Where can I go in Adelaide to Dance West Coast swing for fun? Westy Jamz at QuickSteps every Monday night from 9:15 pm-10 pm.
(This is a video of Mirabella dancing with Lachlan, one of our members at Westy Jamz West Coast Swing night!)
In January, QuickSteps started offering West Coast Swing classes, levels 1, 2, and 3, on Monday nights from 7 o’clock and Saturdays from 12 pm. However, we knew putting on classes was not enough for our dance community! If they’re going to learn a new style, they’re also gonna need a social night where they can practice their moves and enjoy dancing West Coast Swing together. This led us to create Westy Jamz!
Westy Jamz is run for free at the Quicksteps studio on Gouger Street every Monday night from 9:15 until 10 pm. Mirabella arranges a playlist of all her favourite West Coast Swing hits, new and old. Here are some examples of songs you might hear on the night;
https://open.spotify.com/track/5FfgLIooERZ7rcNcwxAcdF?si=e029aecbea4a45e4
https://open.spotify.com/track/3JiockjOTd8m2VGcTGkmew?si=e9259f2469994b7e
https://open.spotify.com/track/7HbB0JA2nuUbdOMiBmwFSm?si=6997af63fb894808
https://open.spotify.com/track/7C2kIGrflgP2RKqMuf9GJR?si=7bda96ee0a074820
Luke and Mirabella finish teaching the level 3 West Coast at 9:15 and go straight into Westy Jamz to make the transition between learning and practical application a smooth transition. They love to dance with beginners, intermediate, and advanced dancers alike, so please make sure you ask them for a dance! When dancing with a teacher at a social event, they are dancing with you for fun, and so you can get some practice. We don’t generally give advice or tuition on the social floor. If you’d like some feedback at the end of your dance, feel free to ask us.
(Here’s a video showing clips of some of our West Coast Swing classes followed by Westy Jamz)
For anyone who has danced West Coast swing before, you will know that it’s a unique genre in that it encompasses more improvisation and creativity than some of the more traditional ballroom, Latin, and swing styles. For this reason, it’s imperative to practice and go with the flow, and that’s what West Coast Swing Westy Jamz is all about.
Most weeks we get around 30-35 dancers attending, but it can go up and down depending on the weather. In true QuickSteps fashion, the members are friendly and welcoming. If you’d like to come along and dance West Coast Swing with us, you’re more than welcome. You don’t need to be a QuickSteps member. We’d love to see you there, so feel free to bring your friends too!
If you have never tried West Coast Swing before, you have two options;
- Book in for our Monday night Level 1 class at 7 pm. Here you can try it for free for 45 minutes and see how you go. This class will finish at 7:45 pm. You can then sit and relax in the café from 7:45 to 9:15. Take the time to chat with some local dancers and our friendly bartenders before joining West Jamz.
- Simply turn up on Monday at 9:15 pm, introduce yourself at the bar, and join Westy Jamz for fun! One of the teachers can get you up for a boogie on the fly!
This weekly West Coast Swing night is free, and we plan to keep it that way! We feel it’s important that people who are learning to dance have opportunities to use it, meet other dancers, and join the community. We hope to see you at Westy Jamz soon!
