When: June 28th 3-5pm

Where: Ann Arbor District Library – Downtown

Help us help Swing Ann Arbor serve YOU! Join friends for an afternoon of brainstorming over lunch, coffee, and tea, and head over to Ann Arbor Summer Fest (again!) to dance the evening away to MORE live jazz!

Come join friends, instructors, and board members from SAA to help make the next year the best it can be! On Saturday, June 28th at 3pm, we will discuss future plans, community goals and values, and brainstorm. We will be hanging out in the Downtown Library Freespace and this event will include lunch, coffee, and tea. Afterwards, we’ll head over to the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, where a jazz band and a funk and soul band are featured later that evening, perfect to dance to! We are attempting to steer our next year of Swing Ann Arborto best serve our community, and greatly appreciate your participation. Have a conversation topic you’d like to suggest get added to the agenda? Share it here!

Register Here: Connection Mini-Series Registration

Strengthening and Finding Nuance in your Dance Partnering

Have you been in a lesson where the instructor used terms like “stretch”, “compression”, or “tension”, but you weren’t quite sure what they meant? In these two one-hour classes, we will take a closer look at different ways to connect with your dance partner by unpacking these terms and talking about what they mean and how they feel in different contexts. We will focus both on the how – how do we create different connections with our partner? – and the why – what function does the nature of the connection between you and your partner play in a particular shape/move, and in your dancing more broadly. We suggest taking both classes but they can be taken independently of each other. 

Pre-requisites: 4-5 Beginner lessons; comfort with rhythm, open and closed dance position, and inside/outside turns

WHEN:

April 2nd and 9th, 6:30-7:30pm

Students will walk to the social dance afterwards and free admission to social dance is included in class payment.

WHERE:

Mason Hall Room 1339

INSTRUCTORS:

Marcell Benkes-Toth and Kaya Lakein

COST:

Pay-What-You-Wish $10-40

Free admission to social dance is included in class payment.

Register here: Musicality Mini-Series Registration

Join Lily for a workshop on all things musicality! This two-class series will feature discussion, workshopping, and experimentation. We will spend time listening and discussing technical aspects of music, exploring qualities of movement and expression, play around with the ever-elusive journey of “finding your personal voice”, and more! Come prepared to experiment, play around, and learn lots! If you have requests for topics covered, feel free to email lilyroof@umich.edu

WHEN:

April 1st and 8th, 6:30-8:00

WHERE:

Hoover St Studio

*No street shoes allowed in the studio!

INSTRUCTOR:

Lily Roof

COST:

Pay-What-You-Wish $10-40

Register here!

Immerse yourself in the world of Balboa with Swing Ann Arbor! Spend a day learning from some of the best Balboa dancers from across Michigan, and spend the evening shuffling in our beloved Vandenberg Room. Two levels of classes will be offered, and everyone will come together at the end for a mixed levels class. All admission is on our Pay-What-You-Wish scale, see more details below!

Level distinctions and FAQ’s:
Balboa 101 – No Balboa experience required! If you’re not quite comfortable with the prerequisites listed in track 201, this class is right for you.

Balboa 201 – If you are comfortable with up and down hold basics, come arounds, out and ins, and lollies, this track is right for you!

What shoes should I wear?
You will have the most luck dancing balboa in low-grip shoes with a smooth sole. Chunky shoes and grippy sneakers are not recommended.

Where can I park?
Street parking in Ann Arbor is free on Sundays, but several parking structures such as the Thayer Structure and Maynard Structure are also nearby and free.

Where can I coordinate carpools?
Check out the Michigan Balboa Facebook group, or the Michigan swing dancers Discord for communication platforms. (Contact us for an invite to the discord server)

Do you offer scholarships or discounts?
We often have volunteer opportunities at our events where you can collect SAA credit! If you have interest in volunteering at our events, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Kaya Lakein (klakein@umich.edu)

Who are your instructors?
Angel Jenio, Lansing, MI
Scott Herdegen, Grand Rapids, MI
Annaliese Keiser, Ann Arbor, MI
Emily Topham, Ypsilanti, MI

SCHEDULE:
12:00-1:15pm
Balboa 101, Mason Hall 1436, Annaliese and Angel
Balboa 201, Mason Hall 3401, Emily and Scott

1:30-2:45pm
Balboa 101, MH 1436, Scott and Annaliese
Balboa 201, MH 3401, Angel and Emily

3:00-4:30pm
All levels lesson, topic TBA, MH 3401, Angel and Scott

6:30-9:00pm
Social Dance, Michigan League, Vandenberg Room

ADMISSION:
Full day camp (4 hours of classes and 2.5 hour social dance)
Pay-What-You-Wish $25-60

Classes only
Pay-What-You-Wish $15-40

Social dance only
Pay-What-You-Wish $5-20

Wednesday, February 26·7:30 – 9:30pm

Vandenberg Room, Michigan League, 911 N University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

Live Music:

• Swing Ann Arbor will be hosting a jazz combo hailing from U of M’s own School of Music! Join us for two hours of swingin’ tunes right at home in the Vandenberg Room!
• In order to support local musicians, admission to this dance will be Pay-What-You-Wish $5-20. Beginner lesson attendees are still welcome to dance for free, but everyone is encouraged to pitch in what they can!

