You will be hearing good swing dj's that has performed all season at Klubb Dekadans:
There will also be taster classes in lindy hop, balboa and charleston. Around 22:30 there will be a dance performance featuring lindy hop, salsa and swedish bugg.
For more details about the dance festival, check out Swingkatten's website.
Welcome!
Tonight it's the last Dekadans for this season. Swing dj Trina will spin swing tunes for your dancing and listening pleasure.
I want to thank Frida, Emelie and Rebecka for coming up with the idea to have a weekly dance at Västgöta nation and the stamina to pull it together every week.
It's been wonderful to have the opportunity to dance to so many djs that bring their own style of swing music. It's a treat to have such variety of music.
The following picture shows swing dj Fatima Teffahi from last week. The photo is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission. contact me if you want to licence it.
I'm looking forward to next season. Thanks again for all your work.
Take at look at all blog posts about Dekadans.
What do you think of Dekadans? Tell me.
Tonight, Fatima Teffahi will be the swing dj at Dekadans. Fatima lives in Stockholm and is a member of the swing dance show troupe The Harlem Hot Shots.
Fatima was the first disc jockey I heard that played the song Sympathique by the band Pink Martini. A great song with french lyrics. In the music video below you can learn some french words in the song lyrics. Learn more about Pink Martini.
Before the dance there will be a taster lesson in lindy hop that starts at 19, after the lesson ends at 20 you can stay and dance until 23.
The photo is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.
Have you heard Fatima Teffahi dj before? What do you think? Tell me.
Since there is no dance at Dekadans tonight, here is a photo from Dekadans last week of swing dj Patrik Öhrström. One song I really liked from his set was Big Shoe from the Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges album "Side by side".
The photo may not be used elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want licence the photo.
Where you at Dekadans last week? What did you think of the music? Tell me.
Tonight a new swing dj, Patrik, will dj at Dekadans. I don't know anything about him except that he is from Stockholm. It will be interesting to hear what kind of swing music he will play. It's always fun to get a new perspective on swing music, to hear what other dj's choose to present to the dancers. Hopefully there will be some new great swing songs that I haven't heard before.
When you're not dancing at Dekadans, take a moment to admire the great wall paintings in the room. The paintings are done on large canvases that fastened directly on the wall (no frames). They picture all the towns in the province of Västergötland. The picture above shows the town Lidköping. The photo is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.
Is there any kind of swing music that you would like to hear at Dekadans that haven't been played there so far? Tell me.
Two weeks ago we played a game at the club Dekadans called swing bingo.
The idea is of course to get five numbers in a row and the way you get your numbers goes like this: Every dancer draws a paper with a number from a hat. The numbers are from zero to nine. If you don't have a lot of paper, you tell the participants to look at their paper and remember the number and return the paper to the hat.
The dj puts on a song and you dance with someone, after the song is over you ask the other person what what number they have and you mark all the squares on your paper where the last digit is the same as your partners.
Then you change partner and dance another song and hope that this person has a different number. Repeat until someone shouts BINGO!
This is a great way to mix the dancers and encourage them to dance with someone they haven't danced with before.
The photo is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to licence the photo.
[Below is some links to Dean Martin cds. My association chain went like this: bingo -> game -> Las Vegas -> Rat Pack -> Dean Martin].
What do you think of swing bingo? What other games could you do at dances? Tell me.
Last time I dj:ed I had a little competition where you could win a mix cd with swing music if you answered a question correctly. I thought I'd do a competition this time as well. So here it goes:
Question: Who were the composers of the song Sweet Georgia Brown? (You can find the answer somewhere in this blog).
To be able to win the cd you must send the answer to me at swing@theheartofgold.org before 5 o'clock or tell me in the beginning of the evening. In the middle of the evening I'll draw a winner. You must be able to pick up cd at the dance. Good luck.
Update: Here is the answer to the question.
If you like to hear a particular song tonight, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.
Together with Björn Wallde he had a tv program called "Nattsudd" where they played music clips from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Have you heard Svante Grundberg dj swing before? What do you think? Tell me.
Emelie Decavita is usually one of the hostesses of Dekadans, making sure everything runs smoothly, but tonight she will also be making her swing dj debut.
