Black Pepper Swing

Start swing dancing with these courses!

2025-05-28T00:00:00+00:00

Starting is easy! No partner, no previous experience needed. Hop in and feel the groove of swing and jazz.

New season starts August 11th!

2025-05-28T00:00:00+00:00

You can also always call us or send us a message if you have any questions!

info@blackpepperswing.com
+358 45 4900 888

Beginners’ courses

No partner or previous dance experience required. Starting is easy, everything comes clear on your first class. Check out all our beginners’ courses and register at the course pages.

Courses & Registration

New season starts Jan 16th!

2022-12-07T00:00:00+00:00

You can also always call us or send us a message if you have any questions!

info@blackpepperswing.com
+358 45 4900 888

Beginners’ courses

No partner or previous dance experience required. Starting is easy, everything comes clear on your first class. Check out all our beginners’ courses and register at the course pages.

Courses & Registration

How to Choose Shoes for Swing Dancing

2022-12-07T00:00:00+00:00

When it comes to the practicalities of the swing dance, a question that’s on most beginners’ minds is “What shoes do I wear?”. And not only beginners ask that, if we are being completely honest, so no need to be shy about it. All dancers find themselves from time to time in the search of new shoes, asking questions, opinions and considering options.

Finding the right shoes for dancing will help you advance and comfortably dive into the swing world with the right energy and feel.

Well, we are here to guide you through the world of swing dancing shoes. It’s not that difficult, trust us. We have several tips for you to give you a general idea of swing shoe requirements, and also a few comments from our fellow dancers.

Soles for Swing 101

For the beginners, Karri Rasinmäki, one of the founders of Black Pepper Swing, advises to use the most comfortable sneakers you might have at home.

It is easier and more comfy, with the added bonus of reduced slip ups and unwanted gliding - to put it short, it’s a safer option. Don’t worry, when you feel like you are ready to slide and glide, you can upgrade your shoe game.

Swing dancers have three options for soles: leather, suede or rubber. Keep in mind that they will affect your dancing and you have the power to choose how you’d like to feel and look on the dance floor. The more you use the shoes, the more slippery the soles will become regardless of the type – just keep that in mind.

Leather soles allow you to pivot, twist and slide easily, though it’s worth noting that on the wooden floor it might get very slippery.

In terms of grip, suede soles are between leather and rubber. It’s still slidey, but you get more stability than with leather soles. You can purchase a small steel brush for the soles to create more grip as well. Just make sure you don’t walk outside with your suede soles – they’ll be ruined.

Rubber gives you the best grip. It’s preferred when you are dancing to fast tunes, so it gives you the energy to jump and push forward, as well as stability which is important if you are performing aerials.

Different soles engage different leg muscles during dancing and depending on the soles you’ll have to adjust your body- and footwork. But in general, remember to keep your feet under you, have a strong core and don’t forget to prep properly.

So What Do I Pick?

We went to our community to answer that question and asked what Black Pepper Swing teachers and students prefer in terms of dancing shoes. Hopefully, their experience will allow you to navigate your needs and decide on preferences.

We’ll start with sneakers aka rubber soles. Our Lindy Hop teacher and avid Jazz dancer Kay Werndli is often seen dancing precisely in them. Rumour has it, he’s only dancing in sneakers, but we know for sure that he also owns a pair of leather shoes and Keds with a suede sole.

Kay is dancing in Adidas Stan Smiths.

But here are a few reasons why Kay prefers sneakers to dress shoes:

“First off, sneakers just feel more comfortable to me, so that’s a plus. Second, they work a lot better for my dancing. I’m more on the athletic side in terms of dance style and need some grip for that. The downside, of course, is that I can’t really do slides.” – Says Kay.

“Third, I think they are just more my style. I prefer to be more casual - after all, I’m going dancing for fun and suits are too serious for me. Moreover, most dress shoes are a lot longer and they make me feel slightly clown-like. Finally, I really like the sound of the ones I use. You can be very quiet and light-footed but if you do some taps or other rhythms, they just sound really nice.”

Maria Puustinen, who you most likely have seen and admired on the social dance floor, chooses her dancing shoes depending on her mood.

“For me, shoes really affect my style of dancing and there are different shoes for different moods. If I dance in sneakers, I will automatically dance in a more sporty and bouncy style. If wearing more feminine shoes with some heels, I tend to bounce less and connect to my partner in a different way, having more focus on a rotational connection created from the upper body - some call it a frame. I would also dance more upright and swivel more.”

