04. – 06. October in Tallinn
Registration for the workshop is OPEN!
A special and long-awaited weekend with Blake and Grace deserves to be marked on the calendar!
Why? Experienced instructors from America come to our home and give Lindy Hop, Balboa and Slow Balboa lessons as part of the workshop, which is a dream come true for an ardent swing dancer. In addition, you can practice what you have learned at two parties, one of which will be with an incredibly authentic live band – The David Hermlin Trio!
Grace Babbes
Having grown up in a family of artists, Grace has been performing since she was 4. With her lifelong love of jazz music and vintage fashion, when she discovered her first lindy hop class in 2012, she was hooked. She can be seen dancing Lindy Hop, Balboa, and Collegiate Shag on the social dance floors across Southern California up to five nights a week. In addition, she regularly teaches and competes all around Southern California and across the US, placing/winning such competitions as ILHC, Camp Hollywood, and Hot Rhythm Holiday. Grace is also a member of the performance company The Hollywood Hotshots, specializing in preserving historical American vernacular jazz dances in live events, music videos, film, and television.
Grace brings her love of the dance to her teaching style, encouraging joy in her students, while keeping an emphasis on connection technique. For her, Lindy hop is a conversation between two people, and she brings her love of that conversation to every lesson, reinforcing strong connection and beautiful basics.
Blake Tiessen
As a naive Southern California college student, Blake discovered swing dancing with a whimsical New Year’s resolution to try learning the dancing he saw in Swing Kids (1993). Little did he know, SoCal was one of the world’s largest scenes, with a rich history and dozens of the world’s best dancers and instructors. Immediately hooked, he developed a relentless obsession for Lindy, Balboa, and Collegiate Shag. He’s since gone on to win in a variety of international competitions and has taught around the world in places like Europe, Korea, Japan, Australia, and the US.
In his free time, Blake loves to study vintage dance clips. He has a deep reverence for the original dancers and loves to teach classes that focus on particular styles and techniques they used. As an instructor he also focuses on imparting his values of partner connection, tasteful musicality, and developing beautiful basics. While he loves practice, competition, and performance, his favorite thing about dancing is just having a simple, deeply-connected social dance with a like-minded partner.
The following dance lessons will take place as part of the workshop
On Friday
SLOW BALBOA
2 classes for level
intermediate-advanced
15:00 – 16:00 / 16:15 – 17:15
On Saturday
BALBOA
2 advanced classes
11:00 – 12:00 / 12:15 – 13:15
2 intermediate classes
14:45 – 15:45 / 16:00 – 17:00
On Sunday
LINDY HOP
2 intermediate classes
11:00 – 12:00 / 12:15 – 13:15
2 advanced classes
14:45 – 15:45 / 16:00 – 17:00
Choose the package that suits you to determine the intensity of the weekend!
2 classes (1 style) and 2 parties 80€
4 classes (2 styles) and 2 parties 120€
6 classes (3 styles) and 2 parties 160€
The following parties will take place as part of the workshop
On Friday
DJ music
TSDS Stuudio at ARS Art Factory
20:00 – 23:00
A single ticket can be purchased on the spot in cash
15€
On Saturday
The David Hermlin Trio
Kaja Kultuurikeskus
20:00 – 01:00
A single ticket can be purchased here
40€
On Sunday
Tea Party with DJ music
TSDS Stuudio at ARS Art Factory
17:30 – 20:00
A single ticket can be purchased on the spot in cash
5€
The David Hermlin Trio
A singer and drummer, a clarinetist and a pianist. All three love American swing from the thirties, all three are virtuosos on their instruments. With a new program “We Got Rhythm” the David Hermlin has the weight of some of the great combo line-ups of the swing era. The Benny Goodman Trio with pianist Teddy Wilson and drummer Gene Krupa is obviously a close reference here and they sure live up to the comparison. Yet they refrain from any attempt to straight out copy their idols, rather developing their own lively style. There is music, singing and even dancing.
David Hermlin has been a guest several times on various TV shows and produced his own JazzRadio show, where he presents “Swing It With The Hermlins” every Sunday together with his sister Rachel Hermlin.
David Hermlin – vocals & drums
Lorenzo Baldasso – clarinet
Sasha Kommer – piano
