Gilles Bouvier was raised on cheese and crème fraîche in Paris, France. He came to the United States in 1997 to work as a chip design engineer in the Silicon Valley. Just as he was starting to discover the Lindy Hop, he was exiled (okay, not really) to Britain for 6 months. But the Swing madness had already got to him and he started taking classes with Graeme & Ann in Bristol, England. Back in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1998, he continued to learn under Rob & Diane.

When not practicing Jazz steps, he is either rock-climbing, hiking a mountain, spending too much time on his Mac, or thinking about French food. Gilles performed with The Swing Cats Rhythm Revue from 2002 to 2010. Gilles joined the staff at Wednesday Night Hop in 2007, and has been managing the venue since 2010.