The Lindy Hop class is very close to reaching capacity, but there are a few spots still open so hurry now to secure your spot! There is also still room in the Charleston class so reserve your spot now before that class reaches capacity. If you are not sure what Lindy Hop or Charleston look like and/or want to see a snapshot of the moves we’ll be covering in the classes, take a look at the video clip on each class page. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

We hope to see you out at the 2nd and 4th Saturday night dances! Don’t forget about the new start times!

Update - Our Sunday afternoon series classes are starting this Sunday (January 16th)! Hurry and sign up before Saturday night at midnight to secure the early registration price of $60/person (day-of price is $70/person). Calling all ladies…..we are short on follows for the Swing Dance Series Class! There are more leads than follows registered. If you are a follow/lady with no partner who is interested in taking the class, please sign up! It’s a rare situation to have more leads than follows so take advantage of it ladies.

Looking to get started with swing dancing? This is your chance! Our six count Swing Dance series class takes you from scratch and teaches you all the essential basics and moves to have you out on the dance floor having a good time. You will learn the 6-count swing basic and then progress into a variety of moves, turns, combos, and variations. This class takes you step-by-step, week-by-week to make learning easy!

Ready to learn Balboa? This is the perfect dance to look and move smooth from slow to even the fastest of tempos. With slick moves and fancy footwork, this dance is seriously addictive! Our Balboa series class will start out by teaching you the basic footwork and connection of the dance. It will then progress into turns, moves, and styling. There will be a strong focus on technique as this dance has a connection and flow like nothing else. It’s a favorite amongst dancers!

I just came across this great article that talks about how you can use modern shapeware/foundation garments to achieve a vintage body shape with your clothes. The author interviewed the stylist for the show “Mad Men”, a modern show set in the 1950′s. She talks about how to measure yourself to get accurate measurements and how to achieve the smooth, curvy shape of decades gone by. I personally know there are many many shapeware options available these days that help us achieve what ever body shape we desire.

For those of you wondering about the roots of Lindy Hop, here is some footage from the 1929 short “After Seben”. It is some of the earliest known footage of Lindy Hop and features one of the original innovators of the dance, “Shorty” George Snowden. You can see the strong roots in Charleston and the very early swing outs.

Our next set of series classes, which start in January, are now open for registration so be sure to reserve your spot in the Balboa class and/or the Swing Dance series class now!

In the meantime, we will continue to offer private lessons throughout the holiday season. If you are interested in getting some quality, individual instruction during the holidays, be sure to contact us. If you have never danced before, we encourage you to drop by the beginner dance lesson before the 2nd & 4th Saturday dances. They have some great events planned for the holidays, and we occasionally guest instruct the lessons there.

Be sure to sign up for the email list (on the right) or follow us on Facebook for the latest updates.

Instructors: Joe & Tabitha Robinson
Date: Saturday, October 23rd
Time: 7 to 8pm
Location: Whirl & Twirl
Price: $10 (seperate from dance admission)

This special class will be held before the regular beginner swing dance lesson at the 4th Saturday special Halloween Swing Dance.

Come out and learn some killer flashy moves to add into your dancing! Joe & Tabitha, originally form Orlando and now residing in Washington DC, are widely known for their fantastic tricks and amazing aerials. In this special class, they will be teaching a few tricks to make your dancing pop. These will be socially danceable and you won’t be flying through the air… however, they will be eye popping and attention grabbing! Easy to do with high wow factor… that’s why they are called tricks!

You must be comfortable with swing basics to take this class. No partner is needed.

The regular beginner swing dance lesson will follow the class, but stick around for the annual Halloween swing dance featuring a costume contest and live big band music!

Check out a few videos of Joe & Tabitha:

Charleston Series Class: Starting on October 17th, we will be offering the Charleston series class. This class will start with 20′s style partner Charleston and progress into 30′s style (or Lindy Charleston). It will cover everything from basics to a variety of moves and style. Each class will build upon information from the previous class to continuously further your knowledge week by week. Classes will be an hour long followed by a half hour of practice, questions, and individual help. This is for dancers of all levels looking to add Charleston into their swing. No partner needed; individuals and couples welcome! Click here to register online.

Lindy Hop Series Class: We will also be offering their most popular class, the Lindy Hop series. Lindy Hop (also known as Jitterbug) is the original form of swing dancing, popularized in the 30s and 40s. This class will start from scratch and teach you all the basics and fundamentals of the dance in addition to moves, technique, and style. Each class will build upon information from the previous class to continuously further your knowledge week by week. Classes will be an hour long followed by a half hour of practice, questions, and individual help. Previous dance experience is helpful, but not required. No partner needed; individuals and couples welcome! Both classes are great for beginners or experienced dancers looking to learn Lindy Hop and/or Charleston for the first time. Click here to register online.

Be sure to check out our new video that has a quick demo of some of what we teach in both classes.

The demo videos for our classes were looking a bit dated, so we decided to film a new one for our upcoming Lindy Hop and Charleston classes. You can view it by clicking on the image above, or you can watch the high definition version if you have the monitor space.

It’s nothing fancy. We just wanted to demo some of what we teach in both classes with a few options of what you can do with it. The way we filmed it was somewhat of an experiment. Both Dawn and I thought it came out looking pretty good! We’ll probably do some more videos in the near future. Keep an eye out.

More like I’ll be DJing between the band sets at the Halloween dance.

Since we were away for last year’s dance, it’s been two years since I have DJed at a Halloween dance. Funny thing is that I am not a fan of the “holiday”, but I really love DJing the Halloween dances. That’s probably because I don’t like the modern approach to Halloween but love the classic campy fun the day had in years past (think Disney’s Haunted Mansion).

Over the years, I have amassed quite a collection of Halloween related swing songs. In fact, the last time I spun at the Halloween dance, I was able to stay “in theme” all night long. Basically every song during the evening had something to do with the “spooky” theme. Sounds easy to do, but it becomes a real challenge when factor in mixing up the tempos and keeping everything danceable and in the swing genre. So far, Halloween has been the only themed dance I’ve been able to do this with. Valentine dance? Nope. Who really wants to hear love songs all night long? Likewise for Christmas. However, Christmas adds an extra challenge. So many artists do renditions of the same classics that it becomes hard to find variety. Even new/different songs seem to be based on the same classics.

Anyways, this year I’ll be spinning between band sets so I’ll have to select only the best-of-the-best to play. That’s not necessarily a bad thing since the New Tradition’s Jazz Ensemble is an awesome band and you won’t be lacking for good music. In addition, I’ll be the MC for the annual costume contest, so start thinking of ideas now. Maybe I’ll dress up as this creepy retro DJ here…

We mentioned this vintage clip in our Shag class recently. This is a 1937 film of Arthur Murray teaching the Shag. Pay little attention to the… um… “watered down” version of Shag that Arthur is teaching. Of more interest are the couples that come out and do the demo in the middle of the clip. These were the actual Shag dancers of the day and their style and technique are more definitive Shag.

Another fun Shag clip from back in the day was the dance scene from the 1939 movie “Blondie Meets the Boss”. As with lots of the vintage clips, don’t pay attention to the actors, but watch the “extras”. In the swing era, it was customary to hire actual swing dancers as extras in dance scenes.