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Jorvik 2026!

Jorvik 2026!

Event Information

Welcome to Jorvik 2026! Our first weekender of the year, where the community gets together to welcome new dancers! Either a fast-track introduction into the world of swing dance, or a celebration of Lindy and solo jazz in the beautiful City of York.

Schedule

  • – Beginner Lesson 1
  • – Intermediate Lesson 1
  • – Advanced (Solo) Lesson 1
  • – Beginner Lesson 2
  • – Intermediate Lesson 2
  • – Advanced (Solo) Lesson 2
  • – Saturday Social

  • – Musicality Taster with Rob and Tina
  • – Big Apple Sunday Lesson
  • – Dips and Tricks Taster with Richard and Kat
  • – Soul Line Dance Taster with Richard and Kat
  • – Beginners' Balboa with Rob and Tina
  • – Intro to Solo Jazz Afternoon Taster with Sarah
  • – Discussion Group
  • – Sunday Tea Dance
View full schedule

Venues

University of York
Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK
Millthorpe School
Nunthorpe Ave, York YO23 1WF, UK
Vanbrugh Cafe & Dining
Vanbrugh College, Heslington, York YO10 5NH, UK

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Description

Jorvik 2026! This is a weekend packed with lessons, a live band Halloween-themed social on Saturday, and two days of 3 streams of lessons and tasters! New for this year, we're running a solo stream for those of you brave enough to take on the Big Apple in just a weekend!

PLEASE NOTE THAT TIMES AND LOCATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE UNTIL THE RELEASE OF THE INFOPACK

Welcome to Jorvik 2026!

This year we have our very own Richard and Kat, and Rob and Tina from Leeds joining us to teach Lindy Hop, and the amazing Sarah is joining us too to teach us the Big Apple routine!

Saturday is packed with streamed lessons before the Big Saturday Social! Join your scene with a group costume, or dress in something spooky, ready for our live band social! Sunday is packed with tasters - including an opportunity to try out some new styles - before a community discussion group and then a Tea Dance with home baked goods!

Looking for accommodation? Or have an extra space? Please fill out our Hosting form and we will let you know if we can match you to someone a week and a half before the event. Hosting form!

All details like precise timings, quiet room information and room locations will be included in our infopack which will go out a week before the event. University of York's West Campus will be the location of all lessons as well as the Sunday Social, this is a 20 minute walk from town and also has connecting bus routes from the train station through town. There is also parking on campus which is usually free from 6pm on Fridays to 8am on Mondays. The Saturday Social will be held in Millthorpe School Hall.

Stream and Ticket Descriptions

Beginners/Improvers: 

You are near the beginning of your swing dance journey and you're looking forward to learning more! As everyone learns differently and works at their own pace, years of experience aren't always the most accurate metric, but we'd suggest that this stream is right for you if you have been dancing for a year or less. That means that you may be just starting out, or may already be confident with lots of moves like tuck-turns, send-outs, and pass-bys, but you are looking forward to building on that confidence and seeing what else is out there! You might have tried both 6- and 8- count footwork but aren't yet confident playing with the two.

This stream is a great opportunity to learn some tips and tricks of social dancing, as well as refining any moves you may have already learned!

Intermediates: 

You are a seasoned dancer in your home scene and have started to go to weekenders around your area. You know moves in 6 and 8 counts and you may be confident in mixing them to fit the rhythm. You are ready to experiment with new moves and some variations. You are comfortable with moves such as swing outs and lindy circles, and you are looking to refine your style. Again, years of experience don't always give the best description, but we'd suggest that you'd have been dancing for at least 1 or 2 years before joining this stream.

If you're confident in dancing and are looking to refine your style, wanting to learn some tips from incredible teachers, and perhaps learn some new moves and variations, then this is the stream for you!

