Meet the team.
Lovers of dance, long-time fusion supporters, and individuals committed to change fueled by the values of our community. We are building Hi-Fi.
Eliza found partner dancing at 16 in Santa Fe, where she was lucky enough to start Lindy Hop, Blues and this new thing called not-yet-called “Fusion” around the same time. For the last 15 years, she had continued to dance and study all three, folding in Charleston, Balboa, Vernacular Jazz, Juke Blues, Struttin’, Drag Blues, African Dances from Benin and Guinea, Micro Fusion, sprinkled with a little House, Tango and Modern Afrodance and a new love of West Coast Swing. Her work is built on a foundation of training in Ballet, Modern and Broadway Jazz from childhood and a BFA in Theater Directing from Cornish College of the Arts, with 25 years of performance experience and 10+ years of choreography.
She found a new joy in dance organizing in 2019 with the creation of Hi-Fi, bringing 10 years of theater and burlesque producing and directing into the dance world. She now leads a monthly event called Revival Fusion, as well as teaching and DJing. She’s thrilled to bring this cumulative experience to Hi-Fi 2024, to make some magic with such a truly fantastic team and incredible Co-Director!
Eliza Wilder (she/her)
Co-Director
Marketing Director
Showcase Director
Alyssa’s passion for dance has developed through performing, learning, competing, and teaching many partner and solo dance styles for over 20 years. Her most extensive movement training has been in jazz dance, yoga, and both competitive and social ballroom dances. She especially enjoys the blossoming of creative expression that comes from combining varied dance forms that is fusion dancing. Alyssa has been deeply involved in organizing dance events since jumping in head first with the 2019 inauguration of High-Fidelity Fusion. She is excited to have a greater opportunity to help foster welcoming, educational, and inspiring fusion dance spaces as a Director of Hi-Fi 2024.
Alyssa Manning (she/her)
Co-Director
Cricket has been dancing ever since they could walk or skitter or whatever bugs do. Their movement background consists of a variety of styles including gymnastics, cheerleading, Lindy Hop, and their current home dance of West Coast Swing. They have loved being able to bring this background into the fusion scene, as well as bring in the assortment of music they have been collecting over the years with their sometimes-chaotic DJ sets. Cricket is so incredibly excited to put their Stage Management degree to use and work on this amazing project with this fantastic group of people.
Cricket Neiss (they/them)
Project Manager
Showcase Stage Manager
Ben Long the Finance Director hails from Portland, the best smelling city on the west coast. He started dancing as one of those Lindy Hoppers, not 100% sure that Y2K wouldn’t truncate his new passion. Luckily, it didn’t. And so years later he found himself in the room at the inception of Fusion. Ben has a perpetual hunger to build things: software, companies, Legos, and dance scenes. He’s pumped to be a part of the HiFI team and assume his role as a lawful evil capitalist. You can find Ben in his other roles as: Ben Long the DJ, Ben Long the Entrepreneur, and Ben Long the Political Wonk.
Ben Long (he/him)
Director of Finance
Tivi is an acro-yogi, swing fusion dancer, Industrial-Organizational psychology researcher, and caffeine enthusiast, hailing from San Antonio, Texas. As our Director of People Experience, she works tirelessly to make sure everyone in our community is welcomed, delighted, accommodated, safe, fed, heard, and appreciated. Chances are, you’ve probably already had a conversation or two with Tivi. If not, you’re in for a treat. Feed her chocolate, earl grey tea, or cheesy noodles, and you’ll be immediate besties.
Tivi Kaminski (she/her)
Director of People Experience
Eleanor grew up in the ballet studio and first learned to social dance outdoors in the Appalachian mountains. She fell in love with blues and fusion in 2016, but the more she danced, the more she noticed interconnected scene-wide challenges in culture, structural power, and belonging. To address these challenges she started facilitating group workshops on social justice, anti-racism, and community in 2018, and has since privately consulted various fusion organizations on their policies and team design. In Fall 2023 she completed her master's degree in Transformative Social Change, a multidisciplinary program designed to support liberation-oriented practitioners. Eleanor brings insight and presence to all her roles – dancer, teacher, DJ, facilitator – and is excited to work her magic at Hi-Fi.
Eleanor Chen (she/her)
Policies, Accessibility, Mediation, & Racial Justice
Tenae has been active in Seattle’s Partner Dance Scene since 2010, and has danced through many genres over the years, including West Coast Swing, Tango, Blues, Fusion, Micro, and most recently, Kizomba. She started DJing for Fusion and Micro dances in 2016, and hosting and organizing in 2017. Tenae was a part of the organizing team for HiFi 2019, and has been on organizer teams for Mu&I, Sound Fusion, and Revival Fusion, and currently leads Nuance: Seattle Micro. Tenae is especially excited to be lending her time and energy towards making this amazing event happen in 2024!
