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Remember that big band sound and a bunch of hep cats cuttin’ a rug? If you thought that went out of style with those Bob Hope “Road To…” movies then you’d be very wrong. Swing dance is alive and well and drawing people from all over the State to the Bay area where Tampa’s Swing Gang host rip-roaring swing dance evenings twice a week.

As American jazz and swing music of the 1920’s and 30’s found fashion, so new dances sprang up in response to this exciting new music. The Jitterbug was named by famed band leader Cab Calloway – later immortalized in the Blues Brothers movie! – and the Lindy Hop was given its title in relation to the breaking news headline of ‘Lindberg Hopping the Atlantic’.

By the ‘50’s American Bandstand brought swing dance to the masses with Elvis, Little Richard and Chuck Berry, and the nation was in the fever of West Coast Swing including Lindy Hoppin’, Jitterbuggin’, Swingin’ and Shaggin’. It’s just as much fun today as it was then – with music made to shake your tail-feather to, and every 1950’s teen’s dream; the opportunity to get close and personal with the opposite sex!

The Swing Gang social swing dance evenings feature live bands and DJ’s belting out tunes in fitting with the swing dance era. The Sunday shindig is held at the Zendah Grotto just north of Tampa airport, with Lindy Hop and Jitterbug lessons to get you in the swing of things from 6-8pm, followed by free dance until midnight. The Tuesday Swing night is at The Don Vicente Historic Inn in Ybor City, and is free dance all night long.

The atmosphere and the music are great – part nostalgia, part vibrant Americana as immediate today as it ever was. The crowd is always in an electric mood, many dressed in period clothing to add to the occasion, and the place is packed with bodies doing the Houston Push, Dallas Whip, Imperial Swing, the Balboa and the Carolina Shag. C’mon and try it, you’ll like it.