Teachers
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 17 years. I am super happy about her contribution and looking forward to enjoying her experienced, smart & funny way.
Photo credit: ...
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
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)
Born and raised in Frankfurt am Main her dance journey began with instructor Anita Ivcovic, starting with Hip Hop and gaining initial exposure to Lady Style and Locking. She later joined the stepsNstyles dance school, where she broadened her horizons to include styles such as Popping, House, Waacking, and Voguing. During this time, Shereen participated in performance competitions and deepened her freestyle skills, always guided by her instructor, Arnold Menace. Concurrently, she attended numerous workshops led by prominent figures in the scene—including Buddha Stretch, Martha Nabwire, OG, Brian Green, Bagsy, Hiro, and Storm—constantly refining her techniques. At Cipher Dojo in Frankfurt, she further developed her freestyle proficiency in Hip Hop and House under the guidance of instructors such as Batalla. Her passion increasingly drew her to battles and jams beyond Frankfurt, allowing her to gain new experiences and draw further inspiration from the dance community.
Early on, she had the opportunity to share her knowledge by teaching a youth performance group, as well as conducting numerous classes, school workshops, and projects in Frankfurt am Main.
For the past four years, Shereen has been a member of the group Afrotude, exploring modern and traditional African dance styles and performing regularly with the ensemble.
Shereen is a versatile dancer and instructor whose passion for dance and freestyle remains palpable in all her projects to this day.
DA Activities
Classes on three days
Friday Special with Thanh Thanh
Party to musik by your teachers
Movie Night & Talk
City Tour
Sunday wind down at a restaurant
We will have a nice weekend together with time to relax, really connect and dance on Friday, Saturday & Sunday.
A weekend dedicated to Solo Jazz with the amazing, energetic, creative Thanh Thanh from Paris (-> see her dance in this clip), Kris Blindert, the smartest, coolest, always learning dance friend and amazing teacher originally from Canada, backed up by your "specials" topics & teachers; Soft Shoe, Waacking, House, African Roots etc. by street dance specialists and residents Shereen Akbar, Jenny Owusu and Angelika. Find out about the differences and similarities of the dance styles and where they meet. Enjoy a weekend filled with dance classes, cultural context, Social Dance Night, Movie Night, UNESCO Heritage Tour & unwind at a closeby restaurant on sunday.
There will be two levels: beginner/intermdiate & Intermediate/advanced
(Photo: hepcat photo)
DA UNESCO Tour
As we´ve been walking to the Mathildenhöhe the past years, this time we are going to take a look at the beautiful Park Rosenhöhe which is a part of an arround 1902 established Art Deco total work of art ensemble that also includes the "Mathildenhöhe". Details when & where to meet coming up...
Registration is now open!
Visiting DArmstadt
When visiting the city of DArmstadt be sure not to miss some of its beautiful points of interest. If you´re lucky you start at the train station that was built 1912 in a late art nouveau style. Most of the city was destroyed during the 2nd WW and buildings were put up quickly and efficiently afterwards, like in many places that time. But some beautiful houses are still left from the 19th or even 18th century that weren't burnt down or hit by bombs, like the castle and the UNESCO World Heritage "Mathildenhöhe". Any art nouveau and Jugendstil architecture lover should take a look at this gem (* read more further down).
There are a lot of parks, always some exhibitions, a theater, botanical garden, natural history museum, small zoo, the "Hundertwasser-Haus" and as a city with a big university and two other colleges there are lots of bars, restaurants and many cultural and sport activities, like bouldering, a climbing gym etc.
UNESCO World Heritage
This is a 7 min walk from our venue.
*On the UNESCO world heritage convention website you find theses information:
"Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
The Darmstadt Artists’ Colony on Mathildenhöhe, the highest elevation above the city of Darmstadt in west-central Germany, was established in 1897 by Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse, as a centre for emerging reform movements in architecture, arts and crafts. The buildings of the colony were created by its artist members as experimental early modernist living and working environments. The colony was expanded during successive international exhibitions in 1901, 1904, 1908 and 1914. Today, it offers a testimony to early modern architecture, urban planning and landscape design, all of which were influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and the Vienna Secession. The serial property consists of two component parts including 23 elements, such as the Wedding Tower (1908), the Exhibition Hall (1908), the Plane Tree Grove (1833, 1904-14), the Russian Chapel of St. Maria Magdalena (1897-99), the Lily Basin, the Gottfried Schwab Memorial (1905), the Pergola and Garden (1914), the “Swan Temple” Garden Pavilion (1914), the Ernst Ludwig Fountain, and the 13 houses and artists’ studios that were built for the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony and for the international exhibitions. A Three House Group, built for the 1904 exhibition is an additional component."