WHAT:
Swing Ann Arbor hosts a beginner drop-in lesson and social dance every Wednesday! No partner or experience needed. You do not need to be a student of the University of Michigan to attend. Just bring yourself and some comfy shoes! We have rotating teachers and lesson material, so come back each week to learn something new!

WHEN:
Beginner Lesson 6:30-7:30pm
Social Dance 7:30-9:30pm

WHERE:
Vandenberg Room
Michigan League, 911 N University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI

COST:
Admission to beginner drop-in lesson: FREE!
Admission to social dance: $5 or FREE if you take the beginner drop-in lesson ($5-20 on live music weeks)

VOLUNTEER:
Help us run the front desk here! You get free admission and $5 in Swing Ann Arbor credit!
https://docs.google.com/…/1n_vbr3…/edit…

Come practice with friends and instructors from Swing Ann Arbor! Our practice sessions this semester will include designated practice facilitators, including teachers and other experienced dancers who will lead group activities, provide practice ideas, feedback, tips, and help guide the group! Group activities will begin 15-20 minutes into the session, followed by open practice time that will be aided by practice facilitators. All levels are welcome!

WHEN:

6-8pm

March 4th

March 11th

March 18th

March 25th

PRICING:

Free, although donations for the cost of the space are encouraged

WHERE:

Hoover St Studio, 323 E Hoover Ave, Ann Arbor

On Wednesday, January 29th, Swing Ann Arbor will be hosting Orange Moon Odyssey, a jazz combo from U of M’s own School of Music! Join us for two hours of tunes right at home in the Vandenberg Room!

• In order to support local musicians, admission to this dance will be Pay-What-You-Wish $5-20. Beginner lesson attendees are still welcome to dance for free, but everyone is encouraged to pitch in what they can!

Photographer:

• We will have a professional photographer at this dance! If you do not wish to be photographed, we will have stickers available at the front desk to place on your hands, and our photographer will avoid snapping you!

DJ Meetup:

• Calling all DJs – please join Sarah for a DJ meet-up from 6:30-7:20pm in Maizes Kitchen and Market (1st floor of the Michigan League)! All are welcome, whether you’re super into DJing, would like to DJ in the future, or just want to take a peek behind the musical curtain. We’ll grab some tables and discuss our favorite artists, styles, DJ library management, and any SAA dance floor trends in an open forum. We’ll save plenty of time for informal song swapping and chatting over snacks!

Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of Charleston! In this series we’ll be building from the ground up to some of the most iconic moves on any dancefloor! No prior Charleston experience needed and each class will cover separate materials after a quick recap on the basic to start the 2nd week onward. This class will include half an hour of practice time after the hour-long class.

REGISTRATION LINK: Registration Link

WHEN:

Tuesdays in February, 6:30-7:30pm, practice time until 8:00

• February 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th
• Please note that students may be turned away if they did not attend the progressive class the week prior.

PRICING: 

Pay-What-You-Wish $20-60 (for whole series)

• Students must pay for the entire series, no weekly admission available
• If you are paying via PayPal, you MUST include a note that says Charleston, otherwise your payment will not be processed

TEACHERS: 

Zayne Knuth and Casey McCoy

LOCATION: 

Hoover St Studio, 323 E Hoover Ave, Ann Arbor

Build your Lindy Hop on a solid foundation! In this series, we’ll be working toward swingouts from the ground up.  Learn classic shapes & patterns while improving your connection & improvisation skills. This series is aimed at dancers who have attended 1-4 beginner lessons and are looking for more. (Occurs concurrently with our normal beginner lesson – the group will walk together afterwards to the social dance, cost covered by class admission) Please note that students may be directed to the concurrent beginner lesson if they did not attend the progressive class the week prior.

REGISTRATION FORM: Registration Form

WHEN:

Wednesdays in February, 6:30-7:30pm

• February 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th
• Please arrive early on Week 1 to check in and pay!
• Please note that students may be directed to the concurrent beginner lesson if they did not attend the progressive class the week prior.

PRICING: 

Pay-What-You-Wish $20-60 (for whole series)

• Students must pay for the entire series, no weekly admission available
• Social dance admission is included in the class payment
• If you are paying via PayPal, you MUST include a note that says Swing I, otherwise your payment will not be processed

TEACHERS: 

Sarah Redman and Cat Reyes

LOCATION: 

Mason Hall, Room 3401

419 S State St, Ann Arbor

Swing Ann Arbor is collecting responses from our dancers on several aspects of our community, and we need your help to improve our space. If you have participated in any of our events in the past year, please take a few minutes and fill out the survey! Responses will close at the end of November 2024.

Fill out the survey here!

All questions are optional, and the survey is anonymous.

At the end there will be a section to provide an email to be entered in a drawing for free admission to our December holiday dance for filling out the form!
*These responses will be viewed by a board member who will not have access to the other sections of the survey to preserve anonymity.

The first section, focusing on ADEI and Safe Spaces is run in partnership with and gratitude for Cat Madish