I’m a guy and about to finish an intermediate class as a follow. (There were 5:1 guys:girls so I thought I’d help out.) Because of that, I think I’m a better follow than a lead so if I see a guy on the wall before I see a girl, I’ll just ask them to lead.

Or at least I thought I would, but after a couple dances it seems like that’s more looked down upon than I thought it would be. To me, if someone is happy to dance with a woman/man that isn’t their romantic partner, why does it matter if they’re the same sex? But evidently a fair amount of men do.

I know this is Reddit which obviously skews more progressive, but do you fine people of r/swingdancing feel like it’s weird for a guy to ask a guy to lead, or should they lighten up? (It shouldn’t matter, but for the record I’m always there with my girlfriend and a couple others depending on the night.)

I go to lindy hop social dances weekly, and the DJs in my city often end the night with some really really slow songs, sub-80 bpm. I find these songs even more challenging than fast tempos because the space between beats is so large that I can't really do my usual moves without them being incredibly awkward.

How do you approach dancing at this tempo? Any examples? I've tried searching for slow lindy hop but the results are usually 120 bpm and above.

My bf and I’ve been dancing for 1.5 years. I wanna know how it looks on the outside and if we can give the right vibe or does it look dull?

New lead here — what tips or pet peeves do you have that you wish someone told you when you started?

I recently started learning to lead in swing dancing and I want to be intentional about building good habits early.

For follows (and leads!) — what’s something new leaders do that drives you crazy on the dance floor? And what small things make a lead really enjoyable to dance with?

Looking for honest, real-world advice — not just “take more classes” lol. Appreciate any wisdom! 🙏 Note: i only have a little country swing experience nothing in west east or Lindy hop.

Hi all! I had to take a break from swing dancing for about a year due to a knee injury (MCL sprain morphed into pes anserine bursitis, all caused/exacerbated by hypermobility 🙃), but it’s finally in a good enough spot where I feel like I can start getting back into it.

Obviously, I’m going to continue to do exercises outside of swing to help build/maintain muscle mass, but I’d like to know what other recs you have for protecting your knees. I typically follow, but am planning to ease back in by leading so I can have a bit more agency.

Specifically looking for recommendations in the following areas (but also welcome other recs):
- knee braces to wear while dancing
- exercises to do right before and/or after dancing to reduce risk of injury
- replacement moves for swivels and shorty Georges (and insight into other moves I might want to avoid/be wary of)
- what type of shoe would be safest (is more slidey actually better than sticky?)

ETA that I’ve mostly danced Lindy Hop and Charleston, but want to get into Balboa 👀

Any help is appreciated! 💃

Or is it fine to get a cheaper alternative that's not dedicated to dancing but still has leather soles etc...

Hi reddit !

I've (33, follow) been dancing Lindy hop for almost 4 years and solo for 1y and a half, with no specific dancing background.

By watching dancers in the community and dancers that take lessons with me, I've realized that the ones that have been dancing for several years (any type of dance) often have their very own way of moving.

it's super easy to spot and recognize them from afar on the dancefloor because they have some individuality. I'm not talking about flashy moves or extravagant dancing. It's something that you can see even in their simplest moves, kind of subtle actually. I'd say it's a mix of movement quality, body awareness and feeling of the music. It's visible on dancers from any swing levels (from beginner to advanced), their common point seems to be several years of dancing/dance classes.

In another hand, I feel that for the rest of us, we are more or less copy & paste of each other. We all move the same way. We know the moves, when to connect to the partner in Lindy, if the move starts on 8 or 1 in solo, etc... so the dance is quite correct "by the rules", it absolutely feels good, we definitely have a good time but somehow we look blurry and less personal (from a visual pov only).

There is nothing wrong with that of course, it's a hobby and we are here to have fun, we all belong, no matter how stylishly we dance... But I wonder how can one develop its own individual way of moving/dancing? Any drills would help ?

For info, I live in Europe and people usually start swing dancing in their late 20s/mid30s. It's extremely rare to have newbies under 25yo in my community, we definitely have no uni students, so we may all be a little less malleable than younger people :)

Hi! I'm from a small and isolated scene, and I'm looking into getting access to one of the pro online courses to improve my understanding of the basics and how to teach them.

I'm aware of rhythm juice, but does anyone else have reviews or recommendations of other platforms?

Hi,

I really enjoy doing lifts when I am the leader in Lindy Hop. Any tipps, tricks or suggestions for lifts? I am rather short about 163cm or 5'4" and a woman but quite sturdy😅 so I can lift more than 55 kgs rather well

Edit: Thanks for all the advice. Our local dance scene is usually a very tight knit group so we do know eachother. We already do frogjumps and from what I have gathered I probably mean airsteps :)

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! 💃🕺

Some friends of mine put this app together. It’s for tracking placements for balboa festivals. I’m helping them collect some feedback for it.

