Many great things have already begun in northern Germany with a euphorically shouted “Na denn man tau!” and the saying means something like “So let‘s go!”.
Inspired by the Low German saying, “Swing Man Tau!” probably goes without saying: Let’s dance!
Since November 2021, swing dancers of all ages from Bremen have been meeting regularly to practice at the Evg. Gemeinde St. Pauli in Bremen’s Neustadt. The idea was born to organize a swing dance festival and to invite international trainers and dancers from all over Germany and the world. It did not take long to get down to work, after all there was only six months time for the organization. It became clear relatively quickly: a legal form was needed!
Already before Corona there was the idea to found an association and also during the pandemic different people from the Bremen swing dance scene met in the video chat to discuss concept and realization as well as to create a statute. So there was already a lot of preliminary work done and for the festival crew it was quickly clear:”If not now, when? Let’s do it!”
The first official Swing Man Tau Festival took place from 14-16.10.2022 in Bremen’s Neustadt and was a complete success. The weekend was wonderful with courses, two parties with live band and lively exchange between the dancers. Afterwards not only new great workshops were planned, but also rooms for regular courses were organized and a preliminary course program was created. There is a mixture of self-organized “show and tell-courses”, in which the participants give each other new input on intermediate-advanced- and advanced-level by teaching each other (e.g. from a festival) and course sequences with teachers, who teach dances from beginner-level on, which have not been served here in Bremen so far, like Shag or Blues.
After a certain period of time we will look back and evaluate with all club members, but also with all others from the community. A common design creation as well as a good cooperation of the whole swing dance community is important to the association. Dancing makes people happy and brings them closer together. In addition to this a respectful, appreciative attitude towards the African-American roots of swing dance, the breaking down of established gender roles (e.g. in leading and following) and an LGBTQIA+ friendly, anti-racist attitude is most important. Lindy Hop is for everyone and everyone is welcome!
*Our Lindy Hop classes are for dancers who already have some experience. If you are interested in trying Lindy Hop now, you can take tasters and beginner classes at the Swing-Kantine, Studio Libertango or the Uni-Sport course.