WHAT A JAZZ DANCE STUDIO
Since 2017, but we go way back.
WHAT A JAZZ
The studio is set in perhaps the most interesting space in Vilnius – Lukiškės Prison 2.0 (Lukiškių skg. 6). A space filled with swing, claps on the beat, stomping feet and laughter.
Take a look
Teachers
Andrius Brazauskas
Balboa
From Hoppers to What a Jazz
What a Jazz grew out of Vilnius's swing community. Its roots reach back to 2009, when the first dancers started out at the Lindyhop.lt club and later gathered at the Hoppers dance studio – learning, training, performing and teaching Lindy Hop and other vernacular jazz dances.
In 2017 the studio was renamed and reshaped into What a Jazz – a professional swing and jazz dance studio, today based at Lukiškės Prison 2.0. Over our second decade we've changed our name, our team and more than one home, but the essence has stayed the same: to nurture a living swing culture in Vilnius.
The core of the studio is Arnas Razgūnas, Eglė Nemickaitė and Elzė Višnevskytė. Arnas and Eglė are one of the most prominent couples on the Lithuanian swing scene, dancing, creating and teaching together at home and abroad since 2014; they also organise Swing Paradise, Vilnius's swing dance and music festival. Elzė is a jazz dancer, choreographer and teacher who has led What a Jazz since 2017 and takes part in international jazz dance festivals across Europe, Asia and the USA.
Our local weekly classes are our heart, but our work long ago crossed Lithuania's borders. We organise international events and festivals – among them Swing Paradise and Vilnius Shag Festival – where teachers and dancers from swing communities all over the world take part. For almost two decades the Lithuanian swing scene has been raising new talent and introducing it to the world, and What a Jazz teachers are invited to lead workshops and perform at events around the globe.