Alex and Madeline dancing. Photo by Tim Cheeney

Getting started

Deciding to take your first dance class can be very daunting, even scary for some people.  You aren’t sure what to expect, and you are afraid that it might be embarrassing or difficult. While every dance class is different, heres what we can tell you:

• While some people go to class with their friends, the majority of people are there alone, and feel the same way you do.  Challenge yourself to say “hello” to at least two people of each gender.  You’ll need people to dance with, and friends to talk with.  It will help keep you involved in the class, and you will make lifelong friends if you make some effort each time you go to class. In a few weeks, people will be introducing themselves to you!
• Be realistic about your commitment.  No one is an amazing dancer after one or even five classes.  Its going to take at least three months of classes to be able to dance a whole song comfortably on the dance floor.
• Most everyone there feels a little self conscious.  You might miss something the teacher says from time to time, but don’t let that fluster you. The teachers will always give you several tries with each step, and a few more for good measure.  The more effort you put into the class, the more you’ll get out of it.
• Listen carefully, and use your ears and eyes to absorb the information.
• Be in good spirits and positive. People like to be around positive people.  Let everyone learn at their own pace.  If you try to teach others on the dance floor, its considered bad etiquette unless its directly asked for.
• Bring your smart phone / camera.  Most teachers will let students do a quick recap video of the material at the end of class.  Having this to look at later can really help. Do not film the whole class, or film without asking.
• Be kind to others, be kind to yourself.

Monday Classes

Mondays classes (generally) are taught by Daniel Newsome and Gabriella Cook, with a decade of teaching experience each and multiple national titles (International Lindy Hop Championships, Showcase 3rd place, 2011!) between them. They strive to make each class a little bit different and fun for first timers, as well as repeat students. Here are the classes generally taught:

Swing 100

For Savoy Swing Club’s most basic class, we assume no knowledge of dance or swing.  We will give you the fundamentals of six count swing, eight count swing, and Charleston.  These three dances collectively are known as Lindy Hop. Six count swing, when taught by itself is know by many names, including “Jitterbug”, “East Coast Swing” or just “Swing” in some cases.  After a solid decade of teaching beginners, we believe it’s better to have begin with all the rhythms, AKA Lindy Hop, which gives the students a solid basis from which they can go any direction in partner dance.

On the first day, you’ll learn six count swing, and a couple of fun turns, giving you the basic knowledge required to go out and start dancing!  On the second night of classes, you’ll learn how to do the “swing out”, the basic 8 count movement that utilizes a bit of momentum and counterbalance to literally get you swinging your partner around on the dance floor.  The third day, we’ll tackle Lindy Charleston, so you can dance to faster music, and add the energetic feel that gives Lindy Hop its characteristic feel. On the last day, we’ll tie it all together and give you a couple of variations so you can really begin to improvise and dance on the dance floor!

Many folks take this class twice over to really master the material, but some get it in one month.  From here you can tackle just about any of our Lindy classes, and you’ll be able to dance at any of Seattle’s dance venues.

Swing 200

In this class, we’ll start to add the important, classic moves that make up the large part of your vocabulary as a dancer of vintage Lindy Hop and Swing.  Everything will be based on Swing 100 material, so be sure you’re pretty confident with your Charleston and your swing outs before tackling this level.

We make every class different, so you can attend over and over and always get something new.

Swing 300

In this class we start to move a little quicker, put your moves closer, and change up the rhythms so you’ll really advance your learning skills and your dancing skills in this class.  We’ll challenge follows with more turns, more technique, and styling for moves.  We’ll do physical warm-ups and work on your jazz movement.

Swing 400

This class is our highest level class, where we’ll essentially work with short routines, patterns from old film footage, and help you build your lead follow skills, your speed and your understanding of rhythm. We’ll do physical warm-ups and work on your jazz movement.

All Levels Charleston

Just like the name implies, all are welcome.  In this class we do fun patterns and short routines, all based in Charleston.