Dance

Dance, Dance, Dance

If there are enough people in Guelph who would like to start up a Swing dance venue here in Guelph then I would be interested in hearing from them and will look into it further, but I think the Hep Cat Hoppers in Waterloo should be supported at this time.

Why dance?

Dance is good for the body and the mind. Dance can be done at any age. Our dances are no pressure dances. There are some standard dance moves to learn, but this is Jazz music. There is no right or wrong way to dance. A great number of the moves are made up. Feel free to make up your own.

Dance is a very good wellness activity.

Swing is a connected, partner dance. This connection, and the appearance of lead/follow between the partners, is an expected part of the dance. One partner ignoring or out-dancing the other, or jeopardizing the safety of the other, indicates poor teamwork. (Modified from the Boston Tea Party web site.) [Ah.. by the way, there's no tea and no politics at the Boston Tea Party. But there was tea in the Boston Bay at one time in history. This is a dance party site.]

Swing dance is energetic and full of love.

The dance venue in Waterloo on Erb St. is a good venue with good instructors and good live music in Swing, blues, jazz charleston etc. There doesn't seem to be much of a call for swing dance in Guelph so we will use the Hep Cat Hoppers venue in Waterloo. hepcathoppers.ca 

Dance fits with fitness.

There is lots to learn in the Swing Dance genre and the music is great extending from Jazz, Blues, Dixieland and Rock & Roll from the 1920's and 1930's.

 
Dance Lessons all at the Beginner level
 - Lindy Hop Swing (This dance essentially started all the others, almost.)
 - Charleston Swing
 - Balboa Swing
 - East Coast Swing
 - Jive Swing
 - West Coast Swing

Learning the steps makes you think, makes you lead, and makes you follow the lead. It's great fun and very healthy for body and mind.

Charleston is fun and everyone wants to learn it. Charleston developed around the same time as the Lindy Hop maybe a bit after. Both are named after Charles Lindbergh who flew solo over the Atlantic in 1927. The basics include:
- The Charleston bounce
- The Charleston Arm Swing
- The Charleston two quadrant tap
- The Charleston kicks, 4 quadrants
- The Turns, Right and Left

These are all taught at the Hep Cat Hoppers in Waterloo.

Guelph also has the BallroomClass studio on Eramosa and Ballroom dances on some Sundays at the Victoria Park Golf Club. https://guelphsocialdance.com/

I have an old dance web site at the following web address. Rather than copy that data all over again I'll just reference it here.

https://optimalhealthsecrets.com/lodshome.htm

Boston Tea Party in March 2015

I would entertain organising a group of people who may be interested in flying to Boston for the dance lessons at the Boston Tea Party in March. That would be four days of intense lessons and dance, West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop Swing, Balboa Swing, take your choice. Beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons all day long. Dancers come from all over the world for this dance convention.

This dance venue has no tea and no politics. But, it does have dance, lots of dance. I attended in 2004 and would like to go again in Boston at the Tea Party Swings venue.