LINDY HOP SPECIAL Tadas & Pamela

Humorous, dynamic, and full of heart with a touch of the anarchic, Pamela was captivated by the energy of Lindy Hop at sixteen when she began classes at ‘Lindyhop.lt Club’ in Vilnius. For Pamela, dancing is about more than perfect movement; it’s about self-expression and connecting with the music. Improvisation is where her passion truly shines, as it continually amazes her with its endless possibilities for creativity and freedom. She finds great joy in practicing and refining her own dancing, constantly uncovering new ideas and insights. Pamela eagerly shares these discoveries in her classes, not just as final outcomes, but as part of the creative process, encouraging students to embrace exploration and growth.

Tadas and Pamela met on a dance floor in Lithuania, and for years they enjoyed social dancing as it was. Just before the pandemic hit, they decided to practice here and there, now and then. Oh, little did Tadas and Pamela know that they would have all the time on their hands and that they would start meeting each other every week. And just like that, while sharing an interest and passion for African American dances, their casual dance offs slowly grew into a solid partnership. Now, as the world is slowly coming back on its feet, they have started traveling and competing to share their love for dancing. Tadas and Pamela’s classes focus on a personal style, motivation to practice, and surely this powerful magic called IMPROVISATION. They dance to express, to feel and inspire!

Tadas Vasiliauskas is Lindy Hop and Authentic Jazz dancer based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Tadas has been dancing, competing, actively performing and choreographing for over 10 years. He is most proud of leading a performance troupe, bringing Lindy Hop on the theater stage and founding Harlem Speaks Easy jazz club in Vilnius. These days he is mostly traveling and teaching in festivals around the world. Tadas can be frequently found playing jazz trombone too. On the dance floor, you can recognize him for his playful dance style and great energy.

Honey Boulton specialises in swing and bebop guitar, and has what is drescribed by Soweto Kinsch (of BBC 3) as “…a timelessly authentic sound” After recently returning to the UK from his hometown Wellington, New Zealand, he has become a solid proponent of the musical landscape that is the London jazz scene, performing at venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, Pizza Express Dean Street, The 100 Club, as well as regularly touring abroad, playing at clubs such as Duc De Lombards (Paris), and Unity Jazz Göteberg, and playing at international festivals, such as Festival Django Reinhardt. With a love of a wide breadth of styles and artists, he is able to play across the board stylistically, with a joy that is positively contagious.

Honey makes up one third of the Adrian Cox trio, and is a regular fixture in Giacomo Smith’s Hot Five, and has performed with many artists such as Joe Webb, Georgia Cecile, Snorre Kirk, Pete Horsfall, Deschanel Gordon and Laura Jurd.

Honey feels equally at home in a large ensemble as he does in a solo or accompanying vocalists in a duo setting (and everything in between), he is known for his sensitivity and empathetic playing style as well as his hard driving rhythm playing. As well as a performer Honey is also an avid composer, with a body of original works which are featured in his significant collection of recorded works, most notably his fourth album ‘Honey Plays Boulton’, which Jamie Cullum noted on BBC radio 2: “he’s just written so many good tunes on this record and they are played so beautifully … everything about this swings.”

Jazz clarinetist and saxophonist Martí Mitjavila hails from Barcelona, where he discovered jazz through the records his father brought home. His passion for music and his dream to become a musician led him to graduate at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, where he got the chance to learn from some of the best musicians in the field.

Together with Simon Osuna (double bass) and David Puime (drums), he forms the Martí Mitjavila Trio with whom he won the first prize at the Prinses Christina Jazz Concours in 2019.

After finding a CD from Chet Baker in her parent’s attic at the age of 14, Laura fell in love with jazz and has never looked back. She graduated cum laude at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and later went on to accept a “Special Appreciation Award” at the Laren Jazz Awards.

As Laura sings the night away, she will take you on an experience with her story telling quality and warm vocals. The Great American Songbook will forever be one of her major inspirations.