Solo Jazz:

You are a seasoned dancer, with at least 2 years experience, and feel comfortable playing with rhythms and musicality. If there is a routine you are always in the first line, whether it is the Mama Stew, Shim Sham, Tranky Doo or maybe even a Big Apple! You have a good vocabulary of solo jazz moves, and you look to learn how to improvise and express yourself best. If you feel instead that you've danced for a while, but this would be your first proper introduction to solo jazz, fear not! Good enthusiasm goes a long way, but please keep in mind this stream is particularly aimed at intermediate/advanced dancers so it is tailored to confident dancers.

Dancing Roles

Classes are split up into leaders and followers. You are welcome to try either! 

Leaders typically initiate moves on the social dance floor, whilst followers interpret and respond. Many of us enjoy dancing both roles with different opportunities to be creative, and of course the chance to dance with everyone else in the room! 

Your dancing role is completely your choice, and leading/following is not restricted to gender. We only ask that for the purposes of the classes, you stick with the role you signed up with.

Member’s Pricing

The tickets listed as ‘concessions’ are for paid members of the University of York Swing Dance Society ONLY. Getting your membership helps the society so this is our way of saying thank you! Please choose the correct ticket based on your membership status as we will confirm with our membership list. Memberships are available from our YorkSU page at: https://yorksu.org/activities/view/swing-dance-society

Socials

If you are only interested in socials you will find social-only tickets for our Saturday night social with a live band, and our tea dance on Sunday afternoon. Please note that all our weekend passes include access to all socials, so you do NOT need to purchase both.

Support the Event

We aim to keep our prices low to make sure all our events are accessible to everyone, regardless of financial situation. If you are in a position to do so, then please consider donating and supporting our mission. You can do so by adding a donation to your ticket!

Other Information

We ask you to purchase your ticket online in advance. We do not take payment on the door. If you arrive without a ticket you will be asked to purchase one online via a smartphone or laptop. Please note that some streams may have a waitlist to balance leads and follows so book early to avoid disappointment!

We rotate partners in our classes - this is a great way to meet new people and improve your dancing! If you prefer not to rotate partners, this is perfectly okay, but we then ask that you sign-up with a partner in mind in the same stream you are comfortable dancing with.

If you're interested in DJing at this event in exchange for a social pass, please email us or message us on instagram and we'll be in contact.

Contact Us

Our website has up-to-date information on our event! Find it at:

https://sites.google.com/yorksu.org/swing-dance-society/home 

For any questions about the event, contact us at:

swingdance@yorksu.org

For any welfare questions about the event send us a message to our welfare officer at:

swingdance-welfare@yorksu.org

For questions about the accessibility of the event, use our general email or contact our accessibility lead:

cqf502@york.ac.uk 

And keep in contact with us through Facebook and Instagram! We're happy to answer any questions and we'd love to hear from you!

Official Instagram events page - 

https://www.instagram.com/uoyswingdance_events/

FB page - University of York Swing Dance - https://www.facebook.com/SwingDanceUoY

Instagram Page- @uoyswingstagram - https://www.instagram.com/uoyswingstagram/

Terms and conditions

By signing up to this event, you agree to our Code of Conduct.

Refund and Exchange Policy
  • If you tell us you wish to cancel at least 7 days before the event, we’ll refund your ticket minus the payment processing fee. 
  • If you cancel less than 7 days and more than 24 hours before the start of the event, we will offer you a partial refund for half of your ticket cost, minus the payment processing fee
  • If you contact us less than 24 hours before the start of the weekend we will be unable to offer a refund.
  • If you wish to donate your ticket to another dancer, you must contact the society at least 24 hours before the event. If you give your ticket to someone else, they can not request another stream or role different to what is assigned in the ticket.
  • If you have booked a ticket for the wrong stream or role, please contact us as soon as possible to see if we can move you to your requested stream, however please note that we cannot guarantee that there will be space in your requested stream and we may be unable to make any changes. Until you have received confirmation from us that your stream has been changed over, please go to the room of the stream you signed up for to register.

We reserve the right to bar you from the event if you break our Code of Conduct.