• Full
  Calendar
• Sugarfoot Stomp
  Selected Saturdays
• The Speakeasy
  19th October 2019
• The Cotton Club
  5th May 2018
• Workshops
  Workshops 2019, 9th March, 4th May and 19th October 2018

Mad About Swing proudly presents

A weekend of all things swing!

1st – 3rd November 2013 in Plymouth

2nd - 4th November 2012 in Plymouth

The majority of the action will be taking place on the Saturday with classes throughout the day and a very special social in the evening with live music from The Drat Pack. The full day comprises of 6 hours of tuition with Bic & Simone teaching Lindy, Ben & Jane teaching Boogie Woogie and David Zilkha teaching Lindy Hop Steals and Blues. All the way from The Netherlands, Ben will also be teaching his Jump Stroll and, back by popular demand, Simone will be teaching another Solo Charleston class. Yes... we know... it's gonna be awesome!

On Friday night, you can join us for a meal and a live band at The B-Bar. Dance space is limited but the food is great and the atmosphere is always rather special. The band is yet to be announced but Mama Tokus is organising something damn good! www.b-bar.co.uk There's also stuff happening on Sunday too. Check out the details below.

	Early Bird rate (before October)	Advanced rate (during October)	Full price (after October)
Everything*	£42†	£45†	£48†
Dance only	£10†	£11†	£12†
Just classes*	£35	£38	£40
Individual classes	£7	£7.50	£8

* Fri & Sun events sold separately and are not organised by Mad About Swing.

† For an extra £4, upgrade to a premium ticket with free alcoholic and soft drinks all evening. Otherwise bring your own... we'll provide the glasses!

Saturday's Timetable

Doors open at 9.15am. Lessons will start promptly at the times stated below.

