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.

Waterfront Surprise Swing Social Saturday (Impromptu Swing Dance Social)

Waterfront dancing is back for an impromptu weekend social dance!

Meet us at the Gazebo (just down Morris Street) this Saturday July 30 for some dancing by the water - great timing with the Busker's Festival! The event will occur 6:30pm to 9:30pm. This event will last one hour longer than our weekly socials. If there is rain, we will relocate to the Toothy Moose on Argyle Street.

The event is free, but we highly encourage members, friends, and more to help donate payment for floor rentals. Anything helps - DSDS thanks you!

Stay tuned!

Waterfront Social July 12 Cancelled

Due to weather, the waterfront social this week is cancelled. Due to the Halifax Jazz Festival, we don't have access to the Toothy Moose. No social this week! Please try and make it to some of the Jazz Festival events, and to our Swing OUT event Friday July 15.

Swing OUT Swing Factory and LGBT+ Community Dance

July in Halifax hosts the annual Pride Festival, and this year to celebrate we are inviting the LBGT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and all other sexual and gender orientations) to join us for a fun night of dancing. There will still be the usual hour long beginner lesson from 8:30pm-9:30pm followed by a social dance after. This will be a safe space for everyone to try out their dancing. Name tags will be provided for everyone with space for your dancing role(s) and preferred pronouns. Rainbow and other pride-ful attire is encourage! Cover is $5. Location is DanceSpace by Dance Nova Scotia on 1531 Grafton St, Halifax, NS B3J 2B9.

We will also be have a box for food donations for Feed NS. It is a charity which attends to food insecurity in Nova Scotia, and which is currently critically low on food. They are looking for canned meat, canned vegetables, cereal,  pasta, pasta sauce, and soups.

Toothy Moose Tuesday Social Time Change

Hi all! This week we will be having our weekly social at the Toothy Moose, and with a time change from before. From this week and future weeks, the Toothy Moose socials will occur 7:00pm until 9:00pm.

Halifax Jazz Festival 2016

This year the Halifax Jazz festival will host three of our local big bands: Big Valley Swing Orchestra, Chebucto Big Band, and Tuesday Night Big Band. They will be playing at 12 noon on Saturday July 16 and 12 noon on Sunday July 17 respectively. Be sure to come down and dance! They are during the Free Daytime Concerts times, and the most up-to-date calendar can be found here. A link to our facebook event with all the info can be found here. Also, Bella Blue will be playing Thursday July 14 4:00pm - 5:00pm in the main tent, and they are a jazz, blues, and R&B group featuring three singers

Canada Day Pancake Breakfast and Swing Social

We've been invited to dance alongside the pancake breakfast at Alderney Landing Events Plaza for Canada Day! The pancakes begin at 8:00am and go until 9:30am, and the dancing goes from 8:45am to 9:45 am.

100 in 1 Day Halifax Swing Dancing

100In1Day is a global festival of citizen engagement returning to Halifax for its third year on June 4, 2016. 100+ urban interventions will be happening all around Halifax.

The Dalhousie and King's Swing Dance Society is teaming up with Pier 21 to host a FREE PUBLIC DANCE LESSON with a one hour social dance to practice afterwards! Join us to learn about swing dancing, hear some jazz music, socialize, and have some fun! No partner or experience required!

Find us in the Hall of Tribute just before noon at Pier 21!

More details below:

100in1Day Halifax:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1777803185781847/
https://www.100in1day.ca/

Dalhousie Swing Dance Society:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dalswing/?fref=ts
Dalswing.ca

Pier 21:
https://www.pier21.ca/

Frankie Manning Birthday Flash Mob

Hi all! We'll be celebrating Frankie Manning's 102nd birthday tomorrow (Thursday, May 26) at 6:00pm at the entrance to the Halifax Public Gardens on the corner of Spring Garden Rd. and South Park St. We'll be doing a flash mob Shim Sham! Make sure to arrive early and look inconspicuous!

Swing Beginner Summer Classes Venue

Hi everyone! We've changed venues to accommodate the huge beginner Swing class size this summer. Our summer venue will be St. Andrews Church on the corner of Coburg and Robie (near where Spring Garden turns into Coburg). The venue closes at 9:00pm, so the class time will be shifted to start at 7:00pm and go until 8:15pm, and the social practice time will extend until 9:00pm. As always, please wear clean non-marking shoes and try to arrive early so that class proceeds smoothly.

Waterfront Dancing

(For full effect, please play this in the background.)

Back again

and about time too;

we're Waterfront dancing,

and so can you.

Swing down to lower Morris Street.

Pass NSP, and hear the funky beat.

It goes from 6:30 pm to 8:30pm,

keeping your day bright, to harness sunlight.

The schedule is biweekly, starting May 17, and

Switching up with Toothy Moose each week.

The cover is FREE, but donations are accepted

to pay for fun floor mat rental as expected.

Volunteers are needed to take the floors over.

1313 Hollis keeps them under cover.

The key to 1313 lies with an executive. On Sunday

If rainy weather is expected, a cancellation message will be executed.

The social will be relocated to the Toothy Moose place

from 7 to 9 pm if the boardwalk is replaced.

Volunteer here and get free entrance in that case.

Veteran Mini Swing Lesson

Hello dancers! Kelsey Holt is organizing a swing dance mini-lesson in the Veteran's Memorial Building and is looking for some helpers! It will be a really fun time for everyone involved! Please message Kelsey if you are interested. The event will begin Friday June 3 at 2:00pm.