Swing

Swing is divided into many styles and techniques:

The Lindy Hop is an African American dance, born in Harlem just before the Wall Street collapse in 1929. It is brought to life in the movements and spirit typical of social dance, which never fails to make the participants smile and have fun. All the main figures will be taught step by step, including their possible variations. Though danced mostly in pairs, formed by a leader and a follower, there are however routines that require the execution of solo steps.

The Blues is a family that includes historical dances that have not only developed alongside blues music, but additionally with contemporary dances that are performed according to this specific aesthetic. Solid, athletic movements and posture, asymmetry and polyphony of the body, rhythmic movement and improvisation are the hallmarks of this dance.

Balboa is a Swing Dance born in southern California in the 1920s and became very popular in the 1930s and 1940s. This dance is characterised by its close embrace and connection of the whole body. It emphasises rhythmic changes of weight and the lead-follow partnership, characterised by twists, turns and open position movements. The original Balboa dance is now referred to as Pure Balboa, while its evolution on swing music is now referred to as Bal-Swing or L.A. Swing so as to be distinguished from other types of Swing.

The Shag is the most “jumped” of the Swing Dance family, it is danced in a closed position similar to Waltz or Fox Trot and the dancers are frontal. It belongs to the so-called “Vernacular” Swing Dances born in the Southern United States, in particular in Carolina in the 1920s, and has a six-step base on the “slow, slow, quick” model, danced to fast music.

Charleston Intensive! Are you already familiar with the 1930s Charleston but sometimes you find yourself out of sync with your partner? Is everything is going well until you try the Tandem and then you find yourself out of time? Then come to this class where we'll work on the rhythm and bounce of the Charleston in your body, analyse the Charleston lead-follow technique in detail as well as working on some of the more traditional Charleston steps like hand-to-hand, tandem and more.

Swing out intensive! Do you already know how to swing out but sometimes you find yourself lost when you try it on the dance floor? Do you struggle to keep up when the music gets a little faster? Are you interested in learning some fun new styles to spice up your usual go-to moves? This class is for you! In these intensive classes over 4 weeks, we will analyse and rebuild the basics of your swing... but better! We will also give you some fun little variations to play with.