9.30am – 10.30am	Ben's Jump Stroll with Ben himself! Solo dancing with attitude! If you love the Jitterbug Stroll, Charleston Stroll, The Shim Sham, or Shake Your Tail Feather, then this class is for you. Hailing all of the way from The Netherlands, Ben Furieux Van Hal is an awesome dancer and choreographer and has a fantastic sense of humour – we love him! This is his signature stroll and is danced to The Jive Aces' Aces Swing. This class requires no prior dance knowledge, but you'd obviously benefit from having some dance experience. Half nine might be an early start but you’re guaranteed to be wide awake by the end of the session!
10.40am – 11.40am	Lindy Hop with Bic and Simone If you're a UK Lindy Hopper then Bic and Simone need no introduction. They are regarded as two of the best up and coming Lindy Hop dancers in the country. At the top of their game, Bic and Simone are currently the Strictly Lindy Champions of both the London Swing Festival and DJAM and are the Lindy Open winners of the Lindy Hop Festival held in Liverpool. They teach regular classes, are integral in the running of Ryan and Jenny's Camp Savoy and are the organisers of the popular Sugar Push monthly social and annual Maytime Messaround weekender in Hampshire where they live. Participants of this class need to be proficient in the full range of Lindy Hop basics in order to attend.
11.50am – 12.50am	Boogie Woogie with Ben & Jane Boogie Woogie gets its name from the Boogie Woogie music which it is often danced to and some people refer to it as a European version of Rock 'n' Roll. It's a fabulous dance which developed out of Lindy Hop and therefore has some unmistakable similarities. With an infectious enthusiasm for Boogie Woogie, Ben and Jane will take you through the basics of the dance and have you cutting a rug in no time. Although this is an introduction to Boogie Woogie, this session is intended for existing Lindy Hop dancers so it will be fast paced and a knowledge of triple step footwork would be very advantageous. Jane Story resides in London and is a familiar face on the UK Swing Scene. Paired up with Ben Furieux Van Hal, we’re in for something rather special.
Lunch break	You're welcome to bring a packed lunch and eat at the hall. Alternatively, we're in easy walking distance from a range of cafes and shops.
1.50pm – 2.50pm	Solo Charleston with Simone Brown As if hailing direct from the 1920s, Simone will guide you through the whacky and wonderful dance they call The Charleston. Considered immoral and rather provocative in its heyday, the dance is frequently associated with the flappers and Speakeasies of the prohibition age. To participate in this high energy solo dance you don't need to have any prior knowledge but it would be beneficial. Simone is a valued member of Jenny Thomas's Sophisticated Ladies Dance Troupe and a growing star on the national swing scene. Simone taught Solo Charleston at our last Swing Thing and is back this year with some more fab material for us.
3.00pm – 4.00pm	Blues with David Zilkha Blues Dancing is a must for any swing dancer who wants to master slower tempos. Generally danced to blues, jazz, and early RnB, it's a rhythmical partner dance with bags of scope for musical interpretation and interplay between dancers. Currently residing in Bristol, David Zilkha was one of the founders of the London Lindy Exchange, the London Balboa Festival, and Blues Revolution (the most established blues dancing organisation in Europe), and has more recently founded Swing Dance Bristol. As an experienced dancer and dance teacher, David has heaps to share and his classes are always fun and engaging. Although you may have attended Blues classes before, David has his own special take on how to incorporate the dance into your Lindy Hop and get you really cookin' at those slower tempos.
8.00pm – 8.45pm	Lindy Hop Steals with David Zilkha (during the evening social) Stealing is a fun and exciting dimension of swing dancing which we've only recently introduced to the Plymouth scene in the last year or so. The ability to steal a dance partner from another lead or follow whilst they are in the midst of a dance is a tricky manoeuvre to pull off smoothly. Whether you're an experienced Lindy thief or this is your first time, there's laughter guaranteed and David'll be sure to add something valuable to your thieving repertoire but... watch your back!
7.20pm – 11.00pm	Sugar Foot Stomp Special with live music from The Drat Pack An evening to remember powered by 5-piece swing outfit The Drat Pack; a very talented and versatile band who'll be belting out swing classics and a handful of motown, soul and funk numbers to really get the dance floor moving! There'll be plenty of room to dance on our rather lovely dance floor and mid-evening we have fun and shenanigans with David Zilkha's Steals Class. You can choose between a premiere ticket (an extra £4) which includes free alcoholic and soft drinks all evening from our teachers' area or get a standard ticket and bring your own drinks (we'll provide the glasses!) The band's first set will begin at 7.30pm so don't be late!

Parking

For the evening social, free on-street parking can be found on the roads directly outside of the venue and down the road on North Hill. In the unlikely event that you can't find a space, there is a pay and display car park a stone's throw away opposite Clifton Place on the other side of North Hill. During the day, the parking directly outside of the hall is restricted to 2 hours maximum stay. To avoid having to keep moving your vehicle, you can either park in the pay and display car park or make use of restriction-free parking on nearby Salcombe Road and Colebridge Road (a 5 - 10 minute walk away).

Friday

On Friday night, you can join us for a meal and a live band at The B-Bar. Dance space is limited but the food is great and the atmosphere is always rather special. The band is yet to be announced but Mama Tokus is organising something damn good! Booking is very advisable. www.b-bar.co.uk

Sunday

On Sunday we're looking into dancing in the Plymouth city centre for a couple of hours to raise money for Cancer Research UK but this is still in the planning stages. If you still have energy in the evening, Plymouth Jazz Club have Louise Parker with The Craig Milverton Trio. There is a good size dance floor and tickets are only £5/6 with our special discount card. www.plymouth-jazz-club.org.uk

Booking

You can book your place at any of our weekly classes. Alternatively, please send a cheque made payable to 'Louise Anderson' to 3 Parks Drive, Plymouth, Devon PL9 9FG. Please include your contact details (preferably an email) so that we can confirm that we have received your payment. For obvious reasons, single follows should check availability before booking any of the partner classes.

Any questions? Don't hesitate to get in touch.

For information about last year's event, see the Swing Thing 2011 page