TRISHA SEWELL

Trisha is from Hertfordshire UK, and has been on the international scene since 2003. It is said that she is one of the most influential teachers within the UK Lindy Hop community. Her experience and tenacity has helped her to push the boundaries in everything that she does and she doesn’t give up until its right!.  It is said that her teaching style is innovative, dynamic, inspiring, engaging and fun. She loves to make people laugh and feel relaxed in her class. At the end of her classes students are said to have been filled with energy, excitement with the added bonus of being given the permission to express themselves to their full potential on the dance floor and be themselves. Her speciality is ensuring that class material is balanced for followers and she has an eye for detail to see and understand what needs to be done to make things work better and for the dance to look as authentic as it can. She communicates clearly and makes the most complex of ideas and patterns simple so that students really understand how it should look and feel.

Trisha has a natural flair, unique touch and very distinctive style on the dance floor. Her focus is to recreate the look of the original dancers of the Lindy Hop , mixed with providing followers with drills, technique as well as musicality. Her experience of Tap and as an accomplished musician she helps others to understand Rhythms and how to improvise within the dance. She has had formal training in Ballet, contemporary Jazz, Tap and musical theatre since the age of 5 years old. She has 12 years experience in Lindy Hop, Authentic Jazz, Blues, 20's Charleston Black Bottom, Balboa.  She has spearheaded the revival of authentic Jazz within the UK, she has trained some of the UKs newest teachers and has been the artistic director for leading performance troupes . She has also choreographed and danced in a Swing show at the world famous Royal Albert Hall in London.

Trisha has a very positive and forward thinking approach to life. Her wide experiences enables her to achieve anything despite the challenges that are set ahead of her. She is flexible and can put her hands to anything that she is asked to do, to the best of her ability. She loves to play and listen to early Jazz and swing music and has an extensive music collection ready to DJ if required.

In addition to appearing in the TV, Newspapers, Radio and Music Videos, she has been regularly invited to perform and teach workshops at major dance events all over the UK and Europe, including Sweden, France, Spain, Germany, Scotland, Greece, Wales, Norway, Turkey, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Netherlands, Israel, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, and more.

BIC AND SIMONE
We are thrilled to have these two Joining us again this year for JATW.

From age of 2 and a half and 18 Simone took classes in tap, ballet, jazz and modern dance and performed in many professional shows at various venues, including the Kings Theatre in Portsmouth, Southsea.

When she met Bic on a crowded dance floor and they found a common passion for Lindy Hop which has taken them to many places such as New York, China, Sweden, Barcelona and Bali to experience the various local scenes and the top teachers around the world.

Simone was invited to join Jenny Thomas’ girls troupe the ‘Sophisticated Ladies’ who perform at many dance events throughout the year including Camp Savoy, Rock Bottoms and SugarPush.

Bic has worked in the theatre and dance industry for nearly 25 years. In recent years, when not lindy hopping, he works for English Youth Ballet as a technical manager and at Christmas produces pantomimes all over the country including the highly successful Panto at the Kings Theatre Southsea.

As with many swing dancers in the UK, Bic’s first introduction to partner dancing was Modern Jive, which he did for over 6 years, demonstrating, helping organise events, DJing and occasionally teaching for several organisations on the south coast.

As well as dancing and teaching this weekend, Bic will be adding some sweet tunes to the occasion by DJing. He has Dj'd at swing events and is in demand at many UK dances and camps, as well as international camps - including a lindy camp in Bali!

They are hot on the competition scene and have won many accolades, the most recent being the London Swing Festival where they came first in the Strictly Lindy competition. Before that they competed at Xpress your Swing in Montpellier, France, winning first place in a Swing Out competition. Earlier in the year at DJAM in Durham. Simone also took 1st place in the ‘Jack and Jill’ and the ‘Solo’, as well as the ‘Strictly Lindy’ with Bic. Previous to that in October 2011 in Liverpool, she took 1st place in the ‘Jack and Jill’ for the second year running, along with 1st place in the ‘Open’ competition with Bic.

