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principal teachers

CLÀUDIA FONTE

Clàudia explores and embraces all kinds of playful ways in her Lindy Hop and Authentic Jazz. She loves creating novel movements that are inspired from all dance forms and place them on a strong foundation of classic swing rhythms. This makes her dancing look authentic both in the sense of being Swing and being herself.

Her passion for the dance is very true to the Swing era, when it was all about pushing the boundaries of what is possible while being grounded and driven by the swinging music. This tasteful game between respecting but also transforming the roots gives her unique ways to interact and have a joyful dance with her partners.

Clàudia’s background in physiotherapy and her deep understanding of how to best use your anatomy will help you gain valuable insight into a higher body awareness and how to express yourself more freely.

ALI TAGHAVI

Ali says “I learned to dance better so that I can teach better”. His true passion is to find new ways of creating magic in the classroom. For him, nothing is as satisfying than to help dancers learn techniques and concepts that inspires them to create their own magic moments on the dance floor.

Throughout more than 12 years of dancing and teaching, he has both refined his own style as well as adopted and integrated many new trends and ideas. This experience has made him very versatile as a lindy hopper, with a strong focus on being able to connect to many different partners.

Today, his greatest joy in a social dance is to draw inspiration from his partner's movements. Being quick to respond, adapt and reply to what was just presented to him by his partner and the music, he creates a fun, witty and playful interaction that is great to watch and even greater to feel and share!

In class, he’ll teach you how to use all your senses to create such moments in the dance for yourself!

assisting teachers

Gea Hoogendoorn

Gea has been surrounded by music since an early age; growing up as a youngest of six all who played an instrument! She picked up the trumpet by the age of seven. Having played for many years in orchestras, Gea is still amazed by how different instruments interact and come together in both tones and rhythms.

She still enjoys playing around with different rhythms and hearing different instrument while listening to music. While dancing, she finds these rhythms in herself and in the music. Gea got to know Lindy hop in 2013, and it took some time for her to fell in love with the dance. Now, she is hooked. She loves the feeling of connecting to another person, and having a whole conversation while dancing without saying a word; making jokes, being serious or being elegant. She says: "There are so many different styles and none of them are better or worst. You can develop you own style and personality and play around and experiment with your abilities, preferences and ambitions."

Robbin Tops

Before Robbin knew about Lindy Hop, he believed that dancing was nothing for him. When some friends gave him a dance course for his birthday, he discovered how his affinity for jazz music, sports and social interactions came together in Lindy hop. From that moment on Robbin was hooked, spending most of his free time practicing, going to workshops and social dancing.

Robbin likes competitions, shows and teaching, but his heart lies in social dancing. He enjoys the freedom and improvisation that Lindy hop offers and he particularly seeks the unexpected moments that can arise when two people are interacting in a communicative dance.

Being an experienced mathematics and sailing instructor, Robbin is a devoted teacher who gets a lot of energy from interacting with and being inspired by his students.