TEACHERS

  • JENNA APPLEGART (USA)
  • PETER KERTZ (USA)
  • MOE SAKAN (JAP-UK)
  • FELIX BERGHAELL (SWE)
  • MARIA PHILIPPOVA (RUS)
  • DANIIL NIKULIN (RUS)
  • NEJC ZUPAN (SLO)
  • MAKO RUAN (UK)
  • HANNA P LOWENHERZ (AUT)
  • DAIRE MAC AN BHAIRD (ESP)
  • TANJA FERCEJ (SLO)
  • TOBIAS KOELBL (AUT)

 

JENNA APPLEGARTH (USA)

Ljubljana swing festival

One of the reasons why you should definately come to LISA 2023 are our excellent teachers! Let us present them one by one!
JENNA APPLEGARTH (USA)
Jenna will be teaching, judging the competitions and she is also offical MC of LISA 2023!
Jenna has attended, coordinated, and taught various workshops and exchanges all across the globe.
Above all else she believes that learning to dance should be fun, and rooted in the music and history.
With over 20 years of teaching/coaching/training experience, she loves finding new ways to connect
with other dancers on the floor and in the classroom and to create challenging yet applicable lessons in the classroom.
 
 
 
PETER KERTZ (USA)
Peter Kertz began dancing the Lindy Hop in Los Angeles, where he was born and raised.
The scene, filled with inspiring dancers and a rich history of swing dancing dating back to the 1930s was enough for him to fall head over
heels with Lindy Hop.As a dance with its roots in the African American community of Harlem, NY, developed in the early part of the 20th century,
Peter aims to share Lindy Hop and Solo Jazz as an embodiment of a musical form centered around freedom and expression.
His teaching draws from the history and the culture to better connect dancers to the music, as well as with one another.
 
 
 
MOE SAKAN (JAP – UK)
 
Ljubljana swing festival LISA
 

Moe Sakan is a professional swing dancer, instructor, choreographer, Also known as Miss Camp Hollywood 2016 Moe has had professional training in many types of dance, including jazz, ballet, tap and contemporary dance.

In 1999 Moe fell in love with the world of swing dance, since then this has been her dance of choice.
A pearl of the Orient, Moe moved to London in 2000, bringing a sparkle to the local swing dancing scene, and soon became the UK’s top female swing dancer.

An active social and competition dancer, she is proud to have won several UK and US competition titles

 include winning the world’s biggest Jack ‘n Jill competition with Marcus Koch at Frankie 95, and Camp Hollywood hall of fame are two of the most special titles Moe has been proud to received.
A multi swing dancer, she covered major dances with great knowledge and experience, like : Lindy Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag and St. Louis Shag
Moe travels the world extensively both for social dancing and teaching Lindy Hop.

She has also enjoyed dancing for several productions, including theatre, television and film.

Well known as vintage enthusiast, Moe is passionate about the music and fashion or the Swing era.

Her dedication to the culture is also reflected in her attitude towards the dance, as she constantly

endeavors to recreate an authentic style, and her passion certainly reflects the sprit of the dance as it was back in the day.

 

FELIX BERGHALL (SWE)

 

Felix Berghäll is a choreographer, performer and educator as well as a music researcher and DJ in Lindy Hop and African American Vernacular Jazz.

He has studied Sport Coaching and Sport Science at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Science in Stockholm.

He has been part of the national team as an athlete in Boogie Woogie and Lindy Hop and is now Co-Head Coach with his partner Mikaela Hellsten for the national team of Lindy Hop in Sweden.

He has also been working the last 5 years co-organising one of the biggest

events in the world with focus on Lindy Hop and African American Vernacular Jazz, Herräng Dance Camp. He just resigned from his position at Herräng Dance Camp in November 2021.

Felix has been dancing since he was 8 years old, starting with training and competing

in the Swedish dance style Bugg as well as Lindy Hop, Boogie Woogie and Double Bugg.

All dances derived from Lindy Hop and African American Vernacular Jazz. He was in love from the beginning and was really taken by the music.

Currently, he is also part of leading  a new NGO as board member and treasurer, Collective Voices for Change, along with other dancers and scholars

in order to create a platform to address social issues in the Jazz dance community. The current focus of the initiative is to discuss the issues of cultural appropriation and racial injustice.

