SAVOY SWING JAM: SATURDAY MARCH19th!!! Be there…
The Savoy Swing Jam, one of Seattle’s premiere dance and competition events, is returning for another spectacular day of music, dancing and jaw-dropping contests!
This event is unlike others because it puts the focus on energy and sheer fun, including divisions like the “30-Second Showcase” and “New Competitors” that really makes for a great show!
But perhaps the best part of all: IT’S FREE TO ATTEND! That’s right, coming out to watch an afternoon of incredible Lindy Hop is FREE! (And if you compete, it’s only $5 to enter — A STEAL!) And this year, it’s being held in Seattle’s legendary Century Ballroom!
For more details, check out their website, www.savoyswingjam.com and make sure to be there. You won’t want to miss out…
LIVE MUSIC ON FRIDAY NIGHT, MARCH 11th: GLENN CRYTZER & HIS SYNCOPATORS!
We are SO THRILLED to be presenting Glenn Crytzer and His Syncopators for their FIRST EASTSIDE STOMP APPEARANCE! Glenn is one of the area’s finest swing musicians and his band is a dancer favorite!
They regularly pack the house at Seattle’s legendary Century Ballroom, and you may also have seen Glenn sitting in with other amazing local bands, or even swinging out on the dancefloor himself (he’s quite a dancer!) It is an amazing privilege to have this aggregation playing at Eastside Stomp.
Don’t miss this chance to come out and dance to LIVE SWING MUSIC!!! It’s unlike anything else and makes all the difference. This promises to be a night to remember…
As usual, we are charging a mere $10 for this incredible evening of live music and dancing! Bring your friends and prepare to have an excellent evening… We will be having our usual Absolute Beginners Swing Lesson from 8:15pm - 8:45pm, then the
band cuts loose at 9pm and tears it up until midnight (ok, they’ll take the occasional break to catch their breath, but you know what we mean!) Make your plans now to join us on Friday night for an exceptionally good time!
Glenn Crytzer & His Syncopators: LIVE AT EASTSIDE STOMP!
Friday,March 11th
9pm - Midnight
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Ave.
Kirkland, WA 98035
$10
ALL AGES
AERIALS WORKSHOP THIS WEEKEND: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19th! TWO CLASSES!!! FOUR HOURS!!!
We are so excited to offer a new and improved format for our Aerials workshop with Mr. Kerry Ward this time around. Due to demand and improvements, we are happy to be providing two classes, two hours each! The idea behind offering the second class is to provide material for those dancers who already have some experience with aerials and want to improve and/or learn new material! With this format, we can provide better, more targeted material for everyone. Each class is $20, or you can do both for $30! No partners are required, but they are recommended. Don’t miss this terrific opportunity!
AERIALS WITH MR. KERRY WARD!
Saturday, February 19th, 2011
1:00pm - 5:00pm
$20 for one class / $30 for both
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Ave.
Kirkland, WA 98035
THE ERIK ROBISON “LAST CHANCE” WORKSHOP: THIS SATURDAY!
One of the greatest Lindy Hop dancers and instructors of the last twenty years is coming for a special THREE-HOUR WORKSHOP this Saturday afternoon, from 1:30 - 4:30! Erik Robison won the very first American Lindy Hop Championships and has appeared on Broadway and in film and television, brining his phenomenal style and skill wherever he goes. Now you have a chance to spend an afternoon learning from him. He is one of the top technicians of Lindy Hop and has an appealing and straightforward way of breaking down even the most advanced concepts. This workshop is for ALL LEVELS and we promise you will come away with your mind BLOWN. Be sure to not miss this, as Erik is moving to Japan for the indefinite future, so this is truly your “Last Chance” to study with this master…
THE ERIK ROBISON LAST CHANCE WORKSHOP
Saturday, Feb. 12th, 2011
1:30pm - 4:30pm
$25
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Avenue
Kirkland, WA 98035
COMING UP! JAZZ HISTORY WORKSHOP: SLIM & SLAM and THE “LAST CHANCE” WORKSHOP with ERIK ROBISON
February is going to be another downright STUNNER of a month at Eastside Stomp. We will have more live music for you, another spectacular Jazz History Workshop, and we are proud to announce that we get to bring back the legendary ERIK ROBISON for his final workshop before leaving the country for quite a while. Check out the Calendar page for more details!!!
THIS WEEK AT EASTSIDE STOMP: LIVE MUSIC WITH THE SOLOMON DOUGLAS TRIO (Friday Night) AND A COLLEGIATE SHAG WORKSHOP WITH SHAG CHAMPION LAURA SHIGEMITSU (Saturday Afternoon)!
