| | *Beginning Lindy Hop 6:30-7:30 *Intermediate Lindy Hop 6:30-7:30 Intro to Swing 7:30-8:00 *Students must register by 5/5 to take this class. Classes in June: | | *Beginning Lindy Hop 6:30-7:30 *Balboa 6:30-7:30 Intro to Swing 7:30-8:00 *Students must register by 5/5 to take this class. | ![]() | | Swing Through the Month of May: | | 5/1 - Dance Night at Spangles 5/4 - May the Fourth be With You dance contest, and Dance Card Sunday 5/21 - Dance Night at the Wright Brothers
5/25- Birthday Jam | | Travel Opportunities: | | There are still plenty of events to travel to before the winter slump! Check out: Greenwood Swingout in Tulsa, OK, May 15-19
Dallas Lindy Workshop in Dallas, TX, June 30-May 1
KC Stomp in Kansas City, MO, July 11-13 Lindy on the Rocks in Denver, CO, July 30- August 3 Cowtown Jamborama in Omaha, NE, September 11-14 Sundance Swingout in Ft. Worth, TX, October 17-19 | The Funny Section: | Steal Dance, Anyone?
 | | | | | | Happy Mother's Day!
Good morning dancers, and Happy Mother's Day to all our dancin' mamas! We hope to see you all at Swingin' Sunday tonight. Remember that kids under 10 get in free!
| | Local Dancers Use the Force Our "May the Fourth be With You" competition was a barrel of laughs last Sunday! Thanks to all the brave dancers who entered the competition having no idea that they wouldn't be allowed to touch their partners. Check out the video if you missed it:
| Dance Night at Wright Brothers Bar May 21 Don't miss out on this chance to dance! WSDS DJ extraordinaire Evan Borst will be spinning tunes from 6:00-9:00pm tonight at the Wright Brothers Bar, 6518 W Kellogg.
Please purchase a beverage to support this venue. Buying food supports the hotel next door, but money for drinks (alcoholic or not) goes straight to the bar, who hosts us. This event is for dancers 21 years of age and older.
| | Editor's Note: The Spirit of the Dance
Hey guys! It's been a while since I've felt compelled to inflict my opinions on you in this way, but the time has come once again. So, lately, I've been thinking about some of the changes I've seen in the regional Lindy Hop community since I joined it in 2008. To quickly summarize, I'll say this: It's been awesome. Each year, events are expanding. I've seen bigger and better venues, more high quality live music, longer rosters of top-notch instructors, and lots more competitions. Nearby travel opportunities have multiplied, and local scene organizers have banded together to make sure the word is out about every event on the horizon. The community has never been bigger, and there has never been as much demand for Swing. So, yeah, awesome. But also, uh-oh. I feel a faint sense of foreboding. You know what happens when demand skyrockets, right? The method of supply has to change to meet that demand. And how do we supply Swing? Well, at a grassroots level, each local scene has weekly classes and social dancing. At a higher level, there are small regional events, like Sunflower Swing. (That's a dying breed, by the way. Hit the internet and try to find a half a dozen regional events you can attend for under $100. Five years ago, you would have had no problem. Today, even early-bird pricing tops triple digits to cover the increased cost of throwing a worthy event.) Beyond that, there are big regional events, like Southwest Lindyfest and Lone Star Championships. And one step above that, at the top, there are national/international events like the Intentional Lindy Hop Championships, and the holy grail of Swing, Herrang. Today's generation of Swing dancers can easily recognize these stepping stones to "better" opportunities, and accordingly, weekend-long events are popping up all over the calendar, in every region of the US. More events need more instructors, and to get more instructors, we need more top-level dancers. And to become a top-level dancer, you have to get yourself out there. You have to travel a lot. You have to compete a lot. And you have to win. You have to learn as much as you possibly can as quickly as you possibly can, and be ready to pass that holy knowledge down to the next hungry generation. Because that's the message they're getting: Dance to get GOOD at dancing. Learn from the experts. Be like today's top-level dancers. And that mentality has done a lot for Swing dancing. There are dozens more bankable instructors each year. But, I think we're reaching a tipping point. I think that, ultimately, this could be the undoing of the art. Because in order for more and more people to dance like today's "best," more and more people will have to evolve into the same TYPE of dancer. It means there's a "right way" to Swing. It means you might be able to write down a Swing dancing syllabus, complete with all the individual moves one needs to know to be a competent Swing dancer, an advanced Swing dancer, and an expert Swing dancer. We could even name the levels, like bronze, silver, and gold. Sound familiar? Those are the levels of competency you can achieve in Ballroom dancing. You can learn them in any one of millions of studios worldwide, just the same as any other, and the moves you need for each one haven't changed in a long, long time. That's not the spirit of Swing. Swing dancing is fearless. It's the dance that broke down race barriers and put aerials on social dance floors in the US. It's athletic, it's sweaty, it's suggestive, and it's funny. The spirit of Swing reaches for the next step towards awesome, towards outrageous, towards unique. It doesn't reach for the next step towards refinement, towards a clear definition, towards stagnation. So, my hope is that you will check yourself the next time you envy a competitor you watch at an event, or idolize a single instructor. I hope you take a step back, if you find yourself trying to get better more often than trying to have more fun. Remember that the best innovations in Swing dancing come from inside, not from instruction. And don't overlook the possibility that the best way to nurture your inner artist may not be to get to the best events you can. It my be to invest in those grassroots opportunities just around the corner. And, if you don't want to take my word for it, then listen to this interview with Sylvia Sykes. You might remember her form Sunflower Swing 2013. She's about as knowledgeable about Swing dancing and Swing culture as anyone alive today, and she has the same "uh-oh" feeling I do. Listen to her opinion in this video. Got thoughts? Email me. -Chelsea Rothschild | | | |
| | | | Any time a WSDS member brings a new dancer to Swingin' Sunday for the first time, both people get in for half price! That's a grand total of $5 for two people. You won't find a better deal than that anywhere. We need YOU: | | The WSDS is looking for volunteers to help us manage Sunday nights! If you've been dancing with us for a while, and would like a chance to give something back to the scene, please email us and let us know! We will really appreciate your help. There might even be a hug in it for you. | | More Swing Dancing in Wichita: | If you want to take your swing dancing to the next level, check out the Lindy Bombers! This local dance club has been meeting every Monday evening for years, working on swing dance vocabulary, technique, and musicality. The Lindy Bombers can also put you in touch with the Shiny Stockings and Five Moes Named Guy, Wichita's solo-jazz troupes. And, if you're REALLY motivated, the Lindy Bombers are also your gateway to Hot Rhythm Revival, Wichita's competitive swing dancing team. There are lots of options out there, come check them out! | Video of the Week: | I would have felt just plain hypocritical posting a competition video after that Editor's Note, so instead, feed your craving with this . | |
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