Swing On In News: BBLX Merch, Social Dances, Vintage Adventures & Community Shout-Outs
Hello fabulous Swing On In family,
We have a very full update this week with BBLX merchandise, socials, festival tickets, vintage shopping, community shout-outs and plenty of swing dancing goodness.
Official BBLX Merchandise Has Dropped
The official BBLX merchandise has just dropped. Email or text 0409 727 888 to secure your official BBLX 26 T-Shirt and Tote Bag.
Weekend pass holders: T-Shirts $35 and Tote Bags $20.
All others: T-Shirts $40 and Tote Bags $22.
Thanks to Mitch at Slosh Printing. We love supporting small local business.
Watch the shirt-making reel here.
Coolangatta Social Dance — Friday 24 July
The first of our series of three social dances in Coolangatta is coming up on Friday 24 July, 7pm at the CWA Hall in Coolangatta.
Entry is $20, with proceeds supporting Beauties Feeling Fabulous. We picked this venue because it has a great dance floor and is a central spot for our north and south swing dancers to come together.
We’ll be playing all sorts of music, so bring all your dance styles to the floor for a good old-fashioned community dance. BYO drinks and nibbles. We look forward to seeing you there.
BBLX Individual Event Tickets Are Now On Sale
Have a look at the following events, which can now be purchased individually. Some of these will sell out, so don’t delay.
Aloha Welcome Picnic
Anchors Aweigh Welcome Dance
Sailor’s Sunrise Stretch
First Mate Novelty Dance
The Titanic Swing Ball
Shipwrecked After Party
SS Minnow’s Last Dance
Explore Byron Bay with Delta Kay
We’re so pleased to add two additional experiences to the BBLX program, including discounted tickets to Delta Kay’s guided cultural tours in the Byron region. Delta will also be our special guest for the Welcome to Country on Friday night.
Delta is offering BBLX attendees a 15% discount on any of her tours using the booking code Arakwal at Explore Byron Bay.
Explore Byron Bay is a majority-owned First Nations tourism operator offering deeply authentic and immersive cultural tours guided by respected Arakwal Bundjalung woman Delta Kay.
New BBLX Experience: Vintage Shopping Tour & Dance Vibes
Sunday 18 October | 10.00am – 1.00pm
Before we gather for the SS Minnow’s Last Dance, join your fellow Exchangers for a leisurely Sunday morning of vintage treasures, good tunes and great company just 7 minutes from Byron Bay township.
Our friends at Mr Vintage Australia and Fossil Vintage Melbourne will be opening their doors especially for BBLX, with a curated collection of authentic 1940s and 1950s swing-era fashion for both ladies and gents available at special sale prices for us.
Expect dancing, shopping, browsing, coffee, conversations and plenty of opportunities to find that perfect piece to take home from your Byron adventure. Come for a quick look or stay for the whole morning — but fair warning, you probably won’t leave empty-handed.
The BBLX Postcard Journey
The BBLX postcard has spread far and wide across the world. Thank you to everyone who has researched, handwritten and posted postcards to dance schools around the globe.
Big shout out to our Big D, David McBride a.k.a. RSO, who wanted to save on the cost of a postage stamp and decided to visit places in person. Here he is in Osaka inviting the Japanese dancers to come to our festival. Next he’s off to Boogie Down South. We love how he gets around and represents BBLX at every event.
Thank You Ian Cook
Shout out to Ian Cook, who has just finished a four-week block of Balboa on the Gold Coast. It was interesting to watch students come to the floor initially out of curiosity, not quite sold on the dance, and by the end they were really invested.
Ian had a gentle way of guiding people to understand the history, the roots, the reason and the joy of this dance. I hope there’ll be a lot more practice and a lot more Balboa on the dance floor on the Gold Coast. Let’s see if we can get him to do another block in Mullumbimby too.
Movie & Pizza Night
Our movie and pizza night in the studio is full for this round, but we’ll be holding more regular events like this, so keep your ears open.
Sometimes we mention these nights at class or on Messenger rather than in the newsletter, but either way, our Swing On In students are always welcome to come along, watch a historical swing movie from our collection, share pizza on beanbags and get to know each other outside the dance floor.
Spotlight on Dance Shoes
As dancers we are always in pursuit of that favourite comfortable and stylish dance shoe that looks like it belongs on your feet and in the era of the dance we are dancing — well, that’s me anyway.
One thing about dancers and their shoes: if they are comfy and you feel great dancing in them, no matter how trashed they are, they are still worn with pride. We are a weird and wonderful bunch, us vintage-loving swing dancing folk.
Here are my current favourite dance shoes:
- Mustard Swivells Boots
- Saint Savoy Riviera Stardust Pumps
- Millelire Italy Nicole Rockabilly
- Aris Allen Red Sneaker
- Miss L Fire Green Suede Pump
- Remix Silver and Beige Pumps
- Charlie Stone Red Flats
Our Swing On In Hero of the Month: Kellie
Kellie! Our hotrod swing gal who steals all our phones and leaves us with her “best side” selfies. No one’s phone is safe.
Seriously though, we love how Kell turns up each week and teaches beginners with Ray. She is also our theming queen, whether it’s Origin night, Christmas or every event in between. Thanks for being such a fabulous part of our Swing On In family.
Favourite Song of the Month
This month we’re loving Slip-In Mules by Sugar Pie DeSanto.
Congratulations Scott & Arrienne
A big shout out and congratulations to Scott and Arrienne from Swing Patrol Brisbane, welcoming their second son Alfie into the world. We can’t wait to meet him.
Also congratulations to Swing Patrol Brisbane for securing a $25,000 grant from Visa Vibe to activate the Gabba over the next month. Such a wonderful initiative, and it’s awesome when grants recognise the benefits of dance and the social cohesion ripple effect in the community. Well done.
Tuesday Night Training with Waka
Tuesday night training in the studio with Waka is taking a leaf out of the Swing Katz book. Waka leads us through warm-up, cardio, solo jazz exercises, choreographed routines and a wind-down yoga stretch.
I went through it with her last week and I must say I was well and truly put through my paces. If you wish to join our training sessions, please let us know. It’s open to anyone — just bring a bottle, your workout clothes and $20.
Follow BBLX on Instagram
Over the next four months as we lead into Byron Bay Lindy Exchange, we’ll be sharing lots of information, announcements, entertainment updates and all the other fun things we’ve got lined up.
Well kids, that’s it for us this week. We look forward to seeing you at class, at one of our upcoming socials, or maybe even at Tuesday night training.
’Til then, stay fabulous.
Chrissy, Ray, Deryn, Kellie and Gabrielle