How did all start?

“It all started at one party – the music was inspiring, everybody was dancing their feet off. I was standing next to the stage and couldn’t help but to start shuffling to the music all by myself. Shuffle, shuffle – then a few swivels, a kick and a turn!.. Suddenly I realised that balboa can and should be practiced on your own, without a partner – it is actually beneficial and so much fun… / Olga

Olga gave her first solo balboa class in Moscow quite a few years ago. It was planned to be a one time taster for the followers. But little did she know about what would come out of this seemingly weird idea. The class turned out to be very successful and the people passionately asked for more.

So a few weeks later Olga officially opened the first weekly solo balboa group both for leaders and followers. Here came a whole year of regular solo balboa classes. A year of experimenting and systemizing, diving into technique, musicality and creativity.

“ I explored and learnt tons myself running those classes, teaching people how to practice solo and watching them improve.

Since then Olga has given plenty of solo balboa classes in different cities and countries – Sweden, France, Spain, Belarus, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, China, the USA, Australia. Even taught at a two-day workshop entirely devoted to solo balboa. Everywhere people expressed a lot of interest and asked her to launch something so that they could practice at home.

This is how IsoloBalboa went online and now no matter where you come from you can get access to the material Olga has accumulated and tested on herself and hundreds of other people.

iSoloBalboa is for you if you would like to…
  • practice balboa but don’t have a dance partner
  • vary your footwork variations
  • find your own aesthetics
  • become more aware of your body mechanics
  • develop your technique, musicality and creativity
  • learn to practice on your own
  • get inspiration and ideas to implement in your local classes
Why I Solo Balboa?

“ Have you ever asked yourself why the best of the best dancers are so good? Well, the answer is probably obvious: practice, practice and… more practice. Practice at home, practice in the studio, practice with your partner and … practice solo! Here we go: even for couple dances like lindy or balboa solo practicing is important, even crucial at a certain point. ISoloBalboa aims exactly at this: helping balboa dancers learn to practice by themselves to have more fun and flair while dancing in a couple. / Olga

Solo balboa class with Olga Marina
What people say…

For me balboa is about like-nothing-on-earth-footwork.

“For me balboa is about like-nothing-on-earth-footwork. Footwork is what makes balboa different from other dances, its trademark.

I was looking for a special focus on feet and rhythm and I found it with Olga’s solo balboa course. It was the deepest work, nice structured and with a lot of space for creativity. We learned, we played with steps and rhythm, we practiced hard. The big world of different kinds of balboa steps opened to me. As a result I’ve boosted my dance vocabulary and feel like I’ve learnt one more foreign language and now can speak it fluently. I began to enjoy balboa even more.

Anastasia Makarenko
swing dancer, Russia

Adam B. Cederlöf, balboa teacher, Sweden

“In the solo-bal course the main focus is the individual. This leads you to become more aware of your own dancing, apart from just leading or following. To become a great balboa dancer you need both: be able to either lead or follow and to learn how to dance yourself. Which is what Olga’s solo Balboa classes give you: time, instructions and focus so that you can learn to dance balboa on your own.

Adam B. Cederlöf
Balboa teacher, Sweden

Ulyana Orlova, swing dancer, Belarus

“What I like most about Olga’s solo balboa classes is a wonderful feeling of inspiration and freedom! Olga gives you a gazillion of brilliant ideas and footworks, which you can bring onto the dance floor and use it socially immediately. It helped and helps me to express the music better – to sing the music with my feet! Moreover, you can polish up new footwork anywhere, at any moment!

Ulyana Orlova
Swing dancer, Belarus

Javi Zurdo, swing dance teacher and event organiser, Spain

“Olga’s solo balboa is a source of inspiration to improve your dancing. We have been lucky to see it first-hand in Valencia and for me, it was like getting an incredible tool to refine my technique and develop musicality. As a leader, we often forget that it’s not just about making figures, we have a whole world to discover right at our feet!

Javi Zurdo
Swing dance teacher and event organiser, Spain

Jaroslav Müller, balboa teacher, Czech Republic

“I attended the Solo Balboa class in Prague and I didn’t quite know what to expect. I was instantly amazed by how much relevant it proved to be to my dancing. These solo exercises helped me to decorate my dancing more than months of couple training.
I would especially recommend it to anybody, who loves to dance Pure Balboa and wants to improve the variety of their style.

Jaroslav Müller
Balboa teacher, Czech Republic

Neus Castells Marcé, swing dance teacher, Spain

“I recommend this course to all the people who would like to improve their skills in Balboa. Leaders and followers will benefit from it equally much and any level will find it inspiring and worthy. Solo practice is very important while training and practising couple dances since it makes you more conscious of your own movement. Olga breaks down the steps/movements carefully and explains them in a clear and easy way to learn them.

Neus Castells Marcé
Swing dance teacher, Spain
Photos
photo by Eric Bobbie
photo by all.this.light
photo by all.this.light
photo by Anuki Bilbo
photo by Anuki Bilbo
Solo balboa class with Olga Marina
photo by Anuki Bilbo