We are happy to invite you to our Spätzle-Hop from 21-23 April 2023.

On Friday we will start at 8 pm with a party at Boccanegra (Französisches Viertel, Provenceweg 22, 72072 Tübingen, boccanegra.de). DJs from Tübingen will swing the music for you.

On Saturday and Sunday, a total of seven different workshops will be offered, all of which can be attended individually. Our great teachers are Nik, Gina, Ben and Karin from Saarbrücken.

Our house band Budenzauber (Instagram: @budenzauberband) from Tübingen will heat you up during the Saturday party at Boccanegra. Start is at 8 pm (open end).

On Sunday, we invite you to the Liquid Bar/Kelter (Schmiedtorstraße 17, 72070 Tübingen, liquid-kelter.de) at 7 pm. We will end the workshop weekend here with DJ music and fine cocktails.

Status update

The program

The Classes

Intermediate

You have been dancing Lindy Hop for at least one year and feel confident leading and/or following the following moves: Tuck Turn, Swing Out, Texas Tommy, Hand-to-Hand Charleston. You have already dealt with different bounces, connection and turning techniques? First footwork variations and listening to the music are part of your repertoire? Then this is the right course for you. If you are currently taking part in one of the Tübingen university sports courses, you should have completed at least Level 2 or be currently taking Level 3. There will be two classes which can be booked separately:

• INTERMEDIATE 1: Jazz Steps in Lindy Hop with Nik and Gina
• INTERMEDIATE 2: Double Hand Connection with Karin and Ben

Advanced

Your love for Lindy Hop is unwavering and you have been regularly attending classes, socials and festivals for the past 2 years. You have a good connection and no need to think about basic Lindy and Charleston moves. You can also do variations and complex figures and at socials you feel comfortable with fast music. In relation to the Tübingen university sports courses, you should have already attended level 3 several times or feel comfortable in level 4. As in the intermediate level, there will be two independent courses that can also be booked individually:

• ADVANCED 1: Social Dance Skills mit Karin und Ben
• ADVANCED 2: Rhythm and Flow mit Gina und Nik

Open Level

In addition, we will offer three courses suitable for all levels.

• OPEN LEVEL 1: Chorus Line with Karin and Gina
• OPEN LEVEL 2: Quattropole Swing Choreo and Jazz Alphabet with Nik and Ben
• OPEN LEVEL 3: Feeling the Music, different styles and rhythms with Karin, Gina, Nik and Ben

The Teachers

Niklas Taffner

„I love to create magical moments. I love to make the best out of every situation. Maybe that is why I am in love with the art and artists of the swing era. Looking at old clips and the old-timers dancing, I see and feel that every moment in their dance, every little movement or rhythm is so full of energy and the connection with their partners seem to be so intense and joy-full. This is where I am heading. In my teaching I am encouraging my students to find this magic in their own dance. Iwant them to get to know themselves and develop their own unique style.“

Niklas Taffner is a recognized Lindy Hop dancer and instructor. From his early childhood on his life is accompanied by music and dance. 14 years old he found his love for the swing dances. From then on he spent, together with his sister, Jovanna, every free minute on the dance floors of international swing festivals.

After high school he started teaching Lindy Hop. In his classes he focus on the harmonious interplay of body, mind and spirit based on a natural rhythmical understanding. His talent is to let people feel the magic and natural flow of each movement and rhythm. Doing so his students can catch up very quickly with what he is showing them. Niklas loves to stay authentic with the roots of Lindy Hop of the Savoy era. For him Lindy Hop is more than a dance. It is a combination of love, truth and joy. It's a lifelong learning possibility.

Teaching internationally he already broad his dance to countries like Greece, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Ireland, USA, Thailand and all over Germany. No matter where he was teaching, he always inspired people with his understanding of the dance, his joyful nature and spirit.

Gina Monzon

„I love dancing! Merging with the music I feel happy and complete! As a young adult, I fall in love with Lindy Hop. From a friend I heard that there was something „new“ going on in my city. I tried this beautiful and liberating dance and stayed. With the time, I was gathering more and more knowledge about the Swing era. The more knowledge I got the more fascinated I got for that time and its people. I love the uniqueness of the dance and the genius of the music. While improving my dance, I try to figure out how people danced and felt at the golden years of the Savoy ballroom. What was special about this time?

