13.-15.03.2026: March Madness - Lindy Edition
Hello, dancers!
Get ready—March Madness: Lindy Edition is almost here!
What started as a simple trial run for our brand-new venue, Festhalle Weende, has blossomed into a full-blown mini-festival.
We’ve lined up special workshops with guest teachers, an exciting evening party featuring the Michele Alberti Trio, and a laid-back tea dance—all in one incredible weekend!
Bonus: Private classes are also available! To work on your skills with our lovely teachers, just reach out to us at info@swing-in-goettingen.de for details and scheduling.
We can’t wait to see you there for this "mini-madness"!
Schedule
(Please check the registration page for the full workshop descriptions)
Levels
Come as You Are
You have at least some very basic experience in solo jazz or lindy hop. This level is open and welcoming, but not intended for complete first-timers. If you know a few basic steps, can move to the music, and feel comfortable learning in a group, you’re in the right place. As the name says: come as you are!
Get in the Groove
You’ve done a beginner course or joined a few tasters and are starting to catch the lindy bug. You know the basics (like 6-count and/or 8-count patterns) and feel ready to build more confidence, musicality, and flow in your dancing.
Building Up
You dance lindy hop regularly and feel comfortable with the core vocabulary. You can adapt to different partners, keep dancing socially, and are ready to refine technique, connection, and musical choices while expanding your movement options.
Sky is the Limit
You’re an experienced social dancer with solid fundamentals and good body awareness. You’re comfortable with variation, improvisation, and musical interpretation, and you enjoy being challenged with more complex ideas, finer details, and faster or more demanding material.
Teachers
Oksana (Ukraine) and Joris (Belgium) are two international dancers and dance instructors who decided to move and live in Germany where they pursue their dream of dancing and teaching dance.
Each of them has a vast dancing and teaching experience since late 2000. They both taught in different countries, local communities and international festivals and are united by their love of Swing dances! They are inspired by jazz music, the history of jazz, and the history and evolution of the various swing and blues dances. Learning to play Jazz – Oksana on xylophone and Joris on clarinet and trombone – has developed their understanding of Jazz as movement. Oksana started her way to Swing Dance from various other styles, like ballroom, modern jazz, contemporary, while Joris has a background in physical theater (The Commedia School, Copenhagen, 2007) before their roads evolved towards African American Jazz dances.
Each of them has vastly promoted the development of Swing dance scenes in their homelands. For many years Oksana was one of the main teachers and events’ organizers in Kyiv Swing Dance School and Joris is known as the founder of Crazy Legs Dance School in Ghent, the city where he honed his dancing and teaching skills.
Oksana and Joris first danced together in Amsterdam in 2011 in the final of a mix and match competition at Smokey Feet. Since then, they have also been dancing and teaching together on different occasions. They love to dance to various styles, tempos and create fun and creative figures and would be happy to share their knowledge with Göttingen swing dancers!
Dancer, choreographer and teacher, Ziri sees dance as an instinctive and essential response to any music that grooves. Driven by a deep passion for rhythm, he draws inspiration from music that stems from Jazz and Blues — spanning Swing to House, through Rhythm & Blues, Funk, Soul, and more.
He is guided by a constant pursuit: to feel the musical nuances and the emotions they convey. For him, the body extends the ear — becoming a sensitive surface, a space of expression that translates groove into movement, completing and deepening the act of listening.
Since 2016, he has shared this listening through partner dances, which have added a key dimension to his journey: dialogue. A dialogue aimed at creating the deepest possible connections between the music and the dance partners, with their sensitivities and creativity.
Ziri has been teaching since 2018, particularly Lindy Hop and Solo Jazz, and regularly takes part in international festivals.
Moonika has been moving to the rhythms of Swing since childhood. What began in Estonia at the age of 11 quickly grew into a lifelong journey — only two years later she was competing internationally and since then, her path has led through countless festivals, competitions and stages across Europe, collecting not only prizes but also a rich tapestry of experiences and inspirations.
For Moonika, dance is a lively dialogue — with the pulse of the music, with a partner, and with the moment itself. Improvisation, rhythm and creativity are at the heart of her approach, and she has a gift for sparking that same joy in others. Her classes are infused with humour and warmth, encouraging dancers to explore freely, listen deeply, and find their own voice in the dance.
Her repertoire spans Lindy Hop, Balboa, Authentic Jazz, Collegiate Shag, Blues and Tap. She also delights in choreographing, and in 2022 she founded and began leading Göttingen’s performance group, the LieselHoppers — a lively crew that brings Swing to the stage with energy, flair and a wink of fun. Moonika has been teaching Swing regularly since 2007, and for over a decade she has been shaping and sharing her passion with dancers in Göttingen and Kassel, more recently bringing her teaching and creativity to other cities as well.
Michele Alberti Trio
Melodic Piano Jazz and Swing from Hessen
Since 2012, the group led by Michele Alberti has been presenting melodic jazz, swing, and Latin jazz inspired by Oscar Peterson, performed with great joy in the classic lineup of piano, double bass, and drums. They enjoy surprising their audiences with jazz interpretations of well-known classical pieces and familiar jazz standards in a new format.
Prices
25€/workshop for students
35€/workshop for everyone else (5€ Early Bird discount until 28.02)
Donation-based admission to Sat party
Free admission if you register for 3 or more workshops!