Maria’s favourite dance shoes are leather boots from Savoy Cats that feel more in between when it comes to the dancing style and are comfortable for bounce and rhythm, as well as slide.

Adjusting Soles and Shoes Repair

“Suutari työssään” - Hakli, Kari (1973) - Helsinkikuvia.fi

It is important that your feet are supported properly as you dance, so what if you have a pair of perfect shoes but it doesn’t give you that slide and “oomph” feeling you are looking for? The answer is simple – you just adjust the soles.

The quickest solution (or more like a trick) is to attach duct tape to the soles and it will give you that slide you are looking for.

If you are ready to give the altering more time and effort, you can glue a suede sole to your pair of sneakers.

Here’s a little how-to from a community member Tiia Laukkanen who extended the life of her old shoes:

“I had a pair of old cheap sneakers where the rubber outer sole had started to wear off and they weren’t really suitable for wearing outdoors anymore. I washed them and glued a shaped piece of suede to the sole with contact glue (kontaktiliima). The suede was from an old suede jacket that I bought from a recycling centre.” – Says Tiia.

“The end result allowed for a bit more slide than the original rubber sole did, and they lasted for a surprisingly long time before the suede wore too thin. For the glueing, I’d recommend doing it outdoors because the fumes aren’t healthy. And for a nicer pair of shoes, I’d definitely recommend taking them to a professional cobbler to be resoled.”

Another example of altering shoes comes from a Lindy Hop dancer Matias Knip. Matias owns three pairs of dancing shoes, and he started off his Lindy journey in regular sneakers that still work well on slippery floors. Nowadays, his main choice for dancing is ankle boots from Swing It that are fancy enough for parties, but humble enough for practices.

“My third pair are loafers, and they are my precious ones – I only wear them at fancier parties. I bought them from a vintage pop-up shop at a festival in Tallinn. They were quite cheap when I bought them, but by now I have probably invested three times as much money in repairing them, as something breaks virtually every time I use them. What makes them even a bit more special is that Karri [BPS Co-Founder] noticed and complimented the shoes the very first time I wore them.” – Says Matias.

Heels vs Flats

Another question that we hear often is: “Should I invest in proper heels?”. And the answer is, well, depends on your preferences.

We talked about dancing in heels with two of our teachers – Anna Tyutyunyuk, Boogie-Woogie World Champion 2021, and Tanja Wingerter, BPS Co-Founder, who have different experiences regarding this matter.

Anna is actively dancing both in flats and heels, and the choice of shoes depends on the tempo of the song – “Normally I do slow ones (100-130 BPM) with heels and anything faster with good absorbing soft dance sneakers.”

Another thing that matters is your mood, as well as the way you want to look and feel on the dance floor, especially if you are performing.

“If I have my heels on, I present myself differently in a much more elegant and even almost mysterious way. And feel like I’m being special tonight. Though without my heels I’m still able to experience such emotions and present myself accordingly but heels always help me to achieve it easier.” – Shares Anna.

Tanja dancing in sneakers at Helswingi 2022.

As for Tanja, her preference for dancing in heels changed over time and now she’s mainly wearing flats.

“I discovered heels when I started taking balboa classes – I wanted to have shoes with a heel because that’s what I saw on my teacher. I found a pair of second-hand shoes with leather soles and a heel, and I fell in love with the slidey feel. They quickly became my favourite pair to dance anything in.”

“I was dancing a lot in those days. The joints of my feet started hurting and dancing in heels became somewhat impossible for some time. So, I switched to lower heels and flat shoes - even back to sneakers. So now, I mainly pick between slidey and sticky shoes for the styles, because higher heels are no longer an option. Also, my dancing has become energetic and jumpy lately, and soft trainers feel the most comfortable for that”

Anna in Diamant shoes competing in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Boogie Woogie World Championship 2021.

How to Choose Heels w/ Anna Tyutyunyuk

If you decide to buy a pair of nice dancing shoes with heels, here are a few tips from Boogie Woogie World Champion Anna Tyutyunyuk.

Her first tip is to not listen to any advice from shop assistants, especially if they don’t have experience in your line of dancing, – and it’s rooted in an unfortunate story.

“Sorry if I sound brutal but I bought the worst pair of my heels when I listened to an opinion and advice given by a salesperson. Shoes were tiny for my feet, and I wore them with pain and suffering. They never broke in the way the sales assistant said they would, and I never got comfortable even though they mentioned that “your big toe should be touching the floor while wearing those”. Not a great experience.” – Shares Anna.

