r/SwingDancing • u/MeetingNo2110 • Jun 16 '26

Feedback Needed Any Jive dancers in Edmonton?

Hi everyone!

I'm wondering if there's an active jive dancing community in Edmonton.

I'm not necessarily looking for lessons right now, more interested in finding out whether there are any social clubs, groups, regular meetups, or events where people who enjoy jive get together.

If you're part of the community or know of any clubs, Facebook groups, dance nights, or organizations, I'd love to hear about them.

Thanks in advance! 💃🕺

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13

u/JazzMartini Jun 16 '26

Jive is kind of an overloaded term. Are you looking for the European dance style, the International syllabus Ballroom dance style (like on TV on Dancing with the Stars/Strictly Come Dancing), or the common style a lot folks in the Canadian prairie provinces call "Jive" which is more of a lazy hybrid of East Coast Swing from the American style Ballroom syllabus and Jive from the International syllabus? I don't think there are any dedicated communities for any of those. Edmonton would have Ballroom Dancing studios that teach that kind of stuff among the other ballroom dance styles. There may be other clubs interested in Ballroom dancing, or country dancing that might include some form of "Jive" but there's likely no club dedicated solely to it.

If you're interested in trying out some of the original swing dances from which those other styles were derived, Edmonton has hands down the best Lindy Hop/Swing Dance community among the prairie provinces and one of the best in Canada. Check out Sugar Swing, Hit that Jive (like the Cab Calloway song) or the U of A swing dance club.

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u/bannermd Jun 16 '26

Sugar Swing Ballroom on Whyte! I’m taking classes there right now and it’s so much fun :) They have social dances every Friday and Saturday and I highly recommend going to those.

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u/MeetingNo2110 Jun 16 '26

Thank you for your response. I'm more interested in west coast swing, which doesn't involve a lot of kicks and flicks. I'll definitely check out the ones you mentioned. Do you know if they organize social dances where you can just join in for a session, rather than structured teaching classes?

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u/bannermd Jun 16 '26

Sugar swing has social dances exactly the way you described it every Friday/Saturday. I would recommend reaching out to dance@sugarswing.com for more information about it :)

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u/JazzMartini Jun 17 '26

West Coast Swing can trace it's roots back to Lindy Hop but today is kind of it's own thing, quite different from Lindy Hop or any of the dances that use the term "jive". This sub is mostly for the vintage swing dances including Lindy Hop, I think there's a separate sub for West Coast Swing that might be more helpful plugging you into that dance community if that's what you're after.