Roaring 20s 1920s Jazz Age Dance Weekend June 5-6-7

Roaring 20s 1920s Jazz Age Dance Weekend June 5-6-7

SCHEDULE AND PRICING

Slide

Early Bird special for whole weekend, $110 paid by April 23rd, 11:59pm, Toronto time, $85, full-time student, payable online

TEACHERS

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Simon
Lindy Hop, Waltz, Polka, 1920’s Dances

Simon teaches and loves Lindy Hop, 1920s dances, Ragtime dances, 19th century dances, traditional Viennese Waltz, Polka and Cross-step Waltz. He also teaches and loves Air Steps, lifts, drops, dips, floorials, and thinks this is some of the best and most fun stuff in dance.

Simon has been teaching dance for over 20 years, co-founded Toronto’s Lindy Hop scene in late 1995 and 96, has taught many classes and workshops, has presented many live band swing dance parties, has organized many dance workshop weekends since the mid 1990s, and has attended many workshops with the world’s most highly regarded Lindy Hop teachers.

Simon is the coordinator of Swing Toronto and of Waltz Toronto.

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Cheryl
1920’s Dances, Ragtime Dances, Lindy Hop, Waltz

Cheryl Henry started dancing Lindy Hop in March 2000. After learning this dance was created by African-Americans, she has been relentless in her research and teaching of early Afrocentric dance styles. She has had the honour to meet and study with international Lindy Hop, Tap, Jazz, and music Masters Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Chester Whitmore, Chazz Young, Skip Cunningham, Jeni LeGon, Dawn Hampton, Sugar Sullivan and Barbara Billups, as well as, their students Paulette Brockington, Ron Parker, Steven Mitchell, and many others. Cheryl’s keen interest in 19th and early 20th century vernacular dances also led her to workshops with Richard Powers and Angela Amarillas which included Waltz, and with Chad Fasca and Midori Asakura to learn Peabody. Cheryl has choreographed for and performed on local, provincial and international stages. She is eager to continue learning, teaching and collaborating on the majestic dances and music history of the African Diaspora.

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Friday, June 5, 2026
7:00pm – 11:00pm

WORKSHOP

All Levels!
1920s Two Step & Shimmie All Levels

Vaccination proof NOT required. Masks optional.

PREREQUISITE

Prior dance experience is not required, but already being able to do some kind of dancing is helpful for this all levels beginner friendly workshop. No need to bring your own dance partners.

Learn 1920s Two Step and Shimmie, which were super popular in the 1920s, when everyone danced!
Stay for Jazz Age DJ’d Dance that follows the workshop.

1920s Two Step is a smooth, fun, easy-to-learn version of Polka (“Polka without the hop”), which was sometimes mixed with Shimmie Dancing. These dances are vernacular, improvisational, playful, free spirited and open ended.
Two Step was extremely popular from the 1890s through the 1920s. We will teach 1920s style Two Step.

Two Step can also be part of 1920s Jazz Age vernacular Fox Trot, by far the most popular dance of the 1920s and the Jazz Age, done from fast and Jazzy to slow and graceful (it is something quite different from contemporary Ballroom Fox Trot).

Note to Swing Dancers: Two Step is a precursor to swing dancing, and is where the triple step in Lindy Hop and swing dancing comes from. The first known swing dance,Texas Tommy Swing, from which Lindy Hop and other swing dancing developed, is, according to for example dance historian Richard Powers, an Afro-American reworking of Two-step/Polka.

A partner is NOT required. It is common for people to attend by themselves. Partner rotation is allowed and encouraged in all lessons. You may register on your own or with a partner. Nevertheless, if you still seek a partner, please post that at the Facebook event.

You can also ask people at Swing Toronto dances and such. You could also click the buttons above for help.

Upper Hall

Enter the Upper Hall from Hampton Avenue, just south of Danforth.

St. Barnabas on The Danforth Anglican Church
175 Hampton Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 2Z3

SCHEDULE

Friday, June 5, 2026

7:00pm – 11:00pm

Two Step & Shimmie Workshop

7:00pm – 9:45pm

1920s Jazz Age Dance Party

9:50pm – 11:00pm

PRICE

Prices are per person. HST included.

