Houston Swing Dance Society

Don't miss Houston's Harvest Moon Ball September 26th at Rice University. Buy tickets online or at the door.

Second Cup Swing hosts their monthly dance at Taft Street Coffee (2115 Taft) Saturday September 19th 8:30pm till Midnight. Only $4!

Demitasse Dance every Saturday (except for Taft dance) 9PM @ Té House of Tea (1927 Fairview)  FREE!!!

HSDS Dances are every Sunday 8-10pm; $5

• Join PotatoChips to post and receive periodic email announcements about swing dance events.

   

• Go to Houston Swing Out to join discussions regarding dances, etiquette, overcoming shyness, or getting a group together for movie night. It's all there.
  

This year's Harvest Moon Ball will be held September 26th, 2009. Houston's Harvest Moon Ball was created to honor the spirit of dedicated dancers, friendly competition and collaboration by bringing two dance groups together, HSDS and the Rice Social Dance Society.

It's a night to wear your sharpest clothing and dance the night away with great live music, performances, just-for-fun dance competitions and more! Tickets are $15.50 pre-sale or $20 at the door. Dance to a live band, enter fun contests and watch our Hepcats perform for you.

Buy your Tickets online today!!

• Saturday, September 26th, 2009
• Rice University @ Rice Memorial Center
• Free lesson followed by the dance ~8pm-12am
• Music by Old School Swing Band
• Free Parking!

HSDS is rolling out a new price-structure beginning October 1st, 2009.

HSDS is a non-profit association dedicated to the preservation of Lindy Hop. By renewing or staring your new HSDS membership you help to support our cause. Your membership dues go towards supporting one of the longest running and highly regarded Lindy Hop workshop, Lindyfest, held every year in March. You dues not only help bring you weekly classes and dances but also support our performance and outreach teams, archival projects and more! We strive to give Houston top-notch Lindy Hop instruction and dances to insure that everyone may have a chance to learn about the joy of this dance! Please consider supporting HSDS by maintaining your membership or joining for the first time.

• Annual Membership: $40/$20*
• Unlimited Classes per Month: $20/$15*
• Unlimited Classes per Sunday: $7 member or $10 non-member
• Dance Only: $7 for all

*Student rate. Students must show valid ID at time of purchase.

From time to time we like to profile our HSDS dancers. Everyone has such a unique story on how they found dance. Samantha and Alex have been lindy hopping a little less than a year and have definitely been bitten by the dance bug.

Samantha and I first encountered lindy hop at Saute Bistro in December. We were there to see The Old School Swing Band and were surprised and delighted to see the dancers that had come out to enjoy the music as well. We were completely blown away by the energy and obvious joy on the faces of the dancers. When the band was finished playing I approached one of the dancers and asked how he got started. He told me about HSDS, the website, and the classes. We went for the first time the very next month.

We had a blast. It's not surprising that we enjoyed it, but I confess that I was more than a little nervous in the month leading up to our first class. I'd had a brief introduction to swing in a class by Holly and Cornelius years ago at Numbers, but they only covered six count and I didn't do very well. I've spent most of my life terrified by dance and most things musical. While I'm no stranger to physical activity, my dancing has until recently been limited to biting my lower lip and shuffling from foot to foot.

Samantha, on the other hand, has spent most of her life dancing. She started ballet when she was three and has stayed involved with dance and other arts ever since, recently adding belly dance to her repertoire. She works at the Glassell Junior School of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston registering children for classes and giving tours of the exhibits. So it's no surprise that Samantha has done very well in Lindy, both as a follow and, more recently, as a lead.

Our biggest Lindy breakthrough came during Lindyfest. We danced more than we ever had, and rather than getting tired of it, we seemed to become possessed. We tried to dance every single night in the weeks following Lindyfest, and though the initial fire has necessarily calmed a bit, we still dance as often as we possibly can. In October, just ten months after we started, we'll be attending our first out-of-state event, ULHS, and can't wait!

Hot Rhythm Ball
September 11th, Austin TX
Austin Dance, BalAustin, Four on the Floor, and Shag Connection present The Hot Rhythm Ball - a dinner ball marking the beginning of a future weekend workshop in 2010 and beyond focusing on Balboa, Collegiate Shag, and 20s Charleston. Join us earlier in the evening for dinner, or simply stop by later to dance the evening away to the sounds of hot jazz featuring Austin's Hot Rhythm All-Stars specializing in music from the 1920s and 30s.

Hangar Dance
October 10th, Vintage Flying Museum, Fort Worth, TX
Enjoy a live big band in a historic airplane hangar at The Vintage Flying Museum. Soak in the romance and adventure of the 40s filling the room (without all that nasty bombing) and the music of the Alan Glasscock Orchestra who will once again be providing live music.

Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown
October 8-12th, New Orleans, Louisiana
The Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown has changed many times over the last 7 years. This year is no exception. ULHS is no longer an event celebrating one style of dance (lindy hop) in one way (contests). It is now a festival celebrating our diverse dance community, its history, and the music that inspires us.

New Orleans sets the scene for a soul stirring weekend of continuous live jazz and blues, exhilarating dance contests with the world's best, non stop social dancing, dance classes for all levels, and historical presentations on the symbiotic relationship between jazz musicians and jazz dancers. There's even going to be a musicians vs dancers baseball game and BBQ!

Lindy Diversion
October 16th-18, Denver, CO
A weekend dedicated to Lindy Hop, Jazz, Tap and Blues, focusing on the pure enjoyment of dancing! Featuring Internationally Celebrated, Champion instructors Steven Mitchell & Virginie Jensen , Skye Humphries & Frida Segerdahl, Mike Roberts & Laura Glaess, Chris Lee!

Austin Lindy Exchange
November 20th-22nd, Austin, TX
Join us in Austin for the 10th Anniversary of Austin Lindy Exchange.

Lindy Focus-Jazz Dance Camp and NYE Party
December 27th-31st, Asheville, NC
Welcome, one and all. We've scoured the dance world for the most exciting instructors, performers, musicians, and dj's. We're bringing them here to present to you the perfect balance between focused, dedicated learning, party atmosphere, entertainment, and social dance floor magic. At Lindy Focus, we go out of our way to bring you not just another swing camp, but a truly unique and inspiring week of jazzy madness that won't even make sense when you talk about it later. Join us!

Lonestar Championships
January 15-17th, 2010, Austin, Texas
Lone Star Championships is a social / party event. While they have multiple workshops and competitions, Lone Star is first a party weekend. There are over 20 hours of social dancing and all of the competitions are social dance competitions - Jack and Jills and Strictlys only. They believe that competitions bring us together to push and inspire each other, as well as bring us together to support and cheer for each other.