Thanh Thanh Nguyen 

(She/Her)

Stumbling upon Lindy Hop in 2016, Thanh Thanh has since embarked on an incredible journey brewing her passion for the dance into her life compass. Her love for body movements and funky grooves has grown and rooted deeper with the rich sound and stories of jazz shared in Saigon Swing Cats, her home scene in Vietnam.

Since relocating to Europe 2021, Thanh Thanh has continued to hone her dance craft and broadened her perspective on the dance contemporary culture. She is now happily based in Paris, ready to share her dance wherever the sound of hot rhythms takes her.

In her classes, she often encourages everyone to explore their own movements through self-awareness and improvisation while honoring the root of authentic African American Jazz dance.

Shared passion for Jazz created fruitful collaborations and projects like dance theater, competitions and teaching opportunities. 

Photo credit: Richard Fuentes

Kris Blindert 

(She/Her)

Kris has been a full-time teacher with SwingStep since 2011, teaching local classes in Heidelberg, Germany as well as international workshops. With her background in teaching astrophysics, Kris knows how to break down complex information into logical and easy to execute bits for her students. Kris balances her precise and methodical nature with her care for the culture of jazz dances, to avoid watering down the dance and to make sure that her students are getting what they really need to achieve their dance goals. 
Personal note from Betina:
Kris is a dear friend and accountability partner for already 18(!) years. I am super happy about her comtribution and looking forward to enjoying her experienced, smart & funny way.

Photo credit: ...

Jennifer Owusu 

(She/Her)

Jenny is a child of a Ghanaian household and danced street dances long before she started to dig into her roots and learn all types of african dances and the underlying cultural background, habits and traditions. She´s gonna get you going and enjoy the Locking moves during this workshop.  

All of this is not all she does...she´s an impressive person with a big heart and "old" soul. Years ago Jenny established and trains the "Afrotude Dancers", who connect Black-African tradition & modern ways with attitude. With her mentor Lassana Justin Yao (kurz Justin) she travelled to e.g. Burkina Faso, Ghana & Mali to discover original rhythms and dances.  You can find those in her class series "Culture Talk & Dance" with Justin & Adequae Mingle Charles (kurz Charles), which is unique. The outstanding authenticity and energetic but value-centered lessons incl. live drumming. The 1st h covers the dance steps and the 2nd h the dances background. This creates deeper connections and understanding for the culture. As a founder of the Wawa Aba Ensembe e.V. she is training and performing drumming and dancing throughout the region. And there´s much more... don´t miss out!

Shereen Akbar

(She/Her)

Your inspiration for Waacking & House is Shereen. She is dancing since years and performing as one of the Afrotude Dancers for many years now.