 

NEJC ZUPAN (SLO)

started dancing swing back in 2003 as a result of his contemporary dance experience and a strong love for jazz music. Because of this he became the main culprit for the popularization of Lindy Hop and Balboa
in Slovenia in the early 2000s. Since 2010, he has been teaching various swing dances — Lindy hop, Balboa, Charleston, Blues . He travels extensively to teach at international workshops, sharing his love of swing,
and also competes in many international competitions, winning quite a few. His swing dance experience is a collection of endless research into different dance forms, many international workshops, show troupes
and his humble willingness to keep learning from anybody who is willing to teach him. He pays special attention to jazz body movement, control and musicality, all quintessential to any swing dancing.
 
 
MAKO RUAN (UK)
 

Mako met Lindy Hop at age 16. Swing music, dance and the dance community have been a big part of her life ever since. When she visited New Orleans, the birthplace of Jazz in 2010, she was moved by how closely the musicians and dancers were connected – the music was always accompanied by dancing. This prompted her to start improvising jazz and perform with live bands – whether it be the corner of her room, Royal Albert Hall or any streets with that swinging music. Until now, she has mostly been focusing on performing and social dancing, but she also has taught workshops all over the world, from the UK to South Korea to Guinea Conakry. Apart from continuing to find her own voice in jazz dancing, she is most passionate about sharing the joy and therapeutic power of dance through teaching. Some of the most inspiring jazz artists for her are Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner and Dr. Jeni Le Gon.

 

DANIIL NIKULIN (RUS – FRA)

Dance enthusiast, teacher & performer.
Within thirteen years of his dance journey, Daniil has exploreddifferent sides of Jazz Dances, has been a winner of many
competitions in Europe & the USA and has travelled to morethan 23 countries to share his passion for dance through teaching and performing.
While having a reputation as a world-class dance artist,personally Daniil always stays an introverted coffee lover thatsimply can’t resist a good swinging beat of Duke Ellington’smusic.
 
 
MARIA PHILIPPOVA (RUS-FRA)

Maria started dancing boogie-woogie in Yaroslavl, Russia in 2009, at the age of 15. Since then
dance became the most fundamental part of her life starting as her little hobby, growing into her
primer passion, profession and who knows, maybe even mission for life.
In 2012 she moved to Moscow, met Daniil Nikulin who has became her dance partner in crime for
at least 10 years. In Moscow she discovered lindy hop and found herself being completely in love
with jazz music and jazz dance for their depth, freedom and joy that it gives her.
Since 2016 Maria has been invited to teach, perform and compete to many swing dance events in
more than 20 countries all around the world, she got various placements in high level
competitions in Europe and USA.
Maria believes that Jazz Dances are the art form where one can express oneself and that is
something that the world on a big scale is missing — the place where everyone is united and
connected, accepted in their own uniqueness.
 
 
DAIRE MAC AN BHAIRD (ESP)
 
 
Dara´s love of dancing started with moving to the latin rhythms growing up in the Caribbean, but he fell in love with Lindy Hop in the frozen north of Blues at a workshop just 6 months later. Dara has been teaching Lindy Hop and Blues since 2011 and lived out of a suitcase as a travelling man for 5 years; moving between scenes,teaching and DJing workshops around Europe. Dara teaches Blues Dance, Lindy Hop, Authentic Jazz, blues DJing and blues history both at international events and in his home scene in Valencia, Spain.
 
 
HANNA P LOWENHERZ (AUT)
 
Hanna has been passionate about dancing since early childhood. Coming form a broad dancing background she has found her true passion in Authentic Jazz Dance. She is an organiser, Swing Dance instructor and passionate DJ in Vienna. Next to Lindy Hop Hanna loves Solo Jazz and highly values personality in her dance expression. In her teaching she strives to connect with students in fun, creative ways through a mix of learning techniques.. The goal is to make dance accessible to a wide range of people.
 
 
 
 
TOBIAS KOELBL (AUT)
 
Tobi is a passionate dancer who discovered swing dancing in 2013 and immediately fell in love with it. Coming from a folklore background, he loves to play with rhythm and footwork variations and focuses on connection and counterbalance as much as creating space for the individual creativity for both the follower and leader when partner dancing. Teaching for his local scene in Vienna, travelling around the world for various festivals and competing regulary in contests are his happy places in the swing dance scene.
 
 
 
TANJA FERCEJ (SLO)
 
 

Tanja is one of the most talented new generation dancers in Slovenia. Teaching Lindy Hop and Shag at Vintage Swing, traveling a lot, learning from the best international teachers and working and training closely

with Ales Vintage and Nejc Zupan she is without a doubt one of rising dance stars from Slovenia. You will love her gentle disposition and unique style. She will make you move elegantly across the dancefloor and fill you in with the lovely stylings.