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Lineup

Teachers

Sylvia Sykes

Sylvia Sykes began dancing in 1966, competing in 1970, and teaching in 1979. She has studied with many of the dance greats, including Frankie Manning, Dean Collins, Maxie Dorf, Willie Desatoff, and Connie Wydel. Her extensive studies and travels have made her an expert on regional dance styles and she is known for her expertise in, and the preservation of the older forms of Swing dance. In addition, she is credited with helping to preserve the Balboa by introducing the dance World Wide. Her dance troupe (with Jonathan Bixby) ran for fifteen years, performed with some of the great Swing bands, and nurtured other International teachers. She is a founding partner of ILHC, has taught at the University of California, and has appeared in many TV shows and in several documentaries on Swing dancing over the years.

Sylvia is actively judging and teaching various forms of Shag, Balboa, and Lindy Hop, throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Asia. No longer an active competitor, she has won or placed in virtually every Swing event she has entered, in a multitude of Swing forums.

Her Partner is Bobby White

Bobby White

Bobby is an international swing dance instructor with a sordid past in newspaper, magazine, and fiction writing. He has won championships of many different sorts, and teaches Balboa, Lindy hop, and individual jazz dance with multiple partners across the world, where he gives talks on both history and personal adventures in jitterbug history.

He is honored to to be the co-founder of the Harvest Moon Hoppers and founder of the Swung Furies, New York-based performance groups that hope to honor the Black American pioneers of performance Lindy hop such as the Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, Mama Lu Parks Dancers, and Harvest Moon Ball competitors from 1935 to 1989.

His Partner is Sylvia Sykes

Peter Loggins

Peter Loggins is a dance historian and a musician as well as a dancer.

Peter has done hundreds of interviews the past 20 years, with the likes of ragtime dancers in NY, Charleston Champions of the 1920’s to National Champions 30’s through the 50’s, including State Champions of Swing dance. Originally known for his research of early Jazz dance in California, and the owner of the Dean Collins’s archive and collection, this brought on other donators and research that lead to other cities regional area’s of the United states.

Spending many years helping with the Savoy Ballroom and Lindy Hop researcher and Historian Terry Monaghan. Allowed the possibility of working on projects with Frankie Manning both for the Heritage foundation, in London, as well as a national grant, for the University of Idaho, in Documenting Frankie’s Choreography.

In recent years the studies have been Nineteenth century origins of jazz, from a social approach based on Lawrence Gushee’s research, with a focus on African American influenced vernacular dance.

His Partner is Katja ZavrŠnik

Katja Završnik

Katja Završnik is a renowned professional dancer, swing dance instructor, and choreographer. With a passion for dance ignited at the age of five, Katja has dedicated her life to the art of movement. In 2010, she transitioned from a career in video and film editing to pursue dance full-time, a decision that has seen her travel the world teaching, performing, and inspiring others. Katja’s dance education spans various disciplines learned throughout her childhood in multiple dance schools. She has honed her skills by attending international workshops specializing in swing dances. Her extensive training includes acrobatic rock and roll, ballet, modern jazz, gymnastics, modern dance, and ballroom dances. Since 2005, she has focused primarily on partner and solo dances from the jazz age and swing era, mastering styles such as Lindy Hop, Balboa, Charleston, St. Louis Shag, authentic (vernacular) jazz dance, and ragtime dances.

Known for her versatility and expertise, Katja is celebrated as one of the top followers in the swing dance scene. Her deep understanding of reactivity and connection sets her apart, making her a sought-after instructor and performer. Since 2010, she has been a fixture at swing dance festivals and special events worldwide, sharing her knowledge and passion with a global audience.

In addition to her dance career, Katja is a certified pregnancy and postpartum exercise specialist, holding certifications as an IFPA (Pre and Post Natal Instructor) and FemFit Instructor. This qualification underscores her commitment to supporting women through all stages of life with tailored fitness and dance programs.Outside of dance, Katja enjoys traveling, meeting new people,exploring different cultures, and spending quality time with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. Her life is a testament to her love for dance and her dedication to enriching the lives of others through movement and connection.

Her dance partner is Peter Loggins

anna Mojle

As a little girl, Ania dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. While that dream never came true, her passion for dance continued to grow over the years. In 2014 she started dancing lindy hop and soon after began taking regular rotations’ technique classes, which proved to be a great investment in her dance development. Since 2016, she’s been dancing collegiate shag and balboa (balboa as a leader and a follower).

Ania has been teaching since 2020 and currently focuses on developing the Warsaw balboa scene. She loves attending festivals (especially in countries warmer than Poland) to find new dance inspirations and admire local architecture.

As a follower, she strives to find the best spots and moments for her stylings, while as a leader, she aims to make her partner feel as comfortable as possible.

Her partner is: Rafal Rendak

rafal Rendak

Rafał took his first charleston class quite by chance at the age of 13. He started dancing seriously 10 years later, in 2011, at the Warsaw studio SWINGOUT.PL.

Initially, he danced only lindy hop, but in 2014 he discovered a passion for collegiate shag. Over the years, his interest in St. Louis shag and blues waxed and waned, and since 2020 he has focused primarily on balboa. Currently, he devotes almost all of his free time to dancing, promoting balboa and slow bal, and developing the Warsaw dance scene.

Thanks to his teaching experience since 2016, he is able to effectively convey dancing knowledge in a friendly and fun atmosphere.