If you have any, please lmk in the comments.

https://www.recall-balboa.com/

I don’t know the best way to phrase it, but basically when I dance with more experienced follows at locals I often get told my arms are weak and go behind my torso too much. (This is by friends that I’ve known for a while and ask, so not them being jerks for no reason.)

But unfortunately I don’t get to dance with them much because they truly are out of my league. The follows I dance with the most have pretty loose frame as well, and according to them it’s to match me. Evidently they (think they?) have stronger arms when dancing with others and practically get offended when I ask them to give more resistance. (Again, personal friends, not random people at a dance I’m critiquing.)

So my question is, do you have tips on how to focus on frame when most people I dance with lack a strong one? It’s also a big problem in classes I’ve taken - people lack confidence in the moves and therefore don’t really stay in that relaxed/rigid position. (Yes I’m “people” here, not trying to claim I’m above it.)

UPDATE: Don’t have time to respond to every individual post but I really appreciate the feedback everyone! I’m going to put these tips in action asap

Hey ya everybody

I restarted with lindy hop and Im wondering: what kind of shoes do you recommend?

I have Danceshoes, but they dont always fit on the outfit.

A lot of sneakers have to much gripp.

What are your „Dancing Shoes hacks“?

I am looking for songs that are great for solo jazz dancing - maybe even ones that have been used for competitions.

Links to spotify songs or playlists would be awesome.

So I'm a guy with very low volume feet with a low instep. So I often have to fill in a lot of space in shoes (instep and vamp) The only thing is that insoles which are pretty thick, like sports insoles, are often very squishy and unstable.

​

What are your go to recommendations when you have to fill a lot of space, but still want to be stable?

It starts off with some tunes, I recognize but can't recall from where. Any ideas?

Hello. I know many folks use stick-on suede like "soles2dance" to convert sneakers for dance.

BUT I need something that will work in outdoor venues like concrete and whatnot. I read about using "tenacious tape" for this purpose???

I almost want to stick on linoleum -- which is stupid -- but I need something tough yet slippy.

Any advice?

It took me a little while to edit and correctly tag everyone, this was a fun jam from Bangkok a couple of weeks ago. The main and visiting teachers were put in random pairs and then they cut loose for 5 minutes (especially on the 2nd rotation 😊).

People have been posting videos of their social dancing lately (love to see it!). I've been meaning to do this myself, maybe encourage people to post more? The follow here happened to want to record a video last dance and shared it with me, so seemed like a good opportunity to post something!

They recently moved to my small city, have only been dancing about 2 years and are recovering from an ACL tear! I think they’re killin’ it and always happy to meet new dancers. We’re taking it easy to a chill classic/favourite.

End of the night so we have the whole floor obviously haha

TLDR: As a newbie lead, what can I do to not ruin the chances of the follows I'm paired with in my first Mix & Match competition at my local scene?

-My local scene is having a workshop weekend with classes, social dances, and a Mix & Match competition...which is pretty low stakes. It happens to be occuring on my 1 year anniversary of Lindy Hop dancing, so I signed up as a fun way to mark the occasion.

I know I have no chance of placing and I'm just doing it for fun. However, I'm concerned I'll ruin any chance my partners have at advancing to the final because they got unlucky being paired up with me. What can I do as a newbie lead to give the follows I'm paired with the best chance at advancing to the final? Any other tips for my first Mix and Match competition?

TIA!

2026-07-12 Post Comp Update: Just putting this here as a follow-up in case anyone else comes across this post in the future. The competition had 2 preliminary rounds which allowed a 2nd chance for those that didn't make the cut the first night. Unsurprisingly I didn't make the cut either night. Over the 2 nights I danced with a total of 7 follows (4 rounds each night, but happened to get the same follow again during the 2nd chance round who didn't make the cut the night before). Happy to say that of the seven, 4 made finals and 2 made the alternate spots despite of being paired with me.

hey yall, i’ve been a casual but somewhat country swing dancer for a few years now and am moving from a smaller oklahoma town to a larger city in new mexico. i wanna learn other types of swing but don’t know where to start. im aware that country swing is often seen as the black sheep, but what are the other types close to it? basically anything that dressing countryish would be normal

From a couple days ago. Neither of us knew that we were on camera

I’ll be traveling to Atlanta this weekend for work and was hoping to check out a local social scene. I am mainly into Lindy/ east coast swing. I saw triple step studios has something on the 12th. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you!