Blues Switch Class

A 5-week “Switch” class that teaches people to dance as a leader, follower, and to switch between them.

Have you ever been at a major blues dance event where someone who wants to dance with you asks, “lead, follow or switch”? In this 5-week lesson set we’ll aim to develop the skills of dancers who have already completed a set of blues lessons (as a lead or as a follow) but want to seriously amp up their skills by learning the other role and the skills needed to switch seamlessly between the roles. There will be a field trip for blues on the week of July 10th as the Halifax Jazzfest is on - stay tuned for more to follow!!

The classes will occur June 8, 15, 22, 29 and July 6th.

Here’s some videos of switch dancing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gk-Y6RmPXo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKCUj-UK570

Lindy hop Beginner Plus not on Janurary 14

An announcement said that Lindy hop Beginner Plus was happening Jan. 14 (today), which is mistaken. An announcement will go out stating whether Beginner plus will start next Jan. 21 or Jan. 28.

Winter Lindy Hop Classes Beginning January 14

We are happy to announce the start of our winter semester of Lindy Hop Beginner lessons Saturday January 14 at 6:45pm. This set of lessons will teach you the basic dance steps, moves and how to dance with anyone and everyone on a social dance floor.

No partner or experience required, and all are welcome to attend!

The very first class is FREE! Registration can be performed in person or online at http://www.dalswing.ca/registration/. If you're on Facebook please sign up for our first class event so we can gauge the attendance.

Please bring your own waterbottle, comfortable shoes (heels and sandals are not recommended), and your smile.

Beginner Lindy Hop classes will continue weekly on Saturdays at 6:45pm. See the website calendar at http://www.dalswing.ca/ for the most up-to-date schedule.

Curious as to what Lindy Hop looks like? Check out these awesome videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-4ibbZFbJY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m8fyRvifIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V21PEmv_8yY

What is Lindy Hop?
Lindy Hop is a North American dance that evolved in Harlem, New York City, in the 1920s and 1930s. It was very popular during the Swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s.
It was then brought back in the 1980s and has been popular ever since. It is now danced in most major cities.

For more information about DalKing's Swing:
Check out our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/dalswing/
Check out our Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dalswing/

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

Halifax Lindy Explosion and Swing with the Fishes 2016

This weekend will be our yearly fall event Swing with the Fishes! We will have a Lindy social and a Blues social on Friday, as well as a treasure hunt on Saturday morning, and Saturday evening will be Swing with the Fishes. We will have an opener band, followed by a beginner lesson, and then a big band for the rest of the evening. For details see here. YOU MUST BRING YOUR ID TO ENTER.

December 3, 2016 Temporary Venue Switch

The final Lindy classes of the semester will be located at DANCESpace on 1531 Grafton Street, Halifax. This will be the venue in place of our usual venue First Baptist Church.

The Beginner and Beginner Plus classes will begin at 6:45pm.

November 5, 2016 Temporary Venue Switch

All of our regular scheduled classes on November 5, 2016 will be temporarily located at St. Andrew's United Church on the corner of Coburg and Robie. We will be in the gym upstairs and also the basement room. This is a week which First Baptist was busy, but we will have our regularly scheduled classes the next week.

Extra Free Beginner Lesson

This Saturday September 24 we will be having an extra and free Beginner Lindy Hop lesson from 5:30 pm to 6:30pm for those who may have missed our first official class of the year. We will have our regular scheduled classes immediately afterwards.

Saturday Socials and Musicality Class

Saturday Socials

This fall, we will be hosting a social dance every Saturday evening where there are classes. The dates in particular are displayed in the calendar on our home page. These will occur after our beginner classes, and for an hour after our beginner plus classes. We highly recommend social dancing after the classes, because it is the best time to practice what you've learned and improve your dancing!

Musicality Class

We will also be hosting a bonus class taught by both our head DJ Ian Whitman and new instructor Marc Parent from 9:00pm to 10:00pm. Ian’s section will focus primarily on Music Theory, will require no dancing experience, and therefore can be attended by any and all DSDS members. Marc’s classes will focus on applying musicality to dancing, and he has asked that all attending members at least be comfortable with Swing Outs before choosing to attend his sessions.

To Attend...

All members are free to attend the Saturday night socials and musicality class included as part of the class.

