Corner Pockets is a newly-formed jazz band based in Athens, Greece. Although they have only been performing for less than six months, the band has already shone with its unique sound and style, and its love for the swing era jazz dance, and music! Don’t miss Niki Perdikaki on vocals, Orestis Petrakis on the piano, Gabriele Milozzi on alto saxophone, George Koutsikoulis on guitar, Grigoris Theodoridis on bass, and Dimitris Kontos on the drums.
Erol hails from Turkey and is driven by jazz music, specifically by the bop era. Coming from a musical background at a young age, he has been in constant search and sharing of rare jazz recordings for the past few years. Known by his selection of groovy songs, he will be in ARH to make you dance to your heart’s content.
After starting her Lindy Hop journey in 2015 and loving to train and perform, Foteini – aka Dj Boogie Fo – started Djing as another outlet to express her love for Jazz. For the past two years she has been one of the main Djs of the Athens Authentic Jazz Dance project and she is now emerging into the local scene. From her you can expect a versatile set combining the works of great saxophonists with early Boogie and early Rhythm and Blues tunes.
Amélie (London, UK) began her DJing journey a few years ago in a little bar in Kraków. She was organising a weekly swing party and accidentally became the main DJ. This quickly turned into a fun playground for her to explore, learn more about jazz and share her favorite tunes. And little did she know that this casual event would lead her to deejay at festivals around Europe! She has since enjoyed playing her old gems and lots of Duke Ellington in countries such as Lithuania, Germany and Sweden.
Soul Peanuts is a greek band known for its breezy and swinging playing style since 2018! Their sound alternates between Boogaloo, 60s RnB and jazz-funk-soul rearrangements of classic big bands.
Get ready to let your feet loose on the dance floor by their explosive music!
Natasha Martin uses dance to approach music as groove, rhythms and pulse. She performs and teaches body music and tap dance and has done many collaborations with groups of musicians, theater plays and many other forms of art performances.
Sakarias “The Champ” Larsson was born and raised in Frufällan, on the west side of Sweden. He watched jitterbug contests as a kid and there were some things with the music and the aesthetics of the dance that spoke to him and he decided to learn. One thing led to another and already at sixteen he started practice with The Rhythm Hot Shots (now called The Hot Shots). That was 20 years ago and he’s been with the group ever since.
The amount of hours he’s spent in the rehearsal studio is probably beyond sane. The recent past years he’s focused on sharing what he knows with the younger generation of Hot Shots. He finds motivation from his friends in the group, they keep him young.
Sakarias is on a never ending world tour in the name of lindy hop with probably 1000s of shows, teaching gigs and competitions. Apollo Theatre, Frankie 95 and 100, Basie Centennial, Last Bounce, Jazz Jam, ULHC, several tours in USA, Asia, Australia and Europe (only to name a few). He made it to the finals in Sweden’s Got Talent and out of 100s of dancers he was casted among the top 20 to enter the reality tv dance show Floor Filler. He’s also one of the founders of Chicago swing dance studio, one of the more famous lindy hop and jazz venues in Stockholm today.
LaTasha “Tasha” Barnes is an internationally recognized and awarded dancer, educator, coach, Tradition-bearer and cultural ambassador. Based in New York, Barnes is globally celebrated for her musicality, athleticism, and joyful presence throughout the cultural traditions she bears: House, Hip-Hop, Waacking, Vernacular Jazz, and Lindy Hop.
Her expansive artistic, competitive and performative skills have made her a frequent collaborator to Dorrance Dance, Singapore based Timbre Arts Group, Ephrat Asherie Dance as well as many international Jazz/Lindy Hop and Urban Arts festivals like the International Lindy Hop Championships (ILHC), Summer Dance Forever, and Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival.
Expanding the scope of impact for her communities, Barnes recently earned her self-designed Master’s in Ethnochoreology, Black Studies and Performance Studies thru New York University Gallatin School (2019). Her thesis and continuing research are working to bridge the gap between communities of practice and academic cultural dance research, performance, preservation and pedagogy.
