Mickey Fortanasce (USA)
As a professional Tough Guy,
Super Hero and Spelling Bee Champion, finding time for dance was not easy for Mickey Fortanasce, nor was it an accepted activity among
his fellow Crime fighters. But having defeated most evil doers in the New York City metropolitan area and having and become bored with
their monotonous monologueing coupled with their stubborn refusal to except his superior skill and ability, he made his way down a
different path.
In search of more powerful adversary Mickey Fortanasce began dancing THE Lindy Hop and THE Balboa in the Summer of '99. For years he competed
and worked tirelessly towards a goal he could neither see nor reach. Battling opponents whose dorkdom surpassed even his own. Completely
unprepared and surrounded by people who probably wanted to kick his ass, Mickey was certain he'd found his way back to high school.
It wasn't until 2004 while walking the dark and dusted streets of New York that Mickey bore witness to a freak accident when a Mac
truck collided with two men carrying a large pane of glass. At that moment a vat of glowing green ooze toppled from the truck and
onto an unsuspecting super-model. Remembering the well known vat of ooze to Super Hero ratio, Mickey decided to ask the girl to join
him on his quest only to find out later that in fact, she had been given the super human power of Dance Ass Kicking; her name was:
Kelly Arsenault (USA)
Before the truck incident, Kelly was brought up on planet Knoxville where dancing is actually the way people walk. So Kelly has
practically been dancing all her life. She has been part of numerous dance companies and has studied ballet, jazz and modern dance.
She has choreographed big dance performances and now lives in San Francisco,
where her place serves primarily as very expensive storage since she is traveling around the globe for most of the year teaching,
performing and competing.
Kelly likes to take Balboa to new places making it organic, interesting, and exciting while still respecting the history of the dance.
Together with Mickey, Kelly has won uncountable Balboa competitions including the International Balboa Championships, in fact Mickey and Kelly are so awesome that
the tend to win the competitions they enter.
mickeyandkelly.com
Andreas Olsson (SWE)
grew up on the wrestling mat, fighting other little boys in leotards. He won most of the time since he's always been giving 100% in everything
that he does. He also played violin in an orchestra during his childhood. You might not think classical music and wrestling have anything in common, and none of
them anything in common with swingdancing, but both of these activities have contributed to making him the unpredictable and interesting dancer that he is.
After having first gotten into Lindy Hop in 2000, Balboa intrigued him in the idea of being a dance in its
own right but danced to the same music. Dancing Balboa has given him a deeper understanding of swing music and the music has always been one of his
biggest inspirations.
Andreas brings those 100% into his classes with the goal of making his students get really good at dancing Balboa.
He is inspired to take part in developing Balboa as a dance and to making the international Balboa scene grow.
Andreas claims to be the unchallenged record holder of most hours spent on social swing dance floors in Stockholm, dancing that is, only taking breaks to change
into yet another colorful t-shirt with another funny print.
Together with his partner Joana, Andreas recently placed first at the Balboa on the Promenade Classic Pro.
He is also a marine archeologist at the Swedish Maritime Museums.
Joana Ekeström (SWE)
started dancing Lindy Hop in 1999.
Between 2002 and 2007 she was part of Shout'n Feel It, the Swedish Swing Society´s performing team, bringing swing dancing all over Europe and US.
The first encounter between Joana and Balboa happened in January 2004: it was love at first sight. Since then, she has attended most of the biggest
Balboa events in Europe, taking classes, privates and working hard on non stop training with her partner Andreas Olsson. In spring 2005 she started
teaching Balboa at Swedish Swing Society in Stockholm, and since then, together with Andreas, she has worked to develop the Balboa scene in Stockholm.
Today, Joana´s career as an international instructor is bringing her to teach at many of the main European balboa events, such as Frenchie Balboa Festival
and Summer Camp in Toulouse, Balboa on the Promenade in Cannes, Snowball in Stockholm and many more in Germany, Finland and Switzerland.
Joana´s key word is elegance. Through her delicate style, she likes to focus on musicality, control, leading and following. Her style is light and subtle,
and the softness and dynamics of Balboa dancing inspires her to keep developing her own dance, and the dance of others. Joana has a calm, systematic and
playful way of teaching, and she likes to focus on the crucial details, both in basics and more advanced steps.
andreasandjoana.com
David Rehm (USA)
is a geek-turned-professional-dancer specializing exclusively in the partnered swing dances, Lindy and Balboa, and widely considered one of the top Balboa dancers and instructors in the world.
He is regularly featured teaching and judging at the most prestigious events dedicated to those dances throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
In addition to numerous awards, in 2006 David captured both the American and European Balboa titles (with different partners) by winning the American Classic Balboa Championship and the Euro Bal Cup.