JIM AND NICKY
Locals from Gloucestershire these two have a huge reputation for great teaching and clear ideas about how to dance fabulously. With a great sense of humour and billions of steps at their command you can guarantee that you will learn an immense amount from them in any workshop they teach. They also specialise in Shag which is their passion and certainly are one of the best in the UK when it comes to dancing and teaching this fabulous Dance.

Nicky started swing dancing 20 years ago, and since then she has taught dance all over Gloucestershire to both adults and children in numerous schools and colleges. She is a qualified Gloucestershire dance leader.

Jim is a protégé of the great "Big Ron" Leslie and he has a natural ability to feel the soul of the music. One top UK Swing DJ recently stated he is "One of our favourite sons". He loves swing music and dance, and he is forever scouring the charity shops for obscure vinyl, chasing the next "Tune".

They have been teaching Jive, Lindy Hop and Shag together for 10 years. and have taught at various schools, colleges, dance societies and at huge events like Twinwood. Their own personal style has been described as "smooooth" across the range of dances. They love to teach, and their enthusiasm and humour allow them to reach people of all ages.

HOC AND MARK
After first discovering Lindy in the early nineties, Hoc & Mark had a brief affair (to Gold Standard) with Jive before finally immersing themselves in all things Lindy. After repeated requests from friends to teach them the ‘flash’ new moves they had learnt at lessons in London, they found themselves teaching and running regular events, bringing Lindyhop to East Anglia.

Cambs & Beds Lindyhop Experience (C&BLE), founded by Hoc & Mark in 1996,  has always had one foot in the past with an eye on how to take Lindy into the future, whilst not compromising the originality of the dance.  They promote other dances from the 1920s/30s and 40s, including  Balboa, Charleston, Collegiate Shag, Big Apple; to name a few.  They have also researched a number of Novelty dances from the late 1930s and are re-introducing them to the dance floor along with vintage Ballroom dances, such as Social Foxtrot. 

Teaching locally they still manage to find time to support vintage events across the country; from Twinwoods Festival since its inception eleven years ago to Wayne Hemingway’s ‘Vintage’ Festivals, and especially the many living history events across the country where a ‘period’ look is required.

Recently they have single handedly brought back to life some of the old traditional ballroom dances that would have been around when swing was king and apart from being great fun and dead simple to learn they inform the dances that we so love today because they were part of the melting pot of the swing era. You can expect a massive breadth of fun and informative workshops from them to keep you on your toes!

IZZY & GER
Izzy has had a love of dancing since she was a kid becoming West of Scotland Highland Dancing Champion at the age of 27 among her many achievements. She is also a qualified Instructor of both dance and exercise in many capacities. Like many she started with Modern Jive in Glasgow and training to become a dance teacher. After moving to Gloucestershire she then took her first triple steps to Lindy Hop with Jazz Jive Swing. A regular at the original Jumping at the Woodside she has had the privilege of being taught by some of the best teachers in the world including Frankie Manning. When not teaching she loves to dance socially.  Ger, Ross Jive and Swings very own encyclopedia of all moves, Ger prides himself on never teaching anything that hasn't been tried and tested on the social dance floor. Ger teaches regular weekly classes in the Wye Valley in Herefordshire with Izzy and is a regular face out and about on the British swing scene attending many National and International Lindy Hop Events. When not dancing his socks off he can be found climbing rock faces or cycling down them.

JAMES AND BRIDGET
Organising and running this fabulous event are two of Englands great treasures in swing dance. They were here at the beginning of the swing dance revival and they have taught all over the world and bring an exceptional talent and experience to thier teaching. Having taught oodles of people to dance and have top notch fun while they are doing it. They will be running out some delicious steps, shapes and variations for you to try your feet on! Fun, informative, intelligent and highly acclaimed their classes will leave you feeling fabulous and wanting more. It's not just the steps it's the joy as well. We could rap on for pages about their many acheivments but really it's just a case of buy a ticket and come on down and swing out with this pair who are one of the UK's best international teachers.

ANGELA ANDREW
Back again the fabulous Angela will bring her very special self to come and amuse enchant and educate you.

