Events

8-9 April 2023 – CheltenhamSwing.Dance Festival

Full details and booking here: CheltenhamSwing.Dance/CSDFest
Full weekend tickets and social passes available now.

Book now!
£110 for the whole weekend. (Payment plan options available.)
£20 Social pass only.

CSD Fest Poster
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29 April 2023 – Lindy Bombing in John Lewis

We’ve been invited to do a flash-mob style Lindy Bombing in John Lewis in Cheltenham over the Jazz Festival weekend. We did something similar last year and it was great fun. John Lewis are running a charity fun day in support of a Neonatal Care charity at Glos. Royal Hospital: www.scoo-b-doo.info

We’re dancing 12:00-13:00 on Saturday 29 April 2023. We’ll provide the music – please come along and social dance!

We plan to go for lunch at Taylor’s afterwards. All welcome! Meet at 11:45 on the ground floor near The Experience Desk (on the ground floor, walk towards the escalators).

John Lewis in Cheltenham
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5 May 2023 – Social Dance

JUKE BOX JUMP!

Before purchasing a ticket for this dance you will need to complete a simple form telling us what your favourite swing song is. We will then build a playlist for the evening based (hopefully) solely around your music selection. Are you ready? Nothing like a technical challenge to book a dance!

We are also making this a charity dance – so all money taken will go to a local charity!

SIGN UP NOW –>

Spring will be in the air! Lindy hop will be everywhere. You’ll be in charge of the play list. All money will go to charity. It will be an amazing social dance at Dowty’s. 20:00 – 23:00.

Spring people
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13 May 2023 – Summer Workshop with Su Gorrie

Su Gorrie is coming back to town and has some great workshops for you during the day on Saturday 13 May at Dowty. You can do one or both workshops.

There’ll be some fun Solo Jazz in the morning, which will culminate in a simple routine; time for a picnic lunch (please bring your own lunch!), and a Lindy Hop workshop in the afternoon. We had great fun at Su’s workshop last year so we’re looking forward to this!

Teacher Su
Messing around on the beach.

Guest teacher, Su Gorrie, has been Lindy hopping for over 17 years! She was trained by Jenny & Ryan, and was an original member of Jenny’s ‘Sophisticated Ladies’ – performing across the country. Su is regularly found on dance floors and at festivals, dancing and teaching across the UK.

Lindy Hop teacher
Su Gorrie

Workshop 1: 10:00 – 13:00 (2.5 hours teaching plus 30 mins breaks). Solo Jazz. Suitable for all our dancers

A picnic in the sunshine (we hope). Please bring your own picnic!

Workshop 2: 14:00 – 17:00 (2.5 hours teaching plus 30 mins breaks). Lindy Hop. You need to be able to social dance to a whole song in Lindy Hop. If you can do this – come and have some fun!

Each class is £15 per person, or £20 if you do both!

For the Lindy workshop we’ll be balancing lead and follow numbers, so if you can sign up with someone, you have a better chance of avoiding a waiting list. 

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17 June – Workshop: Swing Out Family

Following the success of this workshop last year, we’d love to run it again. How do you fancy taking your Swing Outs to the next level? We know that dancing Lindy Hop is amazing fun and we’ve also experienced how, with just a little improvement to fundamental technique, the amount of fun you can have goes up and up!

If you would like to improve your connection and positioning so your leading is crystal-clear and smooth, or your following is flowing and responsive, this workshop is definitely for you.

In this workshop Matt and Jane will be giving you a framework on which you can build all the moves that use the ‘face-off’; you’ll be swinging out forwards, sideways, reverse, with and without a turn and more. If you can social dance Lindy Hop at any level then you are ready for this workshop.

Matt Jane

Matt and Jane say, “We are very lucky to have attended many Lindy training camps and have brought back tips, techniques and training methods that we found really improved our enjoyment of the dance. We would absolutely love to share this with as many dancers on our local scene as we can.”

Workshop times are 11:00 to 15:00. Tickets are £20 for three hours of teaching and then time for breaks – bring your own lunch! Please note the location is: ANDOVERSFORD VILLAGE HALL, just outside Cheltenham (GL54 4LE). Plenty of easy parking on site.