What an amazing week we are looking forward to! LIVE MUSIC returns to Eastside Stomp on Friday night with the phenomenal Solomon Douglas Trio (9pm - midnight: $10 cover). Saturday afternoon, we are pleased to bring you, direct from Los Angeles, the 2006 National Shag Jam champion LAURA SHIGEMITSU for a 3-hour workshop ($25, 1:30pm - 4:30pm) Don’t miss these great events! And JOIN OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! Search “Eastside Stomp” and join up…
THIS WEEK AT EASTSIDE STOMP: AERIALS WORKSHOP WITH MR. KERRY WARD ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 15th! 1:30pm - 4:30pm! Only $25!
Kerry Ward is a longtime swing dancer and has trained some of the best lindy hoppers and champions in the world. Pairing years of Lindy aerial technique with acrobatic training, Kerry specializes in coaching students of all skills and abilities to get their moves bigger, higher, and safer than they ever dreamed! If you’ve never done aerials but have wanted to learn, DO THIS WORKSHOP. If you have done some aerials and know a few but want to do them even better, DO THIS WORKSHOP. Seriously, the guy is amazing.
***Partners are NOT required, but are recommended***
If you have a partner for the class, you will be able to go a little farther with the material. But if you don’t have one, don’t worry about it — You will still get SO much out of the workshop.
AERIALS WORKSHOP WITH KERRY WARD
Saturday, January 15th, 2010 — 1:30pm to 4:30pm
$25
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Ave. Kirkland, WA 98035
TONIGHT AT EASTSIDE STOMP: LIVE PERFORMANCE & A NEW SERIES OF CLASSES IN BALBOA AND LINDY HOP!!!
Come out and join us tonight (January 7th) at Eastside Stomp for an amazing night of entertainment, classes, music and dancing! We are thrilled to present Seattle’s own all-girl vintage dance performance team, SISTER KATE tonight!!! Also: we kick off another series of classes in Balboa Basics and Lindy Hop Basics so jump in NOW!!! As ever, it’s also our EPIC Friday Night Stomp dance from 8:15 until 1am with killer swing music and loads of friendly dancers, always ALL AGES and still just $5 for the evening dance!! (Lindy and Balboa classes are extra; check out the “Classes and Dances” page of this website for all the details) We’ll see YOU tonight!!!
COME SPEND NEW YEAR’S EVE AT EASTSIDE STOMP!
Come and swing in the New Year in high style with all your friends at Eastside Stomp! We’re keeping it relaxed and cool this year with the normal $5 cover and excellent DJ’ed music all night long! Still all ages, still with a great Absolute Beginners lesson at 8:15 with your cover charge!
We are asking everyone to dress it up a bit for the night to make it a little more special, and we’ll be providing sparking cider-y stuff for a midnight toast in our signature red plastic cups, so BE THERE!
Great music, great dancing, great friends… It’s the place to be.
WE’RE OPEN ON TUESDAY (DEC. 21) CLOSED ON CHRISTMAS EVE, AND OPEN ON NEW YEAR’S EVE!!!
Come and dance the night away this Tuesday night with a terrific evening of music and fun! Remember, though, that we will be closed this Friday night, Christmas Eve. BUT make your plans now to join us on New Year’s Eve NEXT Friday night and swing in the New Year at Eastside Stomp. It will still just be $5 for the night and where else can you get such a deal on a New Year’s party??? Come and spend the evening with us and all your dancing friends! See you on the dance floor!
LIVE MUSIC TONIGHT: CARELESS LOVERS!!!
Seattle’s own beloved band, Careless Lovers, return for another spectacular evening of LIVE MUSIC for dancing tonight at Eastside Stomp. Come out and dance to one of our favorite bands, made up entirely of local area dancers…you know they’re gonna give you great music for dancing! The cover is just $7 for the evening, so join us!!!
SHIM SHAM & JITTERBUG STROLL WORKSHOP: SAT, DEC. 18th!!!
Join us for an EPIC afternoon of classic steps and moves from the history of swing dancing!
The SHIM SHAM started out as a tap routine in vaudeville and became so popular that it is now known as the “National Anthem” of Tap. It was adopted and adapted by the swing community in the 1930s and is now a common and widely known routine that is done all over the world.
