S! Foundation Tuesdays
Beg-Int Swing Dance Classes
Announcement: S! Foundation Tuesdays are not active as of 1/1/2025
S! Foundation Tuesdays
Swing Dance Class Sessions at the Beginning through Intermediate Level
Swing Dance Class Sessions at the Beginning through Intermediate Level
Location:
Clifton Cultural Arts Center, https://cliftonculturalarts.org/
3412 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45220
Nightly Schedule
7-7:30pm Work on Fundamental Concepts
7:30-8pm Beginning Level Material
8-8:30pm Beg/Int Level Material
7-7:30pm Work on Fundamental Concepts
7:30-8pm Beginning Level Material
8-8:30pm Beg/Int Level Material
Most Recent Session: Fall 2024
Sep 3, 10, 17, 24, Oct 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, Nov 12, 19, 26, Dec 3, 10, 17 (No class on Election Day, Nov 5)
Paspiffik Details by Date (Click to Expand)
Sep 3, 2024
Teachers Joel Domoe & Claire Danna
Material Jitterbug & Lindy Hop
After Class Hang at Skyline Chili
Sep 10, 2024
Teachers Joel Domoe & Claire Danna
Material Jitterbug & Lindy Hop
After Class Tuesday Blues & Swing Dance
Sep 17, 2024
Teachers Joel Domoe & Claire Danna
Material Jitterbug & Partner Charleston
After Class Watch "Dancing The Big Apple" Documentary @ CCAC (about 30 minutes)
Sep 24, 2024
Teachers Joel Domoe
Material Shim Sham (Vernacular Jazz)
After Class: Group Discussion: Your Experience with Swing Dance
Oct 1, 2024
Teachers Bryan Sykes & Delaan Sumler
Material Blues Dance & Connection
Oct 8, 2024
Teachers Bryan Sykes & Delaan Sumler
Material Blues Dance & Musicality
Oct 15, 2024
Teachers Delaan Sumler & Joel Domoe
Material Lindy Hop & Blues
After Class Tuesday Blues & Swing Dance
Oct 22, 2024
Teachers Delaan Sumler & Joel Domoe
Material Lindy Hop
Oct 29, 2024
Teachers Delaan Sumler & Joel Domoe
Material Balboa
After Class Tuesday Blues & Swing Dance
Nov 5, 2024
Election Day: No Class
Be sure to Vote!
Nov 12, 2024
Teachers Claire Danna & Jacob Donnermeyer
Material Lindy Hop
After Class Tuesday Blues & Swing Dance
Nov 19, 2024
Teachers Claire Danna & Jacob Donnermeyer
Material Partner Charleston
Nov 26, 2024
Teachers Claire Danna & Jacob Donnermeyer
Material Lindy Hop & Partner Charleston
Dec 3, 2024
Teachers Joel Domoe & Meghan Stapleton
Material Lindy Hop
Dec 10, 2024
Teachers Joel Domoe & Meghan Stapleton
Material Lindy Hop
After Class Tuesday Blues & Swing Dance
Dec 17, 2024
Teachers Joel Domoe & Meghan Stapleton
Material Lindy Hop
Next Session: S! Foundation Tuesdays have been postponed indefinitely
Jump In Anytime!
Swing Dance Foundations is designed to get students swing dancing quickly, but also to be flexible & accommodating of students’ availability. Each individual evening (class) will stand independently on its own, so if you missed the previous week, that’s ok. Of course the more classes you can attend, the more material you will learn and the more practice you will get.
Each Tuesday class will be 1.5 hours long. Students can take as much or little of the 1.5 hours as they like, but we recommend doing the entire hour and a half. Each week the approach and material will vary so regular students are getting new material all the time, but the first half hour will always focus on fundamentals of technique, the second half hour will always feature beginning level repertoire, and the last half hour will introduce slightly higher level (beg-int) concepts and material to challenge, expand, and inspire. We will always center these classes around Jitterbug, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues, Balboa & Vernacular Jazz - the core idioms of our Swing Dance program.
“Swing Dance” is a family of American social dances that includes many idioms. They vary aesthetically and stylistically by geography, cultural trends, and/or time periods. Created by African Americans, these dances became enormously popular and today are enjoyed by people all over the world. Although there are different idioms and styles, all swing dances also share many similarities and are frequently mixed together or influential upon each other. In these classes, we will focus on the swing dance idioms of the “Swing Era” of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s and most closely associated with Big Band Jazz and Jump Blues music: Jitterbug, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues, Balboa, & Vernacular Jazz Occasionally, other dances may work their way into classes as swing dance is a living, creative art form. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
Our Foundational Idioms
Blues Dance
Blues music is diverse. So is Blues Dance. As we explore how to dance to blues music, we will focus on the “conversation” you have with your partner while dancing and how to establish and maintain great communication with each other.
