LEADING LADIES SWING FESTIVAL 2020
...Learn from the Leading Ladies of Swing
TEACHERS
The DecaVitas (SWE)
Lindy Hop
Aerials
Charlie and Rebecka, a.k.a The DecaVitas, or the DecaVita Sisters, are world-renowned dancers specializing in authentic Swing and Jazz Age dances. They have been teaching and performing together since 2006, competing since 2008 and are today among the top names in the international Swing Dance scene. Charlie and Rebecka are currently based in Stockholm, Sweden but spend about six months every year on the road, they have worked on six continents in more than 20 countries. The DecaVitas have won several major competitions and are founders of performance troups in both Sweden and the US and have many years of experience in coaching and choreographing group routines. Together they are known for their dynamic, creative and unique dance style. As two of the most liked and yearned for Lindy Hop instructors world wide, Charlie and Rebecka strive to teach great technique in a way that is positive, coherent and productive. They particularly value the art of leading and following, believing that leaders and followers require equal amount of information in the classroom to create the best possible connection on the dance floor.
In 2016 The DecaVitas entered a new era in their lives as professional dancers. Charlie and Rebecka decided to focus more on the artistic aspect of the dances that they love and less on competing. They are constantly learning, creating and developing their dance with endless curiosity and conviction that there is more to be discovered!
Joy Jing (US) & Gio Olla (SWE)
Balboa
Based in San Francisco, USA, Joy got hooked on the improvisational energy and partnered creativity of swing dancing. She loves to both lead and follow, and has dabbled in almost all of the swing dances. She has been teaching swing dancing since 2014, and has won national (USA) and international competitions in Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and St. Louis Shag.
In class, Joy exudes energy and positivity, with a focus on partnership, connection, mutual responsiveness, and helping all dancers grow. Her style emphasizes fun, creativity, musicality, and technique.
Gio started dancing at the age of 10 and he never stopped. He travelled from the very beginning for Boogie Woogie competitions, later on he discovered Balboa which is now his great passion. He is currently based in Stockholm where he teaches regular classes. Gio enjoys experimenting with new moves and stretching the borders of the dance, many people remember him for his following skills. Among his signature moves you can find développés, hip's movements and different poses.
Gio still likes to compete, he won the first place title at All Balboa Weekend Amateur Strictly and Jack’n'Jill, Balboa on the Promenade Strictly and Strictly and Jack’n’Jill at Snowball. In class he is precise and pedagogical; He is more a coach than a teacher. Ask him for personal feedback!
Sandy Lewis (US) &
Fancy Dougherty (US)
Collegiate Shag
Sandy Lewis was born and raised in south Louisiana, dancing to Cajun and Zydeco music in the streets and dancehalls all over Cajun country. After moving to Barcelona, she began swing dancing and immediately fell in love with Collegiate Shag.
At the Warsaw Collegiate Shag festival in 2016 she and Martí Gasol caught the attention of the Collegiate Shag world with their breakout choreography to Tuba Skinny's version of Mother's Son-in-Law, which opened the doors for their international teaching career.
Sandy now works as a full-time dance teacher, often fulfilling both roles - leader and follower - in the classroom. You can catch her on the dancefloors around Barcelona and beyond.
Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Fancy fell in love with Jazz, Lindy Hop and Shag in 2008. She’s been hooked ever since, devoting herself to the technical mastery of historical dances and her own unique style.
She has appeared in music videos and television shows in the US, Mexico and France, and has been fortunate enough to share her passion for dancing in classrooms all over the world.
She was nominated for the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame in 2014 and is a five-time winner of the National Jitterbug Championships (four with Shag partner Steve Sayer). Be sure to ask her to dance!
Trisha Sewell (UK)
Lindy Hop
Solo Jazz
Trisha hails from Hertfordshire, UK, and has been teaching since 1997 and on the international scene since 2003. For 10 years she contributed to establishing the first European swing dance brand and the biggest of its time. She is now thrilled to manage her own company SavoyHop.com creatively directed by her personal vision. Trisha has built up a reputation for being one of the most influential teachers within the European Swing Scene.