Regular

$50

($44.25 + $5.75 HST)

Full-time students with ID

$35

($30.97 + $4.03 HST)

Dance Party only after 9:50pm
Pay at door cash only
$10
$16 full-time students with ID
($14.16 + $1.84)
$16 full-time students with ID
($14.16 + $1.84)

*Swing Toronto partners with Stripe for payment processing.

SWING TORONTO NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news about our dances, workshops, courses, and events! You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not spam you.

BOOTCAMP AND DANCE PACKAGES
$60 regular for the workshop, lesson and dance party (4-10:30pm)
$40 F/T student for the workshop, lesson and dance party (4-10:30pm))
Special offer: $40 for everything 4pm to 10:30pm if you took Vicky’s Rockabilly Jive workshop before
Workshop & Dance PACKAGE 3:45-10:15pm
CASH ONLY AT DOOR
$60
$40 full-time students with ID
ALSO! If you took our Rock ‘n Roll course or workshop before, your workshop registration includes free admission to the dance & Rockabilly Jive lesson, 6:15-10:30pm
Slide
Friday, June 5, 2026
9:50pm – 11:00pm

DANCE

Friday Night Short & Sweet Jazz Age Dance
DJ’d Dance

DJ(s) TBA

Vaccination proof NOT required. Masks optional.

Upper Hall

Enter the Upper Hall from Hampton Avenue, just south of Danforth.

St. Barnabas on The Danforth Anglican Church
175 Hampton Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 2Z3

SCHEDULE

Friday, June 5, 2026

Lindy Hop Beginner Lesson

Teachers: TBA

Lesson included with admission.

6:15pm – 7:15pm

Dance Party

9:50pm – 11:00pm

DETAILS

NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED.
Absolute beginners are welcome!

Let’s 1920s Two Step and Shimmie all over the floor after the Friday Night Workshop.

DJ(s) TBA

with the Drew Jurecka Jazz Manouche Ensemble

PRICE

Same prices online and at door. Lessons included.

Prices are per person. HST included.

$10
for Dance Only after 9:50pm
Pay at door cash only
$16 full-time students with ID
($14.16 + $1.84)

Event package pricing TBA

$16 full-time students with ID
($14.16 + $1.84)

*Swing Toronto partners with Stripe for payment processing.

SWING TORONTO NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news about our dances, workshops, courses, and events! You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not spam you.

Slide
Saturday, June 6, 2026
2:00pm – 4:45pm

WORKSHOP

All Levels!
Peabody (Swing Walk) All Levels

Vaccination proof NOT required. Masks optional.

PREREQUISITE

Prior dance experience is not required, but already being able to do some kind of dancing is helpful for this all levels beginner friendly workshop. No need to bring your own dance partners.

Learn Peabody (Swing Walk), one of the super popular dances of the Jazz Age and Swing Era, including at the amazing Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, New York City, the epicenter of Lindy Hop and Swing Dancing in the the Swing Era!

Peabody (Swing Walk) is a very engaging and distinctive traveling partner dance, usually done to fast music, but adaptable to a wide range of tempos. The basic is just walking (it is a form of “One Step,” with roots going back at least as far as the 1910s), but it can also include syncopations, and can, if you like, be danced slow-slow quick-quick.

Note to Lindy Hoppers and Swing dancers: “All of the Lindy Hoppers” at the Savoy in the 1930s and Swing Era did Peabody, including Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, widely considered the greatest and most influential Lindy Hop performance group of all time. As well as dancing Peabody socially, Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers included Peabody in their dance shows, before the highlight of their shows which was Lindy Hop with air steps.

Simon & Cheryl’s main teachers for Peabody are the very wonderful Chad Fasca and Midori Asakura. You can see them doing Peabody & Charleston in the above video (the traveling dancing is Peabody). In the other video you can see Frankie Manning & Norma Miller, of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, showing the Peabody (Swing Walk) they danced at the Savoy in the Swing Era.

A partner is NOT required. It is common for people to attend by themselves. Partner rotation is allowed and encouraged in all lessons. You may register on your own or with a partner. Nevertheless, if you still seek a partner, please post that at the Facebook event.

You can also ask people at Swing Toronto dances and such. You could also click the buttons above for help.

Upper Hall

Enter the Upper Hall from Hampton Avenue, just south of Danforth.

St. Barnabas on The Danforth Anglican Church
175 Hampton Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 2Z3

SCHEDULE

Saturday, June 6, 2026

2:00pm – 4:45pm

Peabody Workshop

2:00pm – 4:45pm

PRICE

Prices are per person. HST included.

