Fascinating Rhythms

Join us for a jazz and rhythm filled weekend with these international teachers - Ksenia Parkhatskaya , Lennart Westerlund and our very own Sing Yuen Lim! The weekend will comprise a mix of Solo Jazz and Lindy Hop, and promises to be fun yet educational and instructional, with tracks for both Intermediate and Advance Level students. Get your pass here :https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18tGVFoBbvjYKMwJ3543MMKLDM4af4SoiLKgQPtHupHE/edit About the Artists: 1) Ksenia Parkhatskaya Graceful, eccentric, and full of character. Ksenia is one of the most interesting and versatile artists in the jazz and swing world today. Whether she is twisting crazy “cow tail” in Charleston, dancing to be-bop, swinging out in Lindy Hop or singing with orchestras, she imbues everything she does with unique style and artistry. She exploded onto the swing scene at Harlem 2011(Vilnius), in the solo jazz dance battle, and claiming many crowns since, but she has been in training as a professional ballroom dancer since 1996, as an actor, modern jazz dancer since 2005. She has a true mastery over different genres, underpinned by a singer’s understanding of musicality and an historian’s appreciation of authenticity. A true artist, she isn’t afraid to embrace controversial material, and she has been invited to perform her inimitable choreography at the most respected tap, swing and jazz events in Europe. Ksenia’s one woman dance theatre show. 2) Lennart Westerland Lennart started out dancing a Swedish form of American Jitterbug in the very early 1980s. In 1983 he came across the Lindy Hop through books and old film clips, and in May the following year he travelled to New York on the look-out for the roots of the dance form. He soon met, studied and started to spend time with old-timers including Al Minns, Frankie Manning and Norma Miller. In 1985 he co-formed the semi-professional and later on highly recognized Swedish dance company The Rhythm Hot Shots (now Harlem Hot Shots), and started to seriously study also tap and vernacular jazz dancing in general. A few years, later the company was in the forefront of the first steps of the revival of the Lindy Hop, and in 1989 they took over the complete administration of the Herräng Dance Camp, and invited legendary swing dancer Frankie Manning to visit his first major international swing dance camp. During the early 90s, Lennart established himself as an international instructor, as well as an administrator and background worker at especially the Herräng Dance Camp. In 2004 he opened Chicago swing dance studio in Stockholm, and in 2010, after 25 years, he left the professional performance aspect of the dance, now focusing more on teaching, giving lectures and perform dance demonstrations. Lennart is today still a most active dancer, instructor, lecturer, judge and administrator. He divides his time between the Herräng Dance Camp, the Chicago swing dance studio, and traveling around teaching and giving lectures. After some 35 revival and renaissance years of the Lindy Hop, Lennart is one of very few of the pioneers that are still active in the scene. His background and dedicated interest in the Harlem roots of vernacular jazz dancing has positioned him as an important link between the past and the present. 3) Sing Yuen Lim Sing found her lindy spirit when she met Ryan Francois in London in 1988. This soon developed into a serious hobby, competing and winning trophies in the US Open Swing Dance Championships and the American Lindy Hop Championships in 1992 & 1993 and running Jitterbugs London in Leicester Square every week. In 1995 Sing moved back home to Singapore and started a lindy hop scene called Jitterbugs Swingapore. Before long, several instructors including Frankie Manning, Chazz Young, Erin Stevens, Lennart Westerlund, Ewa “W” Burak, Minnies Moochers, visited to teach and perform. Since then, Sing continues to play an active role in the community, on and off the dance floor. In 2014 she was one of the organisers of Frankie 100 in NYC and in Singapore, she heads a weekly team at Timbre Substation with a live swing band and classes. A mother of 3 kids, she still travels Asia and the world to share her interest in the roots and history of Lindy hop, while finding time to compete and to coach performance groups like the Pineapple Tarts and the Swing Quarks. She teaches in Herrang Dance Camp for many years, not just for Lindy hop, but also the Teachers Track. She counts her influences as Frankie Manning, Chazz Young, Norma Miller and the pioneer dancers of the 1930s as well as the many strong amazing dancers like Angela Andrews and Tasha Barnes.