In concert with these efforts she is honored to be a part of the creative team developing the ground-breaking stage production Swing Out, bringing the passion and power of Lindy Hop and it’s community to the concert stage. Accolades and goals aside, Barnes’ forever purpose is to inspire fellow artists and arts enthusiasts to cultivate an authentic sense of self in their creative expressions and daily lives.
Bianca and Nils started dancing when they were kids. They have performed and competed with other partners in their home countries (Italy and Sweden) in different dances like ballet, lindy hop swing, latin dances, hip hop, ballroom and the Swedish bugg. Both Bianca and Nils got stuck in swing dancing and music, their biggest passion at a very young age. Their paths crossed when Bianca moved to Sweden at the age of sixteen and that’s when they started performing and competing together.
Their teaching career started short after that. Nowadays they travel globally for teaching workshops at festivals, performing and competing. They love to teach what they believe in all around the world. It gives them inspiration, happiness and satisfaction. Bianca and Nils like to bring their love for the dance through energy and enthusiasm on stage. Bianca and Nils are members of the Swedish national team in Boogie Woogie and Lindy Hop and together they won several Swedish competitions including the Swedish championships. Even abroad they hold titles at the International Lindy Hop Championship (ILHC), Camp Hollywood, European Swing Dance championship, several Boogie Woogie international competitions.
They love swing dancing because it brings people together and spreads joy between them, but also because it has a technical and “nerdy” side. The dance challenges them in keeping practicing, creating and expressing. Bianca and Nils’ goal is to help you become the best dancer you can be if you are a student and to be entertained if you are a spectator at one of their shows.
Helena Kanini Kiiru is a young dancer and teacher based in Zagreb, Croatia. She started off as a hip hop dancer at the age of 10, and after 8 years of practicing various street styles, she fell in love with lindy hop.
Very quickly she found passion for solo jazz, especially the raw style of authentic jazz pioneers. Her talent was recognized at JazzRoots 2018 where she won both solo and showcase competitions. She stood out due to her unique style, charisma and authenticity. She was teaching at some of the biggest festivals such as Jazz Roots, The Snowball and Herrang dance camp. Now she continues to travel internationally and enjoys spreading her love for solo jazz with her students.
The Jeepers Creepers band is a group of musicians from Athens(Greece) that specialises in playing the really beautiful popular or more rare tunes of the 1920’s, 1930’s, 1940’s and also original melodies inspired mostly by the jazz idiom. The band was named after the popular Harry Warren’s tune that became widely known by Louis Armstrong. Their dedication to the swing-jazz idiom leaves the listeners with no choice but to dance and party all night long! They won the Swinging Europe Contest for 2021. They have given a lot of concerts in Athens and other cities of Greece, in New York and in Holland and they have participated in many festivals like the Swing n’ Sail festival,Kardamili International jazz festival, Carnival of Swing,Festival International de Hot Jazz Mexico, the Petit Paris d’ Athenes etc.
Spanish National Television has referred to this Boston born Jazz Show woman as “One of the most versatile artists on the Spanish scene.” T.J. Jazz has worked as a vocalist, dancer and instructor with a broad range of artists, delighting audiences of Jazz clubs, festivals and events throughout Spain, Europe and the U.S.
T.J. Jazz is also the founding director of the MAD TAP FEST: The Tap dance festival of Madrid & the MAD TAP JAMS, events that laid the early groundwork for Madrid’s tap dance community. It is through these events that she has had the privilege of presenting many talented artists and performances to audiences. She is excited to bring that experience to Athens Rhythm Hop this weekend and hopefully bring just a little more joy to the happiest people in the world.