Regular

$50

($44.25 + $5.75 HST)

Full-time students with ID

$35

($30.97 + $4.03 HST)

Dance Party only after 9:50pm
Pay at door cash only
$10
$16 full-time students with ID
($14.16 + $1.84)
$16 full-time students with ID
($14.16 + $1.84)

*Swing Toronto partners with Stripe for payment processing.

SWING TORONTO NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news about our dances, workshops, courses, and events! You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not spam you.

BOOTCAMP AND DANCE PACKAGES
$60 regular for the workshop, lesson and dance party (4-10:30pm)
$40 F/T student for the workshop, lesson and dance party (4-10:30pm))
Special offer: $40 for everything 4pm to 10:30pm if you took Vicky’s Rockabilly Jive workshop before
Workshop & Dance PACKAGE 3:45-10:15pm
CASH ONLY AT DOOR
$60
$40 full-time students with ID
ALSO! If you took our Rock ‘n Roll course or workshop before, your workshop registration includes free admission to the dance & Rockabilly Jive lesson, 6:15-10:30pm
Slide
Saturday, June 6, 2026
6:00pm – 11:00pm

DANCE

Roaring 20s Jazz Age Saturday Night Swing
ft. The Ben Harvey Combo

DJ’d music during band breaks.

Vaccination proof NOT required. Masks optional.

Upper Hall

Enter the Upper Hall from Hampton Avenue, just south of Danforth.

St. Barnabas on The Danforth Anglican Church
175 Hampton Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 2Z3

SCHEDULE

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Doors

5:40pm – 6:00pm

1920s Partner Charleston Beginner Lesson

Teacher(s): Cheryl Henry & Simon Threlkeld

Lesson included with admission.

6:00pm – 6:30pm

Jazz Age Fox Trot & One Step Beginner Lesson

Teacher(s): Cheryl Henry & Simon Threlkeld

Lesson included with admission.

6:30pm – 7:40pm

Swing Dance Party

7:45pm – 11:00pm

NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED.
Absolute beginners are welcome!

Roaring 20s Jazz Age Saturday Night Swing!
Theme: 1920s Jazz Age Garden Party

Learn super popular easy-to-learn dance crazes of the Roaring 20s Jazz Age! Stay for the Dance Party ft Ben Harvey and his Ornamentals!

Good music for Lindy Hop and Swing, and for 1920s traveling dances.

Traveling dances go on the outside track. Non-traveling dances in the middle. Like at the Savoy and other ballrooms in the Jazz Age and Swing Era.

Learn vernacular Jazz Age Fox Trot and One Step, from fast & jazzy, to slow & romantic. This was by the far the most popular dancing of the 1920s and Jazz Age, when everyone danced. It is fun, free-spirited, open-ended, improvisational and easy to learn. The basic step is just walking.
Fox Trot in the Jazz Age was a broad concept. It could include One Step, Two Step, and alternating between slow and quick steps. It is not modern ballroom Foxtrot.
The swing music from the Jazz Age and Swing Era that is played at swing dances today, is almost always described, on the original records and sheet music, as music for Fox Trot. (Because that is what people mostly danced then, including to swing music.)

Learn 1920s solo and partnered Charleston. It was a huge dance craze in the mid 1920s, and is done around the world today.

The roots of these dances and the music they go with is African American.

with the Drew Jurecka Jazz Manouche Ensemble

DJ’d music during band breaks.

PRICE

Same prices online and at door. Lessons included.

Prices are per person. HST included.

$29
($25.66 + $3.34 HST)
$20 full-time students with ID
($17.70 + $2.30 HST)

*Swing Toronto partners with Stripe for payment processing.

SWING TORONTO NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news about our dances, workshops, courses, and events! You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not spam you.

Slide
Sunday, June 7, 2026
2:00am – 8:00pm

WORKSHOP

All Levels!
1920s Waltz All Levels

Vaccination proof NOT required. Masks optional.

PREREQUISITE

Prior dance experience is helpful for this all levels beginner friendly workshop, but is not required. No need to bring your own dance partners.

Learn Waltz in the style of the 1920s, including at least one 1920s turning basic (rotating with your partner as you travel around the room)!

Waltz was very popular in the 1920s and Jazz Age.

A partner is NOT required. It is common for people to attend by themselves. Partner rotation is allowed and encouraged in all lessons. You may register on your own or with a partner. Nevertheless, if you still seek a partner, please post that at the Facebook event.

