MEET YOUR TEACHERS
Adamo Ciarallo
Adamo is dedicated to nurturing, developing, and promoting the blues scene in Europe. Thanks to his impressive linguistic abilities he can offer classes in English, Spanish, Italian and (passable) French!
Adamo has a professional qualification in teaching adults and he sees his role as teacher to facilitate the classroom in response to learner’s needs, enabling all students to achieve their potential. His classes focus on highlighting the relationship between the dancers and the music and the importance of personal expression and creativity.
He loves social dancing, teaching, competing, and listening to music, and spends his ‘spare’ time reading and learning about the history of the dance forms he loves so much. What makes Adamo’s dancing life worthwhile is the commitment, enthusiasm, and energy of his students and everybody else in what he describes as “this beautiful community of dancers”.
Adamo is the founder of the Good Time Blues Fest and cannot wait to welcome you all in his hometown Guglionesi!
Vicci Moore
Vicci is a professional dancer, specialising in blues dance.
There is nothing Vicci loves more in the world than dancing! She trained in a number of solo dances before discovering partner dancing in her twenties, has a diploma in Anatomy and Physiology, a first class honours degree in Dance and Choreography, has accredited training in teaching adults.
A trained teacher, Vicci places a great deal of importance in high quality pedagogy and is currently studying for a Masters degree in Education. Her studies are focused primarily on the impact of cultural appropriation in dance teaching, and the importance of the inclusion of dance in the national curriculum for young peoples’ development and self esteem.
She puts the music at the core of her teaching and dancing and tries to honour the cultural roots of the dance in all her classes. She believes in giving people the tools to become their own dancer and encourages all her students to find their own voice.
Damon Stone
Damon has been dancing his entire life, starting with vernacular Jazz/Blues first taught to him at the tender age of six by his grandmother. After nearly a decade of learning at the heels of his elders, he went on and eventually studied a score of different dance forms until coming full circle in 1995 to focus primarily on the history and styles of Swing and Blues as his family danced them with a special focus on the Southern styles from the Mississippi Delta region.
He has studied the development of vernacular Jazz/Blues dance across the United States learning from a number of the original dancers.
He is largely regarded as one of the foremost authorities on Blues idiom dance, a long time board member of the Northern California Lindy Society, former member of the California Historical Jazz Dance Foundation, and has been interviewed as a dance historian in documentary and for radio.
Damon has been a featured instructor at camps, festivals, and workshops across five continents.
KELSY STONE
Kelsy brings her lifetime of dance training, a passion for vernacular dance, and a sharp eye for technique to the Blues dance world. She has brought her joy and knowledge of blues idiom dances to some of the most important and high-profile events in the US and abroad, including but not limited to: bluesSHOUT!, The Experiment, Muse, Hearken the Blues, Black Label Blues, and BluesGeek--serving as faculty, mentor, competition coordinator, and judge.
Kelsy's critical eye and love of deep technique are tempered by her love of "dad jokes," getting lost in the music, and embracing of the ridiculous. She shows her appreciation of African American culture by speaking of the history of Blues idiom dance and taking her craft seriously, but never herself.
She believes every mistake is an opportunity to learn, every class an opportunity to challenge, and every dance an opportunity to pay respect to those who came before.
Flouer Evelyn
Flouer Evelyn is a dance instructor & Embodiment Coach from New York City, currently based out of Turin, Italy. She has been teaching blues seriously since 2010, has an MFA in dance and a background in contemporary, Latin Ballroom, ballet, and ice skating.
She has won plenty of Blues competitions, and of course performed & taught all over the world. But what's important is that in the classroom Flouer has a warm, encouraging personality. She is always pushing you just a little more, showing you a path to further success.
She is known for her values of artistry and personal expression, complimented by her ability to break down any movement into incredibly specific detail. Using imagery, anatomy, rhythm, embodiment and concepts, she will build your dance from the ground up; all the while teaching you about the musicians you are listening to, why a movement evolved the way it did historically, and the cultural context from where it came. https://flouerdances.com
“The reason to master technique is so the body does not prevent the soul from expressing itself” – la Meri
Gastón Fernandez
Gas is a passionate dancer, a Swing and Blues lover.
He discovered Lindy Hop in 2001 in Buenos Aires (Argentina). Since then his compromise with the dance and the music has been increasing, leading him to leave his continent to keep learning and improving as a dancer.
