For more information on the RCMA weekend, head over to the Rhythm City website!

Our usual times apply to both of these great nights of dancing. Here’s your deets!

Where – Grandview Legion Auditorium, 2205 Commercial Drive
When – 7:30pm Doors, 8:00pm Drop-in Lesson, 9:00pm Dance
How Much – Band Night with The Hoppin’ Mad Orchestra: $20 Regular Price, $17 Jungle Swing and Affiliate Members

Join us for one of the best live band nights of the year. For all you new dancers, do not fear. We will still have our drop-in lesson before the dance. Also, there’s nothing like the atmosphere you get from a live music night. Come on out, bring your friends, and listen/dance to the best Vancouver has to offer in live Jazz.

Rhythm City Mess Around

For those of you who haven’t registered, get it done! It’s time for you fall Lindy Hop workshop fix and the Mess Around is this weekend. Rhythm City offers the best workshops in Vancouver with some of the worlds top instructors. For more information, head to the RCMA page on the Rhythm City website.

Cheers,
Darren

Speaking of great music, we’ve got a special night of killer live music on Saturday September 24th. As a part of the Rhythm City Mess Around (RCMA), Jungle Swing is proud to present the Hoppin’ Mad Jazz Orchestra on stage at Stomp it Off! This amazing band will blow your socks off with their swinging rhythms and amazing horns. There are very few bands in Vancouver that can compete with Hoppin’ Mad!

For more information on the RCMA weekend, head over to the Rhythm City website!

Our usual times apply to both of these great nights of dancing. Here’s your deets!

Where – Grandview Legion Auditorium, 2205 Commercial Drive
When – 7:30pm Doors, 8:00pm Drop-in Lesson, 9:00pm Dance
How Much – DJ Night: $13 Regular Price, $10 Jungle Swing and Affiliate Members
How Much – Band Night: $20 Regular Price, $17 Jungle Swing and Affiliate Members

New Stuff!

There’s a new dance night in town. It will mosey on in as of Thursday September 22nd and it’s presented by Rhythm City! The dance will take place at St. Michael’s  Church, located at 409 E. Broadway in Vancouver. The as of yet unnamed dance will run from 9pm to midnight. You can help Rhythm City in naming this new event by showing up to Stomp it Off! on Saturday night and filling out a ballot.

Also new from Rhythm City is the Intro to Swing dance lesson series. The series is for anyone who wants to dip their toe into the pool of swing but has been a little intimidated by all the heavy swimming… er… swinging! If that’s you, sign up for Intro to Swing starting Thursday September 22nd by contacting Rhythm City Productions. Hmmm. September 22nd for the start of Vancouver’s newest dance lesson series and dance event. A coincidence? I think not!

Cheers,
Darren

Dancing and Music

In the mean time, there are all sorts of events happening in Vancouver that Swing dancers can attend and enjoy. Heck, even non-dancers can take them in and get full entertainment value! For example, tonight, June 29th, The Jen Hodge All Stars are playing at Guilt & Co, located at 1 Alexander Street in Vancouver. Jen Hodge, hot off her big stage performance with the Company B Jazz Band for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, will be taking her happy fun Jazz vibe to the stage with her All Stars. I believe 9pm is their start time, but get there early as it’s a Jazz Fest event and it’s likely to be crowded!

Thursdays during the summer the Showboat stage will be running from 7:30pm to 10:00pm, weather permitting of course! This summertime favourite is always well attended and is outdoors on the water with a cool atmosphere and relaxed vibe. It’s a great way to get some dancing in during the summer, so check it out!

For those that feel the need for Blues dancing and its spinoffs, there’s two events to look for in Vancouver. First is Blues in the City run by the incomparable Adam Konkle. Affectionately known as BitC, this well known Vancouver Blues Dance event runs every second and fourth Friday of the month at Academie Duello located at 412 W Hastings. It’s a can’t miss for you Blues lovers out there. Second is Blues Cafe, run by Vincent Wong, in Burnaby at Dance Addicts Studio, 4622 Hastings Street. This is what’s known as a Fusion event (not the atomic kind) and is attended by dancers of all stripes.

