Rosalind bow-tied her first pair of patent leather tap shoes at six years old—and never really stopped dancing. By high school, she was teaching friends to swing and leading social dances for fun. At the University of Washington’s School of Drama, she performed, directed, and choreographed, honing her creative eye and passion for bringing people together.

After graduation, she ran business operations for a prominent Seattle restaurant group while teaching wedding dance lessons on the side. Once the “unprecedented times” started rolling in, it was now and never, and she moved to Chicago to pursue Ballroom Dancing.

In 2022, she won Top Newcomer at the Arthur Murray World Dance-O-Rama and proceeded to travel across the country competing professionally. Along the way, she realized her greatest joy wasn’t competition—it was community dance parties.

All styles of dance. All ages. All body types and orientations.

Less about how dancing looks. More about how dancing feels, and the good it can do for people in everyday life- socially, mentally, and physically.

Rosalind is building First Step Social to be an accessible, inclusive, community-centered space where anyone can learn to dance—and enjoy the special flavor of energy created when people are brave, silly, and unified together. Rosalind whole heartedly believes that if we all learned to dance together, the world would be a better place. We all deserve more dance parties!

You can find her out in Chicago dancing to live swing and salsa music many nights a week, and when she’s not dancing, or teaching, she enjoys travel, cooking, and messing about in boats.