Student Group Recruitment Week
Drop by University Centre from January 16th - 20th for Student Group Recruitment Week! UMSwing will have a table set up, so drop by for a few dances to help promote our club! If you are interested in volunteerting to help supervise our promotional table, please contact Lisa Semchuk at vpinternal@umswing.ca.

Winter Open House
Join us on Friday, January 20th, from 7:00 - 11:00 pm for our Winter Open House! Swing by the Multi-Purpose Room, 2nd Floor University Centre for a fun-filled evening of dancing. No partner required, no experience required, and best of all, it's FREE. Just bring a pair of shoes that are comfortable to dance in, and be prepared to have a great time! If you are interested in volunteering for this event, please contact Lisa Semchuk at vpinternal@umswing.ca.

Winter Lessons
UMSwing winter lessons will begin on Sunday, January 22nd at 6:30 pm. The lesson schedule for the term is as follows:
Intermediate Lindy Hop - Sundays from 6:30-8:00 pm
Beginner Lindy Hop - Sundays from 8:00-9:30 pm
Intermediate Balboa - Wednesdays from 6:30-8:00 pm
East Coast Swing - Wednesdays from 8:00-9:30 pm

Pricing for memberships are as follows:

Drop-in Rate - $8 per lesson.
Single Class Membership - $50. This is ideal if you are only available to attend one class on one day.
Beginner Membership - $80. This memberships covers both beginner lessons.
Intermediate Membership - $80. This membership covers both intermediate lessons.
Intermediate Plus Membership - $90. If you attend the Intermediate Lindy Hop class, you may attend the Beginner Lindy Hop class for free. With the Intermediate Plus Membership, you can attend both intermediate and both beginner classes.

Registration is now open for Plex Noir, the 12th Prairie Lindy Exchange! Plex will be happening in Winnipeg on March 9th - 11th, 2012, and will be a weekend full of dancing with plenty of new faces! The event will feature live music from Solomon Douglas and Robert Bell, a scavenger hunt, contests, a Prairie DJ competition, and a murder mystery! There will be plenty of excitement and intrigue when the clock strikes twelve.

There will be a student registration rate of $60 for UMSwing members who are full time students. Registration and payment must be made by February 23rd, 2012. If you register before January 1st, 2012, you have a chance to win your admission! Registration can be completed on the Plex website (http://plexology.org/register/event-registration/), and payments must be given to Lisa Semchuk, who can be contacted at vpinternal@umswing.ca. Payments can be made in either cash or cheque. Only individuals who have purchased a membership with UMSwing (no drop-ins) will be eligible for this discount.

In return for this discount, we ask that you volunteer at least an hour of your time towards this event. There are several volunteer opportunities available, including set up, decorating, and much more! Events of this scale are not possible without volunteers, so please set aside some time to lend a hand!

For more information, please visit the website at http://plexology.org/.

Hey everyone! Summer is over and it's time to get swingin'! Join us for our Fall Open House.

Date: September 23rd @ 7pm
Multi-Purpose Room, 2nd Floor University Centre

Activities will include:
- a free dance lesson,
- demonstrations,
- games,
- and plenty of social dancing!

No partner or dance experience required, just bring a pair of comfortable shoes to dance in.

Leave plenty of space on your dance card, and be prepared for a swing-tacular night!

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=257921040906508

Week 1: Framework and Momentum
- understanding points of connection
- frame dos and don'ts
- where/how to generate power
- conserving energy

Week 2: Musicality
- understanding musical phrasing and breaks
- stops and travels
- making stuff up, forget about the feet
- tempo rubato
- swivels!

Week 3: Footwork
- fancy steps and footwork variations
- the art of fudging feet (aka faking it)
- balance and travel techniques
- more swivels!

Week 4: Cool Moves and Armwork
- we'll take a break from technique and do some neat moves instead
- nah just kidding, there will be specific techniques here too
- just what the heck do we do with this free arm during swingouts?