He has been teaching classes since 2008 in Buenos Aires, and internationally since 2009. He has traveled from Rio de Janerio (Brasil), to Melbourne (Australia), passing through New York, London, Stockholm, Berlin, etc.
His background as a gymnast gives his style power, dynamism and explosive aerials. His tango technique background provided his blues and “slow dance” with a profound conexion and sensitivity.
Gas´s heart is thirsty to keep improving, learning, developing and fulfilling himself as a swing artist. His compromise is to transmit his passion, knowledge and inspire all those who are interested in this incredible world of Swing and Blues dance.
Alba Mengual
Alba met swing and blues dances in 2007, and started to teach them for fun. She has been fully dedicated professionally to them since 2013. She brought her analytic foundation from her old career (pharmacy, medical information) and found in teaching a new way to apply her love for communication and teaching. Seven years ago she opened a school alongside Gastón Fernández, in her hometown, Madrid.
Her passion made her want to cover everything: from the local organization to organize international workshops, local and international teaching, and little by little developing experience in choreographing and shows. Her true passion is teaching and dance socially, letting go and allowing the communication magic to spark. If she can teach both things, connecting the students with their self expression and how to express it through the jazz and blues language, she knows she has succeeded.
Everything framed by jazz culture, that she learned to love and study with devotion from his dance partner Gastón Fernández. One day they were walking through Harlem and he said to her “After this walk, your dance will never be the same”. And it was true.
Mike Sonder
Mike strives to create a learning environment that is fun, challenging, and inclusive. The goal is for each individual student to find their next step forward and enjoy that process of growth. Mike loves seeing students’ eyes light up when they understand a concept or feel a movement work naturally in their body for the first time.
Mike has taught dance in 21 countries and counting. He currently teaches Lindy Hop, Air Steps, Solo Jazz, and many different Blues styles.
Mike lives and breathes dance. He is constantly honing his skills and developing new ideas. If you run into him at a grocery store, on public transit, in a museum, or on a mountain top, you’ll probably catch him dancing.
Kenneth Shipp
Kenneth Shipp hails from St. Louis, MO as an instructor who grew up dancing hip hop and breakdancing before jumping into blues.
He has spent the past few years passionately studying the family of blues idioms, incorporating his nerdy personality along the way. Kenneth’s life experiences inform his dancing and wants his students to walk away with a better historical and contextual understanding to exhibit it in their dances.
With every class and practice, he’ll encourage you to approach social dancing with coolness, relaxation, or in other words “Chill The F$%& Out.”
When he’s not dancing, you can likely find him ranting about the latest blockbuster movie, game, or nerd convention.
Bibi Elespini
Bibi has been dancing for 25 years (and teaching for over 18!), but it is only when she discovered the blues that she found her true “perfect match”. The overwhelming passion for blues music and dance quickly became a one-way ticket to the world. She is a well-known face on the international scene, having travelled all around Europe, USA and Asia to deepen her knowledge, teach, share and spread all of her love and appreciation for the blues. She has given birth also to several communities of blues dancers in Italy, teaching weekly courses and workshops since 2014.
Bibi holds a strong sense of respect for the values of African American culture, and for the importance of researching and respecting the cultural roots and history of blues. What she loves about blues are the breadth of blues music as well as the creativity, the freedom of expression and the deep connection and communication with the music and the partner in the dance.
Aside from dancing, she is a nerd of body mechanics, is a certified yoga instructor and is just about to graduate in Kinesiology and Movement Sciences.
Edmilson Bothelo
Edmilson da Cruz Botelho was born and grew up in São Tome and Principe, an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. Since was young he always lived in a dance environment and danced some African and traditional dances of his country including usôa, puíta, funaná, kadance (kizomba) and semba in a group of his uncle, the Musicdance group.
At age 12, Michael Jackson "King of POP" became his idol and he liked imitating him for his classmates! Other dancers such as Usher, Ne Yo, Omarion, Chris Brown and Justin Timberlake awakened his great interest in POP style.
He was introduced to Lindy Hop when living in Portugal in 2012. He quickly became part of the performance and teaching team for Swing Station School in Porto and over the years has won numerous competitions in Lindy Hop and solo Jazz. He now teaches for Hop Dance Studio in Porto, teaching Lindy Hop, aerials, and partnered and solo Blues dance. He has been invited to participate in various Blues Dance events over the years, including Bluesology teacher training in Valencia, and we are delighted to be welcoming him to the team.