Hello fellow readers,
As many of you know, I am an avid swing dancer and have promoted the dance in
my “Swing On By!” post, but I cannot talk enough about this community! Today I
want to discuss more about how celebratory the community can be and some
upcoming events, plus promos for my lovely friends.
I have made so many friends through the swing dance community and one of the
things I love to do is celebrate my birthday with them with dancing! Most venues
have what is called the “birthday/out-of-towners dance” where - if it’s your
birthday or you’re visiting - you jump into a circle with a partner and get stolen
by dancers throughout the song. Birthday dances are so much fun because not
only do friends jump in, but strangers too! When I’m not celebrating, I try to jump
in with some dancers if they haven’t been stolen for a while because everyone
deserves to be stolen during the dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vymKXv0ZRLc
You’ll see me celebrate at as many locations as I can but there are two locations
where I’ve been able to celebrate these last two years and that’s LindyGroove and
Third Saturday Swing (both located in Pasadena, CA)! Lindygroove is every
Thursday night and TSS is normally on the third Saturday of the month
(sometimes a different but normally third). With LindyGroove in particular, for
your birthday - if there are no special events happening - you can celebrate the
Thursday before or after your birth date which includes free entry for you and
10 friends, plus cupcakes! They ask that you invite at least 5 friends who have
never been to LindyGroove, but other than that, you get to attend their lesson
and social dancing for free just because it’s your birthday! I love going to
LindyGroove regardless because the ambience is transporting, but to go for free
is a bonus.
My birthday 2019
Location: LindyGroove, Pasadena, CA
PC: Christian
LindyGroove along with many other locations like to celebrate the holidays or
upcoming weekend events. For instance, Strutters’ Ball (open every Wednesday
night in Orange, CA) had a Pre-Thanksgiving event with a live band - Jonathan
Stout Orchestra, give them a listen, they’re fantastic and Jonathan is a big deal in
the swing dance community. LindyGroove had their holiday event on the 19th of
December with a canned food drive included. Third Saturday Swing had a
Christmas event this past Saturday (December 21st) with a live band as well -
Jonathan Stout and his Campus Five feat. Hilary Alexander - along with
competitions. Atomic Ballroom (Tuesday and Friday nights in Irvine, CA) does 1
free class and social for your birthday, hosts holiday events, and, because they
are a ballroom, they offer classes and workshops for different dances often -
recently, they had a balboa workshop.
Time for promos! My amazing friend Paul has a Twitch channel called
Pauldances where he live streams lindyhop at these locations and more! Bonus: if
you’re an AmazonPrime member you can subscribe to his channel and watch ad
free - I got to watch the holiday celebration at TSS through his stream from home
because I felt too sick to go in person. He’s been at many of these holiday events
and was kind enough to dance with me when I was celebrating my birthday - you'll
see me dance with him sometimes... often. Recently, he has been promoting a
“sponsor a youth” where you can visit pauldances.tv and donate money for a youth
to have a private lindyhop lesson with Paul himself! He’s also selling awesome
shirts and other deals so please check him out!
https://www.pauldances.tv
As with Paul, another friend of mine is Kendall and she posts weekly videos on
Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook @live.collegiateshag of her and her husband
dancing collegiate shag at different (usually historical) locations - she’s even nice
enough to post a history lesson in her story on Instagram. One of her videos
recently went viral on tiktok of her and her husband dancing collegiate shag in the
rain! Definitely follow them for weekly videos, it’s worth it.
Pre-Thanksgiving 2019
Location: Strutters' Ball
PC: An amazing photographer that deserves credit but I cannot find their name
Let’s bring swing dancing back into the spotlight! There’s so much you can do and
so many places you can go! Weekly dances, nightly dances, or weekend events
locally, nationally, or internationally! Don’t be afraid to look up lindyhop!
Live every day to the fullest.
Love, Damaris
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