The basic guideline for choosing your heels from Anna:

Follow your true size
Choose comfort on top of the style
Pick shoes with suede soles
Don’t rush your process and spend time choosing

And a pro tip for performances and late-night parties when you are already comfortable dancing in heels:

“I always had a rule of -1cm. For example, if I knew I was comfortable dancing with 6cm heels, I went for 5cm ones because even this 1cm out gave me +100% comfort and dance moves range I could perform effortlessly.”

Takeaway

When you choose your first pair of dancing shoes, you don’t have to be fancy and invest in styled shoes for swing dances. Start with your favourite pair of sneakers or Keds instead!

The soles of the shoes matter, if you want more stability and grip – rubber soles are for you. If you enjoy spinning and gliding, then try out leather or suede soles.

Dancing swing in heels can take a toll on your ankles and knees, so pay attention to your technique and choose slower tempos, rather than fast ones.

There are quite a few shoe brands founded by Lindy Hoppers, so if you feel like you are ready to make an investment – research your options. They also offer different styles, so that the pickiest of us could find a pair of shoes to become the ultimate favourite.

Stay tuned to learn which shoe brands are the most popular among Helsinki swing dancers – with names of the models and honest reviews, of course. If you’d like to participate and share your opinion, leave us a comment. Let’s share our knowledge bank inside the community 😉

Indoor Places to Practice Swing Dancing in Helsinki

2022-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

Dancing courses are all fun, but they are only once a week for an hour. Are you that person, who comes to the class, learns new moves, and then forgets about them until the next class? Honestly, no shame in that – we all have our busy lives and schedules. Though, as they say, practice makes perfect (or something close to that), so at Black Pepper Swing we urge our students to revise the material also outside the classrooms.

To give you a head start, we’ve combined a list of indoor spaces that are perfect for practising – with all the information: address, costs, pros and cons.

At the end of the article, we’ve also added a couple of comments from our dancing community with extra tips on finding the best space for you.

Let’s not keep you waiting with all inspirational words on how practising is good for you, we know you know it.

Without further ado –

Indoor spaces for dance practice.

1 Töölön Kisahalli

Also often called Kisis. A very inspirational place. While you are practising, you are surrounded by athletes and dancers from different backgrounds, each of them doing their own thing.

The sports hall was first built as Messuhalli (Exhibition Hall) and the great Louis Armstrong performed there. So yes, a cool place to be.

Price: 3,5 EUR per visit, 28 EUR for 10 visits or monthly card, 84 EUR season card

Address: Paavo Nurmen kuja 1 C, 00250 Helsinki (open in Google Maps)

Pros: Cheap per visit, has dancing rooms (some are with mirrors), good floors.

Cons: You might not get lucky with getting a suitable room – this place is popular among dancers, and rooms are claimed on a first come, first get basis.

2 Black Pepper Studio

Of course, we can’t skip this one 😉

Our studio is filled with the swing dancing vibe and perfect floors for swing, jazz and tap dancers.

With the kitchen and our chill-out zone you can have cosy and comfortable breaks during your practice when you are out of breath and, let’s be honest, somewhat sweaty.

Check the availability calendar and send us a message on Facebook/Instagram to reserve your slot.

Price: For BPS students - 10 EUR for 1,5 hours (5 EUR for every extra 30 min).

Address: Karjalankatu 2, 00520 Helsinki (open in Google Maps)

Pros: Central location (7 mins from Tripla Mall), two rooms available, floor for tappers in the back room, special renting price for BPS students, kitchen and resting area. Oh, and there’s a free parking area.

Cons: At the moment, only the back room has mirrors.

3 Jazz Factory

A place where the magic happens, known among dancers as the home for jazz and blues. The studio is located in Sörnäinen, Helsinki and has one room, equipped with mirrors and a good dancing floor. It is a cosy and private space for perfecting the art of dance.

Price: Weekdays before 4 pm – 12,5 EUR per hour, evenings and weekends – 25 EUR per hour.

Address: Sörnäisten rantatie 33, 00500 Helsinki (open in Google Maps)

Pros: Jazz factory has a special offer for non-commercial use (aka practising) – 10 EUR per hour with a minimum of 10 hours booked.

Cons: Not a central location (though still easily accessible), and the booking calendar fills in pretty quickly for evenings and weekends, so you need to plan ahead.

4 Comets

Rock’n’Swing Dance Club Comets is located in Pukinmäki and has two dancing rooms for practising that can be booked free of charge for the club members.

