Frequently Asked Questions

Swing dance includes a range of vintage dances from the 1920s-40s including Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and Solo Vernacular Jazz, all danced to swing music. Whether dancing with a partner or solo, it’s hard to wipe the smile off your face when you’re swing dancing.

From Harlem, New York (on the East coast of the USA), the Lindy Hop is a popular dance of the Swing era, as shown in famous films such as Hellzapoppin (1941). A massive melting pot of jazz movement, Lindy has flashy swing-outs and Charleston kicks and is usually danced to mid-tempo swing dance tunes.

From Southern California (on the West coast of the USA), the Balboa is a closely partnered swing dance was hugely popular in the 1930s and 1940s and is still being danced all over the world today. If you want to be able to dance to incredible up-tempo Jazz bands all night long, this is the dance for you!

You can learn about that in our blog article about just that very question!

We teach Lindy Hop and Balboa on a weekly basis. These two popular swing styles are still being danced all around the world today. Beginners can join our regular weekly classes for Lindy Hop every Tuesday and Balboa every Thursday at 6:30 pm in Newstead (see schedule). Our classes are generally focused on giving people Lead & Follow skills to have magical fun, dancing socially with anyone on the dance floor. We also occasionally have special classes for other swing era dance styles such as Slow Bal, Collegiate Shag, Solo Jazz, and Blues.

Why not both?

Why not indeed! Some people like to focus on one style hoping to get good at it faster, and the styles are different enough that this idea certainly makes intuitive sense. However we tend to believe that learning any style of dance can improve your ability to learn other styles and that cross-training can often be a net benefit rather than a detriment.

Not at all! Whilst it’s always fun to come with a friend, we will rotate partners throughout the class.

Whilst we don’t mandate people to do anything they are uncomfortable with, we highly recommend that people rotate for a number of reasons. Swing is first and foremost a social dance and the primary reason we teach classes is so that people can learn to connect and experience the joy of dancing with other humans. If you attend any of our socials you will see all kinds of different people dancing together and we wouldn’t want you to miss out on the fun! We also usually have a number of more experienced dancers who attend our beginner classes, and dancing with these people helps our beginners to progress more quickly.

If your concerns about rotating are related to COVID then we can accommodate that and you may stick with the partner you are attending with.

We have no upper age limit!

We regularly have a wide range of ages in our classes. Whether you’re 18 or 120, it’s all the same to us as long as you are keen to get your dance on! Some of the Lindy Hop classes can be a little more energetic than others, but you can generally put as much or as little energy into the steps as you feel comfortable with. The Balboa classes tend to be less bouncy, but there can be some twisting involved. To make it easier to learn, the tempo of the dancing in classes tends to be slower than what you may have seen people doing socially to live bands. We suggest you come along and give Lindy Hop and Balboa a try!

Any minors who wish to attend Corner Pocket Swing classes and events are most welcome but will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Beginners are most welcome in ALL of our level 1 classes. Our level 1 classes are presented in a drop-in style where we continuously cycle through all of the level 1 content. In each class we teach a “Basic” step and branch into moves that go with it, so you can start at any time! We also run 3-hour beginner “Introduction Workshop” that are on the 2nd Saturday of the month, so keep an eye out for those!

Yes! Level 1 teaches the basics of Swing Dance. By level 2 we’ll assume you have the basics down and we won’t spend a lot of time revising them. If you want to fast-track your way to the next level contact us about taking some private lessons at info@cornerpocketswing.com.au

Whatever you feel comfortable in! Many of our dancers wear casual clothes or come straight from work, others prefer to dress up in vintage fashion. Keep in mind that dancing is exercise and you will get sweaty! f you know you sweat a lot, we recommend bringing an extra shirt to change into.

We request that you refrain from wearing strongly scented deodorants or perfumes, as these can trigger allergic reactions or migraines in some people. Please apply deodorant before you come to the venue, and if you need to reapply, please do so outside.

For Lindy Hop classes, flat comfortable shoes that allow you to twist on the floor are best. Shoes that have too much grip can be difficult to dance in and can strain the knees. Make sure that when you kick your feet the shoes can’t fly off. Balboa dancers tend to prefer even less grip than Lindy Hoppers and many Balboa dancers will often wear heels but initially you can try doing our classes in whatever low grip shoes you have.

Whatever you wear make sure you comfortable are moving in it! Swing dancing also involves touching another human so please keep this in mind if you wish to wear delicate items of clothing.

If your partner is causing you physical pain then you should let them know immediately. All other feedback and advice should only be given if it is explicitly requested at the time. If you are having difficulties with something not working please ask a teacher for help.

To move up to Level 2 classes, you need to demonstrate to your teacher that you know, can dance and can transition between all of the items on the Level 1 Dance Passport (Lindy Hop or Balboa). These passports are available at class and all topics will be covered in our regular Level 1 classes over a 12 week cycle. Please talk to your teachers if you have any questions about the passports!

When you move up to Level 2, we strongly encourage you to keep going to Level 1 classes because the stronger your foundations are, the easier it will be to learn the trickier material taught in Levels 2 and 3.

Yes! Continuing to do Level 1 classes not only benefits you and your social network, but it also helps the new students if there are people in the class who are more experienced. It’s a win-win that helps foster the community as a whole! However, it is important that you do not to give unsolicited advice in class.

To be eligible for the concession rate, you must have one of the following cards: Full-Time Student Card, Health Care Card, Pensioner Concession Card, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.

We understand that circumstances change so if you can no longer the attend the class you have booked online please message us on Facebook or email us at info@cornerpocketswing.com.au if you don’t have access to Facebook. We are able to credit purchased classes to another week or provide a refund.

We sure do! You can find our manifesto here: https://cornerpocketswing.com.au/aboutus
Please read our Code of Conduct here: https://cornerpocketswing.com.au/code-of-conduct

We expect all attendees of our classes and events to abide by our Code of Conduct. We take the safety and wellbeing of our community very seriously and any breaches of our code of conduct may result in you being removed from our events.