Sammy Gian is a Kenyan dance instructor and choreographer with a strong background and experience in teaching and in facilitating performances. His formal education started in one of the biggest institutes of performing arts training in South Africa the MID (Moving into Dance Mophatong), but his professional experience as an artistic director and choreographer, performer, and teacher runs over 10 years in various African and European countries. In 2012 he was one of the main choreographers and instructors in an academic program at the University of Maputo, in Mozambique. Since then, he has participated in various festivals around the world and he creates his own productions. His dance identity has different dynamics based on the contemporary dance techniques of Martha Graham and Lester Horton mixed with African and acrobatic elements. Nevertheless, his dance styles continue to a big variety of hip hop, house, modern, urban jazz, and afro-fusion. Since 2016, he has lived in Athens, Greece, where he teaches afro-fusion on a weekly basis at the Professional Dance School, Aktina, as well as in dance studios such as DANCCE and Dancevacuum. He also coordinates seminars with different themes in different dance schools. Since July 2017, he has formed the Twende Dance Project, a modern dance center and meeting point for professional and amateur dancers, and a roof for his dance company. in 2018 and 2019 participates in the Thessaloniki Swing Festival as an African Dance teacher and as a performer and co-organizes the African-American Jazz Dance Project, where he studies African roots in jazz dances. To this day he continues to teach children and adults.
Bantu Dancers is a dance group of young people born and raised in Greece but with origins from Africa. For over 6 years, in collaboration with the Anasa Cultural Center of African Art and Cultures, we have been researching on West African dances, learning about dance traditions from all over West Africa and incorporating all that with the everyday life and experiences we face living as part of the African community in Greece. The group combines modern African movements with traditional movements, dancing to contemporary but also traditional rhythms with live drumming. Bantu Dancers have participated in various festivals all over the world.
Calling himself a hepcat who admires the ‘bop style’ of music and dance. His understanding shifted over the years, towards trying and respecting the culture and history. Researching into bebop/bop dancing for the past times, in his community, he tries to re-shape the approach towards jazz dancing and he is also a member of the T-Bop team. He shares his free perspective about technique and style, focusing on one’s character and groove.
Alex and Ioanna are an enthusiastic blues dance couple! They love to share their personal style of Blues dancing through teaching, adore choreographing captivating performances and cherish loooong nights of social dancing!
They are both highly trained dancers; Ioanna has been dancing since she was a child and Alex has been doing Swing dances for more than 12 years!
Since 2017 they have been focusing mainly on Blues, traveling around Europe deepening their understanding of the Blues dance and its culture as well as continuously developing their dancing and teaching skills!
Thanos is a leading figure of tap dance and body music in Greece, while sharing and performing around the globe. Mentored by Heather Cornell and Max Pollak, his work focuses on the music delivered from the body sounds and percussive movement, fusing and expanding to various musical styles from jazz & funk, afro & latin, to his eastern and Balkan roots.
Today Thanos was until recently a cast member of the dance and music group Cambuyon from Spain, premiered with them this February 2015 at the New Victory Theater in New York (Broadway) and is part of the international show “Body Music: see music, hear dance” under the direction of Keith Terry and Jep Melendez.
He is actively involved in the Athens Jazz scene and his collaborations include top greek jazz artists, the Coolspiritrio and his own leading projects Tapmotif Sextet and Acoustic Movement. He teaches regularly in the artistic space “Playground for the arts”, which is a faculty member of the “Orff Institute in Athens”. He is also constantly teaching to communities abroad, sharing tradition, concepts and his approaches in countries like USA, Canada, Spain, France, Switzerland, UK, Finland and more.
Marie has been dancing almost as long as she has been walking, training mostly in modern Jazz. She fell in love with Lindy Hop and other African American Vernacular Jazz dances in 2006.
A true scientist (She obtained her PhD in Neuroimmunology from Karolinska Institute, Stockholm Sweden in 2018), Marie loves history and facts. She has been applying her scientific method and dance education to conduct an embodied practice-based research of Jazz dance through the study of original video clips and collaborations with many established dancers. She has also researched the cultural and social context of the Jazz dance era through literature study and interviews of artists. Her main focus is on the African American Jazz Women and Chorines (chorus girls) of the time.
Marie worked and danced with the fantastic teachers of the Cat’s Corner Studio in Montreal, Canada and Chicago Swing Dance Studio in Stockholm, Sweden. She also teaches internationally, in France, Spain, England, Australia, Russia, USA, China… as well as at the world famous Herräng Dance Camp
Currently, Marie is a board member of the newly founded Black Lindy Hoppers Fund (an organization dedicated to support African and African diasporic dancers and artists in Lindy Hop and Jazz). She is also leading a new non-profit organization, Collective Voices for Change.
