Dancing in all forms has been a lifelong passion for Irina (she/her). In 2009, at the age of 15, she stumbled upon Swing dancing and it took only one night of social dancing for her to fall head over heels in love with it. Though Lindy Hop was her gateway into the world of Swing, Irina’s passion quickly expanded to include Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and solo jazz. She is proud to have spent her formative years of dancing in Southern California, home to some of the best Swing dancers, teachers, and music in the world.
Irina has since received numerous accolades from events such as Camp Hollywood, The International Lindy Hop Championships, and Lindy Focus and has taught these dances all across the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Australia. Additionally, she is honored to have been inducted into the Camp Hollywood Hall of Fame in 2019 and the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame in 2022.
Irina’s teaching style can best be described as patient and encouraging. Her goal is to guide her students through building solid foundations while inspiring individuality in personal movement, as well as helping build confidence through dance.
Her Partner is Jacob Wigger
Jacob started swing dancing in 2003 and has been hooked ever since.
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 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
Both travel for swing dance festivals around Europe, but you can meet them most of the time in different roles – Pavli as a lindy hop teacher, David as a photographer. A few years ago they found the same passion. Balboa.
Pavli is a swing and blues music geek and lover. She loves to play with the rhythms and also with topics like feminism, diversity or body positivity encouraging follows to explore different ways how to influence the dance.
David is usually inconspicuous behind the camera but when the party passes into the morning, he’s enjoying every song as a dancer. He fondness for keeping flow with minimum puls (but he still has it!), being gentlemanly and supporting a safe space.
They are trying to break stereotypes with their dance, bringing up follow power and highlighting communication in the couple.
David is usually inconspicuous behind the camera but when the party passes into the morning, he’s enjoying every song as a dancer. He fondness for keeping flow with minimum puls (but he still has it!), being gentlemanly and supporting a safe space.
They are trying to break stereotypes with their dance, bringing up follow power and highlighting communication in the couple.
Nóra’s dance journey began at 6 with Hungarian folk dance. She spent 15 years as a member of various folk dance groups until she discovered swing dances in 2010. By 2013, she was teaching Lindy Hop and Balboa in Budapest. Over the last decade, Nora has danced her way across Europe, learning, teaching, and performing. Since moving to Ljubljana in 2021, she’s been loving the beautiful panorama and vibrant swing dance scene of Slovenia.
Her partner is Jure Rus
Jure’s been swing dancing since 2011 and sharing his moves as a teacher since 2016 in Slovenia. He’s a regular at international festivals across Europe. He also explores new dance horizons with contemporary dance and jazz ballet. Jure loves mixing up different styles in his teaching, and he’s a firm believer that practice makes perfect. Alongside Lindy Hop and Balboa, he’s got a soft spot for solo jazz, tap, and blues.
His partner is Nóra Ágoston
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
Four jazz-crazy men to the core and a voice that will give you goosebumps the moment it sounds. ArpiShow is more than just a jazz band—it’s a lifestyle we want to share with everyone. Since 2017, the five of us have been promoting classic Hungarian swing music under the name ArpiShow. At our concerts, we play our favorite songs in unique arrangements, aiming to shape the swing & jazz vibe in our own way, filling the hearts of our audience. We don’t just entertain, we represent an era.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