You can also ask people at Swing Toronto dances and such. You could also click the buttons above for help.

Upper Hall

Enter the Upper Hall from Hampton Avenue, just south of Danforth.

St. Barnabas on The Danforth Anglican Church
175 Hampton Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 2Z3

SCHEDULE

Saturday, June 6, 2026

2:00am – 8:00pm

1920s Waltz Workshop

2:00pm – 4:45pm

Jazz Age Waltz Dance (w snacks)

5:00pm – 6:30pm

Jazz Age Blues Dance (w snacks)

6:30pm – 8:00pm

PRICE

Prices are per person. HST included.

Regular Admission 2pm to 8pm

$60

($53.10 + $6.90 HST)

Full time student with ID 2-8pm

$40

($35.40 + $4.60 HST)

Dance only 5pm – 8pm

$20
Pay at door cash only

Dances only 5-8pm f/t student

$15
Pay at door cash only
Dance Party only after 9:50pm
Pay at door cash only
$10
$16 full-time students with ID
($14.16 + $1.84)
$16 full-time students with ID
($14.16 + $1.84)

*Swing Toronto partners with Stripe for payment processing.

SWING TORONTO NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news about our dances, workshops, courses, and events! You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not spam you.

BOOTCAMP AND DANCE PACKAGES
$60 regular for the workshop, lesson and dance party (4-10:30pm)
$40 F/T student for the workshop, lesson and dance party (4-10:30pm))
Special offer: $40 for everything 4pm to 10:30pm if you took Vicky’s Rockabilly Jive workshop before
Workshop & Dance PACKAGE 3:45-10:15pm
CASH ONLY AT DOOR
$60
$40 full-time students with ID
ALSO! If you took our Rock ‘n Roll course or workshop before, your workshop registration includes free admission to the dance & Rockabilly Jive lesson, 6:15-10:30pm
Slide
Sunday, June 7, 2026
5:00pm – 8:00pm

DANCE

Jazz Age Waltz & Blues Supper Dance
DJ’d Dance

DJ(s) TBA

Vaccination proof NOT required. Masks optional.

Upper Hall

Enter the Upper Hall from Hampton Avenue, just south of Danforth.

St. Barnabas on The Danforth Anglican Church
175 Hampton Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 2Z3

SCHEDULE

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Lindy Hop Beginner Lesson

Teachers: TBA

Lesson included with admission.

6:15pm – 7:15pm

Jazz Age Waltz Dance

Teacher(s): Cheryl Henry & Simon Threlkeld

5:00pm – 6:30pm

Jazz Age Blues Dance

Teacher(s): Cheryl Henry & Simon Threlkeld

6:30pm – 8:00pm

NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED.
Absolute beginners are welcome!

Jazz Age Waltz & Blues Supper Dance
Part of Toronto’s Roaring 20s Jazz Age Dance Weekend

Theme: Jazz Age Garden Party.
Photo Ops & Props.
Jazz Age style attire is encouraged but optional.

The first half of the dance features 1920s Waltz music, and the second half 1920s Blues music, including later recordings of 1920s tunes. Most of the dancing taught on the weekend is suitable or adaptable to Blues music, in our opinion.

Some snacks will be served (included with admission).

Supper options:
– You may bring supper and have it at the hall. (There are many restaurants nearby on “The Danforth.”)
– Please do not bring peanuts or shellfish to the hall, because the venue has a peanut and shellfish-free policy.

Decor:
The 1920s Jazz Age style décor for this party, and the Saturday Night party, includes Art Deco designs, and a big nod to 1920s Egyptomania.

DJ(s) TBA

with the Drew Jurecka Jazz Manouche Ensemble

PRICE

Same prices online and at door. Lessons included.

Same prices online and at door. Lessons included.

Prices are per person. HST included.

Free w Sunday wkshp or wknd package
$20 full-time students with ID
($17.70 + $2.30 HST)
$20 Dance only 5pm to 8pm, inclds sncks
Pay at door cash only
$15 Dance only f/t student 5-8pm
Pay at door cash only
$16 full-time students with ID
($14.16 + $1.84)

*Swing Toronto partners with Stripe for payment processing.

SWING TORONTO NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news about our dances, workshops, courses, and events! You can unsubscribe at any time. We will not spam you.