GIO & MOE’S RETREAT

Join renowned international instructors Gio Olla and Moe Sakan for 4-hours of Balboa fun designed exclusively for intermediate and advanced dancers.

In the first session, we’ll explore unusual connections and creative ways to lead and follow, opening the door to interesting, musical, and unexpected turns.

In the second session, we’ll explore Bal Swing as danced by the original pioneers and discover fun, innovative ways to bring it into our dancing today.

See you soon! Gio & Moe are looking forward to seeing you at their retreat!.

In 1999 Moe fell in love with the world of Swing dance, since then this has been her dance of choice. Moe moved to London in 2000, bringing a sparkle to the local swing dancing scene, becoming the UK's top female swing dancer while also representing her origin. An active social and competition dancer, she is proud to have won numerous competition titles internationally, including the world’s biggest Jack ‘n Jill competition at Frankie 95 (2009). In 2017, she had the honour of being inducted into the Camp Hollywood Hall Of Fame. She has also enjoyed performing for several productions, including in theatre, television and films.

Moe travels the world sharing her passion extensively both for performing and teaching Lindy Hop, Balboa and Shag. Well known as a vintage enthusiast, Moe is passionate about the music and fashion of the Swing era.

Her dedication to the culture is also reflected in her attitude towards the dance, as she constantly endeavours to recreate an authentic style, and her passion certainly reflects the spirit of the dance as it was back in the day.

What do you know about Gio? Thank you for asking! Did you know that he started dancing at 10 years old, he was born in Sardinia, Italy and that he always travels with a portable iron to fix his shirts and look sharp?!

Well… these are just some fun facts but what about Gio’s dancing philosophy? Lean in and I’ll tell you all about it!
Gio promotes an original take to dancing and encourages others to develop their own personal style. Gio dances with a lot of rotation, always with plenty of details, and hilarious poses - it might be too much at times, but he is working on it!

To all the nerds out there, Gio’s classes will give you something to chew on. Expect to go deep into details rather than trying many moves, the material will be structured and neatly presented and hopefully yeah… you will have a good time!

WORKSHOP DETAILS
DATE/TIME
Sunday July 5th, 2026
1:00pm - 5:00pm

PRICE
£35 per person for one workshop
£60 per person for both workshops

REGISTRATION
Tickets sold on dancecloud.

The workshop will be arranged as per below:

1:00pm - 3:00pm : Workshop 1

3:00pm - 5:00pm : Workshop 2

MAP & DIRECTIONS

The Golden Lane Community Centre is located in east London and is easily accessed from the London underground and buses. The centre is a five minute walk away from the Barbican Station (via Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metroplitan lines), an eleven minute walk from Old Street Station (via Northern line) and twelve minutes away from St. Pauls station (via the central line).

To help you get to the workshop, below is the address to the community centre and a map for more routes on public transport. Click the icons to see live updates for the respective tube station or bus stop.

Golden Lane Community Centre
Fann Street
London
EC1 YOSA

lONDON UNDERGROUND

Barbican

Old Street

St. Paul's

BUS ROUTES

Old Street

BZ

Central Street
towards Shoreditch
55, 243, N55

BX

Goswell Road
towards Holborn
55, 243, N55

Goswell Road

BQ

Clerkenwell Road / Old Street
towards Angel Islington or Sadler's Wells
4, 56, 153

BP

Baltic Street West
towards Aldywich, Moorgate or St Barts Hospital
58, 308, 330

Photography by Sandra Polo