F.A.Q. About Swing Dance Academy Lessons
1) First things first, what should I wear?
The quick answer: Wear anything that helps you feel comfortable while moving around!
The long answer: Wear anything that helps you feel comfortable while moving around!
Swing dancing is more athletic than your average partner dance, so prioritize comfort and movement over style and costume.
The long answer: Wear anything that helps you feel comfortable while moving around!
Swing dancing is more athletic than your average partner dance, so prioritize comfort and movement over style and costume.
2) What about shoes?
The quick answer: Wear anything that helps you feel comfortable while moving around!
The long answer: Wear anything....you get the point.
For your first few classes, you may want to avoid high heels, sandals, heavy boots, or shoes with a lot of "grip" on the soles. Over time, you'll most likely develop a preference for a particular style of shoe but for now, choose comfort over costume and support over style!
The long answer: Wear anything....you get the point.
For your first few classes, you may want to avoid high heels, sandals, heavy boots, or shoes with a lot of "grip" on the soles. Over time, you'll most likely develop a preference for a particular style of shoe but for now, choose comfort over costume and support over style!
3) I have never danced before...will i be okay?
It can be nerve wracking taking the first step on to the dance floor, but when you do, you are joining a community of people who also took that nerve-wracking first step. The great thing about taking a Swing dance class, is that everyone else was once where you are at, including the instructors!
Also, if you're looking to take a class at the Swing Dance Vegas Academy, head on over to our "Before Your First Lesson" page for tips and tricks.
Also, if you're looking to take a class at the Swing Dance Vegas Academy, head on over to our "Before Your First Lesson" page for tips and tricks.
4) do i need to register or pay before class?
Nope! It doesn't matter if you decide to join us at the last minute or if you've been building up to this for a year, the only thing you have to do is show up. Here at the Swing Dance Vegas Academy, all payments are taken at the end of the lesson, so if half-way through you decide that this isn't the right time for your first class, just head off the floor without any issue.
With all that said: If you are considering coming out to a Swing class, feel free to drop us an e-mail at [email protected]
With all that said: If you are considering coming out to a Swing class, feel free to drop us an e-mail at [email protected]
5) so...exactly what swing dance are we doing?
Excellent question!
At the Swing Dance Vegas Academy, we offer classes in Lindy hop, Jitterbug, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Charleston, Collegiate Shag, Balboa, Carolina Shag, and Jive. We also teach some of the great Solo/Group routine dances of the last 100 years, including the Shim Sham, the Madison, the Nitty Gritty, and Jitterbug Stroll, to name a few. The class title will often tell you what style is being offered. If the class says "Swing Dance," as opposed to a particular style, then it could be any of the various dances that make up the Swing genre.
However, the main foci of our classes at the Swing Dance Vegas Academy are Rhythm & Lead/Follow. These are the two most important concepts in social dancing. All of our classes focus on rhythm, the ability to keep a beat and move to music (if you'd like an introduction to counting to music, check out our Counting Music 101 lesson). Our partner classes place an emphasis on leading and following, and teaching the techniques that allow us to dance with anyone to any song.
So, when you tell your friends that you are taking dance lessons, and they ask what dance you are learning, tell them you're learning to Swing dance. If they ask, "What kind of swing dancing?", give them the response that famed Swing dancer Dean Collins gave a reporter in the late 1970s: "There is no style, there is only Swing!"
At the Swing Dance Vegas Academy, we offer classes in Lindy hop, Jitterbug, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Charleston, Collegiate Shag, Balboa, Carolina Shag, and Jive. We also teach some of the great Solo/Group routine dances of the last 100 years, including the Shim Sham, the Madison, the Nitty Gritty, and Jitterbug Stroll, to name a few. The class title will often tell you what style is being offered. If the class says "Swing Dance," as opposed to a particular style, then it could be any of the various dances that make up the Swing genre.
However, the main foci of our classes at the Swing Dance Vegas Academy are Rhythm & Lead/Follow. These are the two most important concepts in social dancing. All of our classes focus on rhythm, the ability to keep a beat and move to music (if you'd like an introduction to counting to music, check out our Counting Music 101 lesson). Our partner classes place an emphasis on leading and following, and teaching the techniques that allow us to dance with anyone to any song.
So, when you tell your friends that you are taking dance lessons, and they ask what dance you are learning, tell them you're learning to Swing dance. If they ask, "What kind of swing dancing?", give them the response that famed Swing dancer Dean Collins gave a reporter in the late 1970s: "There is no style, there is only Swing!"