Price: Available free of charge for the members

Address: Pukinmäenaukio 2, 00720 Helsinki (open in Google Maps)

Pros: Free use for Comets members

Cons: The location is the furthest from Helsinki centre among the practice spaces in this list, also you need to book the room in advance as the free spots are reserved as soon as they are available.

5 Dance makers

Dance makers rent out three dancing studios of different sizes from the early morning to the late evening – all early birds and owls can find the best time for them. The studios are equipped for dancing of any style, so the floor might not work the best for swing dancers. Otherwise, the rooms are pretty standard and work well for practising.

Price: Depending on the time of the day, the prices start at 6 to 18 EUR for half an hour.

Address: Aleksis Kiven katu 32, 00510 Helsinki (open in Google Maps)

Pros: Easy to book through their app, three different choices for the studios

Cons: Booking slots are 30 mins, so if you want to have a full-on practice, the price will go up.

6 Your home

Well, this is the final dancing space we have to offer you. It’s your familiar terrain, available at all times. Works best for solo practising and perfecting your technique.

Check out our Online Library for inspiration, class recaps and exercises – it’s free of charge, but if you’d like to donate a little something we wouldn’t mind.

Price: Free of charge (but actually it’s your monthly apartment rent if you think about this)

Address: Wherever it is you live

Pros: 24 hours availability, snacks and couch for the breaks in between songs. If you have a pet, then probably you’ll have a few cute moments of dancing with them.

Cons: Arrangements – remember to create a comfortable space for the practice, for example, roll up your carpets and move away some of the furniture. And be mindful of your neighbours.

Tips from community

As promised, here are some tips from Black Pepper Swing community.

We talked to the dancers with one question – “Where are you practising?”. Many of them mentioned one or two places from the list, but we also got a few comments that give you alternative choices.

Aaron Tam: “Social floor is the best way to practice”

The best alternative in our humble opinion is to practice on the social dancefloor.

“I feel the best place to practice is the weekly socials, there you can choose something from the class that week and work on that. I don’t really have time to practice most of the time, so the socials bring a way for me to do that, dance for fun, socializing, bonding and getting to know your fellow dancers at the same time.” – Says Aaron Tam. Pick a move or two from your class and implement it while dancing. Just remember to keep it simple.

And don’t you worry, there is more social dancing to come – so keep your eyes open for our announcements.

University / work place

If you are a student, check if your university offers gym or dance practice rooms for reservations. They are usually free of charge and a good option to practice after or during long breaks. This advice came from Daniela Schenk, who occasionally books practising spaces from Aalto University.

For all of our hard workers, check if your company has gyms for the employees in the building. Depending on a company policy, you might be able to reserve the time for your private practice, or just jam in the headphones and impress your coworkers with the cool moves you got.

“I find sometimes training/gym spaces to be good enough for practising dancing. You can find this sort of spaces in private gyms but also at your workplace and sometimes, you can reserve a space for yourself free of charge! You can also invite your colleagues, teach them basic moves and encourage them to join swing dancing and maybe practice together after work.” – Shares Alireza Ranjbar his practising habits, and we fully support the idea of inviting your colleagues to experience the miracle of dance with you.

Summary

Solo or partnered dance practice, you got to keep it going. So, we hope that our list made it easier for you to navigate dancing spaces and you’ll get to practice more often.

Remember, dancing is going to make your day brighter and your soul happier.

A (Not-So) Brief History of Swing Dance

2022-11-22T00:00:00+00:00

Let’s start with a fun fact that in the very beginning of “swing dancing” this term wasn’t as widely used as it is nowadays. According to Harri Heinila’s research of the term in newspapers and magazines at the NY Public Library database, between 1920 and 1943 “swing dance” or “swing dancing” appears in the search only over 500 times. And jumping forward to the XXI century, between 2000 and 2015 – almost 14,000 results.

Over the years swing dance has been a frenzy of the night clubs and a bridge between African-American and white folks of the US. After the 1940s the popularity of the dance dimmed, only to return in the 80s and blow in full force, conquering the world of happy feet.

Shall we have a closer look at the history of swing dance?

1900s (and late 19th century)

It all starts with jazz music. Jazz started to form during the times of black slavery back in the late 19th century. In the 1900s New Orleans became a home for jazz and blues music, creating the foundation for social dance as well. Jazz dance has its roots in African folk dancing, where people used their whole body to express their feelings through music (unlike the European dance scene with strict frames and isolations).

