World Lindy Hop Day Workshops

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO JOINED US FOR WORLD LINDY HOP DAY 2024!

Sunday, May 26th, 2024

Celebrate the rich history of Lindy Hop! Mandi Gould and partner Osman Omar will be teaching special workshops to mark this important global event!

We will also welcome Alexander Hall whose uncle, Charlie Meade, we will be honouring. Charlie Meade is a longtime dancer from Harlem and was a friend of Frankie Manning’s. Zoey Gould will also be helping with the workshops.

🎟️ REGISTER HERE

Workshop Details

Workshop #1 – What Every Lindy Hopper Should Know

This is the good stuff. Whether you’re an Advanced dancer or you’re still trying out your first swing outs, this is the foundational work that gives Lindy Hop its “oomph” and soul.

  • Level: 1.5 and higher  (Pre-requisite knowledge: Some experience with Swingouts required.)

Community Pizza Lunch

We’ll be bringing in pizza for a picnic-style lunch to break bread and relax between classes together.

Workshop #2 – Tribute to Frankie, Norma & Legends of Swing

Sure, Frankie Manning had some wonderful set patterns and routines that he used to teach in his workshops. But we’ll go beyond the moves and dig into the core of how Frankie, and also Norma Miller and other legends of Swing, expressed themselves through rhythm.

  • Level: Intermediate and higher

Workshop #3 – Secrets of Social Dancing

How can you put your dancing together in a way that opens more doors to creativity, playfulness, and partnered communication? How can you elevate your relationship with the music to become a more dynamic dancer? Let’s get serious and let’s play!

  • Level: Intermediate and higher with extra feedback for Advanced students

🎟️ REGISTER HERE

Workshop Schedule

Sunday, May 26th
Dovercourt House, 2nd Floor, 805 Dovercourt Rd.

  • Doors @ 11am
  • 11:15 to 12: 30 – What Every Lindy Hopper Should Know
  • 12:30 to 1:10 – Pizza Lunch
  • 1:10 to 2:25 – Tribute to Frankie, Norma & Legends of Swing
  • 2:25 to 2:35 – Break
  • 2:35 to 3:50 – Secrets of Social Dancing

Pricing & Discounts

Proceeds for the day will be donated to the Black Lindy Hoppers Fund.

  • Full day – $75 – nearly 4 hours of workshops AND includes community Pizza Lunch!
  • Workshop #1 only – $25 includes community Pizza Lunch!
  • Students & underemployed – 20% discount. Use code: TRUSTSYSTEM
  • Free for students of Black and African diasporic heritage. Use code: BLHF

Why is World Lindy Hop Day important?

World Lindy Hop Day honours an important part of history. Not only is Lindy Hop a super fun swing dance and form of creative and musical expression, it also holds cultural significance as the dance emerged during a time of racial segregation in the United States. Since the development of Lindy Hop in the late 1920s, the has continued to spread around the world and now has global representation in most countries. Celebrating World Lindy Hop Day allows us to appreciate and remember the Black community who created and popularized this dance, as well as the diverse groups that continue to share the joy of Lindy Hop around the world.

The date for World Lindy Hop Day was picked to mark Frankie Manning’s birthday. Frankie was one of the founders of Lindy Hop; he was an American dancer from Harlem, dance instructor, and choreographer, and a member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, the greatest Lindy Hop performance troupe of all time. Learn more about Frankie Manning here.

Did you know that Mandi isn’t just the co-founder Bees’ Knees Dance? She’s also one of the founders of World Lindy Hop Day globally, was a member of the board of the Frankie Manning Foundation for 9 years, and was the producer of Frankie 100 in NYC. Having been lucky enough to work intimately with Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, and other important figures in Lindy Hop, Mandi will be sharing her wealth of knowledge alongside Osman on May 26th. 

*Join the Facebook event

Workshop Levels

The daytime workshops on May 26th will be appropriate for dancers at a “beyond beginner” level (1.5) and higher, straight through to intermediate and advanced. For beginners, please see our new classes. Additionally, Mandi and Osman will be teaching the beginner lesson for Toronto Lindy Hop’s World Lindy Hop Day dance on Saturday, June 1st.

About the Instructors

Mandi Gould has taught Lindy Hop across Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, China, South Korea, and Japan and was honoured to assist Frankie Manning on multiple occasions. She was a member of the board of directors of the Frankie Manning Foundation from 2011 to 2020 and was also the primary organizer of Frankie 100 in NYC in 2014, which included the show Swinging’ Frankie’s Way at Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theater. She is also the co-founder of both Toronto Lindy Hop and Bees’ Knees Dance and the co-signer of World Lindy Hop Day globally.
 
