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Canberra Today 22°/24° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

The social dancers swinging all over town

BIG bands, vintage frocks, perfect pin curls, lindy hopping, three days and four nights of dance parties – it must be Canberräng time!

More than 200 swing dancers from across the country will be in town for the ninth annual swing dance festival, says Canberräng founder Liam Honer.

Jumptown Swing dancers Dean Scott and Philippa Reville.

Largely organised by volunteers, Canberräng 2011: Swingin’ Cities USA, will be held on August 11-14, and includes eight bands and 10 dancing events spread over a weekend, with local and interstate jazz bands and dance troupes coming to perform.

“We always have fun choosing the theme and the venues – this year there’ll be a few old favourites and some new spots as well,” says Liam, who’s also the president of Jumptown Swing, Canberra’s swing dancing society.

“Canberräng is a boost to Canberra and to local musicians, and it’s just a really fun time.”

Dancer Vanessa Burgess says that since jazz music and swing dancing originated in the US, particularly in Chicago, LA, New Orleans and New York, they wanted to look at the history this year.

“Swing dancing has spread all over the world and we certainly make the most of it here,” she says. “It’s a fantastic, invigorating, high-energy, social dance.”

The Lindy Charm School will host workshops over the weekend to teach girls how to create hairstyles and make-up looks from the ‘30s to the ‘50s, and understand vintage fashions.

“At first, people thought they had to dress up in vintage gear to do swing dancing, but that’s not the case at all,” says Liam. “We actually dress down to dance, it’s very casual, and we only get the vintage clothes out for special occasions.”

Getting in the swing for Canberräng, a long weekend of bands and dancing. Photos by Silas Brown

Many of the events and balls are being held in iconic Canberra buildings, says Liam. Parliament House will host the Saturday night’s Chicago Mobsters gala ball, Old Parliament House is the venue for Friday night’s New Orleans Mardi Gras ball, and there are events at Regatta Point, Garema Place, the Kurrajong Hotel, Kingston Bus Depot markets and Lake George Winery.

“Sometimes after Canberräng I sit down and think about how many hours of dancing I just did,” says dancer Jo Perry.

“I should be exhausted! But the energy of it just keeps you going.”

For more information visit www.canberrang.org.

Behind the scenes video at the photoshoot.

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Kathryn Vukovljak

Kathryn Vukovljak

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