Tartu Summer Swing 2024 (English)

[eestikeelne veebileht]

Meret and Kristijonas are swing dancers, performers, choreographers and teachers based in Zurich. During their four years of teaching together, they have developed techniques and exercises to evolve dancing in Swing rhythm. They are one of the co-founders of the dance school “Ella’s Fellas” in Zurich.

Kristijonas has been dancing Lindy Hop since he was 14 years old. He got introduced to Jazz music early on by his multi-instrumentalist dad, who would play his big collection of Jazz CDs in the car. Being a piano and flute player himself, Kristijonas feels a strong connection to melody, harmonies and rhythm, which is prominent in his dancing.

Having a sunny and free-spirited personality, Meret values warmth and individuality in dancing. She has been a finalist in many Mix&Match and Solo competitions and has taught internationally. Having worked as an occupational therapist, she has the ability to approach different people and help them in their Swing dancing journey. A class with Meret feels like getting a drink with your best friend outside in the sun.

When you register, you’ll be asked to place yourself in a group: A or B. Each group will undertake 3 * 1.5 hour classes in lindy hop over the weekend. Classes for both groups will teach new material and be attentive to technique. But there’s a difference of emphasis between the two groups (which you can see in the descriptions).

Group A : You’ve got some basics down. You know the shape of a few of the main figures in lindy hop and Charleston. You can keep your rhythm (switch between 6 and 8 counts). But you really feel like the main absence in your dancing is vocabulary—i.e. the range of figures you can lead and/or follow. You want to expand this range. You may agree that technique is important too. But your primary aim at the moment is to expand your vocabulary. You keep seeing moves on social media or in your community that you don’t know how to do. And you want to know how to do them.

Group B : Your vocabulary doesn’t include everything you see on social media and in your scene, though it does cover a fairly large chunk of it. Although you have more figures to learn, you really feel that the main absence in your dancing is the quality with which you do those figures that you (probably) already know. Although you do want to learn new material,  you have a significant interest in improving your dancing holistically by improving your fundamentals.

• Friday (DJs): the cellar of the Estonian Writers’ Union (a.k.a. Kultuuriklubi Salong, Vanemuise 19)
• Saturday (DJs and live band): the Art Nouveau Hall of the Tartu Institute of German Culture (Kastani 1)
• Sunday (DJs): Swing Tartu’s dance hall (Kastani 48)

Hailing from Tartu, the swing band Keraamica will be playing live for us. The band has already performed at several Tartu swing events — including Tartu Swing’s birthday event earlier this year–if you were there, you’ll recognize them.

Getting to Tartu

If you’re flying to Estonia to come to the event, then you’ve got two options: to fly to Tallinn (Estonia’s capital) and then take a bus or a train (about 2 hours) from Tallinn to Tartu; or to fly into Riga (in Latvia) and then take a bus (about 4 hours) (or a couple of trains (Latvian side, Estonian side) up to Tartu. There are pluses and minuses of each approach. But each one’s an option. There might be a third option: to fly into Helsinki (and hence, Finland) and then take a flight down to Tartu. But the flight to Tartu is still being negotiated. So you’ll have to check closer to the time. 

If you take a train from Tallinn to Tartu at peak hours, then you might want to arrive 10 minutes early at the Tallinn main station to guarantee a seat.

Getting around Tartu

You can get around Tartu pretty easily by foot, if you have the time. But there are electric scooters and city bikes that you can rent to make moving between the city centre and the venues a bit faster. And of course, there are also buses within the town.

Tartu has plenty of museums, galleries, bars and cafes (https://visittartu.com/). And a river running through it. This year it’s the European Capital of Culture (you can see the programme for that here).

How can I pay the participation fee?
After you’ve filled out the registration form, the TSS team will send you a confirmation email. In that email will be information about payment. We’ll ask you make a bank transfer. If you need a receipt, then please let the TSS team know.

How quickly do I have to pay?
Once you’ve received the confirmation email from the TSS team, we ask that you pay the participation fee within 7 days.

I’ve not yet received the confirmation email. What should I do?
You are probably on the waiting list. Also please make sure that you gave us your correct email address. If necessary, please contact swingtartu@gmail.com.

What does it mean to be on the waiting list?
During the registration period, you’ll be added automatically to the waiting list. We are keeping track of the lead-follow balance in groups, so the arrival of your confirmation email depends on how many dancers of the opposite role have signed up. In our experience, those who register without a partner will probably be on the waiting list for longer. For that reason, we recommend that you look for someone you can register with (a person’s “partner” means: someone in the other role (lead/follow) in the same group). NB! We’ll register at most one extra participant for every 6 lead-follow pairs.

Do I have to register with a partner?
Nope. However, registration with a partner to the same group guarantees a place for both in the classes. NB! Both partners should still register separately. 

What happens if flights don’t arrive on time, etc.?
If it happens that the teachers don’t arrive to Estonia because their flights were cancelled (a strike, a cancellation, an extreme delay), then Tartu Swing will try to find a way to make the classes happen, but obviously we cannot guarantee the classes announced would take place in this instance.

Reimbursement and Cancellation
If the festival is cancelled for reasons relating to the organizers (personal reasons), the participants will get a 100% reimbursement of the participation fee. If at the time of the event, proof of vaccination rules apply in Estonia, then the organizers will not reimburse the participation fee (to those who don’t have proof of vaccination). A participant has a right to sell their own ticket onwards to someone else in the same role at the same level only if they have the permission of the organizers.

Data Protection
Photographs and videos will be made at the event. They’ll be used on Tartu Swing’s social media accounts and webpage. Personal data collected for organizing the festival will be held by MTÜ Tartu Swing for only 2 years. Extra information: the organizers may make small changes to the festival programme and timetable without announcing these to the participants.