There will be many Canada Day celebrations with live music that dancers will love. Granville Island always has things on the go for Canada Day. This year they kick it off with the Jen Hodge All Stars and Swing Patrol running back-to-back from Noon until 5-ish at the Ron Basford Park stage. Elsewhere, Dal Richards will be playing at the Vancouver Convention Centre main stage, 10:00am start time, in the Jack Poole Plaza, and then at the Showboat stage starting at 7:00pm. This iconic band leader is still going strong well into his 90′s and is a must see not only as a musician but as a national treasure. Can you believe he’s doing two shows on Canada Day?!

Summer time is also a great time for dance classes. If you’ve ever wanted to take a Swing dance lesson series, give it a shot during the slower summer months! Jungle Swing’s recommendation is Rhythm City Productions. With a wide array of beginner Swing dance classes, you can get yourself ready for the fall season in no time flat! Visit the Rhythm City website for more information and to register for your first Lindy Hop class.

Public Spaces – How Do We Use Them?

This evening I have the privilege of helping the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and VIVA Vancouver audition busking acts for the street space transformation on Granville Street this summer. As many of you know, Jungle Swing will not be participating directly in VIVA Vancouver transformations this summer as we did last year with Dancing in the Street. However there will be many different events and types of entertainment on the Granville Mall downtown. Of course, all this leads into the topic of how we use public spaces and in what ways we can re-purpose transit corridors in a city like Vancouver, which was built on a grid.

Last night I attended the Spacing Road Show for Spacing Magazine Vancouver launch. Spacing got its start in Toronto and is all about how we use and perceive public spaces in our cities. The Road Show had a great panel of thoughtful Vancouverites and members of City Hall who talked about Vancouver’s public spaces, how we currently use them, how we are moving towards new usage ideas, and how this all ties in with current transportation realities in our urban lifestyle. Currently in Vancouver, many of our public spaces are transitory such as the Sea Wall (which is ranked as Canada’s top public space by Spacing in their first national edition), Granville Mall, and Commercial Drive, rather than destinations unto themselves. These public spaces are transit corridors, whether for fitness or shopping, but the spaces themselves are not generally used for anything other than as a means of moving people. While this is certainly needed and wanted, there is the unique challenge of temporarily re-purposing these transit spaces for event and gathering space when such is needed and wanted.

We of course had fine examples of this re-purposing or layered use of public transit space with the 2010 Winter Olympics when the downtown core was turned into a gathering place for Vancouverites and guests alike. Last summer the DVBIA and the City of Vancouver got together to build off the Olympic successes to create the Rediscover Granville initiative, of which Jungle Swing was a part with Dancing in the Street. Every year the Vancouver International Jazz Festival successfully engages in the layered usage idea, turning Vancouver streets into open air stages. But it doesn’t always go right.

Some of you may recall a bit of hockey induced craziness that happened in the downtown core during what turned into a regular re-purposing for the playoffs. For the most part the re-purpose for the Canucks playoff run was successful with tens of thousands of people enjoying the outdoor viewing and celebrations. It only turned ugly for one game, but that is the part that will stick in the craw of Vancouverites for some time to come. Another re-purposing that didn’t turn out well, but with a much smaller consequence, was the Car Free Days on Commercial Drive. While many people enjoyed the chance to walk up and down the Drive, sit at a mid-street ‘patio’, and take in entertainment without fear of being squashed by oncoming traffic, a number of businesses were adversely affected because their regular clientele found it difficult to drive to and park near the places they wanted to go. This was an interesting unintended result of a transportation space re-purpose as many did not foresee the push back from businesses due to a lack of customers. While on the surface, both of these re-purposing initiatives seemed like a good idea, they both failed and for very different reasons.

