Lab62

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Teachers

Astrid Akay

Astrid Akay is a theater directress and actress, dancing in Brussels with the Old Soulz. Her central interest in the African American vernacular jazz dance is Lindy hop, its history and legacy today. How do we develop our own personal dance language while inheriting the powerful beauty and complexity of the original lindy hop? How do we keep the freedom of improvising and the joy of surprising ourselves when dancing, and at the same time work very specifically on original video clips? Those are some of the questions that are driving Astrid to keep learning and exploring the dance.

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Elena Cancilla

Elena was born in Sicily and theatre was her first love.
Although convinced that she couldn’t dance, a year after she moved to Brussels, in 2011, she registered with the Apollo Swing School for Lindy Hop classes.
She was immediately hooked and a few months after her first class, she was already participating in international lindy hop, jazz solo, Charleston and blues workshops.
She is aware that she still has a lot to learn about jazz and swing history and culture, of which she considers herself to be an attentive observer.
In her classes, she aims at sharing her passion and help make everyone feel confident and happy while dancing.
Jazz, swing and blues express values she strongly believes in, such as authenticity, freedom and a sense of community.
As Elena explains, theatre was the place where she started looking for herself, and Brussels is the city where she can travel through various cultures and get inspired by them. “Jazz is an endless journey which started from my ears, infiltrated my body before reaching my soul.”

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Sander Costermans

Sander has had a passion for the swing era, its music and aesthetic, since he was a teenager. He studied fashion technology and loves to create his own clothes in order to enhance his style of dancing. He's part of the Brussels swing dance community and together with the Jazz Maniacs and The Old Soulz dance crew he works on constantly learning about jazz culture, breaking down video footage from the great African American masters, drawing inspiration from them to keep their style and spirit alive. Early Bebop is the music he finds himself drawn towards the most since he feels like it gives him more ways to express himself.

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Lab62

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Wednesday

Astrid Akay

Elena Cancilla

Sander Costermans

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