Southland Strutters' Ball - Lindy Hop Swing Dance Lessons in Orange County (The OC)

Wednesday at Strutters' Ball is our weekly LIVE MUSIC swing dance in Orange County, CA (The OC). It's my personal favorite club. The dance floor is big. It attracts every variety of person. If you were to pick one night to come check out swing dancing this would be the night to come. It's not just a rad swing dance club it's also a nice place to hang out and socialize.

Location

Address : 121 S. Center St. Orange, CA, 92866
Directions : The venue is a couple blocks east of the Orange Circle just on the corner of Chapman and Center.
Map Link : Click Here for Map

This Wednesday!

8:30pm - Midnight: Social Dance with live jazz, mixers, and a mini shim sham class

7pm Beg. Workshop!
"Learn all the basics"

7:00PM - Each week we rotate between the different basic steps of the 8 Count Lindy Hop, the 6 count East Coast Swing, and the Charleston. You will need to learn them all because when you actually dance you will mix them all together when you dance. Each dance has it's own footwork rhythm and timing. Start on any week and continue until you master each basic. Total beginners are welcome! No dance experience of any kind is expected. Beginner's are encouraged to practice during the following intermediate class or are welcome to relax and watch.

7:45pm Int. Workshop!
"Moves you can use"

7:45PM - Each week you will learn moves, stylings, and tricks that you can use that night in your social dancing. You will also learn to mix and match the different patterns of the beginner's classes. This lesson format will implement"stacked teaching", meaning we will have easy versions of moves for newer dancers and harder versions with extra turns or stylings for more advanced students.

Social Dancing

8:30PM - It's fun to dance with everyone! Take a stroll back in time and dance to awesome swing music!

Prices

Buy your Punch Card Online for $80 and pick it up on your 1st visit. Each punch includes 1 class and the dance that night.

Drop In Pricing: $15 per workshop or $10 for the dance with Live Music. If you buy a workshop the dance that night is included.
OC Swing Club Members and students with valid ID: $13 per workshop and $8 for the dance.
Buy a Punch Card of ten for $80
You will use one punch per workshop. Whenever you take a workshop it includes the dance
Each workshop is 45 minutes - We rotate partners so you can come alone with confidence. We accept Cash and Major Credit Cards.

The Hosts

The workshops and dance are hosted by full time lindy hop swing dancers Shesha and Nikki Marvin. They have been running the OC Swing Dance Club since 2002. They recently performed LIVE on Dancing with the Stars.

Contact Shesha by calling 1-866-OCSWING (627-9464) or by emailing shesha at ocswing.com. Contact Nikki by emailing nikki at ocswing.com

F.A.Q.

Q: What do I wear?
A: Dress is Casual or Vintage. Most people dress casual. Sweat a lot? Bring extra shirts. Wear shoes that don't fall off. Smoother bottom is better but don't over-think it.

Q: Do I need a partner?
A: 90% of people who attend are single and come alone. We rotate partners in group class. It's fun! During social dancing everyone just asks each other to dance. Girls can even ask guys!

Q: Do I need to know how to dance?
A: Nope? If you want a clue take the lessons. Still, it's easy to start swing dancing. Just show up and start copying people! Swing dancing is a street dance. There's a lot of ways to win.

$50 Birthday Package*

1 dance lesson and entry for up to 10 people
Reserved table for your party
*(over 50% off). Must be used the Wednesday before or after actual birthday
Contact shesha at ocswing.com to set it up!

Facebook Fanclub

The Southland Strutters' Ball on Facebook

Website by Shesha Marvin

Click Me To Close

The Southland Strutters' Ball and the Orange County Swing Dance Club present the second annual $1000 Amateur Jack and Jill Swing Out!

This Lindy Hop competition is open to all amateur level competitors. No professional dancers, please.

What is a Jack and Jill contest?

A Jack and Jill contest is a competition where you are randomly matched to your dance partners. You have no idea who your partner will be until you are paired up and asked to dance for the judges. As such, it truly tests your skills as a social dancer. It's extremely fun!

Registration

Contest registration begins at 9 p.m.and closes at 10:15 p.m. each Wednesday from April 1, 2009 to May 13, 2009 at The Southland Strutters' Ball dance.
Contest spots are available on a firstcome, first served basis. To prevent time overruns for the contest, we are limiting the number of participants to 12 Jacks and 12 Jills per week.
A limited number of spots will be reserved for online registration to help out dancers who have long distance commutes and cannot make it in person for the 9 p.m. sign up time. E-mail shesha@ocswing.com.
Registration costs $5 for each preliminary round contest.

