The Swing Project

Exciting Summer Swing Out Announcement folks! ☀️ 🏖️

For the Saturday night of our summer weekender, I’m so excited to be welcoming back Cardiff’s best, the incredible Sarah Meek with a very special expanded band ESPECIALLY for us…

Are you ready to dance to Sarah Meek and the Savoy SEVEN!? 🎷 🎶 🎙️

If you’ve been to some of our events, you may have heard their killer solos, hard swinging vibes and ever changing repertoire - here they are as a quintet killing it at our last Welsh Weekender with and ✨

Seven piece live band, a massive sprung dance floor plus a guest teacher taster class and performances - you won’t want to miss it!

🗓️ Summer Swing Out 24-26th July: Full Social Passes are just £30, with individual nights on sale too! All available at: www.swingproject.co.Uk/summerswingout

We’re continuing our celebration of q***r artists and their legacies in Level 1 this week - and it’s the turn of Lady Day herself, Billie Holiday 🎙️ 🌈

Born Eleanora Fagan, Holiday named herself after the film star Billie Dove and went on to be one of the most iconic jazz vocalists of all time, known for her incredible story telling and magical touch with phrasing and tempo.

After a difficult early life, Holiday found solace in the music of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. She would actually go on to work with Armstrong when the two of them starred in the 1947 musical “New Orleans”.

She worked with the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Artie Shaw as well as created legendary collaborations with pianist Teddy Wilson and saxophonist Lester Young.

📚 Learn more about her here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/3BGjtP9XNYzbJ5rLCVxtMKg/billie-holiday

Tonight at , we kick off teaching the classic routine the Tranky Doo 🤩

⭐️ Did You Know?! ⭐️

The Tranky Doo appears in the short film “Love & Syncopation” (1946) - possibly the oldest footage of the routine available. It is performed in this clip by Wilda Crawford and Thomas “Tops” Lee, 1940 Harvest Moon Ball winners. They were originally due to be in the famous Lindy Hop scene in Hellzapoppin’ but according to Frankie’s autobiography, they kept turning up late to rehearsals and so had to be replaced.

Here we get to see them dance a section of the Tranky Doo, bringing their own individual expression and creativity to the routine. They are dancing to “Broadway”, a classic 32 Bar swing tune.🎶

We’ll be exploring a number of musical choices for the routine throughout the month so you can feel comfortable dancing Tranky Doo to a range of tempos! 🥳

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Join us on Thursdays to explore this iconic jazz routine - plus tonight is available on drop in so you can try it before signing up for the whole block.

Book now at: https://swingproject.co.uk/sign-up-now