Meet the Teachers
David Zilkha
David moved to Bristol in the summer of 2009 and then set up Swing Dance Bristol to develop the swing dance scene in the city. He aims to bring new dancers in to the scene, to run fantastic club nights, and to develop the level of dancing in the city. He's always happy to hear ideas or suggestions and you can contact him at david@swingdancebristol.com
He has been teaching lindyhop and blues for around 10 years in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. He was one of the founders of the London Lindy Exchange, the London Balboa Festival, and Blues Revolution (which created the London blues scene), and then founded Swing Dance Bristol. Before his overnight conversion to lindy hop & blues many years ago, he had a background in contemporary dance which taught him how to use and be in control of the dancer's weight and centre and was a perfect preparation for partner dancing.
Mithi Shafiq
Mithi is one of Swing Dance Bristol's regular teachers and a fantastic dancer. She has been dancing lindy hop (and charleston, and blues, and balboa and both leading AND following) since 1999 – teaching for most of that time – and before that had a background in ballroom dance. She first taught with David at the La Santa Swing dance camp in Lanzarote more years ago than they can remember and they have taught together occasionally ever since. She is now a mum (late 2012), and is still teaching but not always able to be out dancing as much as she'd like.
She trained with Angela "Cookie" Andrew and was part of the Cotton Clubbers dance troup for many years. She was also one of the teachers responsible for establishing the vibrant swing dance community at the London School of Economics. She sheepishly admits to have studied more partner dance styles than most of us have even heard of!
Max Pampluna
Max started partner dancing in 2005 in France where he practised Cuban Salsa. That's also where he saw swing dancing for the first time and immediately loved it. After moving to Bristol, he started learning Lindy Hop. Max seized the opportunity to share his passion for Lindy Hop in 2014 when he began teaching in Clifton for Swing Dance Bristol. Since September 2015, he has been running classes in Southville with Mithi.
Max likes to focus on the connection between partners and on how to make the dance more fun during classes. He loves to create dance routines for couples or groups, and more recently, he has developed an interest in performance (and secretly wants to do more routines with his mates from "The Shim Shamblers" dance troupe!). He is also learning Solo Jazz and Collegiate Shag.Max also offers private tuition. Please feel free to contact him through Swing Dance Bristol for more information.