About

Swing Buffalo is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to sharing the enjoyment of authentic, historical forms of swing dancing.

We host a weekly dance every Tuesday called Lindy Fix where we always teach a drop-in beginner dance lesson, usually in East Coast Swing. We hold progressive classes from time to time in Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, and East Coast Swing; all are forms of swing dancing that were made popular during the swing era. Be sure to sign up for our email list, check us out on Facebook and Twitter. We also hold..... various annual workshops where we bring in national level instructors from abroad. Our largest annual event is Rhythm Shuffle, our biggest Lindy Hop and Balboa workshop weekend. We have a performance troupe called Queen City Swing and participate in numerous community events. Swing Buffalo is a winner of Buffalo Spree’s 2011 Best of Buffalo award for “Best Dance Lessons”.

At our events, you will find a friendly atmosphere. There’s never a dress code. Our dances are arranged like they were back in the swing era, with all the chairs up against the walls and no tables. We always have water available and our events are usually alcohol-free. Everyone dances with everyone, so expect to be asked to dance. Wherever we hold lessons, we always rotate partners. You do not have to rotate if you don’t want to. Rotation helps us learn however and it also gives those who did not bring a partner a chance to try out what’s being taught. To get an idea what it’s like at one of our dances, check out this video produced by Artvoice.

Swing Buffalo is part of a larger community of Lindy Hop and Balboa that has spread around the world and can be found in almost every major US City, as well as abroad from Japan to Australia, Europe, South Korea, Argentina... Many of the dancers you see at our events have traveled to events in neighboring cities and countries. Not only can you lose weight with this hobby, you also make lasting friendships! More about Swing Buffalo »

Volunteer

We’re always looking for people to help us organize our events. We hold a monthly meeting to which anyone is welcome. If you’re interested in helping out, shoot us an email!

History

Swing Buffalo was founded by Robert Leach back in 2007. Upon moving back to Western New York in June, he started teaching Lindy Hop to students of the as yet unofficial UB Swing Dance Club in the fall with Arlette Kirk. Arlette had been actively teaching during the Swing Resurgence in Buffalo back in the mid-late 90s. On December 5th, 2007, Rob brought SwingBuffalo.com online (see original website) and on Monday January 14th, 2008, the first social dance (Lindy Fix) organized by Swing Buffalo was held at 220 Lexington Avenue in Buffalo at the place where the old Lexington Co-op used to be. On Monday January 4th, 2010, Lindy Fix was briefly moved to 133 Grant Street before finding it’s new home at the Polish Cadets Hall at 927 Grant Street on Monday January 25th, 2010. On October 19th, 2010, Lindy Fix was moved from the traditional Monday night time to Tuesdays. In 2010 and more-so in 2011, Lindy Fix started hosting occassional live bands about once a month.

Aside from Lindy Fix, Swing Buffalo started holding larger dance series in the summer of 2008 called “Buffalo Hop”, which has run typically during the summer as a monthly dance. In 2011, a transition from the monthly dance concept to a workshop series began with “Buffalo Bals” on April 9th, 2011 and “Jumpin’ with Jojo” on August 13th, 2011. These workshops began due to the growing success of Swing Buffalo’s annual workshop “Rhythm Shuffle” (originally dubbed the ‘Swing Buffalo Workshop Weekend’).
More history of Swing Buffalo »