Jazz music and jazz dance influenced the creation of vernacular partnered dances later known as Lindy Hop, Collegiate Shag, Balboa, West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, etc – aka swing dance.

Late 1920s

The 1920s are named “roaring” for a reason: nightlife in the clubs was filled with swing bands and dancers, feeding off each other’s energy, sharing the inspiration, improvisation and having friendly competitions, of course.

March 12, 1926, Savoy Ballroom opened its doors in Harlem, NY. It was a large live music and dancing venue: just imagine the coat check could serve 5,000 people a night and yearly visited by 700,000. The wooden floor of “the Track” was changed every three years, and the music was playing non-stop with the two bands facing each other and picking up on the tunes when one of the bands would go on a break.

A northeast-east corner – “Cats’ Corner” – was a place where the most talented, ambitious, and bold dancers would jam together and show off their skills. To get a privilege to dance there was fiercely fought for: “an invisible rope surrounded a dancing area that met the requirements of ritual, recreation and performance.” – said Jacqui Malone in her book “Steppin’ on the Blues”.

“Heartbeat of Harlem” also had a strict no-discrimination policy – the only thing that mattered (and probably judged a bit by the patrons) at the Savoy Ballroom was dance.

Names you should know: The first generation of lindy hop leaders – Shorty George Snowden, George Ganaway, Leroy “Stretch” Jones.

Finnish swing history class: Finland was no exception of jazz and swing fever. As New York stayed being the centre of swing movement, though radio songs, films and vinyl records, the concept of “roaring 20s” was spreading around the world. As the prohibition law was in power, the restaurants and bars were serving alcohol in coffee cups to trick the officers. Jazz music was played by Finnish and German musicians with their own twist and interpretation, until in 1926 the orchestra from “Andania”ship arrived in Helsinki with a group of Finnish jazz musicians who made a career in the USA.

1935 – Creation of the first air step

The first air step (or aerial as we call it now) was created by Frankie Manning and inspired by Big Bea and Shorty George’s move – standing back-to-back with arms locked and Bea lifting George off the ground on her back.

This move gave Frankie the idea to throw his partner at the time Freida Washington up on his back and have her roll over landing on her feet in front of him. They practised for two weeks and had to work out every step as there was no one to teach them. And then…

One Saturday night at Savoy Ballroom’s stand-off between George Snowden’s (Shorty George) and Herbert “Whitey” White’s crews, Frankie and Freida decided to show their new move. They were the last ones to perform – the audience was eager to be entertained by the last lindy couple, clapping the rhythm and cheering on. The moment Frankie and Freida did the step, the audience froze. And then all of a sudden, the Savoy exploded (metaphorically, just so you know).

And that is the story of the first lindy air-step.

(For the dancing nerds, here’s the video where Frankie Manning shares a story about how he and his partner created the first aerial.)

1930-40s

Already in the late 20s, Herbert “Whitey” White started to gather a group of talented dancers around him in the Savoy Ballroom. To name a few names you might have heard – Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, AI Minns, Leon James, Ruthie Reingold, and Harry Rosenberg.

Whitey was dedicated to promoting the dance, and under his guidance the troupes travelled across the US, Europe and Australia giving performances and shows.

By 1936 Whitey’s dancers had officially got their names heard and talent recognised. Swing dancing was at its peak during these years, developed and finessed by young dancers who were practising day and night making a name for themselves. They had a residency gig at a high-end Cotton Club and were featured in several films, for example, “A Day at the Races”, “Hellzapoppin’”, and “Keep Punching”.

The troupes were disbanded in 1942 when the male members were drafted to World War II.

Hollywood films played a big role in swing dance promotion both in the US and Europe. Dean Collins, a dancer and choreographer from Ohio, brought swing to California where prevailing styles were Camel Hop and Balboa. He choreographed and danced in dozen of movies, you can catch a glimpse of him in “Buck Privates”.

Finnish swing history class: in the 1939 Finnish government prohibited public dancing due to the dark times of war. The full prohibition was in force up until 1944, and then still continued under lighter conditions until 1948. There was a possibility to conduct dancing classes, so the dancers took a chance of using them as cover for the small parties. Violation of the ban could result in a prison sentence and the officers were often raiding the party venues.

1950-70s

In 1958 Savoy Ballroom is closed and demolished for housing construction. Other jazz clubs are struggling with new taxes and legislation, not being able to employ big bands to perform live and removing the dancing space by filling them up with tables. Fast tempos are replaced by Cool Jazz with mellow and soft tones, but on the other hand, rock-n-roll is swiping the audience off their feet.

