Hop Hop Hop

I definitely prefer writing in Finnish but I’ll do this one in English so that my dear Lindy Hop friends can read this too. One of the biggest reasons I stayed for so long in Buenos Aires was (besides tango) Lindy hop:fun classes, wonderful teachers, amazing bars and live bands.  So, the ones who read the blog post about my first Lindy party…well…yes, it got better pretty soon. Actually already that night. And on top of all, I’ve met many really friendly, funny, talented, interesting local dancers who have become my friends. 

The locals told me that the Lindy hop scene isn’t THAT big in Buenos Aires but to me it’s like heaven. There are parties almost every evening and lots of dance schools in downtown (so many that the classes are not crowded and you actually get to dance with the teachers). Often there’s a free/almost free/cheap dance class before the party where you can quickly learn new cool dance moves and then rock the dance floor. Why don’t we do that in Helsinki? Often the classes are long: first 30-60 min of solo dance where they teach you a fun routine. After that they divide dancers into two groups according to their level (beginner/intermediate). So you might pay 90-200 pesos (4-8 euros wadaap!) and first take dance classes for 2 hours, then dance for hours accompanied by a lovely live band (and in between you eat some empanadas or pizza and drink beer). Sometimes the dj’s play not only swing music but cumbia, for example. It’s great how everybody knows how to dance it. Suddenly the atmosphere changes for a song or two and then we dive back into the swing world. Lovely. Anyway, I obviously didn’t go dancing every evening because there’s so much more to do in BA. But I could have. And that’s what matters.

Some of the places I visited:

Baila Swing. Amazing teachers Lu Salinas and José Zarazaga that managed to teach me a lot in short time. You don’t need to book your class beforehand, easy and simple! Baila Swing! Escuela de Lindy hop. Mario Bravo 960. There’s a lovely bar and theatre in the same building.

Señor Duncan. Av Rivadavia 3832. 2 hours of dance classes (1h solo, 1h lindy) with a super sweet teacher Christian Dario Sanz. He speaks very little English so you get to practice your Spanish with him. AMAZING live bands after the classes. The place is very cool, highly reccommended!

Parco Centenario. There’s a cool park in the city (one of my favourite parks actually) where you can dance every Sunday for a couple of hours in a small space (outside, obviously).

Swing Club. Every Sunday evening there’s a two hour class of blues/balboa and lindy hop. Really good teachers here as well. Oliverio Girondo Espacio Cultural. Vera 574. Very cosy place, great live bands. They obviously have milongas and many other cultural activities there.

La Paz Arriba. On Fridays everyone goes there. There’s a Lindy hop class at 9pm ’a la gorra’ = you tip the teachers (there is actually a ’gorra’, a hat where you put the money). Very crowded and hot but a must (at least one time :)). Montevideo 421.

Swing City. A really nice dance school (where most of my dance friends go to) that also organizes dance parties.

Thank you so muh for all the wonderful dances. I feel grateful. Hope to see you soon (maybe in May in Santiago de Chile at the Swingtiago Lindy weekend – who’s in?) <3<3<3<3<3