Joris Focquaert comes from Ghent, Belgium. He discovered the Lindy Hop in Copenhagen when he was studying at the Commedia School for mime & physical theatre. A background in the art of clowning, he takes his unique expressivity to his social dances & performances, forming his attitude towards the dance.

In class, Joris tries to share his best of ideas. He is one of the starting gures of swing dance school 'Crazy Legs' (Ghent) & vernacular Jazz dance troupe 'the Dipsy Doodles'.

Today he is a busy working dancer in Belgium & abroad, next to studying the Jazz trombone.

Photo: Photo use with kind permission of Joris Focquaert

Photo: photo use with kind permission of Yana Sanamyantz

Yana Sanamyantz is an active swing dancer, performer, teacher and DJ. She was surrounded by jazz since childhood, while dancing came much later. After the first lindy hop lesson, she fell in love with the swing scene and started devoting all her time to music and dancing. Raised with love in Moscow Swing Dance Society she shortly became a teacher there and in a few years started to travel for sharing and finding knowledge. In class, Yana is conveying joy, respect and love for the dance with her students.

Frida has been dancing since her early childhood. Her very first dance interest was Swedish folk dances and Swedish Bugg and later moved on to Boogie Woogie. She also attended a three year dance dance high school focusing on modern and contemporary jazz dance and ballet. Training and competing brought her to Herräng Dance Camp where she was exposed to Lindy hop on the social dance floor for the first time and she fell head over heels in love with the music and the dance, finding a freedom of expression she had never felt before. From that point she was hooked and has never looked back. She joined the performance group The Rhythm Hot Shots, now known as The Hot Shots, a celebration of Harlem rhythms, for 15 years.

There she got the possibility to work hard, learning and performing a broad spectrum of the African American dances she loves such as Lindy Hop, solo jazz, charleston and tap. She feels incredibly happy and humble that she has had the opportunity to travel the world performing, teaching, competing and sharing her passion for this artform for the last 20 years.

Photo: photo use with kind permission of Tamara Pinco

Photo: photo use with kind permission of Tamara Pinco

Skye was first persuaded to dance Lindy Hop by his mother in 1996, but quickly discovered his own love of social dancing, swing music and the Lindy Hop community. This led him to a wider interest in dance and he took classes in ballet, modern, and Jazz. Since 1999 he has taught wherever Lindy Hop is done- from national weekends to international dance camps. He is a founding member of some the most influential modern Lindy Hop troupes- including Minnie’s Moochers, Mad Dog, and the Silver Shadows. Skye has also won titles at all of the major Lindy Hop competitions- including ULHS, ILHC, ALHC and the World Lindy Hop Championships. His involvement with Lindy Hop sparked his wider interest in America’s history and cultural heritage- leading him to pursue American Studies at The George Washington University where he received his master’s degree in 2007.

Photo: photo use with kind permission of Yana Sanamyantz

Photo Credit: Louisa Galow