As rock-n-roll music gains more and more popularity, swing dancing gets into the sleeping phase. Derivatives dances influenced by swing are East and West Coast Swing, Jive, Rock-n-Roll and Boogie-Woogie.

These are also the decades when white people are dominant in the dancing scene, westernizing the swing styles with structure and clear form.

Finnish swing history class: In Finland, the swing dancing community was on a rise. Jive became officially a competition dance in 1950, when the dance culture association Terpsikhore started to cultivate swing dancing in Finnish society. Here’s a fun video clip of a Jive competition from Linnanmäki in 1954 for all our dancing nerds to watch.

1980-90s

Dancing enthusiasts from Sweden, the UK, and the US played a big role in the revival of swing dancing. Each group independently reached out to original lindy hop dancers – AI Minns, Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, – for guidance. Once again, Frankie Manning started to travel the world and share with people the joy of swing dancing.

The swing era was also recreated in the films like “A League of Their Own”, “Malcolm X”, “Swingers”, and “Swing Kids” among others, which created a spike of interest among the audience worldwide to swing dancing once again.

2000-2020s

The swing dance community grows every day – would any of the original swing dancers have thought how quickly Lindy Hop and Co will spread around the globe?

A habit of traveling for dancing is something that almost every swing dancer has incorporated in their lifestyle. Whether it’s another city in their country, or the other side of the world! A few swing festivals and exchanges to name are Upside Down in Belgium, Dragon Swing in Poland, Copenhagen Lindy Exchange, The Snowball in Sweden, Savoy Cup in France, International Lindy Hop Championships, Rock That Swing in Germany, and many more.

And of course, we can’t miss Herräng – the most famous swing dance camp in Europe. The camp was first organised in 1982 weeks in a small sleepy village in Sweden (Herräng) and has evolved from 1 week and 25 participants to 5 weeks and 750 participants per week (according to Wikipedia, but this number sounds about right).

Classes, workshops, festivals, and exchanges are creating a space of inspiration and improvisation for dancers of all levels, lifting the moods of mundane, sparkling joy in our hearts, and resulting sores on our feet. And that is exactly what we want, right?

Do you want to be a part of swing dance history? Join the movement – sign up for classes, beginners’ weekends, or just stop by a party to dance your feet away. Check out our website for more information and our Facebook page for the events!

You are not sure if you are Intermediate, Advanced, or in between? We have a simple comprehensive dancing road map that will help you identify your level of dancing.

Autumn season starts!

2022-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

You can also always call us or send us a message if you have any questions!

info@blackpepperswing.com
+358 45 4900 888

Beginners’ courses

No partner or previous dance experience required. Starting is easy, everything comes clear on your first class. Check out all our beginners’ courses and register at the course pages.

Courses & Registration

Start swing dancing with these courses!

2022-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

Well hello there!

So you have heard about swing dancing? Or appareantly thinking about starting a dance hobby? You are in a right place!

At the end of this article, we’ll list suitable beginners’ courses for you.

We are a swing dance school based in Helsinki and we offer variety of dance classes from Lindy Hop to Tap Dancing. Some of the classes are solo classes, some are partnered.

Partnered classes are in Lindy Hop and Boogie Woogie, where we dance with a dance partner. You can however join without a partner! You’ll find a partner from the course. In fact, we like to rotate partners so you get to dance with many people.

Solo classes can be found from Solo Jazz & Charleston courses, Tap Dancing, and Electro Swing. Even though we dance there in a group, we do the movements on our own. Kinda like most of us would imagine dancing at a club.

Here are samples of Solo Jazz (first video), and Lindy Hop (second video).

Tanja & Kay doing some jazz dancing.

Tanja & Karri lindy hopping in Lammassaari.

Which courses should I pick?

You can start with any beginners’ course, really. But…

…if you want to learn how to partner dance, take Lindy Hop.

…if you prefer flying solo or want to enrichen your body language take Solo Jazz.

…if you like rhythms or love Gene Kelly, Tap Dancing would be your thing.

And of course, if you can’t decide, you can take two courses for example.

Check out all our beginners’ courses here.

You can also always call us or send us a message if you have any questions!

info@blackpepperswing.com
+358 45 4900 888

Beginners’ courses

No partner or previous dance experience required. Starting is easy, everything comes clear on your first class. Check out all our beginners’ courses and register at the course pages.

Courses & Registration