With the positives and negatives both squarely in mind, the City of Vancouver, through VIVA Vancouver, is forging ahead with new ways to use the streets of Vancouver and create public destinations with transitory space. From the Pedestrian Weekends on the Granville Mall to the Cambie Village Community Artists Plaza and the Modular Deck just east of Main on East 14th, Vancouver is encouraging people to get out and engage in their spaces, as both destination and transitory. This summer will have a lot to offer in Vancouver with how we use our city and think about ways to layer usage and engage the public in a positive and thoughtful manner.

While you’re deciding where to go and what to do in Vancouver this summer, pick up the latest issue of Spacing at Chapters and think about how we can use the spaces of our city to encourage cultural growth and positive activities. To add one more idea that was rought up in the panel discussion last night, more than 80% of Canada’s population lives in urban settings yet we still have a century old notion of Canadians as pioneers. The sooner we accept our urban lifestyle and engage in solutions to urban problems, the better off we will be with regards to urban planning, transit, and space usage. And to drive home the point of our outdated ideas we hold about ourselves, it was noted that during the last federal election campaign debates, not a single party leader discussed the urban reality of Canada and the role cities play in our lives. Crazy, eh?

Cheers,
Darren

Doors – 7:30pm
Drop-in Swing Dance Lesson – 8:00pm
Dancing from 9:00pm to 1:00am

Check out what Lindy Hop is all about. Come to the Stomp it Off! Dance this Saturday and every Saturday until the end of June when we will start our summer break.

Also, a reminder to Velopalooza participants! If you’re coming out to Stomp it Off! as a part of your Velopalooza related activities, remember to show us your bike helmet at the door for a $3 discount on admission!

Big Band Birthday Bash

This Friday, friend and colleague Lucy Falkner (our own DJ Lucy) will be celebrating her birthday early and you’re invited to make it out for a night of live music, dancing, and great times. The event will take place at the Russian Hall located at 600 Campbell Street in Strathcona. The Hoppin’ Mad Orchestra will be playing for the better portion of the night with DJ V on the decks with her Soul, R&B After Party starting at 11:30pm. Cover charge for the event is only $12!

Dancing in the Street

Jungle Swing is proud to be working with the City of Vancouver and the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Assn. again this summer to help bring entertainment to Granville Street. After last years successful event, Dancing in the Street was requested for a second year and the Jungle Swing Team is more than happy to oblige.

This year Dancing in the Street will run for 5 Sundays, starting in July and ending in August. The goal this year is to have live music at each of these dates and we are working hard to make it happen! Keep these dates marked off on your calendar and get ready for dancing outside on the 700 block of Granville Street!

July 3rd, 17th, & 31st
August 7th & 21st

More details to come as we progress with the planning!

Cheers,
Darren

This Saturday is a very big game in a particularly popular sport and professional league in these parts. Many of you will be watching, cheering, and going hoarse. So to all you ‘Nucks fans, come on out Swing Dancing after the game to celebrate or commiserate the game. Dancing makes everything better! Try a little Lindy Hop, some Charleston, or even some Balboa to keep yourself going no matter which direction the game goes.

This weekend is also the start of Velopalooza! For all you bike riders out there participating in the two weeks of bike fun, come on out to Jungle Swing’s Stomp it Off! Dance for Velo Swing. Show us your bike helmet at the door and get in for Jungle Swing Member price. You can park you bike at the bike rack across the street in front of JJ Bean on the corner of Commercial and 6th.

Need to know where we are? Close to the Commercial Drive Skytrain Station! Here’s the details.

Where – 2205 Commercial Drive, on the corner of Commercial & 6th, upstairs in the Grandview Legion Auditorium
When – Doors open at 7:30pm, Drop-In Swing Dance Lesson starts at 8:00pm, Dance runs from 9:00pm to 1:00am
How Much – $13.00 regular price, $10.00 for Jungle Swing Members (Drop-In Dance Lesson Included)

Get out and dance with Jungle Swing this Saturday!

Dancing in the Street

It’s happening again this year! Dancing in the Street with Jungle Swing is on with a total of five dates! July 3rd, 17th & 31st and August 7th & 21st. The plans are coming together and we have a great team working to make this an event to remember! Of course, if you can help out in any way, we’re more than happy to have your assistance. Do you have a skill, contacts, or a desire to help out? Let the team know by emailing events@jungleswing.ca.

