The Oberlin Swing Society offers both beginning and continuing classes in Modern American Swing taught by members of OSWING as part of the Oberlin Experimental College, or ExCo. These classes are free and available to students, faculty, and Oberlin community members. Oberlin students may take the class for 0 to 1 credit hours.

The objectives of the beginning class are to give students experience with and basic knowledge of the fundamental dances of swing (East-coast swing, Lindy Hop, and Charleston), to teach good social dancing skills, and to inform students of the rich social history of swing dance and those who have performed it over the course of its nearly century-long history. Aside from this, most students have a blast in these classes as they are a superb way to meet new people from all walks of life. The Oberlin Swing Society also holds regular dances, trips to Cleveland venues like the Bohemian Hall, long-weekend trips to farther cities like Pittsburgh, and other swing-related events such as Lindy films, workshops, and history lessons, so you will never be at a loss for something to do once you are hooked on swing!

The continuing class (not offered this semester) focuses on refining Lindy hop by working on musicality and departures from basic steps into more improvisation based on strong leading and following skills. We also teach techniques for fast Lindy hop (200-300 beats-per-minute), jazz movement, and beginning instruction in Balboa, a fast swing dance from 1930's Southern California. We want to emphasize the refinement of good general social dance skills, so that students will begin to think of swing as an expressive, musical, improvisatory dance instead of a series of "moves" to be memorized.

Previous syllabi for both the beginning and continuing classes can be viewed below:

Modern American Swing  |  Continuing Modern American Swing (not offered this semester)