It's great to have more swing disc jockeys in Uppsala and I look forward to hear what music Emelie will be playing.
If you haven't been to Dekadans before you should go there, it's such a nice place to dance some lindy hop or balboa or even a foxtrot.
The photo of Emelie is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without permission.
Have you been to Dekadans? What do you think of the club? Tell me.
Yesterday there was a lindy hop taster lesson at Dekadans. Afterwards there was the regular dance evening with swing dj David. Many of the people that took the taster lesson stayed and danced so the room was packed! Yay! Way to go!
The photo is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.
Were you at Dekadans yesterday? What did you think of the evening? Tell me.
There is no swing dance at Dekadans tonight, so I'm posting a photograph from last week when Ulf Carling was swing dj at Dekadans. But next week it's a dance as usual.
The photo is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission. If you like, please take a look at my jazz photography.
Were you at Dekadans last week? What did you think of the beginners night? Tell me.
Tonight is a also Beginners Night where we try to get as many people there from the beginners courses and get them to have fun dancing socially.
During one hour in the beginning of the evening all experienced dancers dance only with beginners and get to know them.
I think this is a important thing to do, when you start dancing you are easily intimidated by experienced dancers. You think that they are too good to ask to dance because they will get bored because you don't know much stuff.
The photo of Mohan is taken by me at Uppsala Winter Camp and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.
Have you heard Mohan dj before? What do you think of his music? Tell me.
Don't miss DJ Trina Dobbs at Dekadans tonight! Go there and dance to the swing music.
Dj Gunnar from Stockholm will dj swing music at Dekadans tonight. Go there and dance!
Västgöta nation, 20-23, 20 kr.
When I dj I almost always feature a cd a little bit more and yesterday night at Dekadans I featured "Django Reinhardt Swing Sessions 2".
I like the first tracks of the cd best when Django Reinhardt plays with Bill Coleman And His Orchestra. There are two great versions of "Baby Won't You Please Come Home" and I also really like "Swing Guitars".
If you like swing music with violins you will get your share on this cd. You can borrow this cd at the city library in Uppsala. Also check out the record label Frog records for more early jazz.
Have you listened to this cd? What do you think? Tell me.
I gave away two mix cds in the music contest, the answer to the question was "Rémi Toulon on piano".
What did you think of the music last night? Tell me.
I'm djing at Dekadans tomorrow and I'll be playing some newly found hot stuff mixed in with well proven solid swing music. Come and dance!
Win a cd!
At the Uppsala Winter Camp I made some swing music mix cds that was played at the workshop locations in the breaks. Since there were four locations I have some cds that are left over. Hence: a small contest!
Rules:
1) You got to answer a question correctly and mail the answer to me.
2) You must be able to pick up the cd tomorrow at Dekadans.
The question:
At the jazz festival Uppsala Winter Swing there were a musician from France, what is his name and what instrument does he play? (Hint: find the answer in a blog about swing, jazz and blues)
Send your answers to swing@theheartofgold.org and I'll draw two winners at the dance.
See you tomorrow!
I played, among other songs, Hoy hoy by Cab Calloway and East Side Jive by Big Rude Jake.
The photo shows the nice environment at Västgöta nation where the club is located. If you haven't been here I recommend a visit. The photo is taken by me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.
Where you there? What do you think of the evening? Tell me.
Don't miss the swing dance at Dekadans tonight.
Elin Sandström and Jonas Brunnström are djing. Bust the moves that you learnt at the Uppsala Winter Camp.
I really like their new poster, definitely 1920s style.
Tonight it is time again to dance at Dekadans where Jonas Pettersson will be the swing disc jockey.
The dance starts at 20 o'clock but if you get there already at 19 Jonas will also give a lesson teaching the Big Apple (as seen in the movie Keep Punching) at no extra charge.
Check out this Big Apple video clip from Keep Punching:
If I'm not misinformed they will still have the scenes built for the the play that is performed there: "And Then There Were None" based on the book by Agatha Christie. That decoration makes the room look extra cool, check it out.
By the way, what did you think of the Big Apple video clip?