She has spearheaded the revival of Authentic Jazz within the UK, working and training with some of the freshest dancers and teachers around. It’s been said that her teaching style is innovative, dynamic and inspiring. Always engaging and fun, Trisha loves to make people laugh and feel relaxed in her classes. At the end of her classes students are filled with energy and excitement. Trisha ensures that class material is detailed and balanced for both partners. The result is the dance looks as authentic as it can. Trisha’s ability to communicate complex concepts and patterns clearly means students find themselves easily understanding how movements and steps should look and feel.
Trisha has natural flair, a unique touch and very distinctive style on the dance floor. Her focus is to recreate the look of the original dancers of Lindy Hop, mixed with providing students with drills, technique and musicality. An accomplished musician & experienced in Tap she helps others to understand rhythms and how to improvise within the dance. She has had formal training in Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Tap and musical theatre since the age 5.
In addition to appearing in the TV, Newspapers, Radio and Music Videos, she has been regularly invited to perform and teach workshops at major dance events all over the UK and Europe.
Nina Rüetschi (CH) &
Maayke Broeksma (NL/SWE)
Boogie
Woogie
Nina took her first Jazz Dance class at the tender age of 7. Longing for more, she later joined a teenage Street Dance performance group, until she stumbled upon Lindy Hop in 2013, and finally Boogie Woogie in 2015. Ever since, her life would be unimaginable without that bounce!
Over the years, she acquired a broad knowledge on the many facets of swing dancing which she loves to share with her students. Aside from teaching, Nina can be seen competing in Lindy Hop and Boogie Woogie throughout the continent, regularly making finals.
Maayke has been taking music classes since she was 7 years old, and later started playing the alto and baritone saxophone in orchestras. With this background, there’s no other way than loving the groovy beat of swing music!
Having started dancing Boogie Woogie in 2015, Maayke immediately began expanding her dancing into other swing dance styles. She started social dancing and taking classes all over Europe and trained in the Netherlands and Germany.
Now based in southern Sweden, she mainly dances as a follower in Collegiate Shag, Lindy Hop, and Boogie Woogie, and regularly teaches taster classes in which she focuses on the connection between dance partners as well as on musicality.
Niomi McSorley (UK/DK) &
Aï Ito (FR)
St. Louis Shag
Niomi started her Swing Dance career in Manchester, United Kingdom in 2016. She very quickly got involved with the Shag Dance Community, and started teaching locally in 2017 at Manshagster. She recently moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, to teach weekly classes with her dance partner Chott Andersen at Top Spot Cph. Her teaching style is very technical, focusing a lot on connection, footwork variations and body movement. She also likes to throw in her sense of humour to lighten the mood of the students.
Niomi has mainly been a lead throughout her swing dance life, and teaches as well as competes in international competitions as a lead.
She has travelled all over Europe to take part in Collegaite and St. Louis Shag festivals, and has made finals and/or won at several festivals, including Mind the Shag Pro-Am, Glasgow Shag Festival 2019 Adv M&M, Swing Revolution Leeds 2019, and BCN Shag Festival Salty Jitterbugs 2018.
She was part of the "St. Louis Shag Formation" at BCN Shag Festival, choreographed by Rokas Borusevicius & Simona Pogosian.
Aï is a resident shagster from Paris, France, who can be found at almost every shag festival in the world, including LA , BCN, and Warsaw Shag Festival, where she likes to perform and compete.
She has placed and made finals at many festivals, including BCN Shag Festival St. Louis Strictly 2018, Camp Hollywood M&M Shag, Herrang Shag Battle 2019, Mind the Shag, Rock that Swing, and LA Shag Festival.
Her approach to dancing is influenced by her outlook on life, which is to be happy and enjoy every moment. She brings happiness and a lot of energy to the classroom, but is very precise and encourages her students to be the same.