From Ottawa to Toronto and now residing in Hamilton, Osman Omar is a pleasure to to watch on any dance floor. His playful dance philosophy, musicality, and light touch as a leader all make him a favourite leader wherever he goes. Osman is happy to share his insights with students of all levels.
Toronto & WLHD

Toronto has strong ties with Frankie Manning. Our city had the privilege of hosting Frankie Manning on 4 different occasions:

  • 1996 hosted by Simon Threlkeld of Swing Toronto
  • 2002, 2006, 2008 hosted by the Toronto Swing Dance Society

In fact, one of Frankie’s very last workshops before his passing was in Toronto.

Toronto also hosted legacy dancers Norma Miller, Dawn Hampton, and Chazz Young on various occasions.

Mandi’s Connection to Frankie Manning & World Lindy Hop Day

Mandi Gould was honoured to assist Frankie in his workshops in 2002, 2006, and 2008. After Frankie Manning passed away in 2009, the Frankie Manning Foundation was formed and Mandi Gould acted as a member of the board of directors from 2011 to 2020. She was also the primary organizer of Frankie 100 in NYC in 2014, the largest Lindy Hop event of all time, which included the show Swinging’ Frankie’s Way at Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theater.

In 2020, Mandi chose to withdraw from the Frankie Manning Foundation and her participation in shaping of the global Lindy Hop scene, in order to make room for Black leadership with the formation of the Black Lindy Hoppers Fund. In alignment with the BLHF mission, she is passionate about the Lindy Hop legacy and bridging the gap of knowledge, access, and development for Black Lindy Hoppers.

Scholarships for Black Students

Bees’ Knees Dance would like to welcome and encourage people of Black and African diasporic heritage to attend the World Lindy Hop Day workshops for free. Please use code BLHF at checkout.

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Lindy Hop Blast Off! January 2024 Workshops

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT! 

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WORKSHOP DATE: Saturday January 20, 2024

After a long hibernation, Bees’ Knees Dance is back and under “new” (or maybe “old”) leadership!

Join us for special workshops on January 20th taught by Zoey Gould and Mark Hart. Both Zoey and Mark have been dancing since 1998 and are excited to share their wealth of knowledge with you! Whether you’re looking for a refresher before the TO Lindy Hop Reunion that night or just ready to start off the new year dancing, we would love to see you there!

Saturday January 20, 2024

Location: City Dance Corps, 950 Dupont St, Toronto

  • 4pm – 5pm – 6 Ways to Improve your Lindy Hop
  • 5pm – 6pm – Lindy Hop Blast Off!

 

6 Ways to Improve your Lindy Hop

Improve your social dance and build a solid foundation. For dancers with some basic lindy experience (e.g. you’ve taken a handful of classes), as well as experienced dancers. Covers dancing at different tempos, improvisation, classic dance styling, and more.

Lindy Hop Blast Off!

Expand your Lindy Hop repertoire with some unique and useful social dance steps! Knowledge of Lindy Hop foundations is required; recommended a minimum of 6-12 months; basic swingouts, mixing some 6-count and 8-count steps, etc. 

About the Instructors 

Zoey Gould and Mark Hart each bring 25+ years of Lindy Hop experience. Zoey is a former circus acrobat and is trained in an array of dance styles. She’s studied extensively with original Lindy Hop & tap legends including Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Dawn Hampton, Fayard Nicholas, and Leonard Reed.  She previously served on the Toronto Lindy Hop Board of Directors and owned a circus school in Toronto. She has travelled to study dance in Canada, USA, Australia, Mexico, and Sweden where she has attended the Herrang Dance Camp several times between 1999 and 2023.

Workshop Prices: $25/class, $20 for full time students/seniors/arts workers/underemployed Note: Class sizes are limited. Take advantage of this intimate learning opportunity by two of Toronto’s longtime community members!

 

More On Dance Levels

For the first workshop, anyone with some basic Lindy Hop under their belts is welcome to participate!

*For the second workshop, Lindy Hop Blast Off, you should have approximately 6months to 1 year of experience or equivalent knowledge. Please refer to the following resources as helpful pre-requisite knowledge: the list of curriculum marked Transitions Curriculum 1.5 on this page or the videos marked 1.5 on this page.

Thanks for registering and we look forward to seeing you in January! If you have any questions, please contact info@beeskneesdance.com.

Guide for Swing Dance Shoes & Lindy Hop Shoes

Blog post by Mandi Gould. 

