During the previous editions of the
BOTP, Natasha & Olivier were part of the organization team together
with the creator of the BOTP. But as Didier left Nice, this year
they are fully in charge of the BOTP together with a team among
their students.
Natasha is Russian and has been dancing
since she was seven (ballroom dancing, competing and teaching at a very
high level). In 2001 she discovered swing dancing and simply fell in
love with it. She joined innumerable swing dancing workshops in Russia
and other countries, and soon became one of the best Russian dancers and
teachers.
Olivier
is French and discovered his big
passion for Swing in 2001.
They met each other at the Herräng Dance
Camp in Sweden in 2001 and fell in love. They studied together and
started to teach in 2003. Since their marriage they have started to
build up regular classes in Toulouse and in 2005 they moved to the Côte
d’Azur near Cannes and started to develop the Swing culture there.
In 2006 Natasha and Olivier started to
compete together and became NJC Balboa Champions in the Amateur division
for their first run in the American Championships and 5th in NJC Lindy
Hop Championship and jump in the Pro Division.
During the same year they also joined
finals in Jitterbug competitions in Italy, Munich and in Balboa Open of
BOTP in Cannes, Euro Bal’ Cup of Frenchie Balboa Festival in Toulouse
and reached 3rd place in the Euro Bal’ Cup in the Rock That Swing
Festival in Munich.
Last December 2008 for the Euro Bal Cup
in Toulouse they reach the second place just behind Nick Williams
and Kate Hedin.
They compete for fun but they enjoy
especially the social dancing and exchanges around the world by sharing
their passion with others.
Since 2003 their blend of two cultures
has been creating an original style of dancing and a very personal style
of teaching in particularly p all kinds of swing dancing: Lindy Hop,
Boogie Woogie, Balboa and West Coast Swing. They are permanent students in all styles
of dancing and are constantly trying to learn how to improve their
skills and their ways of teaching.
Their creativity and musical synergies
are matched and their professionalism, kindness and humour take them to
teach in some of the biggest camps in the world of Swing: Boogie Night (Finland), Barswingona (Spain), Moscow Swing Dance Camp (Russia), Montpellier Swing Dance Festival (France), Boogie Swing in Toulouse (France), Rock That Swing (Germany), Amsterdam Lindy Hop Workshop (Nederland), Swing Spring 2007 (Finland), but also in workshops in France,
Austria, Ukraine, Russia…
They were and are still involved in
the organization team of some of the biggest international dance camp (Boogie Swing in Toulouse, Montpellier
Swing Dance Festival, Balboa on the promenade, St Petersburg Swing
Festival).
They are also performers in shows for
small/private events or cabaret in some of the most famous places of the
Cote d'Azur alone,
with friends or with their students.