Jitterbug
The term “Jitterbug” means many different things to many different people of many different backgrounds, but it generally includes the most universal 6-count rhythms and movements across all idioms of Swing Dance. Jitterbug will get you on the dance floor quickly and present fundamental concepts that will guide the development of your technique and style in the future.
Partnered Charleston
Charleston and Lindy Hop are inexplicably linked together technically and historically. Partnered Charleston includes some of the more complex movement ideas in Lindy Hop. They feature lots of kicking and are very fun, but also demand higher level partnering and movement technique.
Lindy Hop
Emerging in the 1920s as a combination of the rhythm, styling and technique of African Dance (a la The Charleston) with the lead/follow partnering aspects of European dances (like the Waltz), Lindy Hop takes its name from a coincidental historical event of the same time period: the first ever trans-Atlantic flight piloted by Charles Lindberg in 1927. Created by African-Americans and traditionally danced to Big Band Jazz Music, Lindy Hop is the “founding father” of all future Swing Dance idioms.
Balboa
Born in Southern California during the Swing Era, Balboa is a close position partner dance that mixes well with Lindy Hop and Charleston. The story goes that the dance halls were so packed that there were sometimes rules about what was allowed on the dance floor and dancers had to confine their movements to smaller spaces, giving rise to the style and technique of Balboa.
Vernacular Jazz
Charleston, Shim Sham, and Big Apple are some of the African-American dances that became world-wide crazes and are featured in our Vernacular Jazz repertoire. These dances and many others are made up of “vernacular” movements such as Suzy Q, Shorty George, Tacky Annie, Spank the Baby, and Camel Walks. Learning these historical patterns allows you to “speak the language” of Swing Dance.
Fees for S! Foundation Tuesdays
$15/student for any single evening
$45/student for a four-week pass (buy 3, get one free) - usable for any class in the Fall session (Sep-Dec)
You may pay/register in advance online at https://5619ee-3.myshopify.com/
You can also pay register at class via Venmo or with cash
Policies for S! Foundations Tuesdays
All classes are open to students with any range of experience, from beginners learning for the first time to experienced dancers looking to solidify fundamentals or expand their knowledge base.
Students are not required to bring a partner to class.
In class, we use a partner rotation system where Leads dance with all the Follows and Follows dance with all the Leads. All students are expected to participate in the rotation unless there is an extenuating circumstance. Our classes are not designed for students to stay with the same partner.
Students are allowed to choose their own role in class, Lead or Follow. Students may also switch roles as frequently as they like.
It is highly likely in every class that students will dance with some partners of the same gender and some of different genders during the rotation. The expectation is that all students be respectful of all other students at all times.
Recommendations for S! Foundation Tuesdays
Wear light shoes that don’t have excessive traction. Flats (as opposed to heels) are recommended as re closed toes and heels that hold onto your foot (i.e. not flip flops).
Bring your phone or video recording device if you want to record class recaps or yourself dancing
Cincinnati’s Swing Dance Community has regular dance nights every Thursday in Northside and occasional dances on Tuesdays or Fridays. Try to get out and dance. It’s the best way to improve on what you learn in class. The instructors will let you know about these opportunities during class announcements each week
Bring friends, have dinner in Clifton before or after - add to the fun!
If you have questions, you can reach Joel Domoe at 513-508-4676 (talk or text) or SupermurgaNati@gmail.com
About the Instructors
Joel Domoe coordinates the design, development, and teaching of Swing Dance Foundations in collaboration with CCAC and other swing dance luminaries in the Cincinnati Area.
Joel is the founder of SupermurgaNati!, whose mission is: To amaze, enable, and empower Cincinnati's Jitterbugs and Lindy Hoppers creatively, technically, and socially by providing opportunities for elite instruction, generous mentoring, exciting collaboration, supportive connections, and amazing dance.
Joel has been teaching, performing, community building, and producing events in the Swing Dance community all over the Eastern United States for 25 years. He is a former Virginia State Open Jitterbug Champion and Southwestern Regional Lindy Hop Champion. He has served as Competition Coordinator and/or Head Judge for the American Lindy Hop Championships (Stamford, CT), Lindy Focus (Asheville, NC), and Beantown Dance Camp (Boston, MA) multiple times. Joel has taught classes at far too many events to name. He is a founding and honorary lifetime member of the Piedmont Swing Dance Society in Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina and was a founding member and first president of the Atlanta Swing Era Dance Association. He has founded and directed three different Swing Dance Troupes: Bums and Bombshells (Greensboro, NC), Heavens to Murgatroid! (Atlanta, GA), and The Cinci SnapShots (Cincinnati, OH). In Cincinnati, among other things Joel served as a co-producer of SwinGallery (Cincinnati’s longest running weekly swing dance event) from 2006-2016.