About Rittenhop

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 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. Please mention Rittenhop sent you :)

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.

Meet the Organizers

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.