Meet The Team

Catriona Wiles has studied dance all her life. She began with Ballet aged 3 and moved on to train extensively in a range of partner dances including Country, Salsa, Ballroom, Latin, Modern Jive and Argentine Tango.

Catriona discovered West Coast Swing whilst living in the USA from 1999-2004 and learnt purely through social dancing and observing the world’s best WCS dancers in action competitively and in late-night swing rooms. She went on to win the Swing Fling Cabaret Division (2002) with 4-time US Open Swing Champion, Robert Royston and wife, Nicola, dancing a swing number called “Trois” from the acclaimed off-Broadway show, “Swango – The Fusion” (Swing & Tango).

Catriona’s “highlight” year was 2006 where she partnered not one but three top leaders (Paul Warden, Lee Easton & Amir Giles) in three dance styles (WCS, Country & Argentine Tango) all in the same year, training and traveling to compete, teach and perform all over the world including the UK, Europe, USA & Australia.

Over the last decade, Catriona has taken the UK social dance scene by storm and is now successfully running multiple weekly classes, courses, monthly workshops, freestyles, ICE socials, private lessons and special events in and around London and the UK under the umbrella of West Coast Swing UK, and appearing at dance events globally. She loves the musicality, freedom and intricate footwork which comprise West Coast Swing. Her workshops thoroughly cover all the basics needed to get people onto the social floor, along with dynamic patterns and emphasis on creative style and flair!

Jeanette’s dancing journey began aged 5, starting with Ballet then moving on to Tap and Contemporary Dance. She put dance on the backburner during her early twenties to follow her passion for martial arts where she had great competition success in Kata. Later, she was hooked again after discovering partner dancing and has tried many styles including Modern Jive, Argentine Tango, Salsa and a few of the Latin dances. Jeanette discovered a local WCS class taught by Catriona Wiles & Paul Warden and became an inaugural member of WCSUK’s Monday class night then taught by Peter Fradley. She has been in love with learning and dancing WCS ever since and has received tuition by many world class teachers in Europe and the USA.

Paul began dancing like so many others through local Leroc and Ceroc classes, dragged along reluctantly with his “two left feet” by partner Janette Fox! An online video of Jordan Frisbee & Tatiana Mollman sparked their interest further, despite not really knowing what dance they were watching, which led to taking classes with UK teacher Paul Farrell…and you could say the rest is history! Sometime later, Paul & Janette signed up for classes with Paul Warden in South Norwood, then with Paul Warden & Catriona Wiles in Twickenham, by which point they were well and truly hooked!

Since then, Paul has entered the world of competition and has now graduated to WSDC Intermediate level, regularly making finals in both Jack & Jill and Strictly Swing comps nationally and internationally. He has also embarked on several WCS team routines together with Janette, performing at several national WCS events! He has been regularly assisting Catriona Wiles & Coleen Man in local classes for the past year and now confidently covers review classes on his own at all WCSUK venues.

Paul enjoys the addictive nature of WCS and loves the social interaction with both his peers and the pros! Paul was voted “Most Improved Male Dancer” at the 2016 Annual WCSUK Awards! He is also a much sought after WCS deejay at WCSUK events and beyond!

Janette began her dancing journey with Salsa then Line Dancing before finding some local Leroc and Ceroc classes which she attended with her very reluctant (at the time) partner, Paul Abbott! An online video of Jordan Frisbee & Tatiana Mollman sparked their interest further, despite not really knowing what dance they were watching, which led to taking classes with UK teacher Paul Farrell…and you could say the rest is history! Sometime later, Janette & Paul signed up for classes with Paul Warden in South Norwood, then with Paul Warden & Catriona Wiles in Twickenham, by which point they were well and truly hooked!

Since then, Janette has entered the world of competition and after winning Novice level Jack & Jill at NYSF in 2019, has graduated to WSDC Intermediate level and regularly makes finals in both Jack & Jill and Strictly Swing comps nationally and internationally. She has also embarked on several WCS team routines together with Paul, performing at several national WCS events! She has been regularly assisting Catriona Wiles & Coleen Man in local classes for the past several years and is a reliable and committed member of our teaching team.

Janette loves dancing, making friends and traveling to WCS events across Europe and the USA! Janette was voted “Most Improved Female Dancer” at the 2016 Annual WCSUK Awards and is a favourite social dancing partner by many in our UK WCS community!

Sam’s dance journey started with a love of music from an early age. He took a couple of ballroom lessons at university and then was persuaded to learn modern jive from a friend. After this friend left the country, Sam had a break for a few years before starting modern jive again in another area, quickly becoming part of the crew, firstly as a teaching assistant and later as a demo for two other franchises. He danced whenever he could and attended many weekenders where he met his amazing wife Kezia.

Sam has dabbled in other dances including blues, latin, ballroom, line dance, argentine tango and West Coast Swing on his quest for more in depth dance technique to help his never ending goal of being a better dancer.

Sam has been fortunate enough to have had Catriona teaching locally to him, firstly in Islip where he attended regularly and was invited to deejay for these classes and for the second room at some freestyles. Sam then relocated but was very lucky that Catriona started her own class in Farnham which he took Kezia to who was instantly hooked.

Sam is delighted to be part of the Farnham team allowing him to share his love of dance, WCS and music with the community and he regularly shares his playlists via Facebook. Sam loves to dance WCS whenever he can at weekenders, competitions and workshops. He has had tuition from many teachers from all over the world in classes, workshops and private lessons. He likes to dance both roles, having competed and placed as both a leader and a follower.

Matt’s love of dancing began at 16 when he was first dragged to Ballroom classes, and later Salsa classes, by a girlfriend. While the relationship (with all three) was short-lived, his passion for partner dancing had been sparked. It wasn’t long before he was introduced to Modern Jive in Exeter and began building lifelong friendships, including with other dancers who had already moved onto West Coast Swing.

Matt moved to Surrey in 2009 to study at university. Since then, he has gained a huge network of friends from dance venues and events across the South East and further afield. He began demoing for a Ceroc franchise in Surrey in 2018, which he continued until recently in 2023, and began competing at around the same time – coming first place in the Intermediate category at the International Open Modern Jive Championships in 2019.

Having already spent years watching West Coast Swing dancers on YouTube and being in awe of their musicality, Matt finally attended his first West Coast Swing class in 2019 and hasn’t looked back since. Matt joined the West Coast Swing UK teaching team in early 2023 and absolutely loves being a part of the dance community at Farnham and helping introduce fresh faces to the dance.