There are a few great ways to become involved in the Swing Dance community.
Dallas Swing Dance Society and other Swing Dance Societies are always looking for volunteers. Volunteering usually gets you into the dances for free and you can possibly earn more free dances. Volunteering is great, and if you want to become more involved ask about serving in the non profit organization. Dallas Swing Dance Society is having board member elections right now so if you are a member show up on Sat Nov 23rd and vote.
DSDS participates in the local community and was on Idol Across America, look for the Dallas video. The Swing Dancing starts at 51 seconds and ends around 1:02
Friday, November 22, 2013
Other Dance Styles
Learning other dance styles is a great way to expand your vocabulary
of dance moves and meet new people. For
example, Blues and Balboa are typical dance styles some Swing Dancers
learn. Dance is amazing because you can incorporate moves from other dances into whatever dance you know.
Blues
Blues is rhythmic, earthy, and
intimate. Some dancers feel it is to
intimate for social dancing, because you dance closer to your partner than
other partner dances. If you would like to see people dancing Blues, check out the Goat on Tuesday nights. You can just listen to the music with friends, or you could ask people to dance. If you want to see example before you go out dancing, look up YouTube videos of Blues, like this one from a competition in Austin.
Balboa
Balboa can help you dance to faster music, but it can be
challenging to learn. If you want to
learn Balboa head over to Southside Preservation Hall in Fort Worth. They also might teach Lindy Hop, Shag or
Charleston. The lessons in Fort Worth on
Tuesday and Thursday night are a great way to expand you dancing
vocabulary. Try to find some friends and
carpool if you live far away. Also, check out demos of Balboa on YouTube.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Places to Learn Swing Dancing
Local Dance Halls
If you are just starting to dance, check out local Swing Dances. Many
great instructors teach at a variety of local venues like Sammons Center or at Sons of Hermann Hall. Some of them are listed below:
Brad and Jessica
|
Shannon and Josue
|
Mike and Shawna
|
Emily
|
Nicole and Chris
|
Heather
|
Additionally, if you go to Sammons Center on Saturday leave
comments in the comment box or on the DSDS Facebook page. Tell them which instructors you like best! Also, don't be afraid to ask the instructors to dance!
Expanding your knowledge of Swing Dance
Learning
how to dance is challenging and rewarding. There are many
opportunities to increase your knowledge in the DFW area. Dances are
great, but taking lessons and learning from other people is important.
The Rhythm Room
Jerry and Kathy
They offer private lessons through Jerry and Kathy's website. The website also includes a review of 20 East Coast Swing Moves, viewers can download onto their computer or mobile device.
Fort Worth and Denton
Out of Town
But Swing Dance is an international thing, and you can learn anywhere, for example New Mexico, and Minnesota. Traveling out of town is a great way to expand your knowledge and make new friends. Swing Dance or Lindy Hop workshops usually offer free housing with local dancers. Just make sure you are a considerate guest and take care of the people offering you a place to stay.
UptownSwing
Uptown Swing in Minneapolis, MN features national and international instructors and they have lesson recaps. So if you saw them teach at workshop you can visit their site and refresh your knowledge. Peter and Naomi are excellent instructors. If you can, take lessons from them.
Rhythm Dance Company
Rhythm Dance Company in Albuquerque, NM offers Swing Dances and lessons every week. Also, they have two amazing events each year.
ABQLX – a Lindy Hop exchange
Do you have any favorite instructors, or recommendations for workshops or dance exchanges? If so please leave a comment and recommendation below!
Comet Swing Dance Lessons
On Friday night Nov 8, I attended a Comet Swing Society
dance night at the UTD Galaxy room where swing music could be heard coming down
the hall, and the club officers were teaching students how to swing dance. I
had attended about a month prior, but arrived to the end of the lesson. Therefore
I relied on the other dancers there to teach me how to move around and “dance”.
Now, I am not a dancer by any means, and therefore I was excited to see that
there was an on campus club offering swing dance lessons, as well as time for
more seasoned dancers to swing dance from 9 PM- midnight. I have never taken any dancing lessons, so
this is a great opportunity to learn a new hobby.
The treasurer of the club met with me and gave me a one on
one swing dance lesson to teach me the basics of swing dancing. She and another
member demonstrated the steps first, and gave me tips such as to watch my wrist
when being swung, to hold my arm at a 90 degree angle to add tension to the
movements of the dance, and to count out loud to stay in step. I learned that
the basic swing dance step is six counts and that as a “follow” I should simply
follow the movements of the “lead” dancer. Overall, it was a fun experience to
learn something new and attempt swing dancing. The club officers are pretty
helpful, friendly, and willing to teach and give great tips, and I will
definitely be going back when I can. I encourage UTD students to check out the
Comet Swing Society Friday night meetings to have fun and learn swing dancing.
My name is Jennifer and I maintain a blog at: http://translationhelpsoftware.blogspot.com/
Friday, November 8, 2013
Comet Swing Society DJ
DJing
DJs do more than sit still and play music, they are responsible for the atmosphere of the dance. DJs interact with the crowd, take requests, and see what songs create excitement. A good DJ is an integral part of Swing Dance. The DJ for Comet Swing Society is the president of the group. He offered his time to talk about DJing in the videos below.Reason he started DJing
This video gives background information on why the president of Comet Swing Society started DJing and he briefly mentions how he prepared to start DJing for the first Comet Swing Society Dance.
Song Speed
In this video the president talks about when and why he plays faster and slower songs.
Basic DJ Advice
In this video the president says it is important for a DJ to pay attention to the dancers.
Comet Swing Society Officer Interview
Comet Swing Society is a great group of students and has great officers. The officers are an integral part of the group because they keep it running. The officers' enthusiasm trickles down to the group members and brings people back. Here are few short videos interviews with one of the officers.
Comet Swing Society
A Comet Swing Society officer talks about why she likes the group.
General Questions
She answers a few questions about her dancing experience.
Leading and Following
She talks about why she likes to learn both sides of Swing Dance.
Mentors
She talks about a few local people she looks up too in Swing Dance.
Feel free to leave comments, questions or suggestions
Friday, November 1, 2013
Places to Swing Dance
Dallas has great opportunities to Swing Dance on Wed and Sat
nights, that are relatively close to campus.
Below is a picture of these two locations and information about when the
dances are held and what they offer.
Visit the Facebook pages to stay updated, Swingin' at The Sons and DSDS. DSDS organizes the Swing Dances at Sammons Center.
 |
| Learn more about the these locations Sons of Hermann Hall and Sammons Center |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)