For Dancing in the Street this year, we’re looking for sponsors, partnerships, and possibly even vendors. Let us know what you know. Anything that we can do to make this event the summers best, we will. Our big goal this year is to have live music at each outing. Last year, our wrap-up dance with The Company B Jazz Band was spectacular, so we want that feeling every Sunday afternoon this time around. Dancing in the Street is going to be a summer ritual and this year we will set the tone! The team is looking forward to entertaining you. Join Jungle Swing this summer for Dancing in the Street on Granville between Georgia and Robson.

Cheers,
Darren

Doors open at 7:30pm
Drop-In Survival Tactics™ Swing Dance Lesson at 8:00pm
Dancing from 9:00pm to 1:00am
Cost is $13.00 all included

And if you need any other reason to come out and dance, we’re located on the Drive at 2205 Commercial, on the corner of 6th across from J.J. Bean. Head on out for dinner and then come over to the Grandview Auditorium. Just look for the big Jungle Swing banner in the front entry way.

Our DJ this weekend is DJ Alan, the first half of the Cheung Consortium. He’s one of our best and will keep you dancing to the end of the night. This weekend is your chance to get out and try your hand at Swing Dancing.

If you’re having a great time and find that you want to learn more, check out the fine lessons you can participate in through Rhythm City Productions, home to Vancouver’s best Lindy Hop and other vintage Jazz dance classes.

Cheers,
Darren

If your haven’t yet heard the Ale Stars and are sitting on the fence with regards to this event, take a look at what you’d be missing if you didn’t make it out.

Simon Sax

“When was the last time you were out hearing traditional jazz music and a big part of the audience was under the age of thirty?

For that matter, what was the last really authentic traditional jazz band you enjoyed where half the band was under the age of thirty? And the rhythm section was two thirds female? And everybody, audience and band included, seemed to be having the time of their lives?

This is what the New Orleans Ale Stars (no, that’s not a typo!) are all about: hot jazz played by serious musicians who don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s authentic, it’s infectious and it’s about the best time you can have this side of New Orleans!”

It’s time to get out, do some Lindy hop, and enjoy some great live music at Vancouver’s premier Swing Dance, Jungle Swing’s Stomp it Off! DJ Jason will be filling the gaps between sets, and we’ll have our regular Survival Tactics™ Drop-in dance lesson starting at 8pm.

Jungle Swing’s Stomp it Off! Dance, Saturdays at the Grandview Legion Auditorium (upstairs)
2205 Commercial Drive (corner of Commercial and 6th across from JJ Bean)
Doors open at 7:30pm
Survival Tactics™ Drop-in dance lesson starts at 8:00pm
Stomp it Off! Dance from 9:00pm to 1:00am

Balboa Workshop Weekend

Vancouver Balboa Workshop Weeked

Another great event coming our way is the Vancouver Balboa Workshop Weekend, 20 May at 20:00 – 22 May at 23:30, at the Russian Hall on Campbell Ave. Andrey Popov, Angie Weddell, and Matt Lam are once again working together to bring Vancouver dancers a great weekend of Bal workshops with David Rehm and Kate Hedin.

DAVID REHM is a geek-turned-professional-dancer specializing exclusively in the partnered swing dances, Lindy and Balboa, and widely considered one of the top Balboa dancers and instructors in the world. He is regularly featured teaching and judging at the most prestigious events dedicated to those dances throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

KATE HEDIN, following in the path of her great ancestor, Swedish explorer Sven Hedin, has traveled to greatest unknown regions of following and footwork. She instructed and performed extensively for Cleveland’s Get Hep Swing, Atlanta’s Big George, and Washington DC’s The Jam Cellar. Aside from a love of both social and performance Lindy Hop, she has become most known for her unique and elegant style of Balboa.

For more information on this amazing workshops weekend, head to the Facebook page and ask about how you can get involved! To straight up register, you can go to Swing Tix and give the organizers your money right away because you know you want to do this.

