Class 1 – it’s all about the flow

On Sunday 2nd August Rob and Diane van Haaren were in town to show us a thing or two! Rob grew up in Nijmegen, although he moved to California 30 years ago to pursue his dreams, where he discovered the Lindy Hop and, through it, his wife Diane. It was a pleasure to welcome Rob “home” and to meet his lovely family. Rob and Diane started to Lindy Hop in California, where they learned the original Frankie Manning and Al Minns style of Lindy Hop. Since then they have been dancing and teaching all over the world, including at Herräng Dance Camp in Sweden for over 18 years. They came to us to share their energy, technique, musicality and their Lindy Hop philosophy and we were not left disappointed!

Class 2 – Suzie Q!

We had two 90 minute classes, the first of which focused on keeping momentum and flow in the dance. Everyone’s swing out was dramatically improved in this short space of time and we learned how to apply the same techniques and ideas to our movements in many other aspects of our dancing. The second class stressed the role of authentic solo jazz steps in our partnered dancing, how to play and have a conversation with our partner, whilst maintaining the basic concepts of “lead” and “follow”. We were very happy to welcome many dancers from out-of-town, including one dancer all the way from Norway! We finished the day with an energetic after-party where everyone was throwing down their new moves and improvisations. Rob and Diane, please come back soon!