And just like that, we're back!
Our classes have kicked off, our Lindy Hop 8 count Dance in a Day workshop is this Saturday (4th), and social dance opportunities are popping up all over the place.
Speaking of social dancing, a few of our dancers attended the Adelaide Lindy Exchange last month, and had a BLAST!! If you'd like to hear more about their adventures, Trang has put together a blog post which you can find more about below.
Importantly, February is Black History Month. As guests in the culture of this dance, let's take the time to recognise, honour, and pay tribute to the Black musicians and dancers to whom we owe jazz music and dancing. The Wynton Marsalis Harvard lecture series is a fantastic place to start, or develop, your learning around the history of jazz music- as well as A Historical Perspective of Hip Hop Dance.
We've got some exciting plans in the works for 2023, but more than anything, we want to hear from YOU! Want would you like to find inside your Corner Pocket this year? We've received some responses to our survey (and we're grateful to each and every one of you who took the time to fill it out!) but if you'd still like to share your thoughts- it's not too late. Use the link below to offer your feedback anonymously, or you can always catch our teachers after class for a chat. If there's something we love almost as much as dancing, it's talking about dancing!
EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT: We're planning a Lindy Exchange! Keep those calendars free from Friday the 26th of May to the through to the 29th and we'll have more info and announcements coming your way soon about the new Brisbane swing thing!
Survey Time!
We're gearing up for a big year, and we want and as always we want to know how to do right by everyone in the Corner Pocket corner. How do we make CPS as fun, inclusive, and safe as we can?
We know we didn't get everything right. We want to do better. We need input from you, our community, to help us shape CPS in 2023. We’ve made this survey to gather the information we need to ensure the longevity and awesomeness of Corner Pocket Swing.
Please fill out the 2023 Corner Pocket Swing Survey and share it far and wide so we can get... ALL THE INFO!
Help us create the best swing school possible.
Intro to 8-Count Lindy Hop - Saturday 10am Workshop [3hrs] 4th Feb 2023
Have you ever wanted to learn to Swing Dance?
We'll have you dancing the basics of Lindy Hop in just one morning!
From Harlem, New York, Lindy is the world’s most popular partnered dance of the 1930s & 40s. Today Lindy is an amazing melting pot of fun and impressive dance steps, firmly rooted in authentic vintage jazz movement. Lindy has flashy swing-outs and Charleston kicks and is usually danced to mid-tempo swing dance tunes.
Lindy hop is such a BIG FUN dance that we decided to break our weekend beginner workshop into TWO 3-hour parts, the 6-count basics and the 8-count basics. Each part will cover the fundamentals of a portion of the dance and we will alternate which part we teach each time. See below for the scheduled dates.
These classes are aimed at:
- absolute beginners who've been wanting to learn to swing dance, but are unable to attend regular weekly classes.
- beginners looking to fast-track their learning or cement knowledge gained from weekly classes.
- intermediate students wishing to learn the other lead/follow role.
You don’t have to bring your own partner, as we’ll be rotating partners, but if you can encourage a friend to give it a go and try the opposite role to you, that’s excellent.
If you bring a partner and wish to stay together we can accommodate that, but bear in mind that dancing with many different partners is a large part of the fun of swing dancing. Rotating will help you to get the steps faster with fewer technical feedback loops. For these reasons rotating partners is strongly encouraged, but rest assured that we will support your decision if you choose not to.
WHEN: Usually the second Saturday of each month from 10 am to 1 pm- but this month it will be held on the first Saturday (arrive 10 mins early to check-in)
Schedule:
Feb 4th: Intro to 8-Count Lindy Hop (1st Sat of month)
Mar 11th: Intro to Balboa Swing
Apr : Intro to 6-Count Lindy Hop
May : Intro to 8-Count Lindy Hop
Jun : Intro to Balboa Swing
Jul : Intro to 6-Count Lindy Hop
Aug : Intro to 8-Count Lindy Hop
Sep : Intro to Balboa Swing
Oct : Intro to 6-Count Lindy Hop
Nov : Intro to 8-Count Lindy Hop
Dec : Intro to Balboa Swing
LOCATION: The Danish Club, 36 Austin St, Newstead
COST: $50
Pre-booking through our website is essential to secure your place:
https://cornerpocketswing.com.au/store
POCKET SOCIAL!