Angela Andrew is a performer, teacher and choreographer.  She was born and raised in Hackney, in London’s East End, and has a background in music and dance.   She is a self-taught dancer, hailing from the first generation of lockers, poppers and break-dancers. Her love of jazz music led her to search for the roots of street-dance. She discovered Lindy Hop in 1991 at the famous London Club 'Jitterbugs'.

Angela is one of the most exciting personalities in the international Lindy Hop scene and is renowned for her explosive energy and improvisational skills on the dance floor.   She has worked with many of the great masters of Swing dance, including Frankie Manning, who ranked her as one of the top 5 female dancers in the world: an amazing accolade from an equally amazing person. Another string to her bow is The Cotton Clubbers Dance Company, of which she was the artistic director and co-founder. To promote lindy-hop and other vernacular dance forms, she focused her activities in the East End, organising classes, workshops and events in schools and community centres. In addition, she is a huge influence on the London and UK Lindy-Hop scene.   She is responsible for the training and support of the new generation of UK Lindy Hop teachers and performers.

As an ambassador, Angela spreads her good vibe, groove and spirit wherever she goes.   In 1995, she was the honorary guest at the first Swing Dance Festival in France organised by The French Swing Dance Society.   Since then, she has been closely linked with the French jazz music and swing scene. She is the Artistic Director for Rhythm Tap N' Swing Dance Association www.rhythmtapnswing.com Recently, Angela has enjoyed maturing her talents as a singer and dancer.  She is the chanteuse for the Eric Ronga Septet, the Musical Director and Founder for MLA Gospel Choir and she has built strong links between the Jazz/Swing and Hip-Hop communities in her new hometown of Lyon.  All making for a joyous return to her musical and “on da streetz” dance roots. Influenced by the style of the “Old School” she incarnates today and is keen to retain the true spirit of lindy-hop: taking pleasure with a dash of humour.  Teacher, Performer, Ambassador, Youth & Community Worker, Choreographer, Director… her joie de vivre is contagious!!!?

Here are some of her accomplishments
·      Writer and choreographer  - "Take the A Train" Musical to celebrate Frankie Manning’s 90th Birthday produced by JazzJiveSwing.
·      Producer – Honey Pot Dance Battle, the first organized Lindy-Hop Battle in Europe
·      Actress - Stompin’ on the Blues, Hamburg, Germany
·      Teacher/Co-ordinator – Black History Month Dance Program in Hackney Schools
·      Founder – “The Ladies Xchange” for Women in Swing

PAUL AND CHRISTINE

Paul has been partnered dancing for almost 20 years, commenced his Lindy Hop journey in the late 90’s and has been teaching it for well over 10 years. He has been continuously taught and gained inspiration for his dancing from international and veteran teachers for the last 13 years and sees improving his dancing and teaching as a life long voyage of discovery.

He has been imparting his experience to 3 regular classes every week as well as running the Dance marquee at the famous Twinwood Festival for the last 5 years and choreographing and performing his original routines at the festival since it’s debut in 2002.

Paul continues to teach all over the UK in Lindy Hop, shag, Peabody, jazz routines as well as specialist workshops in lead/follow, connection etc, Dips ‘n’ Tricks and more, but his heart lies predominantly in Lindy & Shag. While teaching technical elements of the dances, his focus is on encouraging students to have fun and to quote an international teacher: “if you don’t go wrong on a social dance floor, then you are not trying hard enough”.

Paul’s always tries to encourage dancers to attend as many sources of social dancing as possible at such events as JATW, swing dance events all over the UK and abroad as well as so many 1930/40’s events now available, and is proud to have created a group of dancers that do exactly that stemming from his own classes.

Christine started learning Swing-Jive in 2009, then quickly moved to demonstrating and then teaching the dance before getting hooked on lindyhop. She started learning with a variety of teachers in the Hampshire and Surrey area as well as going to numerous dance camps and workshops around the UK before moving back to Bedfordshire in 2011 and finding the Rug-Cutters team.

Paul saw her potential straight away and asked her to be part of the team co-teaching every week as well as joining the team performing at many forties and corporate events as well as at Twinwood last year.

Of course we are chatting with other great teachers to make your event brilliant and you will find them here pretty soon......

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