How does the contest work?

The $1000 Jack and Jill Swing Out consists of 6 preliminary rounds and 1 final round.
Preliminary rounds take place each Wednesdayfrom April 1, 2009 to May 13, 2009 (no Strutters' April 15th!).
Contestants will be paired with 3 partners,at random.
The music style and tempo will vary for each partner.
Each week, we will select 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners from our Jacks and from our Jills. Earning a placement wins you a point value. Place 1st to receive 6 points, 2nd to receive 3 points, and 3rd to receive 2 points.
To qualify for the final round on May 20th, 2009, you must win 6 total points.
If you don't win 1st place on any given week and qualify outright (1st place 6 points = qualified for finals!), you may register the next week and try to add to your score.

Preliminary round format:

Prelim contests consist of 3 heats and 1 all skate
Each heat will consist of 4 Jacks and 4 Jills. Each Jack will be randomly paired with a Jill and dance for 1 minute and 30 seconds to a song at slow tempo. Following the slow song,the Jills will rotate to a new random partner. The newly paired couples will dance for 1 minute and 30 seconds to a song at medium/fasttempo.
After all 3 heats have completed, all 12 Jacks and 12 Jills will be brought back out and randomly re-paired for a final all skate round.
Jacks and Jills are judged separately in the preliminary contests.
Judging for the preliminary rounds will be scored by relative placement

The final round takes place on May 20th, 2009. Any contestant that has earned a total of 6 points during the preliminary rounds is eligible to participate. Registration is not required for the final round. Each contestant will be assigned 1 partner, at random.

Final round format:

Finals begin with a brief all skate warm-up, followed by a spotlight phrase battle to LIVE MUSIC performed by band Jonathan Stout and his Campus 5. We go until the judges and crowd are satisfied!
Phrase battle format T.B.D.
Judging for the final round will be scoredby relative placement

Prizes:

1st place finalists - $500 each to the top Jack and top Jill
2nd place finalists - One weekend pass each to Camp Jitterbug in Seattle May 28-31st 2009 (Non transferable)
3rd place finalists - One weekend pass to Lindy and Party Weekend in Phoenix September 10-13, 2009 (Non Transferable)

How do we define a professional dancer?

If you earn at least 51% of your income by teaching Lindy Hop swing dancing, have placed 1st in a national level Lindy Hop competition, or if you compete at the"pro" level at other Lindy Hop competitions you will not be allowed to participate in this contest. This is an amateur level contest. If youare a pro, please volunteer to help judge the competition!
How do we define an amateur dancer?
Amateurs are any dancers that do not fall under the description of a professional dancer, as described above!

Where?
The Southland Strutters' Ball is located at The Woman's Club of Orange
121 S. Center St.
Orange, CA, 92866

Week 1 Winners (Current Totals)

Andrew Hsi (6) and Mary Freitag (6)
Pete Green (3) and Jenny Knox (3)
Jimmy Gibling (2) and Adrienne Weidert (2)
Click here for full coverage by Matt Jenkins

Week 2 Winners (Current Totals)

Brian Lee (6) and Kristi Clarke (6)
Sam Chan (3) Claire Pedroza (3)
Evan Dill (2) and Karen Vizzard (2)

Week 3 Winners (Current Totals)

Shaheed Qaasim (6) and Bella Viramontez (6)
Sam Chan (6) and Adrienne Weidert (5)
Morgan Day (2) and Karen Vizzard (4)

Week 4 Winners (Current Totals)

Jamie Cameron (6) and Amanda Marchand (6)
Augie Freeman (3) and Adrienne Weidert (8!)
Evan Dill (4) and Andrea Gordon (2)

Week 5 Winners (Current Totals)

Morgan Day (8) and Tomoko Young (6)
Jimmy Gibling (5) Karen Vizzard (9)
Evan Dill (6) Heather Eide (2)

Week 6 Winners (Current Totals)

Pete Green (9) and Andrea Gordon (8)
Jimmy Gibling (8) and Heather Lord (3)
Ron Capunay (2) and Amber Ripley (2)

Finalists

Andrew Hsi (6), Brian Lee (6), Shaheed Qaasim (6), Sam Chan (6), Morgan Day (8), Pete Green (9), Jimmy Gibling (8), Evan Dill (6)
Mary Freitag, Kristi Clarke (6), Bella Viramontez (6), Amanda Marchand (6), Adrienne Weidert (8), Tomoko Young (6), Karen Vizzard (9), Andrea Gordon (8)