In dance, he likes to focus on the connection and understanding between partners and also on the music. In his opinion, dance should bring joy and satisfaction to both partners. When teaching, he emphasizes the basics: he believes that paying attention to the quality of movement and its technical aspect is the way to freely interpret music, communicate clearly and to free oneself from established patterns.

His partner is: Anna Mojle

Bands

GramophoniA HOT JAZZ ORCHESTRA

The Gramophonia Hot Jazz Orchestra is one of Hungary’s leading swing and jazz ensembles, founded and directed by trumpeter, arranger, and singer Tamás Bényei. With a deep passion for the music of the 1920s–1940s, the band recreates the golden age of swing and hot jazz with both authenticity and a fresh spark that makes every performance unforgettable.

Their repertoire spans the great classics of Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Fats Waller, while also bringing to light hidden gems that surprise even seasoned jazz lovers. Bényei’s charismatic leadership and vast experience in international jazz festivals add an extra shine to the band’s sound, ensuring that the music is not only historically faithful but also irresistibly alive.

Whether on a concert stage or in the middle of a crowded dance floor, Gramophonia delivers the kind of energy, drive, and elegance that makes swing dancers and jazz fans alike feel like they’ve stepped back in time to a Harlem ballroom or a Parisian jazz club. Their mission is simple: to keep this joyful, swinging tradition alive and share it with audiences everywhere.

Hot jazz band

The Hot Jazz Band is a Hungarian jazz band honored with the Kossuth Prize (the highest musical award given by the Hungarian state), primarily encompassing jazz songs from the 1920s to 1940s, both American and Hungarian, in their repertoire.

The band was founded by Tamás Bényei in 1985, and he has been its leader ever since. Their formation can be attributed to compulsory military service, specifically a talent show called „Who Knows What?” organized within the barracks.

They virtually uniquely undertook the authentic performance and release of practically forgotten Hungarian songs and film hits from the 1920s to 1940s, sometimes difficult to access, within the country. The Hot Jazz Band dedicated multiple albums to the authentic presentation of these songs, aiming for perfect sound quality and period accuracy, thereby reintroducing them to public consciousness. For authentic interpretation, Tamás Bényei developed a unique singing style reminiscent of what can be heard only on old Hungarian gramophone records.

The Hot Jazz Band is rightfully famous among European swing dancers, and we can’t wait to party together to their wonderful music.

Canarro

About Canarro’s music:
The style of Django Reinhardt,
the manouche swing, spiced with traditional Hungarian musical elements, recalling the atmosphere of live gypsy and jazz music in old-fashioned Budapest cafés, with a hint of Paris.

STEVEN AND HIS HUNGARIAN FRIENDS

Steven Coombe

International band leader and Swing Dancer Steven Coombe is based in London, UK. Since starting Lindy Hop in 2009, Steve has led bands and danced all over the world playing for Lindy Hop festivals and competition weekends. His knowledge of musicality is unparalleled and has taught classes and workshops at hundreds of events.

After deciding to start competing last year, his recent competition wins include Dragon Swing, Korean Lindy Hop Championships, Lindylicious and Lindy Szau Birthday Jam. He is now booked all over the world applying his experience and knowledge in his work as a Lindy Hop teacher, band leader, MC and DJ.

Djs

Dj Tony

Tony’s first introduction to Swing dancing was back in 2004 by his sister, also a Swing dancer. Even though it took him another ten years to fully enter the Swing dancing world, since 2014 Tony has been catching up on all that he missed, and is now one of the core dancers in the Prague Lindy Hop community. Tony regularly DJs weekly dances and festivals in Prague and internationally, with a rich mix of tunes from the classic Swing era to post-war and groovy R&B. He believes that the most important thing for a DJ is to inspire dancers through the music and to keep the constant flow on the dance floor.

Krisztina

Kriszta’s love affair with swing dance and swing music started in 2014. She was a residential DJ in Budapest, and now in Vienna, and appeared at a couple of international festivals too. In the last almost decade she was traveling around Europe and got influenced by the teachers and DJs all over her journey. What made her turn to be a DJ? She has always been fond of music… the rhythm, the feelings and the very message it carries. It was always crucial to her to spread the love of the music and musicality even in her dance classes as a teacher. She has started early to dig into the different eras of jazz. Beside fizzy big band songs and classics she likes to play records from the modern jazz era as well as tunes of original records of the jazz masters. She always loves to bring something surprising and new.For Krisztina the danceroom is a playground, the music is the toy to play with and the DJ is the gamemaster. Krisztina’s greatest joy is to see the dancers get enchanted by the music she plays.

Dj Thom

Thom first discovered swing in 2005, and balboa in 2007. He started swing dance schools in Edinburgh (in 2008) and Newcastle (in 2012), before moving to Budapest in 2017. He is most happy dancing socially to great music, and his attitude to DJing is to not try to be too clever: just play what feels great to dance to.

Ákos

Ákos is a well-known figure of the Budapest swing scene, both as a dancer, teacher, and DJ. With more than two decades of experience, he brings both musical knowledge and a dancer’s perspective to his sets. His deep love for Balboa and swing-era music shines through in every selection, keeping the dance floor buzzing with rhythm, elegance, and energy. A regular presence at international swing dance events, Ákos is known for creating a flow that inspires and excites dancers everywhere.