Return of the Georgia Tech GTDA Swing Dances, Aug. 23

[wheato]

Here's an announcement I'm re-posting from Swingtown. The Swing and Lindy Hop community is very excited about the return of the monthly Georgia Tech swing dances beginning Aug. 23rd. The event, held on campus at the Georgia Tech ballroom and sponsored by the Georgia Tech Dance Association, kicks off with a beginning (East Coast) swing lesson from 8-9 p.m., followed by the dance itself from 9 p.m. until 12 midnight. Admission is $10 per person, $7 for students. The feature band will be Night Train. In addition, there will be a series of workshops the following day at the ballroom. Several instructors will be providing beginning instruction in West Coast Swing and Carolina Shag. This is in preparation for the big Summer Swing Jam event, Sept. 12-15 at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel (see the other post for information on that).

Here's the original announcement:

A very exciting event is coming to Atlanta Sept. 12-15. It's called Summer Swing Jam and it's an all-weekend dance party!

For all the details, go to http://www.summerswingjam.com

I know many of you have never been to this kind of event before. It's unbelievably fun to spend a whole weekend completely immersed in dance ... especially one as all-out fun as swing! This event has it all: competitions, workshops, exhibitions, and a TON of social dance time (not one but 2 ballrooms with huge lovely gentle wood dance floors!). Plus, everyone there is excited about swing, just like you. Atlanta doesn't have many events like this and none are as friendly and accessible to East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop dancers. A variable pricing structure and convenient location by the airport make this very easy for everyone... you can drop in for a day or sign up for the whole caboodle.

Georgia Tech Dance Association patrons know that we strive to bring you the best quality dancing and instruction for a low price. This event definitely exemplifies that creed.

Many of you may know Kenny and Kerry, local West Coast Swing dancers who have taught Options classes in the Ballroom on Sundays and have taught at a few GTDA workshops, too. Well, they are the driving force behind Swing Jam.

Kenny and Kerry originally designed the event three years ago to really live by the tenet "IT'S ALL SWING!!" -- without the barriers and divisions that always crop up and seem so insurmountable. We're all swing dancers: Carolina Shag, balboa, bop, hand dancing, West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Jitterbug/East Coast... why don't we celebrate all that rich history and diversity together?

I find Swing Jam exciting in a special way because of this founding principle. But not everyone can fully participate because they don't know the basics of other dances, and they feel blocked or intimidated, rather than eager to jump into that crazy fun mess.

Sooooooo, the Georgia Tech Dance Association has decided to try to do something about that! On Aug. 24, we will be hosting a special workshop designed to help all Lindy Hoppers and East Coasters get ready for Swing Jam! This will be three weeks before the event, so you'll even have time to practice and get comfortable!

Two great teacher pairs -- Butch and Kathy Dukes and Kenny Livingston and Kerry Frost -- will be teaching crash courses in Carolina Shag and West Coast Swing. In addition to their areas of expertise, all four teachers have experience working with and teaching ECS and Lindy. They love the idea of helping bring us more fully into the event and are really enthusiastic about this workshop!

GTDA will divide the Ballroom, creating two workshop classrooms. Each teacher pair will lead a two-part lesson in the morning. After lunch, the teachers will switch and teach the same lesson again. This gives all students a chance to take both courses -- OR -- take the same course twice
to improve understanding and retention.

SCHEDULE:

9:30-10a.m. Registration

10 a.m- 11:15 a.m.
Room A: Carolina Shag 1
Room B: West Coast Swing 1

11:30-12:45 p.m.
Room A. Carolina Shag 2
Room B. West Coast Swing 2

2:15- 3:30 p.m.
Room A. West Coast Swing 1
Room B. Carolina Shag 1

3:45 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Room A. West Coast Swing 2
Room B. Carolina Shag 2

5:15 - 6?
"Swag Hop" -- Putting it all together!

COST:

Everything! - $40 general admission/ $30 students/ $25 GT students --- BEST VALUE! -- Includes all classes: almost 7 hours of instruction!

Individual workshop sets: $20 general, $18 students, $15 GT students (2.5 hours of instruction)
West Coast Swing AM/PM only
Carolina Shag AM/PM only

PLUS: Bonus class! "Swag Hop! Putting it all together" - FREE with any other workshop, or $5 a la carte

No advance registration. Register at the door Saturday morning.

Don't know what Carolina Shag or West Coast Swing are? All the teachers will be at the Friday night dance Aug. 23 for exhibitions and to answer questions about the dances and the Summer Swing Jam event. This dance will feature the music of Night Train big band and DJ Frank Santiago. A beginning East Coast Swing lesson with Frank and Mara begins at 8 p.m. The
dance floor opens at 9 p.m. Cost is $7 students or $10 general admission.

Feel free to contact me (Amy Winn) or e-mail [email protected] with ANY questions. Those of you on additional mailing lists, feel free to forward this message! For directions and other information about Georgia Tech Dance Association, go to http://www.gtda.org.

COME TO GTDA and then we'll SEE YOU AT THE JAM!!

[admin]

Thanks, Jim

I made small correction to your post. The ' character was showing up as something like &8214; so I fixed it.

BTW if anyone is going to be shooting any video, I'm about ready start placing some streaming video on this site. I'm hoping for a week to two weeks, but we'll see.

[Guest]

Thanks, the login was giving me problems so I couldn't edit it. I tried to log in and it declared my password invalid, although I clearly remember what password I chose earlier this week. So I posted as a guest. If this is a bug in the system, you may want to investigate and fix.