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Fun Fact: Did you know a group of cats is called a Clowder?
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Genny Kunkel — Connecticat
Genny found dancing at a the greater Boston 1920’s lawn party in 2021 and fell in love with Lindy Hop soon after. She’s famous for living in Connecticut during grad school and driving to Boston for dancing every week (staying on Mona’s couch). Genny values community sharing and its ability to inspire individualism and friendship! Make sure you ask her what dance clip she is currently obsessing on. When Genny’s not dancing with people, she’s dancing on horseback or doing science or cooking up a new adventure.
Mona Xue — KickKat
Mona fell in love with Lindy Hop the moment she felt her first swingout. She continued dancing because she wanted to look cool, but later discovered that dancing brought her freedom and connection. She enjoys reinventing the wheel in novel shapes and experimenting with absorbing pulse into different muscles. When she’s not dancing Lindy Hop, she’s dancing Hip Hop to try to unlock power of groove. The rest of time, she’s starting (and maybe finishing?) random projects, like shoe making and a psychology PhD.
Nur Shlapobersky — Shadowcat
Casually cool, and effortlessly organizing from the shadows. Nur started dancing in Los Angeles to experiment with liminal identities. He was the first person Mona and Genny recruited to help with this crazy project because they needed someone who would help them get to practice on time. When he's not dancing he's playing music in the street for other people to dance to. And when he's not doing that, he's making sure those streets allow people to walk, bike, and take transit.
Alec Smith — Bobcat
Alec started dancing in 2015 in Phoenix and has been obsessed with the dance ever since. Before joining Hopcats, he started a dance group in New Hampshire called FNX Lindy. He was bribed into Hopcats practice on Sunday with post-practice lunch (still the reason he comes to practice but don't tell anyone). Alec encourages people to bring their raw emotions to the dance and always strives to promote individualism, musicality, and community. His current project is learning upright bass, but you can also find him playing electric bass with his band One Time Mountain!
Cheryl Danner — Mochicat
For years, Cheryl thought she didn’t like popular music, until she realized she didn’t like modern popular music. Swing music drew her to Lindy Hop, and the friends she made along the way pulled her into the Lindy rabbit hole. Cheryl loves biking around Boston and Camberville, baking sweet treats, playing Nintendo games, and getting things done (especially organizing for Lindy Hopcats). Her signature move is eating a sandwich as fast as possible right before class.
Patrick Taylor — Gamecat
Patrick fell in love with Lindy on-sight in the midst of solving Puzzles at Club Drosselmeyer in December 2022, and since starting classes the month after has let dancing take over his entire life. When he’s not dancing, he’s probably riding his bike, playing board games, or planning an over-the-top party.
Genny’s advice: Ask Patrick to make you a mean cocktail or mocktail, and then to tell you about his practice ideas!