Swing festivals and congresses

The term "swing dance" commonly refers to a group of dances that developed concurrently with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s, '30s and '40s, although the earliest of these dance forms predate swing jazz music. The best known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, a popular partner dance that originated in Harlem and is still danced today. While the majority of swing dances began in African American communities as vernacular African American dances, a number of forms (Balboa, for example) developed within Anglo-American or other ethnic group communities.

Swing jazz features the syncopated timing associated with African American and West African music and dance â€” a combination of crotchets and quavers (quarter notes and eighth notes) that many swing dancers interpret as 'triple steps' and 'steps' â€” yet also introduces changes in the way these rhythms were played â€” a distinct delay or 'relaxed' approach to timing.

Today there are swing dance scenes in many countries throughout the world. Lindy Hop is often the most popular, though each city and country prefers various dances in different degrees. Each local swing dance community has a distinct local culture and defines "swing dance" and the "appropriate" music to accompany it in different ways.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_%28dance%29

Swing events in February 2012

03 - 05 Feb LaBLove - LaB’s 5th anniversary weekend extravaganza (Philadelphia, PA, United States)
03 - 05 Feb Paris Balboa Shag Festival (Paris, France)
05 - 12 Feb Swing Dance Cruise to the Eastern Caribbean (New Orleans, LA, United States)
09 - 12 Feb Leapin Lindy (Bern, Switzerland)
10 - 12 Feb Goodnight Sweetheart (Hertford, United Kingdom)
10 - 12 Feb GNSH - Goodnight Sweetheart International Swing Dance Weekend (Hertford, United Kingdom)
16 - 19 Feb Capital Swing Dancers convention (Sacramento, CA, United States)
16 - 20 Feb Rock that Swing Festival (Munich, Germany)
17 - 19 Feb Enter the Blues (Atlanta, GA, United States)
17 - 19 Feb Ottawa's Shag Explosion (Ottawa, Canada)
23 - 26 Feb Euro Dance Festival (Freiburg, Germany)
24 - 26 Feb Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout (Denver, CO, United States)

Swing events in March 2012

01 - 04 Mar MADJam - The Mid Atlantic Dance Jam (Reston, VA, United States)
02 - 04 Mar Berlin Balboa Weekend (Berlin, Germany)
03 - 10 Mar Camp Canary (Puerto del Rosario, Spain)
09 - 11 Mar 8th High Desert Dance Classic (Lancaster, CA, United States)
09 - 12 Mar Cruisin' For A Bluesin' (Long Beach, CA, United States)
09 - 11 Mar The Crave - Galway Blues Exchange (Galway, Ireland)
15 - 18 Mar Ljubljana SweetSwing Festival (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
16 - 18 Mar Appellation Swing Contrôlée (Bordeaux, France)
16 - 18 Mar Festival Salsa Swing (Strasbourg, France)
16 - 18 Mar Atlanta Lindy Exchange (Atlanta, GA, United States)
17 - 18 Mar Cotswold Balboa Fest (Cheltenham, United Kingdom)
22 - 25 Mar The Boston Tea Party (Boston, MA, United States)
26 Mar - 1 Apr Swing Era (Krakow, Poland)
29 Mar - 1 Apr The Balboa Rendezvous (San Diego, CA, United States)
30 Mar - 2 Apr Hep Cats' Holiday (Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom)

Swing events in April 2012

04 - 09 Apr barSWINGona - Barcelona Swing Festival (Barcelona, Spain)
05 - 08 Apr Seattle Easter Swing (Seattle, WA, United States)
05 - 08 Apr USA Jack & Jill Championships (Nashville, TN, United States)
06 - 08 Apr Jambalaya Festival Of Rhythm Dance And Carnival (Rotorua, New Zealand)
06 - 09 Apr 2nd Open Swing (Sassenage, France)
07 - 28 Apr The Balboa Experiment (Wilmington, NC, United States)
13 - 15 Apr Fleur de Lindy Exchange (New Orleans, LA, United States)
13 - 15 Apr Hawkeye Swing Festival (Iowa City, IA, United States)
19 - 22 Apr Reno Dance Sensation (Reno, NV, United States)
20 - 22 Apr Washington DC Lindy Exchange (Washington, DC, United States)
26 - 29 Apr Swing Dance America (Lake Geneva, WI, United States)
26 - 30 Apr Hullabaloo - The Perth Lindy Exchange (Perth, Australia)
27 - 29 Apr Montreal Bagel and Blues (Montreal, Canada)
27 - 29 Apr Calgary Dance Stampede (Calgary, Canada)

Swing events in May 2012

03 - 06 May Swingin' into Spring (Hartford, CT, United States)
04 - 07 May Brit Hop London Lindy Exchange (London, United Kingdom)
04 - 08 May Balboa on the Promenade (Cannes, France)
04 - 06 May BABBLE - Big Apple Blues Balboa & Lindy Exchange (New York City, NY, United States)
04 - 06 May Plenty Hot (Dresden, Germany)
10 - 13 May Swing Diego (San Diego, CA, United States)
11 - 13 May Fallin' In Blues (Grenoble, France)
17 - 20 May 4th Potsdam HavelHop (Potsdam, Germany)
17 - 21 May Swingsation (Gold Coast, Australia)

* The highlighted events in this list are dedicated to Swing, others feature it as an additional style.

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