Tessa Plueckhahn

Tessa’s passionate love affair with swing stems from her deep-seated appreciation for the music, fashion, architecture and general popular culture of days gone by.

Tipped off about Swing Patrol through a friend and fellow vintage nut, she attended her first swing class in early 2004 where she was opened up to the world of 20s Charleston by Emily and Brad at Brunswick and was instantly hooked. Although she spent her early swing days primarily in the alley outside CBD practising with her classmates, she has since overcome her shyness at asking people for dances and hence graduated to the floor upstairs where she has resided pretty much each and every Thursday since.

At the end of the day, Tessa simply loves a good old social dance. Whether its Lindy, Charleston (solo and partnered), Breakaway, Balboa or Blues there’s nothing Tessa looks forward to more than lacing up her suedes and hitting the floor. And don’t even get her started on Solo Jazz Strolls!

Since she began swing dancing Tessa has gained a veritable plethora of fond memories extending from countless swing balls, to sleep deprived trips to Camp Lismore, choreographing routines with the ‘Rugcutters’, learning and performing with Brat Pack and Scat Pack and seeing the amazing Harlem Hotshots floor show at MSF 2006.

Tessa is particularly partial to sounds that are most often described by people on the streets as ‘old school’ and highly recommends the likes of Artie Shaw, Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Lunceford, Benny Goodman, Cats and the Fiddle and Sidney Bichet (to name a few) who never fail to get her feet tapping. This being said, bear in mind that when it comes to dancing Tessa doesn’t discriminate: if there’s a dance floor she’s happy to groove away to whatever’s on offer.

When not swing dancing Tessa also enjoys studying German and Linguistics at university, being a technology salesperson and giving her Siamese cat Electra a good pat.