St. Olaf Lindy Festival 2008 (SOL Fest)
February 29-March 1, 2008
Beat the Minnesota winter with some hot dancing at St. Olaf College's 2nd annual SOL Fest! The weekend kicks off with the biannual St. Olaf Swing Dance featuring live music by all three St. Olaf Jazz bands. On Saturday, improve your skills with lindy hop, balboa, Charleston, and blues classes taught by Stan and Lisa Ponkin, Jeff Camozzi and Liz Johnson, and a fantastic blues instructor (identity TBA shortly…we can't give away all of our secrets right away, can we? Wink). The fun continues with yet another dance on Saturday night, this time featuring the return of The Shamen, a dynamic jazz ensemble composed of St. Olaf musicians.
Schedule:
Friday:
8:30 pm Beginning Swing Dance Lesson
9:00 pm - 12:00 am Swing Dance with St. Olaf Jazz I, II, and III (Pause, Buntrock Commons)
Saturday:
Class schedule TBA
9:00 pm - 12:00 am Swing Dance with The Shamen (Location TBA)
Pricing:
Early Bird Discount*: $15/$25 (student, non-student)
Regular Registration: $25/$35
Individual classes/Saturday dance: $6/$8
• No cost for St. Olaf students
• Make checks out to St. Olaf College
*Pre-registration must be postmarked by February 18. To receive housing you must pre-register!
Go to the following site for the registration form:
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/10/11/280683/SOL%20Fest%20Registration%20Form.doc
Housing:
Free housing on campus with St. Olaf students is available for students visiting from other colleges. Placement will be made on a first registered, first served basis, though those traveling great distances will receive priority over those from nearby. In order to receive housing you must pre-register and have your housing form postmarked by February 18! The housing form can be found here:
http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/10/11/280683/SOL%20Fest%20Housing%20Registration%20Form.doc
Questions?
Email
SOLFest@stolaf.edu or send a PM to Becca (stl_swing) with all of your questions, comments, and requests.
Instructor and Musician Bios:
Stan and Lisa Ponkin
About Lisa
It was while attending college in 2001(U of M, Morris on a women's wrestling scholarship) that Lisa discovered Lindy Hop. Once she started she was hooked; there was no turning back. Seven years latter, Lisa now loves to dance and teach Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa and Drag Blues and continues to study with many of today's top dancers. She is the 2007 National Jitterbug Amateur Lindy Hop Champion and the 2007 American Lindy Hop Pro/Am Champion. Besides traveling and competing nationally Lisa thrives on passionately dedicating herself to learning partnered jazz dancing and sharing it with others. Oh yeah, and she loves to be tossed around by Stan. Razz
About Stan
Stan has a variety of well-traveled dance experience. His start in dance came in 1993 with Dance Studio Allegro (Lithuania) where he studied and performed many styles of hip-hop and ballroom dance. After traveling across Europe with the Allegro dance group, Stan found the challenging dance of Lindy Hop in 2001 and became really excited about this "new" style of dance. Dedicated to learning Lindy Hop, Stan moved to St. Petersburg, Russia to become a member of the Swing Dance Company. After two years of focused Lindy training, Stan then moved to England learning how to dance afro-dance. Through his studies there his passion for Lindy Hop grew leading to his move to Minnesota in 2005 where he met Lisa. He is now the 2007 National Jitterbug Amateur Lindy Hop Champion and the 2006 National Jitterbug Pro/Am Champion. Stan continues to improve his unique dance style by incorporating his diverse background in Hip-Hop and Ballroom into his Lindy Hop and he loves to share his knowledge of the dance!
Jeff Camozzi and Liz Johnson
What is dancing to this energetic duo? It's an expression of music, energy, and enjoyment. Jeff and Liz focus first on the fun. They believe that the path to dance enlightenment does not lie in how perfectly one triple-steps, but how joyfully one expresses themselves!
Jeff and Liz have been practicing their "fun first" method of swing dancing for three years in many different venues. Jeff has enjoyed traveling a variety of states and picking up inspiration along the way as Liz developed her technique from her hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Through competitions and performances, both have shown audiences that one can have fun and still look great on the dance floor. They combine traditional Lindy with a large emphasis on personal style.
Jeff and Liz now live in Atlanta, Georgia, where they dance socially, compete socially, and teach...socially. They have been spotted at the 2007 Gulf Regionals (Florida), the 2007 American Lindy Hop Championships (Connecticut), the 2006 and 2007 Cats Corner (Minnesota), Lindy Focus (North Carolina), Down South Camp Meeting (Atlanta), and many dance locations throughout the U.S. Stop and ask them for a dance or smile - or both!
Blues instructor - TBA
The Shamen
The Shamen have been together since the fall of 2005. The group was founded by Benjamin Baker and Jacob Dalager when they met at an advisory meeting at St. Olaf College. They often play jazz standards at weddings, art shows, bars, and wine tastings, etc. The band's main focus, however, is on a repertoire of original songs and arrangements that it performs in and around the St. Olaf campus and in the Twin Cities area. Members of the group are in various ensembles at St. Olaf, including the college's renowned top band, orchestra, and jazz band. Several members have been recognized for their musical talent at the state level and three are music majors. The group is composed of Benjamin Baker on piano, Jacob Dalager on trumpet, Christopher Hanley on drums, and Christy Mooers on bass.
I got this emailed from a rep from St. Olaf, Becca and you can reach them by emailing:
SOLFest@stolaf.edu
(I've been to this before and it's a way chill, way fun event. Good times had by all!)
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Calendar
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
