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Meet in the Middle is an annual Lindy Hop and Blues exchange hosted by the Queen’s Swing Dancing Club in Kingston, Ontario. Join us on January 25th and 26th for two nights of sizzling live bands and DJ’d blues, plus a full day of professional workshops taught by QSDC alumni.

This year we’re celebrating QSDC’s 20th Anniversary in proper birthday party fashion, so cake and pointy hats are guaranteed! You can find details on our workshops and musical guests below in the schedule!

Make sure to read the Event Guidelines

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Full weekend, one-night and workshop-only passes will be available for purchase on Eventbrite as of November 1st. Register before December 1st for an early bird discount!

Limited housing is currently being organized on a first-come, first-serve basis through Eventbrite!

Schedule

All events will be in the John Deutsch University Centre at 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON, at Queen’s University Find us at Wallace Hall!
Friday	8:00 PM	Beginner Lindy Hop Lesson
	9:00 PM	Live Dance with Gordon Webster!
	Midnight – 3:00 AM	Late Night Blues
Saturday	10:00 AM	Lindy Hop Lesson – The Music and Movement – All Levels
	11:05 AM	Lindy Hop Lesson – Connection: Going Steady – All Levels
	12:10 AM	Solo Blues Lesson – Grooving the Gauntlet – All Levels
	1:10 PM – 2:25 PM	Lunch
	2:25 PM	Lindy Hop – Connection: Direct and Redirect! – Intermediate	Ballroomin’ Blues – Comfy, Close Embrace – All Levels
	3:25 PM	Wildcard Class! – ! – QSDC Mob Dance – Intermediate	Jukin’ Blues – Move YOUR Body – All Levels
	4:30 PM – 8:00 PM	Break!
	8:00 PM	Beginner Lindy Hop Lesson
	9:00 PM	Live dance with Gordon Webster!
	After Midnight	Late night blues

Workshops

The Music and The Movement

All Levels Lindy Hop Lesson

Let’s start at the very core of why we dance: because the music tells us to! In this class we’ll explore swing from the music up, with much ado about rhythm and phrasing, and a focus on staying in the music and playing together with your partner.

Connection 1: Going Steady

All Levels Lindy Hop Lesson

Sure, you can stretch apart and come together.. but what happens in between? In this class we’ll explore keeping the connection steady even in “neutral” moments, and see what we can do when the lines are always open!

Grooving the Gauntlet

All Levels Blues Lesson

Build your vocabulary of solo blues moves while keeping the groove!

Connection 2: Direct and Redirect!

Intermediate Lindy Hop Lesson

Building from the concepts we explored in connection 1, we see what happens when you use a steady connection to put a new twist on classic ideas!

Comfy, Close Embrace

All Levels Blues Lesson

Join us as we dive deep into close embrace connection and make it as comfy as can be!

QSDC Mob Dance!

Intermediate Wildcard Class

Join us in creating something special for the QSDC! In this class we’ll teach you a brand new solo routine made just for the club, that you can use and pass along to new waves of students! This class is participatory… students will have a chance to brainstorm and add a QSDC twist to the routine, to really make it your own!

Move YOUR Body

All Levels Blues Lesson

Explore your own movement in within partnered dancing!

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The type of swing dancing that we do at Queen’s Swing Club is Lindy Hop!

What is Lindy Hop?

The Lindy Hop is an American dance that evolved in Harlem, New York City in the 1920s and 1930s and originally evolved with the jazz music of that time. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based on jazz, tap, breakaway and Charleston. It is frequently described as a jazz dance and is a member of the swing dance family.

In its development, the Lindy Hop combined elements of both partnered and solo dancing by using the movements and improvisation of black dances along with the formal eight-count structure of European partner dances. This is most clearly illustrated in the Lindy’s basic step, the swingout. In this step’s open position, each dancer is generally connected hand-to-hand; in its closed position, men and women are connected as though in an embrace.

Revived in the 1980s by American, Swedish, and British dancers, the Lindy Hop is now represented by dancers and loosely affiliated grass roots organizations in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.

Source: Wikipedia

Here are some videos of people doing the Lindy Hop very very well.

Other types of swing dancing include West Coast Swing, which is usually danced to more modern pop music and evolved from Lindy Hop.