ORGANIZING TEAM
Kate Holden (she/her)
Marketing, DJs
Hailing from Delaware, this gal is a force to be reckoned with. With fierce wit and skilled fingers, this chick can make a mean meme.
Kate Holden manages our social media marketing and lines up the best DJs in the business to keep Jazz Attack's floors packed with dancers. Be sure to ask for her favorite tunes of the week!
Nick Cruickshank (he/him)
President
Nick is Jazz Attack's president. He steers the ship and is a general jack-of-all-trades that keeps the organization dancing.
Nick loves dancing fast, swingin' out, and throwing (or being thrown) in some big air.
He vividly remembers being a total beginner at Jazz Attack, and is excited to dance with anyone regardless of level -- lead or follow. Snag him for a dance and swing out loud!
Irene Elias (she/her)
Treasurer
Irene has been swing dancing since her time at Swarthmore College, where she also served as Swing Treasurer and enjoyed occasionally teaching classes.
She prefers following in Lindy Hop, Charleston, and Blues, but can also (kind of) lead. She is currently a graduate student in ancient history at Penn.
Matt Rapp (he/him)
Bands, Venue Manager
There are few things Matt would rather do than dance a smooth & groovy slow lindy or blues tune, except maybe watch the Emperor's New Groove.
Matt is Jazz Attack's venue & bands manager, ensuring that we all have a lovely space to dance in each week, and a great band to dance to each month!
Mike McDermott (he/him)
Teachers, Venue Support
Hailing from Delaware, this guy is a force. With wit and fingers, this dude can make a meme.
Mike manages our teaching lineup to help dancers of all levels find new ways to have fun dancing, and helps to get everything set up & torn down.
Ericka Skirpan (she/her)
Volunteering
Ericka has been a long time organizer in the immersive events scene. She loves to tell a good story, be it on the dance floor to music or through interactive theater.
She's here to help keep every dance moving as smoothly behind the scenes as it does on the dance floor with great volunteers and smiling faces! During the day she works for a health equity non-profit and when she's not dancing, she's usually LARPing!
Lisa Pilchman (she/her)
Safer Spaces
Lisa started swing dancing as a freshman in college, and decided to bounce (or swing, if you will) back into it after moving back to Philly and finding Jazz Attack! If you catch her at an event, she is down to talk about anything food, biology, or Zeppelin.
Lisa is the safer spaces coordinator, and her role is to help make Jazz Attack a safe and comfortable space for everyone!
Contact Info
Before reaching out, always check if we've already answered your question on the FAQ page.
For quick general questions feel free to shoot us a message on Instagram @jazzattackswings
For more detailed / personal questions, contact the relevant team member using their emails below. Please remember that we're a small team and we all do this as a post-work hobby, so we'll try to get back to you as quickly as possible, but please allow up to one week for a response.
Lisa Pilchman - Safer Spaces - lisa@jazzattackswings.com:
Questions or concerns about safety
Irene Elias - Treasurer - irene@jazzattackswings.com:
Questions about payments or purchases, financial assistance
Kate Holden - Marketing, DJs - kate@jazzattackswings.com:
Questions about DJing, social media, or RagTag Empire / other scene collaborations
Matt Rapp - Bands, Venues - matt@jazzattackswings.com:
Bands interested in playing at JA, band requests, venue access / accessibility questions
Mike McDermott - Teachers / Lessons - mike@jazzattackswings.com:
Questions about teaching, lesson requests, requests to send teachers for events
Ericka Skirpan - Volunteers - ericka@jazzattackswings.com:
Questions about volunteering
Nick Cruickshank - President - nick@jazzattackswings.com:
Anything not answered above, or if you haven't heard back from another team member after one week.