About us
María Ferrer
Aurélien Darbellay
"Slowness is needed urgently", an anonymous poet from Barcelona
I was born in Valencia but I discovered Lindy Hop in my beloved Barcelona, the place where I live since I was 20. Dancing... I've danced since I can remember. I graduated in ballet and contemporary dance in Professional Dance Conservatory of Valencia and also in the London Contemporary Dance School. My personal and professional life has always revolved around movement, sometimes as a dancer, sometimes as a teacher or choreographer assistant. I've also been involved in community dance projects.
I was in my twenties when I started with Lindy Hop, taking lessons in Barcelona and all around Europe and... I couldn't stop. I remember I was fascinated by the expressive and creative possibilities of this dance. I've loved the connection game, feeling my partner's energy, the dialog through improvisation. Nowadays, I enjoy learning and training every day, improving my moves and musicality and trying to understand more about the nature of movement.
Aurélien and I started dancing together a bit more than two years ago. We train with passion on a daily basis, working on our connection, creating routines for our students and ourselves, and searching for new steps. Together, we've been teaching Lindy Hop in Berlin, Barcelona and Geneva. In Geneva, we also created (with friends) G-swing (g-swing.ch), an association promoting swing dancing in the area, which organizes monthly workshops and a yearly international festival, the shaKe that laKe.
ESDC 2015 was our first international competition. We were awarded the 2nd prize in the Open Classic Showcase Division for our routine danced to Catherine Russell's rendition of the Darktown Strutters' Ball.
Born and raised in Switzerland, I discovered Lindy Hop in my twenties, in Barcelona. From an early stage in my formation, I was lucky enough to have enthousiastic and talented teachers (mainly, Gustav Jakobsson and Héctor Artal), who passed on to me the joy of dance and the desire of constant improvement. Then, over the years, slowly but steadily, my love for this dance and the music it is danced to kept growing. Nowadays, I train, teach and social dance everyday.
I grew up in a musician family. I started playing the violin at the age of 4 and the saxophone some years later. Music is home to me. Accordingly, my favourite thing about swing dancing is how it allows using one's body to interpret and feel the music. I work hard to be able to vary the way I bounce, the stretch I ask for, and my feet variations so that I can express as freely as possible the way swing music makes me feel.
María and I started dancing together a bit more than two years ago. We train with passion on a daily basis, working on our connection, creating routines for our students and ourselves, and searching for new steps. Together, we've been teaching Lindy Hop in Berlin, Barcelona and Geneva, my home town. In Geneva, we also created (with friends) G-swing (g-swing.ch), an association promoting swing dancing in the area, which organizes monthly workshops and a yearly international festival, the shaKe that laKe.
ESDC 2015 was our first international competition. We were awarded the 2nd prize in the Open Classic Showcase Division for our routine danced to Catherine Russell's rendition of the Darktown Strutters' Ball. I myself won the 2nd prize in the Open Jack'n'Jill Division.