The Shim Sham is VERY FREQUENTLY done at swing dances as a chance for EVERYONE to get on the floor and be a part of this legendary performance routine. It was known by everyone from tap dancers like The Nicholas Brothers, Fred Astaire and Bill Robinson, to Lindy Legends like Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Al Minns & Leon James. Learn this routine, and you join a long-standing continuum of dancers that stretches all the way back to the early days of vaudeville! It’s considered a classic, standard routine for all swing dancers to learn, and this is YOUR chance!
Come and learn the routine and some of the fascinating stories that surround it! Peter Flahiff spent a lot of time with the originator of the first, original Tap Shim Sham, Mr. Leonard Reed, so you’ll benefit from some first-hand anecdotes. It’s also a routine that Peter has taught regularly for well over ten years, so he can REALLY break it down for you.
SO, we’ll cover the traditional Shim Sham, The Freeze Chorus and The Boogie Chorus, AND THEN we’ll move on and learn another classic routine called THE JITTERBUG STROLL!
The Jitterbug Stroll is a more recent jazz routine created by Lindy Hop legend Ryan Francois, a man who Frankie Manning once described as the dancer who most reminded Frankie of himself! It’s a great routine with more great classic steps, suitable for 12-bar blues structure songs (a lot of Woody Herman’s music, practically everything Basie ever did, etc…!) The cost for the whole shmear is just $25, so make sure to come out and get these routines NAILED.
SHIM SHAM & JITTERBUG STROLL WORKSHOP!
Saturday, December 18th
1:30pm - 4:30pm
$25 per person
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Ave. Kirkland, WA 98035
LIVE MUSIC THIS FRIDAY NIGHT: THE SOLOMON DOUGLAS TRIO!
We are so proud and excited to announce that we have the SOLOMON DOUGLAS TRIO performing at Eastside Stomp on Friday, November 26th (the day after Thanksgiving)!
Solomon Douglas is a phenomenal pianist, bandleader AND swing dancer. His band (in all its configurations) is one of the most beloved and sought-after groups for swing dancing in the entire WORLD, and we’re lucky to have him living locally, and as a friend. If you’ve danced to his band before, you already know how AWESOME they are. If you haven’t yet, don’t miss this night…
We are always happy to have live swing music to dance to, and to finally get Solomon Douglas in the room is a particular joy for us, so please make your plans now to join us for what promises to be a downright SPECTACULAR evening of swing music and dancing. (Plus: dance off the Thanksgiving dinner…)
See you there…
DEAN COLLINS SHIM SHAM WORKSHOP: THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20th!
The response to this workshop is always AMAZING, so…
We are once again offering a three-hour class/refresher on this excellent routine! Based on the original Shim Sham, this is a classic choreographed number created by legendary lindy hopper Dean Collins back in the original swing era.
Dean Collins started out lindy hopping in New York City, dancing at the Savoy Ballroom during its heyday, and he became one of the top dancers in the city, even being named “Dancer of the Year” in 1935 by The New Yorker magazine! Dean moved to Los Angeles in 1936 and became one of the most in-demand dancers and choreographers for swing dancing in Hollywood for many years.
Dean Collins created his Shim Sham to be a performance piece for himself and two other dancers and it is AMAZING. It’s built off of the original Shim Sham, but with his own twist and styling on every single part of it… then he set a whole second chorus that is completely different and will BLOW YOUR MIND.
The routine is full of amazing moves and bits of styling that will help you learn to move more like a swing dancer than ever before! We are offering this workshop for the same bargain rate of just $25!
THE DEAN COLLINS SHIM SHAM
Saturday, November 20th
1:30pm - 4:30pm
$25 per person
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Ave. Kirkland, WA 98035
Tranky Doo!
Saturday, November 6, I’ll be teaching the classic Jazz choreography, the Tranky Doo, as choreographed by Pepsi Bethel. The workshop will go from 1:30-4:30 at KDC and we’ll be emphasizing the vintage jazz vocabulary, and working our way through the whole routine. $25 for the whole workshop!
THRILLER WITH BOBBY BONSEY JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN!!!
This Saturday, October 30th we are bringing in one of the country’s foremost experts on Michael Jackson-esque dancing, Bobby Bonsey. Just in time to show off at all the Halloween parties, come learn the full original Thriller choreography, as well as a collection of MJ’s other signature moves. $25 for 3 hours and a TON of fun material, and we promise you’ll have a better moonwalk than any of your friends!
1:30-4:30 at Kirkland Dance Center
CATCH PETER THIS WEEK AT THE RUSSIAN CENTER + COME TO THE AERIALS WORKSHOP ON SATURDAY!!
