Trainers
Trainers
Giu & Andy
Andreas Hoppe called Andy is most known as the owner and founder of Swing connects (together with Sonja - classes, workshops and camps in Cologne plus events as the Lindy Hop Heaven, The Great Christmas (and Summer and New Years) Ball of the Swing Era and the Mosel Hop Camp) and the founding off the Swingin' Pool Cologne (again together with Sonja). Andy has taught workshops and taster classes in many german scenes and internationally (Spain, Croatia, England, Luxemburg and the Netherlands). He started dancing the Lindy Hop in 2006 and quickly became enthusiastic and addicted to it. During his dancing time he developed his own way of teaching, focussing on fun and easyness in technique & understanding - to him the Lindy Hop is a joint and ongoing process of communication. The people most like his logical but funny way of making Lindy Hop accessible to everyone. He also loves smoothing together different dance approaches as in moves transferred into Lindy Hop or switching roles inbetween moves in leading and following and into different moves within the same 6- or 8-count.
Giuseppina Galloro has been named artist of the Swing Era. She is a versatile and passionate artist, dancer and trainer specialising in the dances of the Swing Era. Her repertoire encompasses Charleston, Lindy Hop and Vintage Jazz. Bringing to life the music and dances of this bygone era.
You can encounter her solo, as show-act or within a trainers couple. She founded an artist collective liasing with Swing Music Bands, Dancers & DJs alike bringing to life "The Great Gatsby" or "The Roaring Twenties" events. Giu embodies authentic Swing-Dance be it in an Vintage-Look or in some kind of fashion time travel, notwithstanding cultural background talks and lectures. She is teaching classes regularly for all kinds of ages (including her Swings Kids) and backgrounds in the Rhein-Main area
Andrea & Mario
Viola & Asif
Neuer Text
Viola started swing dancing in Cologne in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the dance and the music. She started with Lindy Hop and a short time later with Balboa and Blues, took part in a high number of courses, workshops and social dances and became increasingly involved in organising and networking the local scene in Cologne and the surrounding area. She spent a total of four years as a volunteer on the board of the "Swingin' Pool Cologne e.V." association and organised both large international workshops and smaller swing dance and blues events. After the association grew and finally moved into permanent premises after eleven years, she ended her voluntary work on the board in November 2023. She now shares her skills and experience in the field of swing and blues dancing by working as a trainer. Her dance style is characterised on the one hand by the mixing of dance styles (slow lindy and blues, blues and tango, fast lindy and balboa), and on the other hand by the change of roles during the dance (switch).
From London, Asif has been dancing in many styles for over 25 years, including Swing and Blues, and teaching & DJing for over 15 years.
As a teacher, he focuses just as much on the feeling as he does on the moves. Musicality is imperative as your movements need to feel as natural as possible to the music your are dancing to.
As a DJ, he has developed a wide ranging taste and has DJd at many events around the UK and Europe. He likes to play music that is fun as well as sometimes a little challenging and keeps a constant eye on the floor to make sure the dancers are getting the best from the beginning to the end.
Maren & Bernd
Maren and Bernd are on an inspiring move in the Berlin Lindy-Hop-Scene since 2009 and are up for grabs for a dance at any time. They were thrilled from the beginning by the open, joyful and special atmosphere that that prevailed during the Lindy-Hop dancing events. Today in their own classes they especially emphasize a good Lead and Follow supplemented by clear techniques. In their workout they concentrate on what is technically feasible and creativity. Their own dancing style distinguishes itself by harmonic flow, round flowing movements and playing with different Tempi. In Berlin they regularly offer classes as trainer in the RRC-Spreeathen and as workshop trainer internationally. (for more informations www.lindyturn.de)
