Chicago Swing Dance Society

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Chicago Swing Dance Society

CSDS is the UChicago swing dance RSO! We provide weekly social dances and lessons for all. We have two weekly events: our lessons, and our weekend Java Jive.
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The Java Jive, so named due to its original coffee shop venue, is held almost every Saturday evening in Ida Noyes Hall on the campus of the University of Chicago. It features a beginner's lesson in East Coast Swing, followed by several hours of dancing with a DJ. Admission is always free, even to those who have no University affiliation. For the sake of safety we generally do not allow aerials. Ou

r lessons are held once a week in the evening. There are generally two sequences of lessons taking place during a week, and both lessons are an hour long and take place back to back. The lesson sequences usually last 4 or 10 weeks with one lesson a week, and cost $5 per lesson. We generally offer one sequence in beginner to intermediate East Coast Swing dancing, sometimes taught by a University student and board member of CSDS, and one sequence on a different dancing style taught by a professional instructor (examples include Blues, Lindy Hop, and Charleston). Aside from our weekly events the CSDS often hosts special themed dances which usually feature other amenities such as free food and drink, a larger venue, decorations, or a live band. For rules and policies concerning our events, please see the relevant Note on this page. To receive updates on all of these events, you can request to join our email listhost or watch for announcements on this page.

05/27/2023

If you are a community member who wasn't able to get a ticket for Lakeside Lindy yet, don't worry! We are opening up our student/UCID ticket pool; feel free to purchase your ticket online for $15 and bring $5 in cash or Venmo with you to our event!

To all attendees of Lakeside Lindy, please be prepared to show your confirmation email of your ticket purchase. For all students/UCID holders, please be prepared to show your student ID or UCID at the door.

02/12/2023

Here's the recap video from our Tranky Doo workshop last weekend! Thanks to all of our attendees and we hope to see you practicing you routine at some of our Java Jives!

01/18/2023

It was great to see all of you who came to our Intermediate Lindy Hop and Beginner Charleston lessons last night! I've updated the event page to include a link to the short videos Neil assigned as homework for this week. Take some time to give them a watch before next week, and don't forget to keep on dancing in the meantime!

All future videos, links, or assignments from our lesson series will be posted as edits to the original Facebook event page for the classes.

01/04/2023

Address

Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th Street
Chicago, IL
60637

Opening Hours

7:30pm - 11pm

Website

http://swing.uchicago.edu/

Alerts

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Videos

CSDS 2/5/23 Tranky Doo Recap

Here's the recap video from our Tranky Doo workshop last weekend! Thanks to all of our attendees and we hope to see you practicing you routine at some of our Java Jives!

Blue Maroon x Java Jive, Feb 29th

Blue Maroon is killing it at Java Jive!

The dance floor is poppin'!

Birthday and Out-of-Towner Jam, Java Jive Dec 7th

Dance breaks make good study breaks. We were so glad to have all of you at Java Jive during reading period!

Shim Sham Workshop 4/25

We had so much fun teaching the Shim Sham workshop last night! Can you tell which move this is?

Shim Sham on the Rocks--Spring Break 2019

Our global swing journey continues. Check out board member Stephanie dancing outdoors in Colorado! Shim sham on the rocks anyone?

Bone To Boogie, Madrid Spring Break 2019

Hey spring-breakers, Hope you're not missing Java Jive too much! One of the best parts of swing music and dance is that it exists all over the world. Board member, Michelle, stumbled upon this jazz trio, Bone to Boogie, at a flea market in Madrid!

Post Lesson Dancing--02/28/19

A little social dancing after our Charleston and Lindy lessons on Thursday. Come to Java Jive this Saturday to dance some more! We'll be in the Ida Noyes Library Lounge 8:30-11:00.

Blues Workshop with Ross Blythe, 02-20-20

Hump day might be bumpy but the students at our Blues workshop are smooooth!

Coming up soon--Charleston series!

Lots of events happening this week! Our rescheduled Intro to Blues Dance workshop is happening this Wednesday and our Lindy Hop and Charleston series continue this Thursday!

Petra van Nuis Quintet ft. Bob Ojeda 2/2/19

It's always a blast when the Petra van Nuis Quintet plays for us! Thank you to everyone who danced with us last night <3

Petra at Java Jive 2018

We can't wait to host the Petra Van Nuis Quintet at Java Jive tomorrow! Beginner lesson at 7:30, live music begins at 8:30. Here's a video of Petra at Java Jive last year!

Thank you to everyone who braved the cold to come dance with us! There's nothing like a few rock steps and turns to keep you warm 🤩

Balloons at Java Jive 12/8/18

Last night's festivities were so much fun! Thank you to everyone who helped us end our year on such a merry note. Here's a video of our balloon game... 🎈

Thank you to everyone who danced with us last night, and especially Blue Maroon, for making our quarterly live band event so special! 😍

Intermediate ECS Class

May and Matt are teaching mooooves. Today marks the beginning of our intermediate East Coast and beginner Lindy Hop lesson series. Fear not, drop-ins are always welcome!