For Jungle Swing’s part on this amazing weekend, we’ll be hosting a Video DJ night featuring Vancouver’s own DJ Joel. He’ll be DJing with some amazing video clips and tunes, keeping you on the floor dancing your butt off.

Cheers,
Darren

Stomp it Off! Is Back This Weekend

We here at Jungle Swing are raring to get going again this Saturday with Stomp it Off! at the Grandview Legion on Commercial Drive. It’s going to be a great night of music with DJ Lucy at the helm with a great night of dancing as the logical result. Get out and get dancing at the Stomp it Off!, Vancouver’s Premier Swing Dance, this weekend. Bust out your Lindy Hop, your Balboa, your Charleston, or any other swinging dance you want. Expect something special on the floor with Lucy DJing, from a Shim Sham to a Snowball. With DJ Lucy, you never know.

Not that you’ve forgotten about the specifics of the dance, but here are the times of the happenings.
Doors open at 7:30pm
Drop-in Swing Dance Lesson from 8:00pm to 9:00pm
Dancing from 9:00pm to 1:00am

Cover charge is $13.00 regular price and $10.00 for Jungle Swing Members. If you are coming in with a group of 10 or more, drop Jungle Swing a line at 604 420-0087 and find out about our group rates.

The New Orleans Ale Stars CD Release Party, Live at Stomp it Off! May 14th

Simon Sax

For our last band night before the summer break in June, Jungle Swing is proud to have on stage The New Orleans Ale Stars for Saturday, May 14th. The New Orleans Ale Stars are the kings of hot Jazz in Vancouver, bringing their amazing musical style and loads of live music fun to the stage every time they play. Theses guys are one of the best Lindy friendly bands in town plus are just a fantastic band to sit down and listen while tapping your toes.

To add to the night of spectacular live music, this will be a part of The New Orleans Ale Stars CD Release Party Week! As the Ale Stars are keen to say, why just have one CD Release, when you can have THREE! The Stomp it Off! Dance is the first of the three CD release parties. Get out to the show for a hoppin’ good time.

For those who don’t know what the Ale Stars are about, here it is, in a nut shell and their own words:
“When was the last time you were out hearing traditional jazz music and a big part of the audience was under the age of thirty?

For that matter, what was the last really authentic traditional jazz band you enjoyed where half the band was under the age of thirty? And the rhythm section was two thirds female? And everybody, audience and band included, seemed to be having the time of their lives?

This is what the New Orleans Ale Stars (no, that’s not a typo!) are all about: hot jazz played by serious musicians who don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s authentic, it’s infectious and it’s about the best time you can have this side of New Orleans!”

Oh yeah! It’s time to get out and play on the dance floor.

Doors open at 7:30pm
Drop-in Swing Dance Lesson from 8:00pm to 9:00pm
Dancing from 9:00pm to 1:00am

Cover charge is $20.00 regular price and $17.00 for Jungle Swing Members. If you are coming in with a group of 10 or more, drop Jungle Swing a line at 604 420-0087 and find out about our group rates.

Classes At Rhythm City

For those of you who are just starting your Lindy Hop adventure Rhythm City has classes coming up. Lindy is a great dance for new and experienced dancers alike. Classes with Rhythm City makes the adventure fun and social, so don’t delay in registering for classes! Here’s what’s coming up this month for Beginner Lindy Hop.

Beginner Lindy Hop – Thursdays, 8pm to 9pm at 7th Ave Dance Studio, 1555 W 7th Ave, Vancouver. May 13th to June 23rd. To register, go to the Rhythm City lessons website.

Cheers,
Darren

Location – Russian Hall, 600 Campbell St.
Time – Doors open at 7:45
Beginner swing lesson at 8:00
Band starts at 9:00
Performances around 10:00

That’s the basics, but you should check out the Events page.

Enjoy!
Darren

Let us know through the wonders of the interwebs and head to our Survey Monkey question to make your answer known. Just an FYI, DJ Larry is scheduled for this weekend.

Cheers,
Darren