Summer Jamboree Dance Camp 2007

INSTRUCTORS

Our current line up of dance instructors includes all of last year's terrific couples. also, we have just added Michele Nardella and Susi Huber to our line up and there are more teachers to come! Please see below for the complete listing and details about each of us.

Marcus and Bärbl

Marcus and Baerbl are the teachers that have taught and influenced almost all of the current instructors on the dance scene today. They have a resume of awards and experience a mile long. Marcus and Bärbl’s synthesis of Boogie Woogie, Lindy Hop and Hollywood Style is marvelously entertaining, quite comedic and always respectful of the dancers that have come before them. They have performed with music greats from Lionel Hampton to Dee Dee Bridgewater and their track record at competitions is absolutely extraordinary as they win or place at almost everything they enter.

They both started with ballroom dancing in 1984 before they lost their hearts to Boogie Woogie and Swing. They then went on to study with many of the old swing masters and featured movie dancers from the USA. They worked with Frankie Manning (Hellzapoppin), Gil Bradey (Don’t Knock The Rock), Jean Veloz (Swing Fever, Groovie Movie), Freda Angela (Rock Around The Clock, Don’t Knock The Rock), John and Anne Mills (our Balboa mother), Willie Desatoff (Master of Balboa), Hal Takier (Twice Blessed), and Bob Hefner (Into Swing)

Their knowledge of the swing dances is unrivalled as they are the foremost instructors for Boogie Woogie, Hollywood Style Lindy Hop, Savoy Style Lindy Hop, 30’s and 50's Jazz, Shim Sham, Charleston, Collegiate Shag, Balboa, Jitterbug Stroll, Big Apple, Swing Rueda and they have an encyclopedia of instruction videos that cover almost every one of these dances. They have taught all over the world and at practically every major dance camp and competition including: Herräng Dance Camp/Sweden (1992-2005), Boogie Bären Whitsun Camp/Munich (1987-2000), Bergen Dance Camp/Norway (1996-2004), Camp Hollywood/Los Angeles (2000-2005), Crazy Shakers Trainings Weekend/Zurich (1987-1995), Boogie and Swing Camp Toulouse/France (1999-2004), Boogie Night Tampere/Finland (2001-2005), barSWINGona, Groovie Movie Reunion, Catalina Dance Camp, Virginia State Open, Buffalo Gap, Swing Master's Jam in London, American Lindy Hop Championship, Vintage Week in Cincinnati, Houston Camp, Big Red Swing Weekend in Indianapolis (2003), Swing Fling in Virginia (2004-2005), Pori Swing Camp (2005), Swing Fling Edinburgh/Schottland (2004), Goodnight Sweetheart/England (2004), Jumpin' At The Woodside/England (2004), Moskau Dance Camp (2003-2004), London Balboa Festival (2004-2005), Balboa Rendezvous in San Diego (2005). Marcus is the founder of the web portal www.worldofswing.com What else can we possibly say about this couple!

Vincenzo Fesi and Isabella Gregorio

Vincenzo and Isabella teach and perform all over the world. They are the leaders and founders of the Flyin' Alligators Show Troupe and they run their own festivals: the "Swing Crash" and the "Flyin' Alligators Swing Camp". Absolutely the rising stars of today's Lindy Hop and Balboa scene these young dancers are electric and mesmerizing when they take to the floor. Just last year they took 3rd at the World Lindy Hop Championships 2005, and 1st at t he American Strictly Lindy Pro 2005. They regularly elicit thunderous applause from their audiences. Impressivley, they too never stop studying and taking classes from other world class teachers to continue to lift their level of dancing into the stratosphere. The synthesis of different kind of dances, their personalities and authenticity have made theme a treat to meet and learn from. Vincenzo and Isabella have superb musical interpretation and have been recently been described as "the phenomenal fast feet". Their classes and performances are full of energy and very fun.

Michele Nardella and Susi Huber

Michele Nardella began his successful career in BOOGIE WOOGIE at the TSV Gersthofen. He studied music from the Fifties and how to interpret the dance style of those times. Through musicality and body awareness, he learned the routines and figures of these dance styles quickly. With his first partner Ines Dollinger he succesfully competed at the City-Championships. Motivated through this success, they decided to start preparing for some national and international dance competitions. Michele did not look at his dance enthusiasm as just a simple hobby and it turned into a passion and a very important part of his life. His coach Klaus Kessler adviced him after a while to change to the Tanzsport-Zentrum-Augsburg in order to have better conditions for training and development. There he met Margit Kahn, with whom he participated on a Try-Out Competition They succeded on a very high level, so they continued working and dancing together. They worked for several years together and received a lot of national and international awards and prizes. Since Margit Khans professional set up had taken over her life situation, she unfortunatley had to stop her dance partnership with Michele in the summer 2006.
Nevertehlesss this did not stop Michele's dreams and wishes for his dancing. He discovered the Swing dance of the Twenties and Thirties and soon developed his own style. In January 2006 Jochen Heckmann (Balletdirector and Chiefchoreographer of Ballett-Theater-Augsburg) invited him to teach his professional dancers some basic swing dance routines and together with Michele the whole ensemble performed a roaring and well receieved dance number on the well known Augsburg Opernball 2006 in front of more than 3,000 spectators. Through this success Jochen Heckmann decided to produce and create a dance production with the title SWING ALIVE, which premiered in the Augsburg Komödie in October 2006. He has since continued to coach and teach the ballet dancers Swing dance supported by Jochen Heckmann to premiers that regularly sell out. Through these successes he has been given opportunities to teach at the Volkshochschule Augsburg and at the very known Dance school Trautz & Salmen in Augsburg.
In the summer 2006 he founded (togehter with the Ex - Boogie Woogie dancer and Vice- Worldchampion Fabian Schünke) the new dance formation THE SAVOY STYLERS.