Peter is honored to be the guest DJ this week at Seattle’s beloved Russian Center Dance on Thursday night. Chris Chapman presents this terrific dance every week and it’s GREAT. Come out this week and dance to Peter’s own selection of tunes and have great evening of social dancing! THEN on Saturday, we are featuring one of the greatest Aerials coaches in the world, Mr. Kerry Ward, for an afternoon workshop. This guy is PHENOMENAL; If you know aerials already, he will make them better than you can possibly imagine. If you don’t know any, he will show you the best, safest ways to do them!
AWESOME WEEKEND COMING AT EASTSIDE STOMP!!!
Hold tight, there’s an incredible weekend of music, classes and great dancing heading your way at Eastside Stomp! FIRST: we have another incredible evening of LIVE MUSIC with The Red Hot Rhythm Club on Friday night. It’s still just $7 for the whole evening and you definitely want to be there for this! Then, on Saturday, we have legendary Lindy Hopper ERIK ROBISON teaching a workshop from 1:30 - 4:30. He is one of the most influential and talented dancers and instructors of the last two decades, and we are thrilled to have him joining us again! Sunday, Peter teaches and Ben DJs at THE SPEAKEASY in Belltown, with more live music (Pearl Django!) and a whole night of Balboa!!! DON’T MISS A MINUTE OF THIS WEEKEND!!!
NEW SERIES OF LINDY HOP & BALBOA CLASSES STARTING SOON!!!
The next round of amazing classes in Lindy Hop and Balboa starts soon, so mark your calendars! Friday night, October 8th we kick off four weeks of beginners classes: Balboa Basics at 6pm and Lindy Hop Basics at 7pm. Sunday afternoon, October 10th, we start up a month’s worth of more advanced classes: Balboa Level 2 at noon, Lindy Level 2 at 1pm, Balboa Level 3 at 2pm and Lindy Level 3 at 3pm!
New this time around: we are introducing BRAND NEW MATERIAL in our Lindy Hop Level 2 & 3 classes. So even if you’ve taken these levels before, YOU SHOULD DO THEM AGAIN! All new technique and moves to help broaden your skills and make you a much better dancer. We are extremely excited for these new classes and can’t wait to teach the new stuff…
For more details, check out the CLASSES page of this website!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25th: LINDY HOP WORKSHOP WITH CALLE JOHANSSON & JOSIE SAY!
WHOA.
This workshop is kind of hard to put into words. It’s very dear to our heart because it brings together two veteran lindy hoppers under one roof who have so much style and skill its kind of breathtaking.
Calle Johansson is, of course, one of our local fixtures. What is remarkable is how underappreciated he is on our local scene. Calle has been swing dancing since the mid-eighties and is a regular part of the Herrang Dance Camp every summer in Sweden. FURTHERMORE, he was a longtime member of one of the ALL-TIME GREAT lindy hop performance and competition troupes in the whole world, the legendary Shout And Feel It team from Stockholm. The depth of experience he has is absolutely amazing, and we are EXTREMELY lucky to count him as a local and a friend.
Josie Say is one of the first swing dancers Peter Flahiff ever met, and from that day (so VERY long ago) until this, she remains one of his top influences and inspirations. Josie has a fluidity of movement that is breathtaking and she is one of the absolute greatest Lindy Hop followers on the planet. Josie spent a LONG time living in Sweden, studying, performing and teaching with the Rhythm Hot Shots (now known as the Harlem Hot Shots), the best-known Lindy performance group in the modern swing era.
So to have these two great dancers coming together for a workshop is clearly not to be missed. Its going to be one of those “Oh My Gosh, I Can’t BELIEVE What I Just Learned!” kind of days.
Oftentimes, we hear from people that they aren’t sure they should do a class because they haven’t heard of a particular teacher or haven’t seen clips of them on YouTube.
We understand that.
HOWEVER: there are many extraordinary instructors out there with YEARS of experience who continue to work just under the radar, not seeking Competition Titles or anything like that; they just love to dance and teach. CHERISH these people. Calle and Josie are two of them.
DO NOT MISS THIS.
CALLE JOHANNSON & JOSIE SAY: LINDY HOP STYLING
Saturday, September 25th
1:30pm - 4:30pm
$25 per person
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Ave. Kirkland, WA 98035
DEAN COLLINS SHIM SHAM: REFRESHER WORKSHOP! THIS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18th!
The response to this workshop last month was AMAZING, but lots of the students said they’d appreciate a refresher on the routine, and lots other had to miss it entirely for one reason or another.
