Artists – Sassy Jazz

Clara is an Austrian-South African dancer, singer and actress. Since completing her Musical Theatre degree at the Performing Academy in Vienna she has performed on a great many wonderful stages (such as Porgy & Bess, Stadttheater Baden, ORF Radiokulturhaus, Oude Libertas Theatre Cape Town, Brucknerhaus Linz and the Musikverein, to name a few). She sings regularly with various big bands and combos and particularly loves singing for swing dancers! As a dancer and teacher Clara's speciality is Tap and Authentic Jazz Dance. She always aims to give her students an appreciation for good technique, attention to detail, musicality and expression, making her classes both challenging and fun!

Clara's Website: www.claramontocchio.com

Hanna is a Swing Dance Instructor with the IG HOP in Vienna, she has been passionate about dancing since early childhood. Her dancing background is very broad and mixed from ballet & folklore to figure skating, salsa, blues, swing and jazz. This brings along an understanding of body movement and access to different kinds of aesthetics. She highly values personality and joy in dance and constantly strives to discover new ways of mixing dance styles. She is a member of the Hot Box Girls and The Jumpin' Juleps in Vienna. Hanna is interested in researching the cultural context and history of Jazz Dance and wants to empower people through dancing. In teaching it is important for her to find a way of connecting with every student. She actively looks for ways to make dance accessable to a range of people.
Hanna's website: www.lionjazz.com

Elena Valencia is a performer and dancer from New York City. She graduated from Brooklyn College and received the Alumni Association award while training at NYC staples such as Steps on Broadway, Peridance, and EXPG in ballet, jazz, hip hop, and contemporary, followed by the Professional Semester at Broadway Dance Center. She has taught Vernacular Jazz in Barcelona, in addition to teaching for Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Elena recently trained at Dance Italia and Herrang Dance Camp on scholarship. She is currently working with The Vanaver Caravan, Wild Rhythm, and is training at Escola Luthier’s Professional Tap Program in Barcelona.

Julie became passionate about swing dancing in autumn 2015, when she discovered the scene in Vienna where people were not only listening but dancing to swing music, bringing a vintage dance into the 21^st century.

Practicing Yoga from an early age (12), she developed a great interest in movement and body consciousness which influences her approach to swing dancing. Since 2017 she is a member of the viennese Chorus Line The Darling Delilahs. Julie has become enthusiastic to learn all kinds of different dances and sports in order to develop into a more versatile dancer.

Maren lives and breathes swing dancing. She fell in love with Lindy Hop in 2014 when she walked into a bar and was fascinated by that dance that didn’t look anything like the dances she had previously learned. Since then she has been traveling around Europe and the U.S. to dance, learn and compete as much as she can. Maren loves the joy swing dancing is bringing into her life and has been focusing on becoming the best follower and dancer she can be. She loves spending the days training hard in the studio and dancing the nights away on the social dance floor. Performing, jamming solo and swinging out fast are only some of her passions.

Maren brings her love for the dance into her classes and focusses on teaching with clear instructions, high energy and lots of smiles.

Maren's website: www.marenmerian.com

CLARA

HANNA

ELENA

JULIE

KARIN

KARINE

MAREN

CLARA MONTOCCHIO

HANNA LÖWENHERZ

ELENA VALENCIA

JULIE HORNUNG

KARIN CHENG

KARINE LABEL

MAREN MERIAN