Membership is included for everyone who is currently taking one of our beginner or beginner plus classes. If you are a community member who is not currently DJing, acting as a teacher, or as a teacher assistant, then you can purchase a membership for the 2016/2017 year (beginning September fall 2016 and ending August 2017) through the registration here. The passes will also be available to purchase in person for the next two weeks on Saturdays at First Baptist Church.

We will be working out distribution membership cards soon, so stay tuned. We hope to provide other benefits to different events through the use of membership throughout the year.

Learn to Swing Dance - Beginner Lessons

We are happy to announce the start of our fall semester of Lindy Hop Beginner lessons this Saturday at 6:45pm. This set of lessons will teach you the basic dance steps, moves and how to dance with anyone and everyone on a social dance floor.

No partner or experience required - all welcome!
The very first class is FREE! Registration can be performed in person or online at http://www.dalswing.ca/registration/. If you're on Facebook please sign up for our first class event at https://www.facebook.com/events/515342118666914/so we can gauge the attendance.

Please bring your own waterbottle, comfortable shoes (heels and sandals not recommended) and your smile.

Beginner Lindy Hop classes will continue weekly on Saturdays at 6:45pm. See the website calendar at http://www.dalswing.ca/ for the most up-to-date schedule.

Curious as to what Lindy Hop looks like? Check out these awesome videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-4ibbZFbJY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m8fyRvifIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V21PEmv_8yY

What is Lindy Hop?
Lindy Hop is a North American dance that evolved in Harlem, New York City, in the 1920s and 1930s. It was very popular during the Swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s.
It was then brought back in the 1980s and has been popular ever since. It is now danced in most major cities.

For more information about DalKing's Swing:
Check out our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/dalswing/
Check out our Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dalswing/
Check out our website:
http://www.dalswing.ca/

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

Fusion Dance Workshop with Devon Boorman

The Dalhousie/Kings Swing Dance Society invites you to a Fusion Dance workshop with guest instructor Devon Boorman.

Introductory Lesson:
Location: First Baptist Church, Oxford St. Halifax.
Date: Saturday, September 24, 2016
Time: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Beyond Fundamentals Lesson:
Location: 1313 Hollis St., Halifax.
Date: Sunday, September 25, 2016
Time: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Cost: Both classes are $40 per person.

Online payments can be made at http://www.dalswing.ca/registration/#block-yui_3_17_2_29_1460651545050_7271. The registration form higher on the page is for the fall lessons, and doesn't need to be completed for the Fusion Workshop. Paying using the Paypal link will give us your name, and that is good enough information for this event.

Instructor Bio:
Devon Boorman has been pursuing partner dance for the past 20 years. Starting with roots in Swing and Lindy he was drawn into the Blues dance scene and then into the concept of fusion in the mid 2000s. From this beginning Devon began exploring modern and contemporary dance, contact improvisation, as well as other partner dances such as tango and ballroom. For Devon, “Fusion” is not just mixing of one dance with another, but is a set of ground rules and vocabulary that facilitate shared creation, with a partner, across musical genres and movement styles.
Devon has been a full-time professional movement instructor since 2004. He teaches martial arts, movement health, and partner dance.

Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWYQpbJRjU8

Joshua Fialkoff at the Toothy Moose

Joshua Fialkoff is an internationally touring pianist, vocalist, bassist, bandleader and arranger who draws inspiration from swing and blues legends including Fats Waller, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Otis Spann, Gene Harris and many others. He contributes his talents to a variety of ensembles, and is a core member and co-leader of The Fried Bananas, a swing and New Orleans blues group whose audience includes swing and blues dancers from around the world, and The Downtown Shimmy, a Philadelphia-based Rhythm and Blues band.

Tuesday, September 6 from 7:00pm - 10:00pm we will be hosting Josh and some local talent to play live at the Toothy Moose. This will be an end of summer treat which would be a shame to miss. The price to get in will be $10 for students, and $12 for community members.

Swing Factory August 2016

This month's swing factory will have some special late night Blues being played after the swing music dies down. As usual, Swing Factory will be at 1313 Hollis. The doors open at 8:00pm and the beginner lesson starts at 8:30pm. Swing music ends around 11:30, and then the late night blues will begin. The late night Blues will last an hour or three depending on interest.