Hasse Mattsson

Every Friday for thirty weeks, I will write about a topic from the list of the
«30 Week Lindy Hop Challenge«.

Here is my topic of this week

Week #8: Instructors, who have inspired me a lot

There is no such thing as a favorite instructor.

They all are different. Some of them I adore, some of them I don't like that much. That's normal, isn't it?

So, how should I choose THE one. Impossible, at least to me.

Therefore, I'm going to tell you, who of the instructors inspire/d me most and why.

Johnny Lloyd

Johnny was my first Lindy Hop teacher. When I started with Lindy Hop in 1999, he was one of the most influential people in the swing scene in Switzerland. I liked his smooth and elegant style. He taught a lot about lead & follow and didn't focus on crazy moves.

Frankie Manning

Of course, I have to mention Frankie. He was not only a huge inspiration as a instructor, but also as a human being. And his hearty laughter is legendary.

Peter Loggins

Peter's shuffle style inspired me a lot. I spent hours to learn and practice the shuffle steps to finally create my own style.

Marie Nahnfeldt & Hasse Mattsson

Their warm and friendly style of teaching stands alone. I don't know any dancer who doesn't like taking classes with these guys.

I once had a private lesson with Hasse and we were working on the swing-out. Hasse just said to me how to start the swing-out: «invite her». I tell you, these two words changed the way I do the swing-out forever!

Nick Williams

Two things I really like about Nick: His ability to break down moves, no matter how difficult they are, and his marvelous musicality. No idea, how I can nearly get there 😉

Carla LaRue Heiney

Carla's professionalism as an instructor impressed me a lot.

It was in Eauze at SHSC, when I asked her after a class about the move we just learned. It was a quite difficult body movement the lead had to do. Carla danced with me, backled the move and I understood it within two minutes, what I couldn't figure out during the whole class.

Sylvia Sykes

Sylvia has this dry sense of humor. I learned a lot from her and I use many of her explanations in my own classes. And, I just like her!

Laura Keat

Laura is very empathetic and she can give you feedback that is really helpful and pushes you forward. I try to be as helpful as a teacher as she is.

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