Week 5: Hijacks, Steals and Switches
- follows will learn to momentarily take control, leads will learn to let them
- techniques to change lead/follow roles in mid-dance
- assuming we've done a steals workshop by this point, we'll cover some more options

Week 6: Framework and Momentum 2
- technique grind
- how to redirect momentum without losing energy
- the untechnique grind... aka "get out of the way" is the only thing that matters
- mirror swingouts, the fine line between technique and muscle memory

Week 7: Speeding Things Up
- techniques for fast lindy
- alternative footwork

Due to a scheduling conflict, we will be having our Wednesday, June 22nd class in front of the UMSwing Office @ 172 Helen Glass Centre. Please call Brian if you need directions!

Just a reminder that classes for Wednesday, June 8th is in Engineering room 229, which is just by the elevators in the main engineering building. See you tonight!

It is my pleasure to announce the election results from our 2011-2012 UMSwing executive election:
- President: Brian Turchyn
- Vice-President Internal: Lisa Semchuk
- Vice-President External: Adam Morrison
- Secretary/Treasurer: Sebastian Lao
- Publicity and Promotions: Erin Prokopanko

Stay tuned for our summer course schedule, coming soon!

The Prairie Lindy Exchange or PLEX as it is more commonly known is the biggest dance exchange our club regularly participates in together.

This year our friends in Edmonton are hosting the exchange on the weekend of March 11th to 13th and they have done a great job in the past.

The official website is: http://plexology.org/11plex/
Please visit it for more information on the event.

The weekend is stock full of dancing, awesome live music, social events, and usually workshops. The dancers in our community are very friendly and encourage all levels of dancers to participate. So if your new to the scene please don't be discouraged. If you happen to be taking lessons with us (particularly our beginner Lindy Hop) you will know enough by March 11th to participate in this exchange.

Traditionally our club arranges for people who would like to attend the exchange with us. This makes transportation easier. We car pool together to Edmonton and split into groups for housing (The host city arranges for us to stay with fellow dancers for the weekend).

If you want to attend the event on your own please view their website and follow the instructions accordingly.

If you want more information or to travel and attend the exchange with UMSwing please contact me as soon as possible at:

treasurer@umswing.ca

Please use an e-mail you check often and leave your name and phone number. It takes time to arrange everything at both our end and with our friends in Edmonton so please don't wait too long!

This is a great way to travel, make new friends, meet new dancers, and greatly improve your abilities!

Sebastian Lao
Secretary/Treasurer

That's right -- it's time for our bi-annual open house. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or have never danced a single step before in your life, we want YOU to come and get your swing on and join an amazing community of friendly, relaxed people of all ages.

Just a friendly reminder that Wednesday classes tonight are in the Engineering Atrium and NOT in Hanley Hall tonight. See you then!

WOW! We had almost 40 people at our lesson on Sunday! That's a phenomenal turnout! Thanks to everybody who showed up; I hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Just a reminder that our Wednesday classes kick off tomorrow, October 6th @ 7pm in Hanley Hall (St. Paul's College). See you all there!

Drop-in for just $6/lesson, or purchase a two-course membership for $50 or a full membership for $80, and save up to $160 off the cost of lessons!

Hey everybody!

Just a quick reminder that our lessons start tomorrow, May 19 @ 7pm in the EITC Atrium. See you all there!

Our summer 2010 schedule has tentatively been announced. Please see our courses page to see which courses we are teaching, or our events calendar to see everything in a calendar format.

Congratulations to the new executive committee for 2010/2011:

- President: Brian Turchyn
- VP Internal: Tanis Joy
- VP External: Jason Rosenberg
- Secretary/Treasurer: Sebastian Lao

Just a reminder that elections are currently being held for UMSwing Executive Committee positions for 2010/2011.

Who is eligible to vote?
If you have held a membership during any semester from May 2009 to April 2010, you are eligible to vote. Note that this does not include those who simply dropped in to lessons but did not purchase or upgrade to a membership.

When can I vote?
You can vote at any lesson up until April 9, 2010. If you cannot make it to the lessons but wish to vote, please contact us and we will put you in contact with Nathan, who is overseeing our election.

Found it hard to figure out when classes are?

Just take a look at our new event calendar, where it displays all upcoming events and lessons. Just click on the lesson or event to pull up the details.