He is also the creator of The Experiment, "the world's most intimate and intensive Balboa workshop", as well as the founder of the Northeast Balboa Corridor (NEBC) project. David is best known for his ability to capture both broad thematic abstractions and technical details all in the form of conceptual principles.
davidrehm.com
Sanna Leinonen (FIN)
Growing up in with Santa Claus as a neighbor, in 2001 Sanna childhood dreams of learning how to dance were fulfilled as she dove into Finland’s lively social dancing scene. After having learned a variety of more than 30 different social dances she soon excelled in her skills, directing her into teaching social dances right from the get go.
Since 2007 Sanna has been intensively traveling for studying and dancing Balboa.
Not only in the times of the year where in Finland the sun never manages to jump over the horizon, Sanna shines the light from within reflecting her love for the lightheartedness, gaiety and cheekiness of this dance.
Sanna exceptional abilities in perception and analysis and her analytical mind make her a sought teacher for groups and private lessons.
Now living in Tampere, she has taught and kickstarted many of Finland’s best Balboa dancers.
Olivier Harouard (FRA)
Olivier is from France and discovered his big passion for Swing in 2001.
He is an amazing leader and bewitches each lady with his French charm and esprit.
We has won an placed high in numerous well know Balboa competitions, e.g.:
Finalist Open J&J Balboa - All Balboa Weekend 2011 (Cleveland, USA)
2nd place J&J Tiny Balboa Weekend 2011 (Grenoble, France)
1st place Open J&J of the Frenchie Balboa Festival 2010 (Toulouse, France)
3rd place at the J&J of the Frenchie Balboa Festival 2009 (Toulouse, France)
1st place Open J&J - All Balboa Weekend 2009 (Cleveland, USA)
Natasha Devyatkina (FRA/RUS)
Natasha is Russian and has been dancing since she was seven (ballroom dancing, competing and teaching at a very high level).
In 2001 she discovered swing dancing and simply fell in love with it.
Natasha executes the most complicated figures with grace and makes them look fantastically easy.
Olivier and Natasha met each other at the Herräng Dance Camp in Sweden in 2001 and have been teaching together since 2003.
In 2005 they moved to the Côte d’Azur near Cannes and started developing the Swing culture there. Their blend of two cultures has been creating an original style of dancing and a very personal style of teaching.
Natasha and Olivier are successful instructors, competitors and performers. They have won numerous contests and just placed 3rd at the highest ranked Balboa competition in 2011, the American Classic Balboa Championships. More than competing they enjoy social dancing and sharing their passion with others. Their creativity and musical synergy is unmatched and their professionalism, kindness and humor take them to teach in some of the biggest camps in the world of Swing.
They are also the main organizers behind the acclaimed festivals Balboa on the Promenade (www.balboathepromenade.com) and Westie on the Promenade (www.westieathepromenade.com) which happen annually at the Cote d'Azur.
rockswing06.com
Distinguished Guests
Chris Härm (AUSTRALIA) (teaching evening classes in Blues)
Chris believes that building characters around connection to the music and your partner interaction is a true key to discovering the joy in Blues dance. His classes use colourful imagery and playful games to help students internalise ideas and concepts in the most natural and organic ways possible. Keep your eyes open for some amazing tricks and sexy hips as this mad scientist of blues hits the floor. If it takes an athlete to dance and an artist to be a dancer Chris's teaching strives to create the perfect blend.
A Blues dancing baby of 2003 Chris was a pioneer lead in dance scenes over Australia before packing up for Europe. He launched the nations first blues festival before beginning his international teaching career in 2009. Following his two greatest passions in life, dance and travel, he is now a full time gypsy travelling the world and preaching the blues. chrisharm.com
Louise Tangermann (CH/GER) (teaching evening classes in Blues)
Since that fateful day in 2006, when she walked into her first Lindy class, Louise dove head first into the world of Swing and Blues dance. Helping to foster the burgeoning dance scene in Switzerland she has traveled extensively to learn, compete, teach and –most importantly – social dance her ass off. Louise strives to show the strength and flexibility followers can bring to the dance floor while uniting creative movement and technical excellence. She believes that the music should be our truest teacher and her classes build rapport between dancers and whatever the bands or DJs are throwing down. Her infatuation with Blues dance has lead her to become one of the leading followers in the Europe, winning competitions and teaching festivals throughout the year. louisetangermann.com
Alex 'Lësha' Gud and Masha Krohina (RUS) (teaching evening classes)
Masha Krokhina and Alex Gudovich are one of the best Balboa couples in Russia. They have been repeatedly finalists and winners of Russian and international competitions and are recognized for their noticeable elegant style of dancing. They have been teaching in Moscow since March 2007.
russianbalboa.com
Videos
