Lindy Hop is a dance that emerged in 1928 when Black dancers, "Shorty" George Snowden and Mattie Purnell, lost their grip and briefly broke away only to return to each other again. Lindy Hop is first and foremost a Black dance having been created during the Harlem Renaiisance and took flight at the legendary Savoy Ballroom as an expression of Black kinetic values such as call-and-response, improvisation and making African-American rhythms visible on the dance floor.

What is East Coast Swing, Jitterbug and Swing?

When swing dance schools or related festivals and events refer to east coast swing, jitterbug or swing, they're often referring to Lindy Hop, albeit a specific rhythm pattern featuring Slows and Quicks. These names indicate these organizations are engaging in cultural appropriation rather honoring the Black heritage or creators by using the names they gave their dances. Much like jazz, swing dances contain a multitude of rhythms and call on dancers to express themselves individually even while in partnership. East Coast Swing or Jitterbug was created to reduce the rhythms, limit individual expression and create a hierarchy where the leader, typically male, is the role dominant over the follower, typically female. Black social dances, rather, encourage mutual assertiveness. Lindy Hop and other Black social dances were dances of liberation, joy and freedom and made people fear upheaval of the status quo.

Where can I find social swing dancing in Denver?

Swingin' Denver offers a multitude of options through the year with our partnerships and collaborations across metro Denver and beyond often featuring live music. Here in Denver, you can also find options at The Pearl, Denver Turnverein, Avalon Ballroom in Boulder and other spots around town. When you find a favorite band, we encourage you to follow them so you can discover other venues where you can dance!

How can I stay informed about classes and events?

We encourage you to check out our website calendar and follow us on Facebook.

What should I wear to a dance class?

Lindy Hop is a casual dance and can be as athletic as you'd like it with a variety of rhythms, kicks, hops and bouncing. We suggest comfortable clothes that you can move around in, and non-marking flat shoes that will stay on your feet (open backed shoes or flip flops don’t work well.) Followers don’t generally wear heels in Lindy. If you have leather soled shoes, maybe bring a backup option in case you think the floor is a bit too slick.

Do you offer private lessons?

Some of our instructors do offer private lessons. Please email info@swingindenver.com. We offer private lessons for those seeking choreography, wedding dance help, improvement and other reasons.

What are the dance roles called?

The two dance roles are called leader and follower. Either gender can dance either role and switch during a dance if consent is there. Since we teach Black social dances, it's important to emphasize these roles are mutually assertive and both partners can be dancing different rhythms at the same. Much like how these dances encourage you to create bent lines and revel in asymmetry so is that asymmetry found between partners as we're constantly listening to the other partner and responding in time.

Kenneth Nelson

March 11, 2022

Maximize Your Instagram Name

Kenneth Nelson

March 11, 2022

TIL that your Instagram name is searchable. Well, not today, but a few days ago at a farmers markets conference in San Diego. One of their speakers, Molly Balint, spoke about how to maximize your Instagram efforts. It was amazing material and I immediately started editing my name.

Being that it is only 30 characters long, I had to get a bit clever. You see, you also want your business name in there preferably with some choice keywords. As you can see, I ended up breaking up our name since it’s also meant to be said and read as “swing in Denver.” Then I also wanted to work in dance, so now I have four searchable keywords - “swing,” “in,” “Denver,” and “dance” with a Call to Action.

Additionally, I made sure to include What we do, Where we do it, and How to learn more. It’s worth checking out that link in our Instagram profile too and ponder why we made that choice. More on that later!

Kenneth Nelson

March 1, 2022

Increase Marketing. Increase Accessibility.

Kenneth Nelson

March 1, 2022

Back in 2017 or 2018, I attended a talk at Lindy Focus led by Breai Mason-Campbell, Artistic Director at Guardian Dance Company. One of the discussion topics was increasing accessibility for BIPOC in predominantly white swing dance spaces. One solution I remember (and there were certainly more) was to make sure your marketing efforts included print materials.

In a digital age, you want to cover all your bases in terms of outreach. If you’re the one-person street team like me or you have people that can flier neighborhoods for you, make sure to hit up the immediate surrounding neighborhoods and then branch out from there. You never know where someone will be when they spot your flier; they could be in their neighborhood, maybe near work, or getting coffee with a friend.

A sample of the front of our class flier before we decided to switch dates to help out the Mercury Cafe. Our classes will reopen Wednesdays starting March 30, 2022.

Kenneth Nelson

February 23, 2022

Generate Your Own Playlist!

Kenneth Nelson

February 23, 2022

Generate your own swing music playlist with easy-to-use website!