Tenae Lew (she/her)
DJ Lead
Milla is a dancer and event organizer based in Portland, OR. They love creating containers for connection and find that at the center of all of their work in the world. Milla strives to bring a sense of play and intimacy to all of the spaces they create and are excited to bring their previous experience from organizing Hot Night Fusion Weekend & Myrtlewood Fusion Intensive to their role on the Hi-Fi team!
Milla von Tauber (they/them)
Curriculum & Instructors Coordinator
Logan is a Lighting Artist for Disney Animation. Logan dances Blues, Lindy, Tango, and Kizomba. When he is not dancing you can find Logan adventuring from a camper van somewhere in the mountains: backpacking, climbing, or cave-diving, with a camera in-hand. The easiest way to get to know Logan is to ask him to make you a latte or steamer at a dance event.
Logan Gloor (he/him)
Venue Manager
Michael is a software developer, part-time cowboy, and estranged theater nerd, who likes to dance. By day, he writes code for Elmo. By night, he stewards technology, privacy, and digital safety for our beloved Hi-Fi community. Some keys to Michael’s heart include: big hugs, sleepy dances, negronis, smokey tea, nerdery of all kinds, stories of cool places you’ve visited, and dreams of worlds to be. He’s pretty shy, but rest assured, he’s heckin excited to meet you.
Michael Rog (he/him)
Director of Technology, Platforms, & Systems
Matt Johnson (he/him)
A/V Lead
Ryeder Dye is a super-villain in your fantasy fusion festival implanting miscreants to lure you into commerce with treats, trinkets and other targeted trans-marsupial creations. She* is an agent of chaos and protector of the vendor-ship guild, guide of commerce, and protector of vendors from capitalistic self-extraction. On a typical weekday morning you can find her plotting against the weather, sipping coffee, and glaring daggers out a window at whatever should pass that is outside of her control.
*Despite use of “she” in this bio, please use they/them pronouns when referring to Ryeder.
Ryeder Dye (they/them)
Vendor Manager & Swag Lead
An energetic, electric, enthusiastic entity, Kyle is a Fusion Organizer and DJ hailing from Florida! Having gotten addicted to partner dance through Lindy Hop and Blues back in 2012, Kyle quickly discovered the world of Fusion , and dove deeper and deeper into it while picking up as many partner dance styles as possible, eventually traveling the country to entice dance floors such that they couldn’t help but move to his fusion sets as DJ ⚡Volter - and also becoming an organizer- helping to found and run Fusion Orlando in Florida, while getting sucked further into the Fusion world. Having been taken over by the magic that was High-Fidelity, Kyle is ecstatic to serve as the High Fidelity Fusion 2 ambassador program lead- or in other words, Hi-Fi’s electric cool cat collector, seeking out and inviting cool cats wherever they are and whatever they do - (this includes YOU of course) - to come share in the epic party and delight that is High Fidelity Fusion 2!
Kyle Killough (he/him)
Ambassador Program Lead
CC is a nomadic globe trotter, who discovered partner dancing in 2005 and quickly became enamored! However, it wasn’t until she was introduced to the fusion community in 2011 that she first experienced enthusiastic encouragement to explore social partner dancing without the restriction of a particular genre of music, movement aesthetic, or pattern of steps. Free to focus on the fundamental principles of partner communication and musical interpretation, she relished the depth of connection and understanding which can be passed between friends and strangers who might have completely disparate dance backgrounds. CC boasts an extensive background as both a weekly and annual event organizer, dance instructor, and an event coordinator for DJs, teachers and volunteers. She is also a seasoned house party hostess, enthusiastic supporter of late night escapades, and an adventure instigator extraordinaire. If you are excited to get into some mischief, CC invites you to stay up late, then even later!
CC Wagner (she/her)
Check-In & Welcome Coordinator
Emma has been in fusion since 2014 (going on a decade) and fell in love at first dip with the dance and the community. She started in Bellingham and has made a home community in Seattle. Emma is relatively new to dance event work but has 3 years of nonprofit volunteer coordinating under her belt. In this work she values fostering growth mindsets, mutually supportive environments, and accessibility.
Emma Sadinsky (she/her)
Work-Trade & Volunteer Coordinator
Wren (they/he) is a Bay Area fusion zealot who started off as a ballroom kid and quickly jumped ship to explore every other partner dance they could get their hands on. Favorites include Blues, Lindy Hop, and Argentine Tango. Wren very quickly made a home in Fusion, and takes a special interest in new dancer retention projects, DJing, and cooking up containers for community members (on local, national, and international levels) to talk to each other. When they’re not in dance space (which is rarely) they are studying hard to become a certified massage therapist. Come find them in break rooms and sides of dance floors to help them practice!
Wren Forth (they/he)
Marketing & Housing Coordinator, Ambience Dept.
David Keogh is a Seattle-based dancer, musician, and filmmaker. David started with Lindy Hop and Blues dance before falling in love with Fusion over a decade ago. David plays music at social dance festivals and films dancers doing dance-y things.
David Keogh (he/him)
Live Artists Lead, A/V Support