Sean McKeever

Rising Star 2018

Sean’s introduction to dance came in 7th grade, when his Mother brought him to his first ballroom class at a popular youth dancing program in Sonoma County. He tried out and was admitted to a Junior Instructors program where he would perform with a group of high school dancers in the surrounding areas, as well as assist and demonstrate in classes of up to 500 junior high aged students. In 2006 Sean discovered West Coast Swing by attending The Capital Swing Dancer’s Convention with a group of friends from the Junior Dance Program. He instantly connected with the smooth style and relatable, modern music and from then on was completely hooked. Within the next year Sean took his first private lesson from Parker Dearborn and learned his first syncopations, found his first partner, Cailtlin Lawson, and competed in the young adult division at the US Open. Sean joined the Schwimmer’s “Jumpstart” team. He received the Jack and Annie scholarship and the Next Generation’s scholarship award. Sean spent most of his efforts training. He began the process of completing Skippy Blair’s teaching and judging certification programs, trained extensively with Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollmann, Kyle Redd and Sarah Vann Drake and competed in Pro-Ams with Jessica Cox. Sean achieved success with a number of partners, Tara Trafzer, Yenni Setiawan and ultimately with his current partner and fiancé, Courtney Adair, They debuted their first Classic routine at Swingtime in the Rockies. By 2011 they made their first US Open Classic finals.  In the 8 years following, they have built a successful career: traveling 40 weekends a year spreading the dance all over the US and to at least a dozen countries all over the world.