INSTRUCTORS

We are still making some final decisions for teachers so stay tuned...
What we have confirmed for now is:

Steven Mitchell

For the past ten+ years, Steven has come to Australia to share their passion for Lindy Hop.
As the event grew in size with more dancers attending, Steven was able to invite other instructors.

This year, along with the U.S. instructors invited to teach the track classes at the camp, Steven has also
extended an invitation to Australia's hometown instructors to be part of the education for Swing Camp Oz.

In the mornings, there will be classes available taught by other Australian teachers.
This will give all the students an opportunity to learn from a local instructor they normally do not get to work with on a daily basis.

Special treat for 2012: The last living member of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers - NORMA MILLER

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Order Norma's Book SWING, BABY SWING! so she can sign it in person for you.
We will have a book discussion/Q&A with Norma on Wednesday at Glenelg:
CLICK HERE to order now
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Norma Miller was first discovered as a gifted young Lindy Hopper by Herbert "Whitey" White when she was just 14 years old. Since she was too young to go into the Savoy Ballroom, she often danced outside on the sidewalk where the music could be heard quite well. The first time Whitey saw her she appeared out of nowhere on the dance floor and won a Savoy dance contest with Twistmouth George as her partner.

Norma Miller was the youngest of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers when she joined the group. She was from the start a very creative dancer with her own often comic style and she possessed an outstanding sense of rhythm. A vivacious and outspoken person, she was and still is always the life of every party.

Norma Miller has been in show business ever since those sidewalk days. After Whitey's Lindy Hoppers disbanded in the early forties, she formed her own company in California, Norma Miller's Dance Company and had her own show at the legendary Club Alabam in the Watts section of L.A. In the early fifties she, Billy Ricker and drummer Michael Silvers worked as the Del Rio Trio, until the night Sammy Davis Jr. saw the group and promptly hired away Mike Silvers to be his drummer. In the later fifties she formed Norma Millers Jazz Men, which included fellow Lindy Hopper Billy Ricker, Frankie Manning's son the tap dancer Chazz Young, Billy Dotson, Stoney Montenez and Raymond (?).

A lifelong close friend of Frankie Manning, Norma danced with him in Spike Lee's feature film, Malcolm X and in Debbie Allen's TV Film Stomping at the Savoy, which she choreographed with Manning as her assistant. Together they choreographed the lindy hop sequence in the Alvin Ailey ballet, Opus McShan. They were featured in the Ken Burns PBS special Jazz together.

STEVEN MITCHELL started his dance career by studying Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Ballroom and Hip Hop in both
Los Angeles and New York.

He started Lindy Hopping / Swing Dancing 1978/1979 together with his partner Erin Stevens.
They worked with Al Minns in New York 1982, and brought Frankie Manning out of retirement in
1986 by working together with him.

STEVEN is a major influence in the ever-changing world of Lindy Hop social dancing. He is well known for his incredible
versatility, creativity, energy and style. His innovative approach has taken the Lindy hop to places where no-one else was
prepared to go. He has made it a living art form, while ensuring his dancing and teaching remain true to the original spirit
of this great dance. His charismatic teaching style make dancers at all levels challenge themselves to the utmost.

MIKE & LAURA feel incredible joy while they are dancing, and it infects everyone around them. Like some kind of crazy joy-plague.

That is why they dance as often as humanly possible and travel all around the globe competing, teaching and just plain social dancing for the fun of it: because they want to bring about world peace through the power of dance.

They have a healthy dose of competitive titles, but, more than that, their inspiring, enthusiastic approach to Lindy Hop and Blues invigorates their students and the dance floor.

Steven saw these two compete together at the International Lindy Hop Championships (ILHC) this past year.
They impressed him so much that he decided to add them to the Camp Oz Lindy Hop teaching staff.

CARL NELSON has been a dancer since 2001 focusing on lindy hop, charleston and other traditional jazz dances from the 1920s to the 1940s. He has won competitions all over the country, taught at events ranging from local classes to large national events, and has performed for a variety of organizations and events.

His dance style is dynamic and innovative, focusing on the natural mechanics of the body and the rhythm and mood of the music he is dancing to. As a teacher he is thorough and clear in explaining and connecting movements and concepts to students in a manner that they understand from their daily life.

KELLY ARSENAULT has been dancing since she was seven years old. She grew up performing with modern dance companies in Tennessee and New York City. Kelly's swing dance career began in 2005, and since then she has competed and taught around the world.

Her balboa achievements include: 2008 All Balboa Weekend Classic Champion, Balboa Rendezvous Champion (2006, 2007, 2010) and 2010 ILHC Balboa Champion.

She holds lindy hop titles as well including 2007 US Open Champion and 2008 Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown Champion.

Her love of swing dance, its history, and its evolution leads her all over the world. She has taught extensively in the US, Canada, Europe, Korea, and Australia. And she is SO happy to be teaching with the amazing Carl Nelson at Swing Camp Oz!

THOMAS BLACHARZ is, without a doubt, one of the most talented dancers in the world. His unique style is defined by free form body movement and intricate musicality and he is constantly pushing the limits of swing as we know it. With over 12 years of dance experience, Tommy not only exudes expertise on the social dance floor, but he can clearly articulate the various element that make up his dancing. His classes are filled with fun, humor, good dance technique and most of all great dancing. His talents have been passed on to some of the top dancers in the world today and he is a major organizer/teacher in one of the strongest dance scenes in Europe, Montpellier, France. The last few years, Tommy has been placed in major international competitions such as Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown & International Lindy Hop Championship. He is a key member of the Famous troupe: The Ninjammerz who performed their Jitters choreography at Frankie95 in New York City. Lately, they proudly performed alongside the famous Electro-Swing Band Caravan Palace & has been involved in running the project �I charleston the world�!

If you haven�t already had the chance to let this man inspire you, it is one opportunity you would never want to miss!

Alice started dancing at 4 years old. From 4-14yrs old she had the honor of interpreting almost every single Disney Character from �Dopey� to �Tinker-Bell�.

She eventually joined a national dance school for another 4 years where she practiced Ballet, Contemporary and Jazz dance daily. After a few unsuccessful attempts at african dancing, flamenco, and kick boxing she eventually met her true love, Lindy Hop!

Alice is definitely at her happiest when she is swingin� it on the dance-floor. You will most likely hear her giggling from the other side of the room when she is social dancing. Alice enjoys keeping her dancing simple and natural. It seems like her silliness has reached enough people since she won the �dancers choice award� at ULHS in 2006. In class, she teaches the same principals that she cherishes as a dancer and she mainly focuses on keeping things simple and in rhythm.

JOEL PLYS is the camp organizer and instructor.
He has been teaching in Australia since 2003 and has been all over the country
(Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, and Tasmania).

He will be focusing on organizing a great camp for all of you and some classes too.

Joel has taught all over the world and organizes a number of other camps including:
The Balboa Rendezvous (held each April in San Diego)
The Catalina Swing Dance Festival (held each November on Catalina Island)

SOPHIE YESBERG is the proud owner of Swing Zing in Perth
Sophie's aim is to impart the immense joy of Swing Dance to the dance community.
She has organized many events with international teachers in Balboa, Blues, Lindy Hop and Charleston, has created the only regular Balboa and Blues classes in Perth, and often includes Collegiate Shag and line dances in her weekly classes.

Sophie loves mixing socially with the Australian Swing Dance community and has been privileged to teach at major events such as the Melbourne Swing Festival, Sydney Swing Festival, Camp Oz (Duh!), Church City Blues, Balboa on the River, and Balboa Rendezvous in the USA.