About Tess
Studio Owner & Instructor, Musician, Digital Artist
Tess Minnick Gunderson is a professional partner dancer, musician and digital artist in Medford, Oregon. She started her dance journey in the Washington DC area, where she first fell in love with a Swing dance called Lindy Hop at the Spanish Ballroom in Glen Echo, Maryland. Soon after Tess discovered Swing dancing, she was discovered h
erself at a high school dance by instructors from a nearby Ballroom dance studio. She began training and teaching at the studio and fell in love with even more dance styles. As a former musical theater nerd, Tess soon found a passion for performing and competing in Ballroom dancing while social dancing in her free time. She enjoyed a 10 year Ballroom professional partnership and became an American Smooth champion in various country wide competitions. Tess's philosophy is why not learn everything so you can dance to anything? She often encourages her students to think of learning to dance as learning different dialects of a foreign language. Match the dance dialect to the musical “country" you are visiting, and you can enjoy speaking the language of dance fluently and confidently whenever you hit the floor!
