Rittenhop

Rittenhop is Philadelphia’s only free, weekly, outdoor Lindy Hop social dance.

Rittenhop Merch

Our first merch run will close soon. Order now to ensure we have your size in stock! If you don't want a shirt, we are ordering hats as well.

Sizes run slightly slim, so if you prefer a looser fit, consider sizing up.

(Stickers and other concepts will be explored for our next run).

Order Merch

Order Merch

Time & Location

Last Updated: Nov 25, 2023

(normally in the southwest corner at the big semi-circle bench with the goat statue, sometimes in the center of the park)

When the weather is warm we also sometimes hold a beginner friendly Jam Session for jazz musicians around 3:30 - 4:30pm. Feel free to bring your instrument.

Join the Conversation

Meet the Organizers

Share Photos/Videos with us!

Most of our dancers don’t mind when you take casual photos/videos, or are incuded in your wedding photos, holiday cards, or student film projects, but we really love when you share the results with us.

Please share with us via Instagram: @Rittenhop, or on the Rittenhop Facebook Group

Where to learn Swing Dancing

It is rare that we offer formal beginner lessons. Some dancers may be able to show you a few things to get you started, but the best place for beginners to try out the basic steps of Lindy Hop is Thursday nights at 8pm at Jazz Attack, just across the street from us in the Ethical Society. Entry is $10 for an hour long drop-in beginner lesson followed by a two hour social.

If you’re ready to take it up a notch, we recommend taking one of RagTag Empire’s 8-week progressive beginner series over at Urban Movement Arts, a few blocks west.

Other places to swing dance in Philly

Jazz Attack

Jazz Attack website
Thursdays 8pm — at Ethical Society
Primarily Lindy Hop. Some Balboa, Shag, and Blues
Social dance with drop-in beginner and intermediate classes.

Powerhouse Blues

Powerhouse Blues website
Every Fourth Monday of the Month 7:30pm — at Ethical Society
Blues/Ballads
Social dance with drop-in all levels classes.

About Us

Rittenhop is Philadelphia’s only outdoor, weekly swing dance social and jazz jam session. Founded by dancers for dancers, we have been active in various iterations for over 10 years.

Rittenhop Jazz Jam Sessions

When the weather is warm, after our main dance ends we have a jazz jam for musicians of all skill levels. We are mainly focused on playing jazz music from the swing era for dancers. We play roughly from 3:30-4:30PM depending on the size of the group on the day. We are very open and inclusive of all skill levels and would love for you to join us.

We occasionally have more experienced musicians join us and give guidance so it is a great learning experience as well. You never know who will show up!

Why we take donations

Donating helps us in the short term to:

• Compensate more bands to play live in the square
• Compensate more teachers to lead free classes in the square
• Cover occasional technical equipment costs
• Distribute cash, food and water to homeless people who approach us

In the long term, we are raising funds to register as a 501c3 nonprofit and establish a program to sponsor economically disadvantaged dancers to attend workshops and classes across the country, which would otherwise be inaccessible to them.

If you have seen us in action, taken a few photos, and thought “wow, those are some cool cucumbers”, we humbly ask that you send us a few dollars to help us maintain this unique and wonderful pillar of Philadelphia’s dance community.

A brief history of swing dancing

The primary dance we do at Rittenhop is known as Lindy Hop which is the original swing dance. Lindy Hop is a quintessential American dance which originated in the African-American communities of Harlem, NY during the late 1920’s. There are some who say the name Lindy Hop was a tribute to Charles Lindbergs famous “hop” across the Atlantic in 1927.

Lindy Hop quickly spread throughout the U.S. just as the Swing Era in music was at its most popular. From there different communities took Lindy Hop and made it their own which led to other swing dances such as Balboa, Shag, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, etc.

Swing dancing has been a part of American culture ever since and we are proud to continue that tradition. We owe a lot to the originators of the dance and the music of that era and hope you will join us in being a part of this tradition.