13-15 MAY2016
XANTHI - GREECE
celebating the 10 years of LINDY HOP (in) GREECE
LISA JOSEFSSON (SWE)
ALEX MARINIS (GR)
CHRISTINA LOUKAKI (GR)
LISA JOSEFSSON (SWEDEN)
Lisa Josefsson, dance teacher and performer, believes that dancing is that moment when there is nothing else in the world but your body, the music and your partner. Dancing has always been a part of Lisa’s life. After discovering her dancer spirit during three years of fulltime dancing in Mozambique she knew she wanted to share her passion and help awake the inner dancer in others. Lisa has studied vernacular jazz dances such as lindy hop, authentic jazz, tap and blues since 2006 and is today known for teaching lindy hop in Mozambique and help co-create the dance company Hodi Maputo Afro Swing. During her years in Mozambique Lisa taught and choreographed lindy hop, blues and authentic jazz, while studying Mozambican traditional dance. This was a journey of discovering the African roots of vernacular jazz dances. The incredible energy and spirit of dance in Maputo helped her conceive the concept “Afro Swing” - a continuous play and research of similarities between the body movements and rhythms of swing dances and African traditional dances. Lisa believes that becoming a dancer is not necessarily learning many different dances or steps, but to manage to embody the movements, the rhythm and completely let your self go when dancing. When teaching, Lisa enjoys creating a welcoming space where people can be themselves and see each other in class without judging or comparing. She believes that when the students leave a class they should not only feel that they have learnt something new, but leave with a smile on their face. Today Lisa is based in Stockholm where she has started the Mozambican dance troop Kuvumbana, performs with the Hot Cha Chorus Line and teaches Mozambican traditional dance, Lindy hop, Authentic Jazz and partner/solo Blues.
ALEX MARINIS (GREECE)
Alexandros Marinis has been dancing ballroom and Greek folk dances since his young years and took several seminars on the dancing field. He is the person that introduced Lindy Hop to the Greek audience in wide range. He is a founding member of Lindy Hop Greece and responsible for the spread of the dance in Greece. He started as a student of Michael Widmer and later he was trained by highly recognized teachers abroad. He is the main organizer of almost every big event of Lindy Hop Greece, like the notorious Swing ‘n’ Swim. He is dancing, choreographing and teaching in Thessaloniki , in Greece and around Europe. The Christmas of 2011 he taught with Sonia Ortega (Spain) in Athens and in September 2014 with Valerie Salstrom at Torino Swing Festival. From 2012 he start teaching internationally, first in 5 cities in Switzerland with his dance partner Loukaki Christina. After that he taught several times in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Sweden Netherlands, England.... The biggest recognition came when in the summer of 2014 he taught with Christina Loukaki at Herrang Dance Camp. He is also been occupied with personal development trainings in Greece and the Netherlands at Olde Vechte Foundation at International Synergy Network. He is a Youth Worker in Global Soma, NGO in Greece and works as a personal development trainer, life coach to groups of kids, youngsters and adults around Europe.
CHRISTINA LOUKAKI (GREECE)
Christina Loukaki was born in Creta and she is a student of English Philolgy and Literature at the Aristotle universitiy of Thessaloniki. She had her first experience with dance in the age of 4. She started with rhythmic gymnastics and a year later with Cretan fold dances that she later taught. She was a professional dancer for almost nine years. Later she danced latin ballroom dances and salsa participating in seminars abroad and Argentine Tango. In 2007 she started Lindy Hop because it was fun but later she fell completely in love with the energy and musicality of the dance. Since that time, she is a fanatic lindy hopper! Her training started as Michael Widmer´s student and later continued in seminars, classes abroad, by highly recognized teachers. She is teaching, choreographing and dances for Lindy Hop Greece in Switzerland, Italy and Sweden. The biggest regognition came when in the summer of 2014 she taught with Alex Marinis at Herrang Dance Camp. She worked with kids in Summer Camps for 3 years where she used experiential learning as a method. She is experienced with kids and youngsters.
Contra Mestre Ligeirinho