If you’d like to reserve a place please email us at info@cheltenhamswing.dance indicating if you would like to lead or follow. If you are booking for 2 people, please give us both names. No need to pay in advance, we will ask you to pay on the day.

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14 July 2023 – Social Dance

Excellent social dance at Dowty’s. 20:00 – 23:00 with Marvin Muoneké and his Swing Band. Keep the date free, as Marvin will keep you swinging all night. What a way to celebrate summer!

Marvin Muoneké is a gifted jazz singer-songwriter, arranger and performing/recording artist based in the South West of England. His bass-baritone voice has often been referred to as rich, deep and smooth. Bringing the songs and sounds of mid-20th century jazz to modern listeners of all ages, Marvin possesses a rare and beautiful presence that can light up any audience of any venue within seconds.

Over the last ten years, Marvin has worked several theatres and venues both at home and abroad. Venues including Southampton’s Concorde Club, Pizza Express Holborn, The Hideaway Streatham, Royal Festival Hall, Weston Playhouse, London Palladium, Theatre Royal Winchester and Champs-Élysées in Paris.

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16 September 2023 – Social Dance

As part of our weekender there will be a Saturday evening social dance, which The Shirt Tail Stompers. We will also open this dance to a limited number of people who are not at the workshop. Dowty’s. 20:00 – 23:00.

Please note, this date changed very soon after the original publication to avoid a clash with Cotswold Shag

Shirt Tail Stopmers
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16-17 September 2023 – Guest teacher weekend and social dance

We have booked a 2-day event with some excellent teachers. Lisa Clarke and Fabien Vrillon. There will be a social dance at Dowty’s on the Saturday evening with tickets available for non-weekend participants. 20:00 – 23:00.

You will not want to miss this. Classes on the Saturday and Sunday, making it a full week-end of Lindy Hop. More details to follow, but for now let us introduce the teachers:

Lindy Hop Teachers

Fabien and Lisa met in Herrang, Sweden in 2010 and have been teaching and dancing together ever since. Coming from different backgrounds they both bring their own particular expertise, talents, and enthusiasm to the partnership.

Fabien comes from France and has been teaching swing dancing since 2004, specializing in lindy hop and blues. His love of choreography has led to him to choreograph a number of successful showcases performed at ILHC and other events, as well as the recent ‘French Connection’ Team that placed 2nd at ILHC and ESDC.

Lisa is a professional dancer from London, now living in France. Classically trained from the age of 6 she discovered her love for all styles of dance whilst studying for her degree in Theatre Dance at London Studio Centre. After leaving college she worked professionally in the commercial dance world. She then discovered and fell in love with lindy hop and blues and has immersed herself in all things swing ever since.

Together and separately they have competed and placed in many competitions. (recently 3rd place in the pro showcase 2017 and winning 1st place in the open showcase at ILHC, 3rd place in the Classic Open at ILHC, 3rd place in showcase at Camp Hollywood in LA in 2016. They were also European Swing dance Champions in the slow lindy division in 2013, 2nd place in 2015).

Their fun natured teaching style, yet ability to breakdown a movement, means their classes are a perfect mix for those wanting to progress their dancing. Constantly pushing themselves in their own dancing means they understand the work that goes into becoming a better dancer and are passionate about sharing their experiences and helping others to achieve their goals.


Please note: There will be no dance on 22 September as originally planned – this conflicted with Cotswold Shag so we have moved it to be incorporated into the weekend event.

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28 October 2023 – Hallowe’en Social Dance

Please note – this is a Saturday dance. The (in)famous Hallowe’en dance. 20:00 – 23:00.

It’s never too soon to think about fancy dress! The Hallowe’en Dance at Dowty has a fantastic reputation for plenty of spooooky costumes and is sure to be a fabulously fun night. We can’t wait.

halloween party
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15 December 2023 – Christmas Social Dance

Swing right into Christmas at Dowty’s with our excellent Christmas Dance. 20:00 – 23:00.

xmas dance photo
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6 January 2024 – Save the date

We’re not telling you much yet – but there’s already something booked for 2024… Save the date. You won’t want to miss this.

Save the date logo
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