Slingshot Swing Dance School – A Great Place To Learn Dance

Slingshot Swing Dance School

Looking for something to do in Mumbai around Valentine’s day? Give Swing dancing classes a shot!

It’s that time of year again, and Valentine’s day is just around the corner. While the singles out there are probably on the lookout for that special someone, the happily committed folks may be looking for fun activities to do with their significant other. However, long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners and cheesy movie nights are all passe unlike partner dancing which is just starting to make a splash in the Indian cultural landscape.

If you’re single, the classes or dance nights allow you to meet with and get to know new people in a safe environment, and if you already have a significant other, you’ll pick up a new way to connect with your partner while enjoying a shared activity. Maybe you have a friend or family member who has taken salsa, bachata or ballroom tango classes and used to talk about it all the time. Maybe you almost ended up joining, but the only thing stopping you was how challenging and intimate the dance forms looked. If that was the case, then maybe you’d like to try something more fun and laid back; something like Swing and Lindy Hop!

Western dance classes with a twist

Lindy Hop originated in Harlem, New York, an African American neighbourhood in the 1920’s, and is a type of partnered social dance. Social dancing is any form of dance where people dance together at social events or venues in an improvised or non-choreographed fashion. Lindy Hop, which falls under the umbrella of Swing dances, evolved alongside Jazz music of the 1920’s. Swing, or Lindy Hop music drew inspiration from many forms of music like Ragtime, Blues music, classical European music, marching band music, and African chants and poly-rhythms. Swing and Jazz music is African American art at its finest, having originated among black slaves, on plantations in the south of the United States.

Similarly, Lindy Hop has roots in African tribal dances, European classical dances, Tap dance and Charleston. It is a high energy dance characterized by a loose, athletic posture, a rhythmic up-down pulse of the upper body, and acrobatic lifts, air steps and dips.

Now you’re probably wondering where in the world you can learn and dance Lindy Hop. Well, if you live in Mumbai, a good place to start would be Slingshot Swing , a Swing dance school run by Prekshaa & Sam, a husband-wife duo with many years of dance experience behind them. While Prekshaa & Sam didn’t meet through Lindy Hop or partner dancing, they did fall in love and grew together through it. They first began dancing in 2016, and in the years since have trained at a ballet school, travelled overseas to learn and dance Lindy Hop, and been privately mentored by some of the top international dance instructors. After a point, they felt the need to share their knowledge with the Lindy Hop scene in Mumbai, and Slingshot Swing was born in 2019.

Not the usual ‘salsa-bachata’ dance classes

Their goal with Slingshot Swing was to create a welcoming environment for new dancers, where anyone can feel comfortable learning to partner dance. They have batches catering to a wide range of skill levels, but their beginner batches are perfectly suited to people who have never moved to music in their life. They have a keen eye for the common mistakes that occur with newer dancers and provide constructive feedback and use easy to understand exercises to explain concepts and skills. For more experienced dancers, they provide comprehensive classes that cover musicality, advanced steps and combinations, and individual expression, and continue to refine and update their teaching methods.
At Slingshot Swing, you can participate in 3-week beginner dance classes, regular drop-in classes, weekend Lindy Hop workshops, and personalised classes. They also offer party workshops, wedding choreography, social dance events similar to salsa nights, and corporate or business workshop services.

You’ll also find a fun, warm community of dancers in the Mumbai Lindy Hop scene, and no matter your relationship status, will certainly make new friends and have a great time! So go ahead and get Swing dancing with Slingshot Swing Dance School.