Originally posted October 2nd, 2010, this blog was very old so as of February 2020, it’s now been updated!

Back when I originally wrote this blog post, it was pretty tough to find great swing dance shoes. However, in the last few years, things have completely changed.

Now there are dozens of companies making vintage inspired shoes for swing dancing. Many of the companies are owned and operated by Lindy Hoppers. Most of these are geared towards women’s shoes but several of them, like Saint Savoy, also make men’s swing dance shoes. I’m also partial to SAF Shoes for men/unisex, which is a Canadian company!
For women’s dance shoes, there’s a dedicated Facebook group. Check it out:

👉 Swing Dance Shoes Hunt: “Women’s Sizes & Styles”

One thing I’d like to say is that even though I love dressing up and wearing heels and I do often dance in heels, when I really want to dance “hard” I definitely prefer flats. Heels are great for Balboa, dress up events where you aren’t dancing intensely, and I also do some ballroom dancing, but if I know I want to go to Dovercourt House and really get my dance on, it’s flats all the way for me.

These are my favourite dance shoes right now for dancing hard (even though here I’m also wearing them out on the street) –

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0wJjoBgEAm/

I personally wear a lot of Saint Savoy shoes and Balboa Zin and for daywear, not dancing, Charlie Stone and Remix.

The following list is copied from the group files as of February 2020 but click here to see the most up to date list.

Modeling Saint Savoy shoes at the ILHC fashion show.
Modelling Saint Savoy RIVIERA High shoes at the ILHC fashion show.

Made for Swing Dancers, by Swing Dancers

Wearing Saint Savoy WEST shoes at a special event.
Wearing Saint Savoy WEST shoes at a special event.

Popular with swing dancers but not specifically made for dancing

General Dance Shoes, not specifically for swing

Also check out this great blog post on iLindy.com about Women’s Swing Dance Shoes.

As I mentioned, I’m quite partial to Saint Savoy shoes. Here’s an unboxing video:

With so many great shoes to shop from these days, we have the opposite problem from we used to have; there’s just too much to choose from! Which is a great problem to have! Happy shopping.

CLASSES ARE ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

After a wonderful 20 years at the hive, the bees will be going into hibernation.

Classes are on hold until further notice. Thank you for your understanding.

Kris, Phil, Jasper & Victor
Bees’ Knees Bee-Keepers

***

Celebrating the original jazz-era dance styles of the 1920s to 1940s

Our team of enthusiastic, professional instructors can’t wait to introduce you to Toronto’s best-kept secret; our thriving and jiving swing dance scene!

Specializing in Lindy Hop, the original swing dance, the Bees’ Knees Dance repertoire features other exciting swing styles including Charleston, Balboa, and Authentic Jazz.

Absolutely no prior experience is necessary; it’s our passion to teach adults their very first dance steps and regardless of your age, sense of rhythm or number of left feet, we believe that anyone can dance.

Hibernation Announcement

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 for welcoming us, accepting us, and dancing with us for the past 20 years. From humble beginnings and a glorious era with Mandi and Dan, to our most recent wave of dancing Bee-Keepers at the helm, the faces have changed but the spirit remains the same. The memories we have made, from dancing on some of the biggest stages to stomping in some of the smallest studios, will be forever cherished.

We sincerely hope you will all continue to love and cherish this dance, its history, and its local (and international) scene in the days to come. Toronto still has a lot to offer, both with its rich assembly of jazz musicians and its unique and talented dancers and instructors. We encourage you to sample more of what our city has to offer dancers, to continue your personal Lindy Hop journey. Not sure where to go next? We’ve got a great resource in Toronto Lindy Hop; check in with those folks and you’ll be good to go.

We hope you will join us for our farewell party Peck the Halls: The 6th Annual BKD Holiday Dance Party! on December 19, 2019. As in past years, it’ll be a pecking good time!

Each and every one of you have contributed to the wonderful memory that will be Bees’ Knees Dance. We appreciate every triple step, every pecking break, and every tuck turn that you brought to our Colony.

You are all the bee’s knees.

