teaching, and judging on the United Country Western Dance Council circuit throughout the country. Jennifer has been the Events Director and DJ for the Idaho Country Western Dance Association since 2019, and enjoys assisting all of the local dance clubs to spread the joy of dance. Jennifer met her husband Thomas on the dance floor at the Nampa Eagles Lodge. They were married in 2006 and enjoy teaching, competing, and spreading the love of dance and friendship together.
Roger Sleger - Secretary
Board of Director member since 2006
Records Retention and Historian since 2006
Sound equipment manager since 2008
Email messaging owner since 2013
Re-established club's nonprofit status in 2015
Developed HDSDC website in 2017
Married 59 years to best friend ever!
47 years dancing together
Cathy Henry - Treasurer
No information to share as yet.
Debbie Cook - Events Director
Debbie grew up in a small western Montana town and started dancing when she was old enough to sneak into the local honky tonk bar to dance country swing with the cowboys! In the late 1990's she became a passionate student of dance, taking lessons in all couples dance styles and often social dancing seven nights a week. She has competed on the United Country Western Dance Council (UCWDC) circuit for 23 years, graduating from amateur to professional and winning 4 UCWDC World Championships. Debbie is accomplished in ballroom, country and west coast swing, and continues to share her passion for dance through teaching group and private lessons, and coaching/dancing with her UCWDC pro-am students. She is also a choreographer and UCWDC apprentice judge.
Joel Hunter - Board Advisor
Joel has been dancing since 2003 in a wide variety of dances, has been teaching dance since 2005, and opened up his own studio in 2007 in order to build the dance scene in Boise. Continuing to grow the community to this day, Joel owns and operates Heirloom: A Dance Company and organizes Boise's largest Swing event 'Boise City Swing.' Skilled in various styles of Ballroom, Latin, and Swing, he specializes on dances that focus on improvisation, creativity, lead/follow, musicality, and connection. His innovative and unconventional teaching style has helped many students grow in their dance by giving them the tools they need to creativity interpret the music and clearly communicate with their partner.
David Lovelace - Webmaster
David learned to dance in Reno Nevada. West Coast Swing has always been his favorite.
In his own words, "West Coast Swing is the best dance, because of its balance between freedom and structure.
The genius of the passive lead coupled with an anchor step allows the freedom to dance what you want while staying connected to your partner.
Plus I like the music that it is danced to."
Our Club Directors
Ana Madigan
President
In 2010 I retired to Idaho and it was in 2011 that I was introduced to the HDSDC' monthly dances and lessons. Music holds a special place in my heart as I grew up dancing Salsa, Cha cha and merengue. I have served in three different positions on the board and look forward to helping others enjoy dancing as much as I do by providing music they can dance to. I have 5 grandsons that also keep me busy and two daughters I love dearly.
Jennifer Babione
Vice-President
Jennifer has been couples dancing since October 2002, after stumbling upon free dance lessons at Shorty's. Soon after, she found the High Desert Swing Dance Club and became a board member in 2004, serving for the next 8 years. Jennifer began teaching swing dance in the Treasure Valley in 2005 and opened the Lessons in Dance studio in February 2006; she has been teaching swing and country dance in the valley ever since. As well as teaching locally, she has enjoyed competing, teaching, and judging on the United Country Western Dance Council circuit throughout the country. Jennifer has been the Events Director and DJ for the Idaho Country Western Dance Association since 2019, and enjoys assisting all of the local dance clubs to spread the joy of dance. Jennifer met her husband Thomas on the dance floor at the Nampa Eagles Lodge. They were married in 2006 and enjoy teaching, competing, and spreading the love of dance and friendship together.
Roger Sleger
Secretary
Board of Director member since 2006
Records Retention and Historian since 2006
Sound equipment manager since 2008
Email messaging owner since 2013
Re-established club's nonprofit status in 2015
Developed HDSDC website in 2017
Married 59 years to best friend ever!
47 years dancing together
Cathy Henry
Treasurer
No information to share as yet.
Debbie Cook
Events Director
Debbie grew up in a small western Montana town and started dancing when she was old enough to sneak into the local honky tonk bar to dance country swing with the cowboys! In the late 1990's she became a passionate student of dance, taking lessons in all couples dance styles and often social dancing seven nights a week. She has competed on the United Country Western Dance Council (UCWDC) circuit for 23 years, graduating from amateur to professional and winning 4 UCWDC World Championships. Debbie is accomplished in ballroom, country and west coast swing, and continues to share her passion for dance through teaching group and private lessons, and coaching/dancing with her UCWDC pro-am students. She is also a choreographer and UCWDC apprentice judge.
Joel Hunter
Board Advisor
Joel has been dancing since 2003 in a wide variety of dances, has been teaching dance since 2005, and opened up his own studio in 2007 in order to build the dance scene in Boise. Continuing to grow the community to this day, Joel owns and operates Heirloom: A Dance Company and organizes Boise's largest Swing event 'Boise City Swing.' Skilled in various styles of Ballroom, Latin, and Swing, he specializes on dances that focus on improvisation, creativity, lead/follow, musicality, and connection. His innovative and unconventional teaching style has helped many students grow in their dance by giving them the tools they need to creativity interpret the music and clearly communicate with their partner.
David Lovelace
Webmaster
David learned to dance in Reno Nevada. West Coast Swing has always been his favorite. In his own words,
"West Coast Swing is the best dance, because of its balance between freedom and structure. The genius
of the passive lead coupled with an anchor step allows the freedom to dance what you want while staying
connected to your partner. Plus I like the music that it is danced to."