Liesel HopCRIME
The second edition of the Göttingen Swing Exchange is going to be playful. Rumors are spreading, that swing history expert Lennart Westerlund will reveal brand-new discoveries about a brutal crime that might or might not have happened and shattered the dance community of the swing era. The Liesel Hop Crime Commission is working restlessly to gather evidence. But they cannot identify the suspects without the help of all the Liesel Hoppers who like to play!
Crime Special – what to expect
One of our Highlights is our big Murder Mystery Dinner. Everyone will get a character in a story about a brutal crime in the shiny swing era of the 30ths. Each character has its own secrets and you need to find the murderer among you.
To do so, you will need to collect hints and solve riddles. Every hint can throw light on what might have happened and bring to closer to the murderer. We will already provide you valuable information about the other characters while enjoying a relaxing Trace & Triple on Friday. Therefore, be attentive and draw first conclusions.
But, of course, you won’t have to find the murderer in between over a hundred people you’re playing with. Instead, we divide you up in smaller groups who meet in local kitchens for the Cook&Swing. So you‘ll get the chance to take a first glance at your group and the people behind the characters. All together you‘ll prepare a tasty menu for the dinner – perhaps some crunchy crunch potato chips or better all that meat and no potatoes?
Then finally you’ll meet again in the evening. Together you’ll have a bloody delicious murder mystery dinner puzzleling together what you know about the murder and the victim. Perhaps you saw somebody putting some venom in the victims food? Or argueing strongly with him? In the end you might not just have a really, really (really) full belly but also a guess about who committed a murder.
Göttingen
Göttingen is known for its centuries-old university, its richly ornamented, half-timbered houses and its rich student scene. Located right in the center of Germany, south of Hannover and at the edge of the Harz uplands, Göttingen is never far away. Although small with 134.000 inhabitants, the city has a vivid cultural life.
Liesel
The Gänseliesel is the most kissed girl of Göttingen - and the landmark, that the Liesel Hop is named after. She is a fountain figure of a young maid taking care of geese. It is a tradition that doctoral students, after their graduation, climb up the fountain, bring the Gänseliesel flowers and earn the once-in-a-lifetime-honor to kiss her.
Bikes by Swapfiets
Swapfiets helps you to get around Göttingen during the Liesel Hop weekend in our most usual way - by bike. So you can easily reach all party locations and can enjoy the bicycle tour to the Plesse castle. Everything for free! We will provide you with pick up information right before the festival. A big thank you to Swapfiets!
Swapfiets is the first bike subscription worldwide. Their concept is simple: For a fixed monthly fee you get a Swapfiets bike. They make sure that your bike always works.
Lennart Westerlund
Lennart is one of the pacesetter of the Swing Revival in the 1980’s. In 1983 he came across the Lindy Hop through books and old film clips, and in May the following year he travelled to New York on the look-out for the roots of the dance form. He soon met, studied and started to spend time with old-timers including Al Minns, Frankie Manning and Norma Miller. He co-founded the highly recognized Swedish dance company The Rhythm Hot Shots (now Harlem Hot Shots) in the mid 1980’s. A few years later, the company was in the forefront of the first steps of the revival of the Lindy Hop, and in 1989 they took over the complete administration of the Herräng Dance Camp, and invited legendary swing dancer Frankie Manning to visit his first major international swing dance camp.
Lennart is today still a most active dancer, instructor, lecturer, judge and administrator. He divides his time between the Herräng Dance Camp, the Chicago swing dance studio, and traveling around teaching and giving lectures. After some 35 revival and renaissance years of the Lindy Hop, Lennart is one of very few of the pioneers that are still active in the scene. His background and dedicated interest in the Harlem roots of vernacular jazz dancing has positioned him as an important link between the past and the present.
AppenDixie
AppenDixie is a band that driven by the Prague swing dance scene combines the elements of the early swing and traditional jazz with a slight touch of craziness. The band plays at big dance events and is a regular part of the Prague Swing festivals. Along with that, AppenDixie has played for the lindy hop scene of Brno, Dresden, Pilsen and Vienna. The swing musicians regularly organize dance parties themselves and raid the existing ones with their powerful live music. This time the AppenDixie will be playing in a slightly more powerful assembly.
Clara Montocchio
Clara is an Austrian-South African singer, dancer and actress. Since completing her Musical Theatre degree at the Performing Academy in Vienna she has performed on a great many wonderful stages across Europe and South Africa (such as Porgy & Bess, Jazzland, ORF Radiokulturhaus, Oude Libertas Stellenbosch, Brucknerhaus Linz and the Musikverein, to name a few). She sings regularly with various big bands and combos, has starred in several Film and TV productions and also works as a tap dance, authentic jazz dance and singing teacher. Clara is a passionate lindy hop dancer and particularly loves singing for dancers!
Harlem Swing Cats
The “Harlem Swing Cats“ have played several local dances before and keep earning great feedback from audiences, including last years Liesel Hop visitors.
They evolved as a new formation around local Göttingen musicians dedicated to authentic styles in Swing Jazz. The band is rooted on a driving, classical rhythm section (dr,b,p) that woodwinds (ts or cl), horn (trb or co) and vocals use to fly off with authentic grooves and riffs. Like this, the band pays fresh tribute to bands like Basie’s “Kansas City 7“ or “Fats Waller and his Rhythm“, both in style and flow.
trb, co, vcl holger renneberg (Göttingen)
ts, cl, vcl jochen hein (Berlin)
p gregor kilian (Göttingen)
b Thomas Koch (Göttingen-Northeim)
dr Jan Beyer (Hamburg)