During the 1920s, with televisions only getting a few channels, bungee jumping’s classification as an "upper-class luxury," and prohibition, there was nothing to do besides dance. Relive the glory days of jumping, jiving, and even wailing with today's Groupon: for $25, you get a four-week dance class at Big City Swing in the West Loop (a $60 value).
Big City Swing, founded by Julee Mertz, equips everyday citizens with the ability to move body parts in coordination with melodic and rhythmic cues, or what the ancient Phoenicians called, "getting your dance on." Choose from one of Big City Swing's dance classes for your four weeks of instruction in pre-1950 dance styles. Dancers of all levels who missed the late-1990s swing-dance revival due to their work on the space station can finally tackle the timeless dance, whereas movers and shakers nostalgic for the pratfall-filled presidency of Calvin Coolidge can revisit the 1920s with the Lindy Hop. Other dance styles covered in classes include the Charleston, the Balboa, and blues.
Big City Swing's teachers have trained with nationally and internationally renowned dance instructors, ensuring that students will be able to hold their own during any and all dance-offs with strangers on the street. Students are not required to bring a partner to class; however, police officers are required to dance with their canine partners for amusement purposes. Loose, comfortable clothing is recommended to maximize gyration. Classes are subject to availability, so call ahead to schedule sooner rather than later.
Reviews
Travel + Leisure recommends Big City Swing for its Lindy Hop classes, and Yelpers give Big City Swing 4.5 stars:
- Perhaps it’s just pure coincidence, then, that Chicago’s a letter away from being the Lindy City…Stop in for classes at Big City Swing, where you'll find all variations on the Lindy/swing theme. – Travel + Leisure
- Whoooo-hooo, I'm dancing!!! There are lots of places to take swing dance classes, but this is definitely the place to go if you want to learn to swing dance WELL. – Elaine H., Yelp
- I've been lucky enough to take classes with fun people who I now consider friends. It's a great way to broaden your social circle without going to a bar. – Marjorie F., Yelp
Groupon Says
Big in the '20s
Swing dancing brings back the grace and fun of the 1920s, a mirthful time in American history during which airplanes and pants on women were equally worthy of news coverage. Here are some of the most popular aspects of the Roaring '20s:
Gangsters: Owing largely to the Great Experiment of Prohibition, in which alcohol was simultaneously made illegal and more enjoyable, gangsters roamed the land, to the delight of regular Joes and the detestations of stuffy lawmen duty-bound to ruin everyone's good time. America became a nation of gangster Robin Hoods, who would steal from the rich and wear green tunics everywhere.
Yelling: They don't call it the "Roaring '20s" because of the numerous lion infestations that plagued most major cities. Yelling, which had been discovered in 1908 as a louder alternative to speaking, exploded in popularity in the '20s. New York was crowned "America's Screamingest State," and any words spoken at a normal volume were totally ignored, as they are today.
Hockey: Today, hockey is America's ninth-most-popular sport (after competitive kite-watching), but in the '20s, hockey was known as "America's Faster, Colder Pastime." Sports historians today believe that hockey's popularity was directly related to America's fascination with ice, whose relationship to water had not yet been discovered.
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