Description

Balboa is a swing dance that originated in Southern California during the 1920s and enjoyed huge popularity during the 1930s and 1940s. It is a dance primarily danced to up-tempo swing jazz and is danced in a close embrace position as well as a more open, closed position. 

In the Balboa 1 course you will learn the basics of the dance with the Úp-Hold basic, Out & Ins, Paddles and Crab-Walk as well as some of the classic figures like Lollies and Throw-Out.

Level: This course is aimed towards beginners. You don't need any prior dance experience to join this class. But if you have danced swing or another dance before, then that's of course an advantage.

Description

The Balboa 2.5 course will focus on elements of creativity, improvisation & musicality, as well as figures like Balboa Swivels and variations on Throw Out and Lollies. You will get a good technical base to build your creativity on. This course is for everyone having done two courses of Balboa or equivalent. If you took part in the last Balboa 2 course at Happy Feet Studio that got cancelled mid way due to Covid-19, this course is for you.

Level Guidance

To join this course you need to know the basics of Balboa, including Up-Hold & Down-Hold basics, basic Out & Ins, Lollies and Throw-Out.

If you are coming from another school or if you had a longer break and you are not sure what level to choose, you can come to our Level Placement, where you can dance with a teacher and get advice.
We organize Level Placement before each round of classes, and the dates are announced here on the page approx. 3 weeks before classes start.
Read more about Level Placement here.

You don't need a partner to register. If you register alone, we will simply pair you up with another participant. We will also have partner rotation in the classes, so you will get to meet and dance with other people in the class. A nice way to make new friends!

A little tip though: since this is a partner dance, we need to balance the number of leaders and followers (traditionally leaders are men and followers women. However, in these modern times we welcome anyone to pick whichever role they prefer). We typically have many more followers than leaders, so if you choose to be a follower, we recommend that you sign-up with a partner to avoid the waiting list.

We organize Intro Classes to Swing Dancing during our Friday Parties, which take place in our studio every second/third week. You don't need to sign up beforehand, just show up on the day and pay the entrance to the party at the door. The intro class takes place right before the party. For more information on that, check our Friday Party section.

You can also join an intro class to swing dance in Student House on Tuesdays. See more info about it here.

We don't offer sign ups for single classes to our weekly classes. We need to make sure that our classes are well balanced, so that there is an equal or almost equal amount of followers and leaders (where leaders are usually men and followers are women). Sign ups for single classes would disrupt our leader-follower balance. Therefore it is only possible to sign up for a full round of classes (7 weeks of classes).

We teach in English because our classes have dancers from all over the world. However, you are welcome to ask questions and speak to us in Danish.

Anything that you feel comfortable in that doesn't limit your movement. We suggest bringing some extra clothes to change into after class - Lindy Hop is an energetic dance, so you might get sweaty. We have a Shower Area in our studio, where you can take a shower and change clothes before or after class.
Regarding footwear, flat shoes will be the best choice, preferably with a not-too-sticky sole. We do not recommend high heels for beginners. If you want to invest in some good dancing shoes, try these brands: Keds, Aris Allen, Toms, Dance Joy.

Don't worry if you happen to miss a class or two. We do a recap after all our classes. which students are welcome to film and share with each other. You should be able to get the video from your classmates and practice the moves.

If you feel like you have missed out on too many classes, and you are having trouble catching up with the new material, you can:
• book a private lesson with us, where we will work one-to-one with you on the material. Check our Private Lessons section for more info.
• sign up for the Beginners Course again. It will give you a chance to recap the material you've learned, and catch up with the things you missed.

Regarding refunds: Once the course has begun, we do not offer refunds for any missed classes.

You can have your registration refunded, if you write us latest 5 days (120 hours) before a course it set to begin. Any cancellation later than this, no matter the reason, does not resolve in any refund. Read more about our refund policy here. 
You may sell your registration to someone else. All we need is an email from you, with their name and email included. Please note: It is not possible to change the follow/lead role of your original registration.

Swing dancing is for everyone, regardless of age. In Copenhagen you can meet swing dancers from every age group, having lots of fun together on the dance-floor. That said, you must be at least 15 years old to join our classes, due to legal regulations. We do not however have a maximum age limit. 🙂

Friday Parties at Happy Feet Studio
(every second/third week)
Great evenings of dancing and hanging out in in the home of happy feet! Each party starts with an Intro Class to swing dance. After that, the dancefloor is open, and we have plenty of special attractions prepared for you, making each party different and unique.
From time to time there will be live music, dance competitions, dance shows, quizes, intro classes in blues/shag/balboa, and much more. There is also a cozy bar where you can buy drinks and hang out with your friends in between dances.
Get more info about Friday Parties here.

Open Practice in Happy Feet Studio
(almost every day)
You can come to Open Practice in our studio up to three times a week, to practice moves from your class or just dance with your friends. You might want to bring a partner to dance with, but otherwise the dancefloor is open, and the music is playing, so just show up and dance! Open Practice is free and open for everyone, no sign up needed.
Get more info about Open Practice here.

Other social dancing opportunities in Copenhagen:

• Tuesday Swing Dance
at Studenterhuset: 19.30 - 23.00

• Sunday Swing organized by Swingin' Hepcats
at Indre By Kulturhus: 15.00 - 18.00
(and 16.00 - 19.00 on the 1st Sunday of the month)

• Saturday Extra Training organized by SwingShoes
at Vesterbro Kulturhus: 12.00 - 14.00

Apart from that there is also plenty of other events and places where you can dance socially and meet other swing dancers. For more info, check out the Facebook group Swing Dance in Copenhagen - it has over 3000 members and has important updates on swing dance events in Copenhagen.