Ambassador Itay Skutelsky

"I love the music and the culture of swing dancing. Frankie Manning was a man that made a huge change in the world with his personality and ideas and I think that for me spreading his and other “old timer”  legacy is my way to make the world a bit better and happy. The Savoy Ballroom was a place that was above segregation. People from different backrounds used to come there and dance, that was the thing that mattered, and this is something that we're trying to build here in Jerusalem, a place that really needs it."

I used to play drums when i was a teenager until my early 20’s. Four years ago i started playing on a regular basis. I formed a swing band - “The Floy Joy” and we have have been playing in many places in Israel  and also we did a small tour in denmark. Next week were gonna play swing at a gig at the “Knesset” the Legislative house of the israeli government, in their 70 years celebrations.

"As a dance teacher I think that being a musician is very helpful. It gives me a deeper perspective of swing music and the history. In our classes we try to put an emphasis of the music, the structure, the instruments, the dynamics etc."