I very much enjoy teaching Lindy Hop. In my classes, I try to include all aspect of the dance going from musicality and rhythms over authentic figures and small routines. For me, Lindy Hop is more than a dance, it is a way to connect to yourself, to feel your body and the body of your partner while relaxing your brain. My goal for teaching is to let dancers experience the joy I feel when I am dancing. Dancing and teaching gives me a steady good feeling in my everyday live. Thanks to all the dancers who make this possible!!

When traveling around to dance and teach in other cities and countries, I love to get to know different dancers and styles, make new friends and expand my personal Lindy Hop society. Going to a Lindy hop party with many dancer from all over the world and a great swinging band warming up the people with nice rhythms, gives me a lot of inspiration and happiness. Currently, my addiction is tap dancing. Filling my body with swinging tap rhythms gives me a lot of inspiration.„

Gina is spreading dance for more than 8 years. In her classes she is including Lindy Hop, Authentic Jazz, Charleston, slow drag/blues and tap dancing. She is teaching weekly classes at the „Lindy Hop Saarbrücken Dance Academy“. Moreover, she is traveling around Germany and other countries like France, Luxemburg, Spain, Greece, Ireland to spread her rhythms and love to dance. Beside her work as a swing dance teacher, she is performing with Big Bands, theater and dance groups. Since 2017 she is touring around with the theater play „Swing Heil!“, which thematize the history of the Swing Youth in Germany in the thirties and forties.

Ben Taffner

"When a swing song starts, crazy things happen inside me: my body feels every single beat in the music and wants to move to it. I can express myself completely freely in the music. It's athletic, energetic, comfortable, delightful....in short: for me it's a feeling of absolute joy of life as soon as I bounce through the intro of a song with a follower! Also, I've met so many different people through dancing and been to beautiful places in the world. It is an indescribable enrichment to my life! Being able to share my passion for dance in Saarbrücken and all over the world is a great honour!"

Karin Gadziala

When Karin took her first Lindy Hop lesson in 2016, she never imagined how much it would change her life. Instead of becoming a primary school teacher, she soon dropped out of university and decided to devote as much time as possible to jazz music and swing dancing. Karin loves to bring her enthusiasm for swing music and its original artists inside to the dance floor and into the classroom - not only as a dancer and teacher, but also as a social dance DJ and with her podcast "Bugle Call Radio". For her, it is essential to know the history of dance and music in order to be able to express herself in this art form.

In her classes, Karin tries to focus on the skills that will always allow you to enjoy social dance to the fullest. She is a passionate follower (and meanwhile leader) who is convinced that the connection to the partner, the feeling for the music, the courage to improvise and one's own expression on the dance floor are a thousand times more valuable than practising impressive, complicated figures.

Karin lives in Saarbrücken, Germany, where she is part of the swing community "Lindy Hop Saarbrücken". She enjoys good food, loves dogs and cycling (downhill or gravel bike).

The Prices

17/20/23 € per unit of 1.5 hours^*†

Special: For every three courses booked, you get a SwingZeit bag for free!

* Pay your own price: Small Purse/Cost Cover/Supporter.

You want to spend a nice weekend and would like to participate in the courses, but are currently short of cash: "Small Purse" is your price. With the "Cost Covering" we right about cover our costs for the weekend. If you would also like to support SwingZeit Tübingen and help us to offer more events like this in the future, choose the "Supporter" price.

† Relaxed due date for payment, if you also sign up for TüLX.

We understand, that for some people it's not easily possible to pay for two events of this price range at the same time. If you'd like to participate in both and want to secure a place right at the start of the registration, we will happily allow you time until mid-March for paying for TüLX.

The parties

Be prepaired for 3 evenings full of joy, dancing and amazing music - and perhaps some surprises!

• Friday, 21.04.2023: Party at Boccanegra from 8 p.m., € 5 entrance fee
• Saturday, 22.04.2023: Party at the Boccanegra from 8 p.m., 12 € entrance fee
• Sunday, 23.04.2023: Party at the Liquid Bar/Kelter from 7 p.m., free admission