Our main teachers
Eylem Öykü Yıldıran (she/her)
Eylem discovered blues dance in Ankara, where her journey took shape and her love for its expressive, storytelling nature began. A classically trained pianist with roots in jazz, blues, and Turkish classical music, she brings a musician’s sensitivity and creative curiosity to the dance. She is the founder of Bluesla Ankara and a co-organizer of Bluesla Fest and Blues Lab Cappadocia, honoring blues as a living tradition rooted in Black American history. Grounded, joyful, and deeply present, Eylem brings warmth, intimacy, and thoughtful playfulness to every space she dances and teaches in.
Dara Anderbard (he/him)
Dara has been teaching and building dance communities since 2011. Based in Valencia, he has travelled widely across Europe sharing Blues, Lindy Hop, and Jazz, while quietly making events better behind the scenes. Known for his musical depth, cultural care, and warm teaching approach, Dara is part of the core team behind Blues Lab Cappadocia, helping shape spaces rooted in learning, respect, and connection.
Teachers – tasters
Nina Saari-Jonsson (she/her) and Tobias Jonsson (he/him) have been teaching blues for more than ten years both locally in Umeå, and around Sweden. They are avid social dancers who travel regularly to blues events around Europe.
Adall Skoglund (they/them) started dancing Lindy Hop 15+ years ago, found blues shortly after, and promptly founded Stockholm Blues, and still travels for those awesome late night blues dances all over.
Kristian Samuelsson (he/him) and Elin Ruist (she/her) are local teachers who have been a part of West Coast Jitterbugs for a long time, and they are two of the founders of the blues scene here in Gothenburg. They dance, teach and DJ to spread the joy of blues music and blues dancing.
The bands
Christoffer Johansson (he/him)
Christoffer Johansson has a way of taking the stage and making it his. With faultless sense for drama and suspense, he reproduces country songs, mountain ballads, spirituals and the blues of old weird America. With his guitar and his sometimes gritty, sometimes velvet like voice he will keep you spellbound, hanging on every word.
Christoffer Johansson will play on Friday 17th of April.
The Sky is Crying
The Sky is Crying is an innovative blues trio from Gothenburg, Sweden. They focus on vaudeville blues and classic blues from the great female singers and composers, with a touch of rhythm & blues and delta blues here and there. Their second album, You Know How I Feel, was released in 2024, containing eight songs written by blues royalty like Bessie Smith and Ida Cox. The band takes joy in finding unique instrument combinations, such as vocals, trombone and bass, which they use to bring out emotional interpretations, always respecting the history of the blues.
The Sky is Crying consists of:
- Kristin Ladström (she/her) – vocals
- Gustav Davidsson (he/him) – trombone, piano, vocals
- Marcus Fenn (he/him) – electric bass, acoustic guitar, banjo, vocals
The Sky is Crying will play on Saturday 18th of April.
Martin Berggren and the Blues Friends
Formed especially for this event, the group will play songs written or made famous by artist like Catherine Russell, Nina Simone, B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Di Anne Price, Louis Jordan, Peggy Lee, Billie Holliday and more. They hope to present a nice mix of blues styles for the dance floor, influenced by early Jazz, Latin, Swing and some Delta and Chicago Blues.
Martin and the Blues Friends consists of:
- Martin Berggren – Guitar
- Daniel Nolgård – Piano
- Lisa Stjernberg – Vocal
- Daniel Hägg – Drums
- Hans-Lennart Bruun – bass
- Martin Hultén- Guitar
Martin Berggren and the Blues Friends will play on Sunday 19th of April.