Born in 2015 out of the collaboration between the arranger Mathieu Najean and the dancer Sep Vermeersh, Reverent Juke has its roots in the golden era of swing.
With an explosive rhythm section built on the swinging drums of Tom Lambrecht, the bouncing bass and singing of Andrew Bolton and the wild stride of Julien Gillain, Reverent Juke sets the swing on fire with its three blowers, Martin Bolton on clarinet, Olivier Faber on trumpet and Mathieu Najean on reeds, blowing their horns on the fiery flames till they drop.
Frida is one of the more active swing DJ’s in Stockholm and a popular house DJ at their renowned Chicago Swing Dance Studio, where she’s involved in many ways; as a teacher, club organizer and member of the Harlem Hot Shots. She began DJ:ing in 2010 and besides keeping her hometown swinging, she’s been playing regularly at Herräng Dance Camp, as well as various swing festivals around Europe. Frida discovered jazz in her early teens and it was the music that brought her into swing dancing—a passion that definitely has given color and range to her library and choice of tunes. Most of all she loves a good solid swing, but she’s not afraid to step out of the box when the mood is right; big-headed Bebop, hot tempered Rhythm ’n’ Blues, Cuban Mambo and low down dirty Blues are all genres close to her heart.”
(photo: Manne Wahlström)
Thanks to his parents, Smiltys had been familiar with jazz music since the day he was born! At the age of just 4 years old, he started acting in theatre, several years later playing saxophone and dancing contemporary dance became his hobbies as well. After graduating, Smiltys found outabout Swing dances and since then, there was no turning back! Many classes, various competitions and international festivals later, he discovered that dynamics between the thrill of the competitions and the chill of the social dancing, is what motivates him to dance. Known for his technique, variety of uncommon move combinations and attention to the connection, Smiltys tries to inspire and enrich his students with the history, musicality and small details that matters the most!
Since Martyna was a child she was full of energy and her parents knew it shouldn’t be wasted without a purpose. At the age of 6 Martyna joined rhythmic gymnasticclasses, but after 8 determined years she felt she hadn’t found herself yet. With an encouragement from her sister Martyna decided to try Lindy Hop. After her first lesson she couldn’t stop dancing! With a huge smile on her face Martyna continued and since then she had won several Lindy Hop and Jazz competitions, performed at different scenes for amazing audiences and created a few noticeable routines. Martyna states, “Now I fully enjoy teaching Lindy Hop and can easily say –I just can’t imagine my life without the Dance.”
DJ Jonas plays a lot in the Gothenburg scene, in Herräng and in swing events around Europe. He aims to play music that makes you happy, include swing both from the 30s, 40s and 50s and firmly believes there can never be too much Basie, Ellington and Hodges in a DJ set!
Elin fully embraced a dancing lifestyle when she came to Herräng the first time in 2010. Since then she has spent aaaall her summers in Herräng – living life, performing as a part of the HDC Chorus Line for the last 7 or 8 years (she lost count long ago!) and working in the legendary Midnight Ramble. The lively jazz scene of Stockholm taught her well, and nowadays Elin works with dancing in many different ways. Her expertise ranges from solo to lindy, coaching show groups and kids, performing everything from numbers to full length shows for young and old audiences, and occasionally competing around the globe. She teaches regularly both at Chicago Swing Dance Studio and internationally. She is looking forward to finally be back in the Athenian sun!
Gustav is a Stockholm and Uppsala based dancer, he teaches regularly at Chicago Swing Dance Studio and Swedish Swing Society in Stockholm. He has been teaching and performing Lindy hop, around Sweden and Europe, for last ten years. He is a member of the show group MessAround from Uppsala. Together they have performed in Sweden’s biggest TV production, Melodifestivalen, and at events such as Herräng, Snowball. Besides MessAround he has been part of theater productions in Uppsala and Stockholm. His dancing and teaching origins from his love of swing music and the aesthetics of the 30s and 40s. You can hear him play trombone with the swing band Hornsgatan Ramblers.