FRIDAY 17TH FEBRUARY
SCHEDULE: Doors open at 7:20 pm. Absolute beginner class at 7:30 (included with entry). Social dancing commences at 8:30 and music continues until 11:30.
COST: $15
Booking online on our webstore is appreciated to help avoid a queue at the door.
The Pocket Social is our monthly opportunity to get together with other swing students to dance all those moves you’ve been learning. Having a great time with a great mix of people on the social dance floor is what swing is all about!
Bring your friends! We have a taster class at 7:30 before the social dance. It’s aimed at absolute beginners and it’s included in the price of entry to the social!
The music is played by experienced swing DJs and will be specifically tailored for swing dances like Lindy Hop, Balboa, Slow Bal, Collegiate Shag, and Solo Jazz.
WHAT TO WEAR:
Deodorant! (low scented and hypoallergenic if possible)
Some people like to dress up, and others prefer to go casual. Check out the photos to see what a social dance looks like. Bring a towel and a change of top if you tend to sweat a lot.
Wear comfortable shoes that won't kick off your feet and aren't super grippy! The floor is sprung unvarnished hardwood with a fairly low amount of grip. Perfect ^_^
IN THE POCKET
Together at the 2023 Adelaide Lindy Exchange (ALX23)
From Mama Trang ( @delightintheflavouroflife )
With dance classes recommencing this week, it’s a good time to reflect on my recent attendance at the Adelaide Lindy Exchange (ALX) – a first-time Lindy Hop dance event with 3 nights of social dancing to live bands, including 1 dedicated Blues night (for full weekend pass holders, or those like me who were lucky enough to get off the waitlist) – as a way of viewing the year ahead with a fresh lens.
This was the first interstate Lindy Hop dance exchange I’d attended since the global pandemic broke out, and the first thing I noticed upon my arrival was the number of familiar faces from all the previous dance exchanges I had attended over recent years. For me, the biggest highlight was simply seeing (and catching up with) swing dancers from Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Perth, and (of course) Adelaide – all coming together to share in this dance that we love.
Read More ->
All of our regular weekly classes are 1 hour long and are taught in a drop-in format so you can start any week and it doesn’t matter if you have to miss one. First-timers are always most welcome in our Fundamentals classes (Level 1).
You don’t have to bring your own partner, as we’ll be rotating partners, but if you can encourage a friend to give it a go and try the opposite role to you, that’s excellent.
If you bring a partner and wish to stay together we can accommodate that but bear in mind that dancing with many different people is part of the fun and will help you to get the steps faster with fewer technical feedback loops.
We ask that you click here to book each class through our web store so that we can ensure a reasonable lead-follow ratio, avoid overcrowding, and streamline the check-in process.
Prepaid 8-Class Passes are also available for purchase. To use your Class Pass when booking online, simply choose "Register to pay at door" from the pass type drop-down list. Don't forget to click on the cart icon that appears and complete the checkout process ($0) or registration will not compete. You should receive an email confirmation.
Our Explorers classes (Level 2) will assume that you know the basics taught in Fundamentals (Level 1) and you must talk with your teacher before moving up.
We take the health and safety of our community very seriously and we are so grateful that all of our dancers have been ready and willing to do what it takes to look after one another. The current COVID-19 rules are as follows:
If you are sick do not come to dancing. We are always happy to refund or reschedule.
Wearing a mask is not currently mandatory, but is still recommended when social distancing is not possible. We will always support and encourage our students to wear one at any time.
Since April 2022, you are no longer required to check-in and to be fully vaccinated. However, we continue to *request* that you do not come to Corner Pocket unless your covid vaccinations are up to date.
Bring your own filled water bottle with your name on it.
While surface contact has only proven to be a rare vector of transmission for COVID-19, good hand hygiene is always a particularly good idea for partnered dancing.
MONDAY LINDY HOP
Teachers: Susie & Nick
6:30: Level 2 Lindy Hop Explorers (Intermediate)
7:45 : Level 3 Lindy Hop Cultivators (Intermediate-Advanced)
For Monday classes knowledge of the basic footwork rhythms (6 beat, 8 beat and Charleston) is expected.
