30 years of IDO World Tap dance Championships
Jasminka Zajec / Zagreb - Croatia Teacher | Choreographer | IDO Judge | Team Captain | Studio owner
Mrs. Jasminka Zajec grew up watching tap dance movies and musicals starring Fred Astaire, G. Kelly, and other famous tap dancers. She had always wanted to learn to tap dance like the stars, but sadly during that time there were no tap teachers in Zagreb. After graduating from Modern Dance High School she made it her mission to reintroduce tap dance to Croatia. She grew up in Cologne, Germany, and after graduation, she continued to take classes at the Cologne Dance Academy and later in New York. Aside from studying psychology at Croatian University, she attended numerous dance
seminars and classes in New York, London, Germany, and Slovenia, where she furthered her education and became a professional dance teacher. After obtaining her master’s degree in psychology, she founded her own studio, "Step by Step," which specializes in the performing arts, particularly tap dance. Now, after 30 years, she can proudly say she trained thousands of children and young adults in Croatia to tap dance, compete in many championships and even become professional dancers. Now, Croatia has excellent teachers and choreographers, ensuring that tap dance will never be lost in Croatia. In 1999 Jasminka was back with her studio in Riesa, even stronger with her kids group that competed in small groups and formations. They won their first gold medal with Jasminka's choreography in 2002 - small group called “Orchestra”, 2006 with the formations "Charlie Brown”, 2009 with the trio "Chimney man”, gold in 2011 with tap formation “Taxi”, gold in 2014 with children’s tap duet and in 2017, gold with children’s tap formation “Dr. Jazz”, and after that more than 40 other titles. These young Croatian dancers grew up and refined their skills as Juniors and later as Adults, achieving tremendous success. Many of them now work as tap dance teachers at her studio. Stefica Stekovic, Barbara Markovic, and Vendy Zajec choreographed the golden junior trio Move 2006, the golden junior trio Run boy Run 2017, the golden junior trio Feeling good 2018, as well as the silver adult small group Matrix 2019. Karla Šilović choreographed two golden solos performed by T. Bertalanić in junior and adult category. Fran Žuglić also choreographed another golden adult tap solo performed by T. Tkalč ević . These IDO World Tap Dance Championships in Riesa were the most motivating events for Jasminka herself but also her teachers, the dancers, and their parents throughout the year. Everyone put so much effort throughout the year to improve on the previous year's performance. And, of course, everyone’s dreams were to compete in the Saturday evening finals, which boasted a terrific audience, lighting, and ambiance. Jasminka absolutely loves visiting Riesa because she gets to see, meet and learn from so many international dancers, dances, techniques, and choreographies which inspire her to bring new ides to life through her own choreographies. Her dancers love it because it allows them to meet and see their idols, the stars of the adult age division, as well as attend Saturday late night parties where they can socialize, dance, and have fun with kids all around the world. Other than being a choreographer, Jasminka has also been a judge on these tap and show dance championship in Riesa for 20 years. Now, dance studio Step by Step is Croatia's largest dance studio, with 20 different locations throughout Zagreb. This is to encourage young kids to learn to dance, and potentially to learn to tap dance and compete in huge events like Riesa. Even her two own daughters, Vendy and Tamy, competed multiple times in Riesa and came home with many champion gold titles. Now, Tamy is a professional dancer in London, and Vendy has a professional career in medicine, but still teaches tap and other dance techniques in Step by Step. She also not only has her own championship titles, but many gold medals as a choreographer.
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