Judges

Sylvia Sykes

Main Judge

Sylvia, an internationally recognized authority on most types of Swing Dance, has been teaching and judging for 20 years throughout the US, Europe, and Australia.

Sylvia studied with the great dancer Dean Collins, and was a member of his last dance troupe. She studied Balboa with Maxie Dorf and spent years learning from the greatest Southern California Balboa dancers. Sylvia is an inductee into the National Swing Dance Hall of Fame, as well as the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame. She is a U S Open champion, was the NASDE top point winner, two time California Balboa Champion, took third place in the National Carolina Shag Dance Championships, and has won many Strictly Swing and Jack & Jill dance contests through the U.S. in Lindy, Balboa and West Coast Swing. She was twice voted Swing Dance Teacher of the Year, and is a 4 time Feather Award winner as Best Female Lindy Dancer in the U.S.

She has performed with Count Basie, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Artie Shaw, and Les Brown, and appeared on many television shows such as American Bandstand and Gotta Dance for the American Movie Channel. She also represented the US in the World Boogie Woogie Championships in Grenoble, France with her original partner Jonathan Bixby.