Who are Caron and Steve Mason?

Who are we?

52nd Street Jump is run by Caron and Steve Mason. They share a love of Lindy Hop and other Swing dances, as well an interest in the fashions and styles of the Swing era. Their teaching philosophy is that learning to dance should be good fun and something that anyone can do. It is for this reason that you will find their classes to be well paced, informative and most importantly, enjoyable. Through their classes students often find they learn far more than they thought they were able to achieve.

Caron and Steve spent years as full time dance teachers in London before moving to Lincolnshire. They have dedicated a lot of time to developing their courses and continue to update their teaching material to keep the classes fresh and interesting.

Caron Mason

Caron Mason is a trained dancer in Jazz, Ballet and Tap. She taught Lindy Hop and Jive at Pineapple Dance Studios, London from 2002 until 2009. This included the highly successful Foundation Course in Lindy Hop, developed with Steve. Throughout this time she also appeared as a guest teacher for the London Swing Dance Society at the 100 Club, Oxford Street fairly regularly. Caron is a member of the Guild of Professional Teachers of Dance, Movement to Music and Dramatic Arts.

Caron is a very popular teacher as she teaches in a style that is accessible and encouraging to beginners whilst offering enough technical input for more experienced dancers. She is especially sought after by female dancers as she very clearly explains the concepts of lead and follow and ensures that the ladies steps are clearly explained. Her enthusiasm for dance is infectious and it takes no time before new students have got the 'Lindy Bug'

Caron has taught many classes and workshops at private functions around the country and in Jersey. She has appeared as a dancer for the Memphis Belle Orchestra, New Squadronaires, and the Glenn Miller Tribute band amongst others. She has also danced in Television and Big Screen productions such as Foyle's War, William and Mary, Being Julia, and Piccadilly Jim.

Her passion for the era extends to clothing and styling and she can often be found at vintage fairs buying items to wear for dancing.

Her dancing credits include:

2002 Winner of Jack and Jill competition at Jitterbugs.

2002 Winner of Hayes Battle of Britain Dance competition

2005 2nd place in Saturday night Jive competition at War and Peace Show, Beltring, Kent.

Steve Mason

Photo of Steve Steve Mason has been Swing dancing since 2002. He initially studied East Coast Swing before progressing to Lindy Hop. Together with Caron he taught at Pineapple Dance Studios from 2005 until 2009, including developing the highly successful Foundation Course in Lindy Hop. He also appeared with Caron as a guest teachers for the London Swing Dance Society at the 100 Club, Oxford Street in London’s West End. Steve is also a member of the Guild of Professional Teachers of Dance, Movement to Music and Dramatic Arts.

Steve's teaching style ensures that classes are enjoyable to beginners as well as more experienced dancers. He combines a lighthearted approach with technical detail which makes each move easy to perform. Steve is particularly keen to encourage those who feel they will never be able to learn to dance. He is able to focus on the needs of those who are not 'natural' dancers to enable them to develop these skills. In addition to this he really enjoys introducing new ideas and concepts to more experienced dancers.

Together with Caron, Steve has appeared in a large number of events around the country and in Jersey. These events have included teaching, performing, and working as a swing DJ.

Steve has been appearing as the well known swing DJ 'Dr Swing' since 2005. He was resident DJ at all events run by Caron and Steve and continues to be resident DJ at 'Saturday Night Swing Club' in London. He has also made regular guest appearances at 'Hula Boogie', 'Rhythm Lounge', 'Helzappopin', 'Gangbusters' and 'Stompin'' at the 100 Club. He has a huge range of music includes big band and small group swing, rhythm and blues, boogie woogie, rock and roll, hillbilly boogie and western swing.

Steve has a great interest in the music of the 30's to the 50's. He has been interested in Big Band music since he was a child and has been collecting Swing music since he started dancing. He is also very interested in thirties and forties lifestyle and fashion as is often seen dancing in vintage clothing.

In 2005 Steve and Caron came 2nd place in the Saturday Night Jive Competition at the War and Peace Show, Beltring, Kent.