Hello, and welcome to the Swing and Ballroom Dance Club's Information web page.
- Who We Are
- What We Do
- Major Events
- Other Events
- When and Where to Find Us
- Cost
- The SBDC Beginnings
- Summary of SBDC activities, events, and benefits for members
- List of dance instructors who have taught at our Dance Workshops
- SBDC Officers, email addresses
Who We Are
The Swing and Ballroom Dance Club at UCSB ("SBDC") is an organization dedicated to encouraging social dancing, the social etiquette and fun that accompany it, and providing basic dance instruction to its members. Membership in the SBDC is open to UCSB students, faculty, staff, or the general Santa Barbara Community who have an interest in Swing or Ballroom dancing. The SBDC offers something for dancers of all abilities, from the beginning or novice dancer, to the more experienced or advanced dancer.
What We Do
The Swing and Ballroom Dance Club holds regular weekly club practice meetings throughout the regular UCSB school year (September - June). The SBDC sponsors several major dance events per school quarter, and many smaller events as well. Most of these activities are free for the SBDC members. At events where there is an admission charge, the SBDC members will always receive a discount.
For the Summer months (June - September), the Swing and Ballroom Dance Club holds informal weekly dance practice meetings, offering music and practice time for both Swing and Ballroom Dancing. Also in the summer, the SBDC offers its version of "Lindy Hop in the Park", providing occasional weekend outdoor dancing opportunities in some of the more picturesque Santa Barbara park settings.
Weekly Club Practice Meetings (September - June):
At each of the weekly club practice meetings, time is set aside for showing basic introductory dance steps, and then practicing what was taught. This is the SBDC's "Basics I" Program. It is intended to assist the beginning or novice dancer to become familiar with the basic patterns of the different styles of social dancing. The weekly introductory lessons are supervised by the officers of the SBDC, and the subjects usually vary from week to week. The weekly "Basics I" Program dance instruction typically includes a 45 minute lesson in Swing (East Coast, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, etc), or a 45 minute lesson in Smooth Ballroom (Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, etc), or Latin Ballroom (Cha-Cha, Rumba, Salsa/Mambo, etc). Occasionally, we will offer basic instruction in other specialty steps, such as line dances (Jitterbug Stroll, Shim Sham Shimmy, Madison, etc) or other couples dances (Hustle, Argentine Tango, Polka, etc).
Following the "Basics I" dance instruction will be an open dance practice session. Time is set aside to practice the swing and ballroom dance steps, patterns, timing, and styling. This open practice is also supervised by the SBDC officers.
For the more advanced dancers, the SBDC offers practice time to improve dance styling and technique. This is the SBDC's "Basics II" Program. The "Basics II" Program is supervised by the officers of the SBDC, and by invited guest helpers.
The weekly meetings also have time set aside for announcements of upcoming SBDC events, Santa Barbara community dancing events, or any other events or activities of interest. The SBDC encourages its members to expand their dance experiences by providing opportunities for additional dancing. As a courtesy to the dance community, the SBDC distributes informational flyers at each meeting, describing local dance events and dance activities.
Major Events
The SBDC plans to hold a Major Dance Event each school quarter, usually a large dance, often with live music. These dances usually have themes, and may be semi-formal, big-band, or other special event. The dances are held locally, and usually offer an introductory dance lesson (swing or ballroom) prior to the start of the event. The band breaks are often highlighted by special invited guest dance exhibitions or dance performances.
The SBDC plans to sponsor one or two Specialty Dance Workshops each quarter. These Workshop Classes are usually held on the UCSB campus, and feature professional dance instructors who teach their specialty dance steps, from Swing and Lindy Hop, to Latin and Smooth Ballroom. The SBDC often features quality dance instructors that can be found locally in the Santa Barbara community. We have also brought outstanding masters of dance from Los Angeles, and as far away as Stockholm Sweden!
Other Events
Throughout the school quarter, the SBDC offers its members a variety of other smaller events and activities. One or two times each quarter, we sponsor a "Dance History Video Night". At these events, the SBDC will show films and videos highlighting the roots of the modern social dances, especially swing and Lindy Hop. We show film clips from the 1930's and 1940's showing the authentic dances, interviews with the people who made all of this possible, soundies, rare dance footage, entertaining dance scenes, and more. We also show films and videos of more recent dances and dance events, including competitions, dance camps, SBDC activities, and others. We have also shown recent dance-related movies such as "Strictly Ballroom" and "Shall We Dance".
The SBDC frequently holds smaller, informal (DJ Music) dances several times each school quarter. These events are usually held in the UCSB Robertson Gym. These dances are typically free for members, and often have a theme (1950's sock hop, pajama party, crazy hat night, Hawaiian night, etc).
In previous summers, the SBDC has sponsored its version of "Lindy in the Park", held at Oak Park in downtown Santa Barbara. These outdoor Saturday Afternoon dances take advantage of the beautiful Santa Barbara climate and natural settings for dancing or relaxing to swing and Lindy Hop music.
Additional other SBDC events and activities are listed below.
When and Where to Find Us
For the regular UCSB school year (September - June), the Swing and Ballroom Dance Club at UCSB ("SBDC") holds its regular weekly club practice meetings on Monday nights, from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm, in UCSB's Robertson Gym room 2320 (upstairs, to the right). Just follow the music. Also, watch for announcements on the UCSB campus. The SBDC usually posts banners and flyers at various places around the UCSB campus (Storke Plaza, Bike Path, etc). The SBDC announces its upcoming activities in the Monday edition of the UCSB Daily Nexus, "On Campus This Week" calendar. The SBDC events are also listed on the Master UCSB Events calendar.
During the Summer (June - September), the Swing and Ballroom Dance Club generally holds its Summer Session club practice meetings on a week night, from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, in UCSB's Robertson Gym room 2320, 2120, or 1430. Just follow the music. There is no fee for participating in any of the Summer SBDC Activities.
If you have questions, the SBDC Officers can be contacted by email or by phone. The current officers are listed at the bottom of this page.
The SBDC maintains an active web site. It's address is http://orgs.sa.ucsb.edu/sbdc
. (That is the address of this Web Site that you are now reading). The information in this Web Site is kept up-to-date during the regular school year.