Welcome to The Blues Badgers
Blues Festival in the North of Israel
We’ve worked hard in order to put together an unforgettable event for our attendees. Join us in the weekend of 24th to 26th of March for great music, unforgettable dances, and great teachers. This all paired with a view over the Mediterranean Sea. Haifa, the green pearl of Israel, offers mountain, forest, beach and sea and invites for a lazy stroll through its secret and hidden alleys. Explore the site for all the information you need, and let us know if you have any questions.
Schedule
Ticket and Tracks
Dear Lindy Hopper,
Are you Blues curious, but are cautious to commit to a whole festival? You like the music, but not sure how to do "the Blues"?
Don't worry Bro! We got you covered!
We are very proud to introduce the Blues up your Lindy Track at the Blues Badger Festival. You will get:
- Friday only! No need to commit for a whole weekend.
- 3 Classes especially tailored for Hoppers, aiming for a smooth transition.
- Live Band - Tamar Shrek will play for us on the sweet line between Swing and Blues.
- Second Swing Room through the night! Not feeling the Blues? Get your kicks to a Swing DJ in the second dance room ;)
Don't be a square! Come out and Blues with us <3
Dear Blues Dancers,
We believe that Swing loves Blues and vice verse and it is a pity that not more Lindy Hoppers find their way to Blues. Our two dances are close relatives after all and share so much history as well as musical and dance elements. We would like to use this festival as an opportunity to share our passion for Blues with the Swing dance community and maybe spark a new fondness for our favorite hobby here and there.
Don't worry. It's a Blues festival after all, but it is a Blues festival where Swing dancers are welcome.
What's the plan?
We are offering a Blues up your Lindy track especially tailored for our Hopper friends.
- Friday Only! - no need to commit for whole weekend
- 3 Classes specially designed for Hoppers who want to adapt to Blues
- Live Band - (Tamar Shrek) Who will play on the sweet line between Swing and Blues.
- Second Swing Room for the whole night - Don't feel like bluesing after all? Get your kicks in the second room with a Swing DJ.
- After Tamar's performance, we return and continue with Blues (except the second room)
So, bring a Swing friend! This is the chance!
Yours, Blues Badger Team
Venues
Main Venue (All Friday and Saturday)
Hey folks!
Did you hear about this year’s main location? Whatever you can ask from a place, it has it.
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Mirror walls – check
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Wooden Dance Floor – check
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AC- check
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A lot of parking – check
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View to the Mediterranean – check
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2 Dancing rooms – check
Where is this amazing location?
Moshe Got Levin St 22א, Haifa
Teachers
Get inspired, influenced and learn from the best.
Drum roll please! Welcome our first festival teacher Leanna Rozen from the far land of Berlin.
Story time:
I met Leanna for the first time in the Stockholm Blues Festival earlier this year. She was attending that festival as a teacher. I must confess, that I was blown away by her classes. They were small masterpieces. Even, if she covered topics familiar to me, she managed to present them from a new point of view, with a new approach, and make my body do the same old move, but nevertheless different and more correct.
Back then I knew that I need to bring this woman to our community and now, almost a year later, she will finally come.
Give it up for Leanna Rozen!
Give it up for our second festival teacher: Sharon Dobrovinsky!
Sharon is one of the blues dance pioneers in Israel and the organizer of the first international blues dance festival, Feelin’ Blues, that was held in Israel between 2012-2016. From teaching local classes, to hosting blues dance parties and events for many years, she has brought hundreds of blues dance enthusiasts in Israel together.
Sharon also has a rich experience teaching and sharing Blues and Lindy Hop internationally, often traveling to teach around Europe in the pre-Covid times.
For Sharon, who plays the piano & saxophone from an early age, Blues and Swing are more than just another form of music. Sharon strives to teach her students to build a relationship between their dance and the music, as well as the roots of the dance. She is constantly looking to bring together good technique as well as fun and excitement to her classes. Being a people’s person, she aims to create a comfortable atmosphere in her classes with her friendly attitude and personal attention.
Bands
Only the best Blues Bands you can find
It is our great pleasure to welcome Stef "Slidin Wolf" Rosen at our festival. Stef is the Hot Stuff in the international Blues scene and plays all the major festivals including but not only limited to Germany, Austria, Sweden, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
This is not because the European Blues Scene is lacking musicians, he is just so incredible good that everybody wants a piece of him.
No effort is to large for us, and we climbed mountains to bring this outstanding musician for your hearing and dancing pleasure to us to Haifa.
So get ready, to feel the Blues with Stef at the Blues Badger Festival
For a small teaser of his songs, you can visit https://slidinwolf.com/ or find him on Spotify.
We are proud to present to you Tamar Shrek!
Tamar will bring 3 musicians with her from Israel and abroad to our festival to create that full sound, that we love and crave.
But honestly, we believe that just her voice is enough to give us goose bumps.
"Tamar Shrek? The front singer of Swing Nonet?" - you might think. And you would be right! She is! But exclusively for us, she prepares a show for a blues festival.
For a small demo of her skills, check our her video https://youtu.be/vveyHRDlZdM.
Tamar, we are excited to listen and dance to you
Please welcome all the way from Prague Miss Mikey May!
Mikey is an Israeli-American Blues singer with a minor in Jazz and Soul, Mikey's powerful and soulful vocals are inspired by the great Jazz and Blues divas and deliver a double-dose of musicality and emotion that radiate on and off the stage.
Mikey grew up on the stage, singing, acting, and dancing since her school years and well into her twenties. In 2012 she joined the global Swing and Blues dance communities, dancing throughout Europe and absorbing the best Swing and Blues bands from the dance floor.
In early 2016 she launched the Organ Grinders project with Jan Kořínek, world-class Czech Hammond organ player and band leader. In October 2016, the project released their debut album, 'Swing Out the Blues', featuring dancer-friendly swingin' Blues tributes to classic tunes.
Since then, the project released several more albums, increasingly featuring Mikey's original compositions alongside tributes to classic songs. Her music can be heard on dance floors all around the world, as well as various internet and broadcast radio stations.
Welcome our newly formed community band.
חזירי ה-בר - Boars of the Bar
Assembled out of musician-dancers, Boars of the Bar is a Haifa-based group performing blues, swing, and funk.
They will take over the stage for us on Sunday.
Sunday Hike
Hear ye!
If you are thinking if you should take Sunday off from Work to party longer with us at the Blues Badgers Festival, than the answer is yes!
Following an age old Haifan tradition, on Sunday, we will have a hike with our beautiful personal tour guide Chen! Chen will kidnap us into the wild to explore hidden treasured and salvage beautiful views.
Come, and join :)
