WSDS Weekly 5.1714

Web Version | Unsubscribe Like us on Facebook Wichita Swing Dance Weekly Classes in May: *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, JOctober 17-19 The Funny Section: Solo Charleston, First Attempt: Dance Night at Wright Brothers Bar May 21 Good morning dancers! May is halfway over, but there are still plenty of chances for you to dance. Tonight, of course, is Swingin' Sunday. Then on Wednesday, 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. Sign up for Balboa in June! If you're new to the WSDS, you might not realize just how many types of Swing we like to do. We give lessons in Lindy Hop and East Coast Swing every month. Lindy Hop is our mainstay; it's the all-inclusive, versatile dance that made way for all of the others. And East Coast Swing is the simplest, most accessible form of Swing. It's a good gateway dance. But, every other month, we also do a month-long series class on something different. June's series class will be Balboa. Balboa is a wonderful Swing dance with a lot of unique characteristics. It combines very close embrace with very fast music. It evolved in clubs that were so crowded, swinging out was out of the question. Dancers had to take up as little space on the floor as possible, but they still wanted to make the most of the up-tempo jazz that so inspired them. Sylvia Sykes described Balboa like this: Pure Balboa's not a dance for anybody to watch. It's a dance where the partners and the music are the experience. It's  secret between you and your partner and the music, and it has nothing to do with somebody sitting in a chair watching you. That about captures it. Not only is Balboa a great way to experience the music and a dance partnership, it also provides a sweet reprieve when the song you're dancing to is just too fast, for too long. Sign up at the front desk tonight to reserve your spot in June's Balboa series. No partner or experience is required. Good to know: 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've been immersing myself in Swing's history via a documentary by Ken Burns, called simply "Jazz." I highly recommend it. Check out a small sample in this video. See you next week!