Awards & Championships:
1. Place Southgerman Championship 2005
1. Place Großer Preis von Deutschland 2004/05
German Vicechampion 2002/03/04/05
3. Place World Cup Eindhoven ( NL) 2005
5. Place Worldchampionships (CH) 2005

Michele will be joined and assisted by Susi Huber during these classes. Susi Huber (21) began as a Rock`n`Roll dancer until she fell in love with swing music and began to dance Boogie Woogie (2000). She has won several Boogie Woogie competitions and she is now part of the Marcus & Bärbl´s Showgroup in Munich performing Lindy Hop, Balboa, Jitterbug and Charleston.

Paolo “P Lindy” Lanna

Paolo has been specializing in early social partner dance since 1993. He has toured with and as a featured partner dancer with Wynton Marsalis and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, as well as “Swing Dance America” and “Forever Swing” The Big Band Musical Revue. He has also appeared on numerous Television programs from CNBC’s Great Stuff to The David Letterman Show. A short return to competitions in 2003 brought Paolo First Place at the New York Lindy Hop Open Swing championships but he is probably most recognized for having competed and won one of the final two American Swing Dance Championships with former partner Janice Wilson in 1998. Paolo has been a featured performer and instructor at the prestigious Mid SummerNight Swing every year at Lincoln Center since it's inception. Drawing inspiration from dancers such as Frankie Manning, Dawn Hampton, Dickie Harris, all who have storied experiences from the original Ballrooms of Harlem, Paolo continues to perform and teach these fabulous dances from the Lindy Hop to the Collegiate Shag. Paolo runs the web site www.savoycentral.org and is a staff instructor at Dance Manhattan in New York.

Doriana Galliano

Doriana danced and performed acrobatic rock and roll and boogie woogie in Italy for many years before she relocated to the states. When she moved to New York, she began to study and focus on the Lindy Hop and other 1940’s swing era dances. While there, she had marvelous opportunities to watch and learn from the remaining “old timers” who continued to go out and dance like Dawn Hampton, Frankie Manning, Charlie Mead and Etta Dixon. While there she performed on NBC’s " Today show", the Off-B’way play, Shakespeare "As you like it", Mid Summer Night Swing "dance festival" at Lincoln Center, and "A night with Tony Bennet" at Radio City Music Hall.
She is a guest choreographer for Swing Dance America , a touring swing dance company, and was the swing teacher at "You Should Be Dancing" dance studio in New York City from 2002 - 2006. Doriana now resides in Paris and is currently organizing group classes and dances in France. She is pictured above with Paolo.

Enrico Conti and Monica Campione

Enrico is the official instructor of the Winter Courses for the "Summer Jamboree Festival". He began dancing at the age of 10 and he is now a 4-time Italian champion of Boogie Woogie and Acrobatic Rock’n Roll. Enrico has participated in many international and open dance competitions throughout Europe, often with top results. Enrico performed with a dance troupe in Egypt in one of the largest Hotels by the Red Sea. During that time he was featured in Caberet shows where he charmed Sheiks. He has studied Boogie Woogie, Lindy Hop and Balboa throughout Europe and most recently in the United States with instructors of international prominence. Enrico has several notable television appearances. see www.enryswing.com

Recent Competition Results:
1st Place Campionato Italiano 2002
1st Place Campionato Italiano 2005
1st Place Campionato Italiano 2006
1st Place Campionato Italiano 2007
1st Place Coppa Italia 2005
2nd Place Coppa Italia 2006
1st Place Coppa Italia 2007
3d Place Fast Feet Cup - Lindy Hop

Monica Campione, has always been passionate about dance. She began with modern dance at an early age. She then went on to study Salsa and Argentine tango, by taking classes and attending workshops with nationally recognized instructors. In 1996 she dove into the world of Swing, first with Boogie Woogie and Acrobatic Rock n Roll. Then in 2000 she discovered Swing dance styles from the 30's and 40's and she began to focus on the Lindy Hop and other 1940's swing era dances. She has studied with the best international instructors available. In 2006 she spent a few months in USA where she furthermore improved her knowledge. During these past few years she has perfomed in various theaters, at local events and, lately on local television shows. In 2005 Miss Campione opened her dance school in Genova, Italy where she dedicates herself to dance education and event planning. She teaches Boogie Woogie, Lindy Hop and Balboa..

Juan Ignacio Villafañe and Sharon Davis

Juan hails from Buenos Aires where there is quite big Lindy Hop scene. Inspired by the old movies of the original lindy hop and balboa dancers, Juan continues to develop and hone his talents by studing and spreading the dance, the music and the history of the African-american couple dances in South America.
Juan has been dancing for 8 years and began teaching in 2004 after graduating as a Physical Education Teacher. His Gymnastics and Chinese Martial Arts background strongly influence his way of dancing and mostly in his way of understanding the movements. He focuses on technique and body awareness but looks for expression, musicality and sharp movements to capture the true essence of these social dances.
Besides Lindy Hop, Juan also studies Breakdance (Power Moves) and Ukraine's Folklore Dancing.
He started the first Lindy Hop Venue in Buenos Aires, called Swing Brother Swing, and has organized
for the past two years the BALHF (Buenos Aires Lindy Hop Festival). Juan Ignacio works hard day by day to continue learning and as you will discover, often inspires others to get into the amazing world of swing dancing. Juan's dance clip
Juan will be joined by his marvelous dance partner Sharon Davis, from Perth, Australia.

More to come

There are more teachers to come. Please stay tuned.