Liesel Hop ARTist
Liesel Hop
The third edition of the Göttingen Lindy Exchange has again a very special topic. We will look at swing dance as a form of art. The beauty of improvised dance lasts barely longer than the beat of a drum. In the ARTist edition of the Liesel Hop, you can learn how to preserve such moments in dance photography, integrate ideas from improvisational theatre in your dancing, get a new perspective on swing music, and discover many other art forms related to swing dance. More than 150 dancers await you in one of the oldest student towns, right in the centre of Germany.
Göttingen
Göttingen is known for its centuries-old university, its richly ornamented, half-timbered houses and its rich student scene. Located right in the center of Germany, south of Hannover and at the edge of the Harz uplands, Göttingen is never far away. Although small with 134.000 inhabitants, the city has a vivid cultural life. During the Liesel Hop, you will experience one of the highlights: the Night of Culture with numerous concerts all through the old town.
Liesel
The Gänseliesel is the most kissed girl of Göttingen – and the landmark, that the Liesel Hop is named after. She is a fountain figure of a young maid taking care of geese. It is a tradition that doctoral students, after their graduation, climb up the fountain, bring the Gänseliesel flowers and earn the once-in-a-lifetime-honor to kiss her.
Harlem Swing Cats
The Harlem Swing Cats evolved as a new formation around local musicians from Göttingen dedicated to authentic styles in Swing Jazz. With strong woodwinds and horns flying on top of a driving classical rhythm section, the Harlem Swing Cats fill the air with authentic grooves and playful riffs. Fresh tributes to bands like Basie’s Kansas City 7 and Fats Waller and his Rhythm, spiced up with occasional vocals contribute to an authentic experience, both in style and in flow.
Hanna Carlson
Hanna Carlson is an accomplished Jazz singer based in Göttingen. She works together with several local jazz bands. One of her most popular recordings is “100 Years Ella Fitzgerald”.
Lennart Westerlund
Lennart is one of the pacesetters of the swing dance revival in the 1980’s. In 1983 he came across the Lindy Hop through books and old film clips, and in May of the following year he travelled to New York on the look-out for the roots of the dance form. He soon met, studied, and started to spend time with old-timers including Al Minns, Frankie Manning and Norma Miller. He co-founded the highly influential Swedish dance company The Rhythm Hot Shots (now Harlem Hot Shots) in the mid 1980’s. A few years later, the company was in the forefront of the first steps of the revival of the Lindy Hop, and in 1989 they took over the complete organisation of the Herräng Dance Camp, and invited legendary swing dancer Frankie Manning to visit his first major international swing dance camp.
Today, Lennart continues to be an active dancer, instructor, history and culture lecturer, dance competition judge, and event organiser. He divides his time between the Herräng Dance Camp, the Chicago swing dance studio, and traveling around teaching and giving lectures. After some 35 years as a key figure in the Lindy Hop renaissance and revival, Lennart is one of the very few pioneers in the Lindy Hop revival that are still active in the scene. His background and dedicated interest in the Harlem roots of vernacular jazz dancing has positioned him as an important link between the past and the present.
Sustainability
We are aware, that our festival hast a significant CO₂ footprint. Therefore, we take measures to reduce the impact. We encourage you to think about your way of traveling to this festival, organise bike rentals for you (may be even for free!), avoid plastic waste, and offer vegetarian dishes only for the Lazy Lindy Brunch. Additionally, we will compensate part of our ecological impact. Each participant can optionally contribute 5€ or more during the registration. We will use your contributions to compensate the CO₂ footprint via Atmosfair.
“Atmosfair” is a German non-profit organisation that actively contributes to CO₂ mitigation by promoting, developing and financing renewable energies.
Additionally, we will try to provide a possibility to support participants that cannot afford to attend the Liesel Hop by dedicating a small percentage of your sustainability contributions towards this cause. Please let us know if you are in a difficult situation and need some support to attend.