Eiki Gudmundsson

Eirikur Gudmundsson – kurz Eiki genannt – hat sich den Weg von Island in die Herzen der Follower auf dem europäischen Festland getanzt. Hier trainiert und unterrichtet er zusammen mit Ali & Katja in Heidelberg und hat nur 3 Monate nach seiner Ankunft sofort Erfolge bei den Wettbewerben der internationalen Workshops zu sammeln begonnen: 1. Platz Jack and Jill bei “Smokey Feet 2011″ in Amsterdam , 1. Platz Jack and Jill bei “BerliNinjammerz 2011″ in Berlin…

Als Gewinner der Jack&Jill Competition in Amsterdam hat er sein Können auf dem Social Dance Floor unter Beweis gestellt und mit seinem Stil und Style die Juroren und das Publikum begeistert.

Im Unterricht überzeugt er durch methodisches Vorgehen und präzise Erklärungen, mit denen er seine Schüler schnell zum Tanzerfolg führt. Sein isländischer Charme machen sein Training noch dazu zu einem unterhaltsamen Erlebnis. Video with Eiki: Eiki in an Jack and Jill Competition

 Kris Blindert

Kris knows how to set a good mood and brings great energy to the class room. Passionate about her students’ success, she guides them through the details while keeping the big picture in mind: fun social dancing with great technique.

With her background in teaching astrophysics, Kris knows how to break down complex information into logical and easy to execute bits for her students. Her approach to dance is methodical and precise and she has an excellent feeling for what the students need in order to achieve the next level in their dancing.

Ali Taghavi

I have an idea! Most people know me as a pragmatic person who loves to try and apply new ideas. Often these ideas are based on my interest areas such as science, psychology, stand up comedy or one of my many educational audio-books. In our dance classes, it is not uncommon to find me citing books like “Made to Stick” (by Dan and Chip Heath) when I talk about communication between the dance partners. Our passion and goal is to spread swing dancing, both in Germany and around the world. That’s why we are running several online activities, blogs, discussion groups, and free instructional videos that cover all aspects of the life of a dancer.
Is it “Katja approved”? When you feel that your mind is just about to explode with new ideas, it is perfect to have an amiable wife whose greatest pleasure is to challenge them. This is why we established the “Katja approved” signature. If it is “Katja approved” – it is good! When preparing a class or workshop, I always make sure the material gets “Katja approved”.
I am a Pack Leader! The “about me” section cannot be complete without a short description of our lovely dogs. Their names are Rufo and Lulu, and they`re two friendly rescue dogs from sunny Spain. From the great dog behaviorist Cesar Millan, I learned how to be a pack leader – the motto goes “exercise, discipline and affection”. Hmm, I just got an idea for our next dance class…

Katja Uckermann

Vintage is the new cool From living the vintage life style to living on the vintage dance, the swing dance era has brought me a lifetime of joy and happiness. First, I fell in love with the clothes and the hair-dos. Dancing and teaching all across the globe gave me the opportunity to share my knowledge about the vintage style, helping the girls to dress their hair like in the old movies.

Swingout! Imagine a rollercoaster ride on your feet, that’s how I feel when the leader swings me across the dance floor. My passion is to spread this feeling to women every where. With my background as a professional translator, I can communicate the motions and techniques of swing dancing in fluent German, English and French.

Pushing the boundaries My culture and upbringing imprinted a strong need for security in me. Living on swing dancing is not exactly the most obvious and easy way to achieve security in your life. When I’m sometimes wondering if all will work out well, Ali jumps in and re-paints the big picture for me and points out our achievements. He’s my rock and he surely rocks! Him dreaming up the big plans and me filtering and challenging them has made it possible to live an exciting life as a dancer and a swing dance evangelist.

SwingStep Helpers and Teachers in Training:

Subei Wu

Subei Wu verkörpert den “Spirit” des Lindy Hop: voller Energie und immer mit einem Lachen auf den Lippen setzt sie das Lebensgefühl des Swing-Jazz auf der Tanzfläche in Bewegung um. Ihre Begeisterung für den Swingtanz überträgt sich gleichermaßen auf Zuschauer, Tanzpartner und ihre Schüler. In Subei trifft Talent auf Disziplin, täglich trainiert sie nicht nur ihr eigenes Tanzkönnen, sondern auch Unterrichtstechnik, Pädagogik und Methodik. Mit viel Einfühlungsvermögen und einem scharfen Blick für die Bedürfnisse der Lernenden vermittelt sie mit Spaß die Essenz des Lindy Hop – Führen und Folgen für den Social Dance mit jedem beliebigen Partner.

Christoph Wrasidlo

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Ana Thielesch

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Betina Fischer

Betina Fischer ist der neuste Zuwachs in Ali und Katjas SwingStep-Team. Ihr Talent und Leidenschaft fürs Tanzen hat sie schon in vielfältigen Bereichen unter Beweis gestellt: mit aktiver Tanzerfahrung in Blues und Tango gibt sie dem Lindy Hop eine besondere Note mit ebenso weichen wie energiegeladenen Bewegungen.

Ihre Freude am Tanzen lässt sie strahlen und das überträgt sich ganz natürlich auf die Schüler, denen sie mit viel Verständnis die Technik und das Feeling des Swing näher bringt.

Laura Stahl

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Yasmin Bentz

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Frank Lutz

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Timo Winterwerber

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Anika Gehlert

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Kristina Ellenkamp

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Claudio Santori

Claudio is one of the most enthusiastic persons you ever meet. His energy is like the Duracell batery – going and going, and, he takes you along with him.

Claudios strongest talent is compassion! If you prefer to take an intellectual approach to learning the dance, he explains the movements in an in-depth scientific manner. However, if you prefer to take an emotional and energy  approach to learn the dance, he can get right in there with you sharing the feeling of movements.He can swiftly walk between the different worlds and talk to different personalties like it’s his own.

As the guy who is always the life of the party, he is an amazing SwingStep team member. Besides of teaching, he has indepth knoweldge on websites and all that technical stuff that helps us provide you websites like www.LindyHopMoves.com.