Hanna “KJD” N’diaye
Hanna “KJD” Ndiaye is a Lindy Hop and African American Vernacular Jazz performer and educator as well as a jazz singer. Hanna has been dancing almost as long as she has been walking, training mostly in modern Jazz.
She fell in love with Lindy Hop and other African American Vernacular Jazz dances in 2010 when her sister took her to a dance Festival called Barswingona in Barcelona, Spain. Ever since Hanna has been developing her skills in Lindy Hop, an African American social dance that was developed in Harlem, New York City, in the 1920s and 1930s and in African American Vernacular Jazz Dance (AAVJD nowadays also called Authentic Jazz, Solo Jazz or Jazz Roots), the solo jazz dance that grew alongside jazz music.
Mentored by her sister Marie N’diaye, as well as Angela “cookie” Andrews and Chester A. Whitmore, Hanna had many opportunities to showcase both her dancing and singing talent as a chorus girl in Herräng Dance Camp, Sweden (created and led by Marie Ndiaye), and as a dancer for troupes like Jazzy Jasmines (an international troupe also led by Marie Ndiaye) or JazzMad created by Sharon Davis in London. She taught in France, Sweden and London.
In 2022, Hanna created Karukera Jazz Dance (KJD) with her sister Marie Ndiaye, a company exploring vernacular jazz dances through classes, workshops, performances and talks. Currently, Hanna is a member of the Black Lindy Hoppers Fund (BLHF) (an organization dedicated to support African and African diasporic dancers and artists in Lindy Hop and Jazz). She’s also using her daytime job talent as a Financial Analyst to volunteer for the BLHF and Collective Voices for Change (CVFC). The current focus of CVFC is to address the issues of cultural appropriation and racial inequities in the dance scene.
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Stephen Dieyepiri Atemie
Stephen is a fresh young talent emerging from the new generation of Lindy Hoppers. Balancing successfully a career as a Mechanical Engineer with his artistic pursuits this UCL alumnus is equally at home tutoring STEM subjects as he is dancing in front of the camera shooting tv commercials. He is also a Parkour and Wing Chun Kung Fu practitioner.
In 2017, Stephen traveled to South Africa to spend a month working with the charity Sing Inchanga. There he shared skills with local children & young people across their own dance styles and lindy hop.
Following three years representing Swing Patrol as a core teacher, Stephen began his apprenticeship with Angela Andrews in 2018 to delve deeper into the roots of jazz dance, and further lindy hop education from Ron Leslie.
Stephen’s performance/competition credits include 10 Downing Street, Harrods, Savoy Cup (France), ILHC (USA), Rock That Swing (Germany).
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