Sincerely,

Kris, Phil, Jasper & Victor
Bees’ Knees Bee-Keepers

The Buzz: Phil’s Sweatband Goes Coastal at Lindy Bout X

Tales from Lindy Bout X

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 Sweatbands crew: Julie Kiraly, John Marian, Lindsay Giese, Claudia Nobauer, Brett Nakashima, Vicky Dance, Darryl Glen, Heather Moore, Lee Broxson

A very special thanks to Julie Kiraly for choreographing the routine with me and the rest of team who also contributed to its badassery. Wish we could practise another two hours and perform it again…

 

The Interregional Jack & Jill is one of the zaniest and best competitions in the greater world of Lindy Hop. As my favourite competition at Lindy Bout in Vancouver, I get nervous every year about whether I’ll make the finals. It’s so good!! This year I was paired with one of my favourite Lindy Bouters and fellow silly dance enthusiast, Claudia NoBauer! The competition begins like most Lindy Hop Jack & Jills, but then the real fun begins…

 Phil_Bees-Knees-Dance-Teacher_sm

PHIL BOURASSA
THE BUZZ BLOGGER

The Buzz: Bees Generate Buzz at Ottawa’s O-Town Showdown

(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 with a huge Toronto presence in the finals, including local dancers Anne Dorward and Hannah Bild-Enkin (with 1st & 3rd places claimed by our own BKD teachers Jasper Palfree and Phil Bourassa respectively, both of whom also earned spots in the finals of the Solo Jazz division).

Our competitive troupe The Killer Diller Bees laid down an impressive performance in the Team Showcase, while other Toronto dancers showed off their choreography skills with a seemingly-endless number of entries in the Short Showcase division (3rd place won by Killer Diller Bee Jessica David with the aforementioned Jasper Palfree).

Jasper and fellow BKD teacher Shannon both earned spots in the Showdown Jack & Jill finals (with top spot claimed by honourary-Bee Julie Kiraly of Edmonton and Toronto’s own Luis Arredondo); with Phil, Shannon and Anne also strutting their stuff in the role-reversal Jill & Jack finals.

For full results, check out http://www.otownshowdown.com/g/results/#2016

Toronto, you sure know how to bring the competitive heat! Congrats to all the participants, finalists, and award winners both from our fair city and beyond. And of course, a huge thank you to the Ottawa swing dance scene for being such wonderful hosts at this annual favourite. We’ll certainly be back next year!

The Buzz: Birthday Jams – 8 Tips for Maximum Fun

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:

1. Set the stage.

Create a fun and exciting atmosphere for the jam-ee! How? First, you have to get up (and encourage everyone else to do the same) and make a semi-circle around the jam-ee. It’s a bit of a let-down when people stay sitting and chat with their friends while a birthday jam is happening so don’t be that guy (or gal). Then, make the semi-circle nice and tight; give the dancers enough room to dance but make it feel cozy and close. Clap your hands off! Smile! Have fun!

2. Include the band (or DJ).

They’re making the music that inspires us to dance, and so they should be just as much a part of the jam as you and I. Be sure to leave a space (hence, the semi-circle) so the band or DJ can see the jam too!

3. Get in there!

If it’s your first time, it can be nerve wracking. How do I steal? Everyone is watching! What do I lead? What if I can’t follow what they lead?  Don’t worry. Watch how others steal in and then steal their ideas (see what I did there). Lead what you know and don’t overcomplicate it. Keep it simple if you’re nervous. Try to relax and follow as best you can, but remember it’s ultimately about having fun and making sure the jam-ee is having fun!

4. Say happy birthday to the jam-ee.

It’s a nice touch, and after all, that’s why we’re having the jam, no?

5. Take your turn, and let others take theirs too.

You’re excited. You can’t wait to steal in. We get it. Birthday jams are fun!  But unwritten (until now?) birthday jam etiquette says we should let each jam-er have at least a full phrase of the music to dance with the jam-ee so don’t jump in too soon!  If you’re worried you won’t get in there, make it known that you’re planning to jump in next by making your way in to the circle and looking for the opportunity to make your move and then strike when the phrase is ending!

6. Remember who the jam is for.

Is it your birthday? No? Then this may not be the time to show off your cool new flashy moves that draw all the attention to you. Take this opportunity to really make the jam-ee shine.

7. For the leaders: take it easy sometimes too.

As a follower, being jammed means you typically end up doing a lot of swing outs. A lot. If the song is a bit on the faster side this can get tiring, so if you’re a leader and you’re about to jump in to a jam pay attention to what the last 2 or 3 leaders led and if it was a bunch of swing outs or variations of swing outs maybe change it up and give the follower a bit of a breather with some moves that are a little more chill.

8. Have fun!

Have I said this already? I’ll say it again, just in case. Have fun and make it fun for the jam-ee!

Birthday jams are one of the many wonderful things that I love about Lindy Hop and the swing dance community. How about you? Have you had your first birthday jam yet? Got any tips of your own?

Heather O’Shea
The Buzz Blogger