Collection: Foundation Tuesdays

7-8:30pm Tuesdays
@ Clifton Cultural Arts Center
3412 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45220

Class Description - Jump In Anytime!

Swing Dance Foundations is designed to get students swing dancing quickly, but also to be flexible & accommodating of students’ availability. Each individual evening (class) will stand independently on its own, so if you missed the previous week, that’s ok. Of course the more classes you can attend, the more material you will learn and the more practice you will get.

Each Tuesday class will be 1.5 hours long. Students can take as much or little of the 1.5 hours as they like, but we recommend doing the entire hour and a half. Each week the approach and material will vary so regular students are getting new material all the time, but the first half hour will always focus on fundamentals of technique, the second half hour will always feature beginning level repertoire, and the last half hour will introduce slightly higher level (beg-int) concepts and material to challenge, expand, and inspire. We will always center these classes around Jitterbug, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues, Balboa & Vernacular Jazz - the core idioms of our Swing Dance program.

“Swing Dance” is a family of American social dances that includes many idioms. They vary aesthetically and stylistically by geography, cultural trends, and/or time periods. Created by African Americans, these dances became enormously popular and today are enjoyed by people all over the world. Although there are different idioms and styles, all swing dances also share many similarities and are frequently mixed together or influential upon each other. In these classes, we will focus on the swing dance idioms of the “Swing Era” of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s and most closely associated with Big Band Jazz and Jump Blues music: Jitterbug, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues, Balboa, & Vernacular Jazz Occasionally, other dances may work their way into classes as swing dance is a living, creative art form. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!