- No outside alcohol is permitted. Drinks purchased upstairs at the bar may be brought downstairs (and indeed is encouraged, since giving them business is always a good idea).
- Bring your own water bottles instead of asking for cups from upstairs.
- Outdoor shoes must be removed at the door and placed against the back wall. Shoes must not impede traffic to any exits as per fire regulations.
- The Legion has asked that we park our cars on the street or in the adjoining lots, in order to reserve their lot for their older clientele. Carpooling is recommended.
- If you make a mess, clean it up (crumbs, wrappers, etc).
- All tables and chairs must be returned to their original positions by the end of the night.
- All bottles and glassware must be returned upstairs.
- Please be mindful of the dress code at the Legion.

And now for the big issue: For the past several years the Legion has very graciously allowed us to use their space free of charge. We started as a small and developing scene, and since then (this past year especially) have grown into a large and steady crowd. Unfortunately, with our increasing numbers comes an accordingly larger amount of wear and tear to the room. I have spoken with the management several times about this issue, and while they wish to continue to support us, the cost of room maintenance is unavoidable. We are not required to pay rent just yet, but it may become a possibility in the future. In preparation of such, I will be setting up a "tip jar" each week. Donations of $1 or $2 or whatever coinage you have would be highly appreciated, and all funds collected will go towards maintenance.

The crux of the matter is that we use up a lot of space, but as a dancing crowd we typically do not drink and thus don't bring in much business. Patronizing the bar upstairs and leaving the parking lot available for their paying customers will help keep the management happy.

Elections for the 2010/2011 Executive Committee are coming soon! If you are interested in running for a position, please view UMSwing's constitution here and submit the form in Appendix C1.

Applications must be in by March 16th, and should be handed in at our office (172 Helen Glass) or directly to an executive committee member. Voting will be held over the last week of classes.

Hey there everyone,

Some of you might not have heard the announcements in class but next month will be the "Tenth Prairie Lindy Exchange" or XPlex.

This is an event that takes place once or twice a year in a prairie city, this year we're headed to Saskatoon. The event runs March 12-14.

The event costs $70 plus gas money and food. Usually your taken care of by a foster swing family so housing has been free in the past.

If your interested in going please make sure you get in contact with Sebastian before Monday, Feb. 22nd as we are running out of time!

Contact: sebmanlao302@msn.com
Website: http://www.plexology.org/10plex/

A reminder that our 10th year anniversary party, "10 Years And Still Swingin'", is coming up in only 4 days!



9 Hours of Dance

2 Live Bands

5 of Winnipeg's Best Swing DJs

1 Epic Event



Our 10th anniversary event, 10 Years And Still Swingin', is coming up on February 12th, 2010 @ 8pm-5am. The event is at Patricia's Dance Studio. We have two live bands coming in: Nightfall, and The Rowdymen. Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 at the door.



To purchase tickets online, click here:

9 Hours of Dance

2 Live Bands

5 of Winnipeg's Best Swing DJs

1 Epic Event



Our 10th anniversary event, 10 Years And Still Swingin', is coming up on February 12th, 2010 @ 8pm-5am. The event is at Patricia's Dance Studio. We have two live bands coming in: Nightfall, and The Rowdymen. Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 at the door.



To purchase tickets online, click here:

Hey everybody! Just a quick reminder that lessons are starting this Sunday, January 31st @ 7pm. We're starting off with Solo Swing at 7 with Vicky, then Beginner Jive at 8 with Keith.



If you did not register a membership with us at the open house, please come 10-15 minutes early so that we can get your account set up.

That's right; it's that time of year again. It's time for our bi-annual open house. This year, it will be taking place on Thursday, January 28 2010 at 7:00pm. As always, it's a free event to attend, and a great opportunity to dance and meet up with some of your old friends. We'll be giving away some great prizes, and we're hoping to have a jazz quartet performing during the night. We would love to ring in UMSwing's 10th year with a huge open house! An event will be up on Facebook soon, so invite all of your friends to that.



As always, the open house requires volunteers to help things run along smoothly. If you have an hour that you'd be able to set aside to help with the setup, takedown, or the tables during the open house, we would very much appreciate it. As always, we'll be buying our volunteers pizza the night of the open house as our way of saying thanks.

If you can see this message, congratulations! You can now see our new-and-improved UMSwing site.



The new site has been developed on Ruby on Rails, and we'll be adding content to it constantly. If you join UMSwing, you'll have access to all of your attendance information when you log in to the site. Your member number will be given to you when you come to the first lesson.