SO…
We are offering a three-hour class/refresher on this excellent routine! Based on the original Shim Sham, this is a classic choreographed number created by legendary lindy hopper Dean Collins back in the original swing era.
Dean Collins started out lindy hopping in New York City, dancing at the Savoy Ballroom during its heyday, and he became one of the top dancers in the city, even being named “Dancer of the Year” in 1935 by The New Yorker magazine! Dean moved to Los Angeles in 1936 and became one of the most in-demand dancers and choreographers for swing dancing in Hollywood for many years.
Dean Collins created his Shim Sham to be a performance piece for himself and two other dancers and it is AMAZING. It’s built off of the original Shim Sham, but with his own twist and styling on every single part of it… then he set a whole second chorus that is completely different and will BLOW YOUR MIND.
The routine is full of amazing moves and bits of styling that will help you learn to move more like a swing dancer than ever before! We are offering this workshop for the same bargain rate of just $25!
THE DEAN COLLINS SHIM SHAM: REFRESHER
Saturday, September 18th
1:30pm - 4:30pm
$25 per person
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Ave. Kirkland, WA 98035
JAZZ HISTORY: BENNY GOODMAN! This Saturday Afternoon, Sept. 11!
Peter has given Jazz history talks for many years, has been interviewed on the radio several times in this capacity, and even taught a week-long lecture series on Jazz History at the legendary Herrang Dance Camp in Sweden! He really knows his stuff and we’re sure that you will come away from this with a whole NEW appreciation for the music and musicians!
And don’t worry, what with talking about swing music and playing examples of swing music in the class, Peter will take several breaks to give everyone a chance to dance it off as well. It’s also going to be just two hours long, and therefore CHEAPER! Only $15 for this quality experience!!!
FOR THIS ROUND, it’s the “King of Swing” as he was christened by the press! The phenomenal clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman probably has more anecdotes and stories about him than any other single figure in Jazz History and we will talk about why: From his legendary prowess on his instrument, to his equally-famous prickly personality and ruthlessness as a bandleader, Benny Goodman nevertheless led one of the greatest bands of the Swing Era and created some of that era’s most memorable recordings and moments. See clips of the band in action and learn more than you can shake a stick at about this man and his music!
JAZZ HISTORY: BENNY GOODMAN with Peter Flahiff!
Saturday, September 11th
1:30pm - 3:30pm
$10 per person
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Ave. Kirkland, WA 98035
CAMP BALBOA SEATTLE IS THIS WEEKEND, SEPT. 3-6! Be there…
Seattle’s premiere weekend of classes, dances and non-stop Balboa madness: CAMP BALBOA SEATTLE.
Register now or at the door on Friday and get ready to learn from some of the absolute TOP Balboa instructors in the world, including champions Randy & Kara, Nick Williams, David Rehm and Kate Hedin, and many, many more. This is truly an unprecedented line-up of instructors for a Seattle Balboa event and the possibilities for what you could take away from the weekend is breathtaking.
Special thanks to local Balboa-maven Jo Coker for producing such a phenomenal event in the area. Be sure to check the website at www.campbalboaseattle.com for all the details including the instructor line-up, evening dance opportunities, class schedules and more! (P.S. Peter is going to be teaching there as well!)
AERIALS WORKSHOP THIS SATURDAY, AUGUST 28th!
THIS IS AN UNBELIEVABLE OPPORTUNITY! If you have any interest in aerials, either learning them or improving what you already know, DO NOT MISS THIS.
Kerry Ward is a world-renowned aerials instructor and coach who has worked with some of the top lindy performance teams and dancers in the world. He has studied with some incredible teachers (including Lindy Hop world champions and actual circus acrobats) and has brought YEARS of experience, learning and innovations to his aerials technique. Now, he’s coming to Seattle and YOU get to work with him!
Kerry has been an active part of the lindy hop community for many, many years and has a genuine passion for making aerials accessible to darned near anyone who wants to do them. He has a knack for making them as easy as possible, with underlying technique that minimizes strain and injury potential. On top of all this, he’s a terrific lindy hopper and just about one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
THIS WILL BE AWESOME. Mark your calendar NOW to spend the afternoon working with one of the absolute TOP aerialists in the world today.
Partners are recommended but NOT REQUIRED.
AERIALS & AERIAL TECHNIQUE with Kerry Ward!
Saturday, August 28th
1:30pm - 4:30pm
$25 per person
Kirkland Dance Center
835 7th Ave. Kirkland, WA 98035