Taras Melnyk

Ukraine

Lindy Hop

TARAS MELNYK & LARYSA GLIKINA
Their story started in 1994 at the usual master-class, where they came just because they saw word 'rock-n-roll' in the announcement. They like the music so much, so it was not enough to listen to it – they wanted to know how to dance. First steps were clumsy, but they went on dancing and they fell in love with rock-n-roll, jazz and swing! But that was not so fast !

Larysa Glinkina is a master of sports of USSR in competitive gymnastics, the Champion of Ukraine, participant of combined team of Ukraine and participant of combined team of USSR, she is a winner of lots of All-Union competitions. She entered gymnastics classes when she was 4, and 17 next years became a real life-school: endless sport gatherings, competitions in all big cities of Ukraine, then graduating from the State Pedagogical University - and longing for dance! She tried a lot in different styles of dancing until she started in acrobatic rock-n-roll.

Taras Melnyk was concerned with free style, ushu, aikido and hand-to-hand fight. He got interested in dancing after graduating of Kyiv Polytechnical University. Before he spent 5 years in ball-room dances, 6 years dancing step, but finally he became to rock-n-roll, boogie-woogie and swing. As he wanted to improve himself not only as a dancer, but as a dance teacher, choreographer, he graduated Faculty of Modern Choreography in the State Academy of Culture and Art Leaders.
After their meeting at the seminar the time of bright boogie-woogie and energetic swing became.

Nowadays their hobby is a profession, a lifestyle and passion, and small group of their adherers grown up into the Kyiv Swing Club, which counts more than 500 people of different ages and occupations.

First international festival 'Swinglandia' at the territory of former USSR was set up in 2003. It was a big event for all fans of jazz dance culture. Since that time festival gathers a lot musicians and dancers from all over the world: USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Russia, France, Baltic countries, Belorussia and, of
course, Ukraine. Taras and Larysa take an active part in the festival which gives a lot of bright memories to all participants.

Competitions
World Boogie-Woogie Cup, St.Louis, France (1998)
Boogie-Woogie Worldwide Championship, Helsinki, Finland (1999)
World Boogie-Woogie Cup, Stokach,Germany (1999),
Boogie-Woogie Worldwide Championship, Switzerland (2000),
Silver, Bronze awarded participants of Boogie-Woogie Championships in Russia and Ukraine, winners of Jack-and-Jill at the Camps in
Sweden (Herrang Dance Camp) and Barcelona (Barswingona)

Partiipating in Dance Camps
Herrang Dance Camp, Sweden – 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
Boogie Night Camp, Tampere, Finland – 1999, 2000
BST Toulouse, France – 2004
Barswingona, Barcelona, Spain - 2006
Good Night Sweetheart, London, UK – 2009

Dance teaching and master classes
Swinglandia, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2003 – 2009
Swinglandia, Odessa, Ukraine, 2008
Moscow Christmas Camp, Moscow, Russia, 2004 – 2009
Herrang Dance Camp, Sweden, 2005 – 2008
Swing Express, Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Russia, 2006
Swing Fest, St.Petersburg, Russia, 2008, 2009
SpringSwing, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2007
Aspet Dance Camp, Aspet, France, 2007, 2009
Halloween Dance Camp, Stockholm, Sweden, 2007
Nice, France, 2007, 2008 (master classes)
Moscow, Russia, 2006, 2007, 2008 (master classes)
Sunny Side, Sevastopol, Ukraine, 2008

Nowadays they are dancing and teaching boogie-woogie, lindy-hop, balboa, west-cost-swing, jazz-dance, charlestone, twist and blues, as well as linear (non-coupled or solo) dances – shim-sham, trunky-do, big apple, black bottom etc. They are often invited as teachers and jury members and they make dance stagings for different dance collectives.
Recenlty they worked as choreographers for 'STB' TV channel, in show 'Ukraine's got a talent' – Taras and Larysa made all swing dances and they also directed the leading boogie-woogie dance in the show.

Larysa and Taras