Lindy Hop Dance Classes in Bournemouth / Christchurch area
SPRING UPDATE 2024
Lindy Hop Dance Classes in Bournemouth / Christchurch area
SPRING UPDATE 2024
Welcome to the world of Lindy Hop. We have beginners classes on Monday evenings and classes for Improvers and Intermediates on Thursday evenings at The Royal British Legion in Christchurch.
Welcome to the world of Lindy Hop. We have beginners classes on Monday evenings and classes for Improvers and Intermediates on Thursday evenings at The Royal British Legion in Christchurch.
What’s new for Spring 2024?
Our teacher info is not up to date. We’ll be updating this website, as our founder Martin Chilvers and his long-time dance partner Tash Guildford – who feature in our logo and in the photos on this page – are no longer leading our classes in Christchurch, Dorset.
- If you’re new to Lindy Hop, please come along to one of our beginners classes first.
- BEGINNERS – Mondays 7.30-9.30pm – 10-week course from 4 March to 6 May 2024.
- IMPROVERS – Thursdays 7.30-8.30pm | INTERMEDIATE 8.45pm-9.45pm.
- Practice time in between classes and end-of-session till 10pm.
- Partner rotation is the norm in our classes. But if you wish to opt out, you can.
Monday Beginners classes – £13 per person per class or save £10 with our 5-Class Bundle Discount – use for any 5 classes throughout our 10-week course. The course runs from 4 March till 6 May 2024.
Thursday Improvers and Intermediate classes – £9 for one class, £12 for both
New to Lindy Hop? JOIN OUR BEGINNERS CLASSES
If you’re a complete beginner, please come along to our beginners classes on Monday evenings before you try our Thursday classes.
For everyone’s enjoyment, we do expect the basics to be in place for Improver level and above.
Sign up below and we’ll keep you posted with details of current or planned beginners classes and workshops.
Learn Lindy Hop in a fun and friendly class
Beginner, improver or intermediate/advanced,
whatever your level, there’s a class for you
Our beginner-level classes are the perfect introduction to Lindy Hop. Our experienced teachers will take you through the basics, step by step, without overloading you with too much to remember.
In these lessons, the focus is on getting a feel for what Lindy Hop is all about.
You’ll learn how to bring energy and natural rhythm into your dancing and how to create that all-important connection with your dance partner.
Within a few weeks, you’ll have learned three or four basic moves and know how to put them together into something that looks and feels like dancing.
This is far more useful than trying to memorise a set routine and will give you an excellent grounding for taking your Lindy Hop dancing skills to the next level.
Take your Lindy Hop further
and fine-tune your style
Already got a good grasp of the basics of Lindy Hop? Our improver-level classes look to develop your skills and technique further and broaden your knowledge of the core concepts and moves. At intermediate/advanced level, we take things up a notch, and explore new variations and refinements.
If you’re not yet familiar with the basic steps and the key ingredients of bounce, connection and commitment, we recommend you work on these before looking to move to intermediate level. Going over the basics is always time well spent, and no two classes are ever exactly the same. Covering the fundamentals a second or even a third time will really build your confidence.
Images: Faye Hedges Photography
Farewell Martin and Tash! Hello Tom, Corissa and Suzy!
Tash has moved to Oxford and now only makes guest appearances with Swing Shift. If you’re in the Oxford area, be sure to look her up.
Martin has moved to Texas, USA and has kindly allowed us to continue using the Swing Shift name in the UK. Watch this space for news of when Swing Shift classes start up in the US!
MARTIN CHILVERS
Martin hates to admit it, but he has been dancing Lindy Hop for over 20 years. He was part of the resurgence of the dance in Australia in the late 1990s and then moved to Austin, Texas when the Swing Revival there was at its most crazy.
Martin has been lucky enough to have been taught by many of the legends of the dance from across all eras, and tries his best do them justice through his own teaching.
Martin emphasises the energy, spirit and playfulness in the dance whilst grounding everything with solid technique.
For some reason, his favourite saying in class seems to be “Boo-Yah!” but you’ll have to come along to find out why!
TASH GUILDFORD
Tash was initially introduced to Lindy Hop dancing through a friend in Brighton, but it was only after moving to Southampton in January 2014 that she joined a beginners course as a way of meeting new people.
After just 6 weeks of learning she fell in love with Lindy Hop and the rest is history. Tash has since attended many Lindy Hop workshops in the UK, USA and Greece to learn more about the dance, and has had the pleasure of teaching courses since January 2016.
She has a background of dancing, attending Ballet, Jazz and Modern classes from the age of 3, and so is delighted to continue dancing and teaching more people the joy of the Lindy Hop.