Venue: Danish Club, 36 Austin St, Newstead
(arrive early to find a park and check-in)
Cost:
Level 2 - $19 ($16 concession card holders)
Level 3 - $19 or $10 with Level 2
Classes are $1 more to pay at the door.
Please book on our website so we can monitor and avoid overcrowding or wildly imbalanced lead and follow ratios. It also alleviates a traffic jam at check-in time!
TUESDAY BALBOA
Teachers: Emma, Rob, Rylie, & Rachel
6:30pm:Level 1 - Balboa Fundamentals
7:45pm:Level 2 - Balboa Explorers
8:45-9:45pm: Specialty class (as scheduled below)
Specialty Class Schedule
For the 3rd time slot (8:45) Special Classes on Tuesday nights our regular schedule is:
1st Tues: Slow Bal Fundamentals (L1 first-timers welcome)
2nd Tues: Slow Bal Explorers (L2 not your first time)
3rd Tues: Slow Bal Explorers (L2 not your first time)
4th Tues: Balboa Extension (L3 "Ah, I see you've played Knifey-Spoony before!")
LOCATION: Danish Club, 36 Austin St, Newstead
(arrive early to find a park and check-in)
COST:
Level 1- $19 Adults ($16 concession card holders)
Level 2- $19 ($16 c.) L2 students may attend the L1 class on the same night at no additional cost.
Special class - $19 OR $10 extra if also doing another class.
($1 more to pay at the door)
Please book on our website so we can monitor and avoid overcrowding or wildly imbalanced lead and follow ratios. It also alleviates a traffic jam at check-in time!
THURSDAY LINDY HOP
Teachers: Sarah, Morgan, Gabi, David, Trang, Magali, Tom
6:30pm: Level 1 - Lindy Hop Fundamentals (Beginners welcome)
7:45pm: Level 2 - Lindy Hop Explorers (Intermediate and above)
LOCATION: Danish Club, 36 Austin St, Newstead
(arrive early to find a park and check-in)
COST:
Level 1 - $19 Adults ($16 concession card holders)
Level 2 - $19 ($16 c. L2 students may attend the L1 class on the same night at no additional cost)
Please book on our website so we can monitor and avoid overcrowding or wildly imbalanced lead and follow ratios. It also alleviates a traffic jam at check-in time!
PHOTOS
Some favourite snaps from the October Pocket Social last year. Our thanks to Tom for editing them!
For more photos, updates, and announcements, make sure you've liked the Corner Pocket Swing Facebook Page
FAQ of the month
'Am I too old to attend swing dance classes?'
There is no upper age limit at Corner Pocket Swing!
We regularly have a wide range of ages in our classes. Whether you’re 17 or 170, 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!
Got a burning question you'd love to have answered? Email us!
Dance Floor Delight
The dance floor at the Danish Club has recently been beautifully sanded and resurfaced. Now that it's buttery smooth and so lovely to dance on again, we'd like to ask everyone to please make a special effort to keep it free of dirt and grit so we can keep it nice for as long as possible. That means checking your shoes for embedded grit or even nails in some older shoe constructions. Wipe your feet carefully when you come in - we'll put towels at the front door if it's wet outside. Ideally, someone will grab the large orange dry mop and run it over the floor before every class, so please pitch in and volunteer to help us with this task sometimes, so it's not always the same person doing it. Don't wait to be asked! Lastly, you mark it, you clean it. Check that the shoes you dance in do not leave marks on the floor and if they do you will need to bring different shoes next time.
INSPIRE MORE
Swing dancing can be a hobby that helps us get through the tough times, and times have been tough the past few years. For some people, cost may have presented an obstacle for attending the lessons and socials that could benefit their mental health. We never want that to be a reason to not attend dancing, so if you are ever in that position, or know someone else who is, please let us know so we can work something out. Email us.
We recently received several incredibly generous donations of class passes to members of the swing scene who were impacted by adverse events outside of their control. As those donations have now been distributed, we would like to say thank you to those who have passed the gift of dancing on to others. You have inspired more kindness and happiness into this world.
PRIVATE LESSONS
Rob and Emma have some availability for teaching private Lindy Hop or Balboa lessons at their home in Ferny Hills. If this is of interest to you then please email us to arrange a time that suits.