The Buzz Blog

To our lovely Colony,After a wonderful 20 years at the hive, the bees will be going into hibernation.We have made the difficult decision to officially close down Bees’ Knees Dance and That Swing!, effective December 31, 2019.Words cannot express how grateful we are to the Toronto swing dance scene ...

March 31 - April 3, 2016 (Vancouver, BC)Go Sweatbands!!! With only two hours in Vancouver to practise the routine as a team, our final Lindy Bout Team Division performance looks awesome!Hailing from Edmonton, Seattle, Vancouver and Toronto, thanks a bunch to the rest of the Sweatban ...

(Photo credit: Bruno Avard)Wow! Toronto absolutely swarmed this weekend's O-Town Showdown! We're burstin' with Bee Pride for not only our own amazing dancers, but for the entire Toronto crew that made the treck up to our nation's capital.Once again, dancers from the 6ix dominated the Prop & Jill ...

After nearly ten years of Lindy Hop, I’ve participated in my fair share of birthday jams, both as a “jam-er” and a “jam-ee”. Here are my top eight tips for making birthday jams more fun, especially for the dancer being jammed:Create a fun and exciting atmosphere for the jam-ee! How? First, ...

As choreo season draws upon us I can’t help but feel a bit charged with nostalgia (something I’m not generally prone to). Choreographies have made my most memorable moments at Bees’ Knees Dance, both as a student and a teacher. And memory is the key word here, because learning a choreography i ...

You may have it down pat at the venues you frequent: you know the other dancers, you know the bands, you know the floor. It gets to be so easy after a while! You go out, meet your friends and dance your face off. You know pretty much what to expect (aside from surprise pecking), and what to expect i ...

Howdy folks!Firstly, just a quick note that my tips and methodology on how I grew as a Lindy Hopper are what worked for me. You might find they work for you a lot, a little, or not at all. I only hope the following words can be of some value to you in your own personal journey.I took my first Lindy ...

Anyone who knows me knows that I love listening to swingin’ jazz, I love to swing dance, and I love to cook delicious vegetarian food.I’m in good company; there are lots of vegetarian and vegan Lindy Hoppers here in Toronto as well as abroad. In fact, quite a few of the Bee Keepers (a.k.a teache ...

It was almost exactly a year ago this weekend that I finally faced my fears and went for it… I asked a stranger to dance.A bit of backstory perhaps. Like many swing dancers, I’m an introvert. A shy introvert. Big time. I can easily tuck that behind a blanket of outgoing perkiness but at my core, ...

One question we frequently get from level 1  students is "where can I get music good for practicing"? The easy answer is to look for swing era jazz. Jazz from the 1930s. Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb. Great artists from the swing era but the library of m ...