Second City Swingout returns in 2024!

June 28-30, 2024

After a nearly 5-year hiatus, Second City Swingout is back! Second City Swingout is a vintage jazz workshop weekend in the city of Chicago!

As always, our goal is to provide world-class dance instruction and the best vintage jazz music Chicago has to offer!

Presented by:

2024 schedule

  • Friday Evening — Welcome Dance at Irish American with Jake Sanders

  • Friday Late Night — Blues Dance at Traffic Jam! Studio sponsored by Bluetopia

  • Saturday Day — Tracked Classes at Irish American

  • Saturday Evening — Main Dance at Irish American with Jake Sanders

  • Saturday Late Night — Dance at Forteza Fitness

  • Sunday Day — Tracked Classes at Irish American

  • Sunday Evening — Farewell Dance at Forteza Fitness

Class Levels

We use class levels to create groups of students with similar knowledge and experiences to give teachers a rough idea of level expectations and hopefully have students learning with their peers - plus you can’t all fit in one room! Descriptions are provided to help you suggest the right level for you, but they are relative and it’s possible that students could fit well in an adjacent level. Teachers aim to help all students learn regardless of level and we reserve the right to move students to the correct level if they have placed themselves incorrectly.

    • ~6 months or more (equivalent to 300 Level at Traffic Jam)

    • For new dancers who are familiar with the 6-count and 8-count basics, swing outs, and basic Charleston.

    • ~1 year or more (equivalent to 400 Level at Traffic Jam)

    • Intermediate students are likely social dancing, combining 6-count and 8-count rhythms, and improving their proficiency with the basics.

    • ~2 years or move (equivalent to 500 Level at Traffic Jam)

    • Intermediate/Advanced students have likely been dancing for a couple years and may have traveled out of town to a workshop already. They are proficient in the basics, but realize there’s work to be done in mastering them.

    • Audition Required

    • 4+ years

    • Advanced students have been dancing several years, have probably traveled for dancing, may teach locally, may have made a contest finals or even won. These students are ready to be challenged.

    • Audition Required

    • Masters students have been dancing for a long while, Lindy Hop has really clicked for them. They’ve probably taught, finaled or won contests.

Jake Sanders

Returning to Second City Swingout, Chicago favorite Jake Sanders is bringing an 8-piece band with him for our Friday and Saturday night dances!

A self-taught guitar and banjo player, Jake truly delved into into vintage music while working for renowned bandleader Vince Giordano in New York City. While living there he formed The Cangelosi Cards, planting a seed for the current, thriving, young, traditional jazz scene you find in New York today. He's played with many notable projects including The Fat Babies, a renowned hot jazz band playing in Chicago and beyond.

Jake has been a staple of Second City Swingout, and we’re stoked to have him back this year!

Irish American Heritage Center

4626 N Knox Ave, Chicago, IL 60630

  • Friday Evening Dance

  • Saturday Evening Dance

  • All classes

Forteza Fitness

4437 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

  • Saturday Late Night Dance

  • Sunday Evening Dance

Traffic Jam! Studio

4011 N Ravenswood Ave Ste 101, Chicago, IL 60613

  • Friday Late Night Blues Dance

Daily Schedule

  • Main Dance

    Time: 8:30PM–12:30AM
    Strictly Prelims: 11:15PM
    Location: Irish American – Erin Room

    Late Night Blues Dance sponsored by Bluetopia

    Bluetopia, a mainstay of the Chicago blues dance scene, is hosting a special Friday Blues Late Night dance for SCS at Traffic Jam! Studio.

    Time: 12:30-2:30AM
    Location: Traffic Jam! Studio

  • Classes

    • Advanced and Masters Track Auditions: 10:30–11:30AM

    • Class 1: 11:30AM–1PM

    • Lunch Break: 1–2:30PM

    • Class 2: 2:30–4PM

    • Class 3: 4:15–5:15PM

    Mix & Match Prelims

    Time: 5:15–6PM
    Location: Irish American – Erin Room

    Main Dance

    Time: 8–12:30PM
    Strictly Finals: 9:55PM
    Mix & Match Finals: 11PM

    Late Night

    Time: 12:45–3AM
    Location: Forteza Fitness

  • Classes

    • Class 4: 11:15–12:45PM

    • Lunch Break: 12:45–2:15PM

    • Class 5: 2:15–3:45PM

    • Class 6: 4–5PM

    Dance

    Time: 8–11PM
    Location: Forteza Fitness

  • Fizz At Gallagher Way Dance

    Fizz Swing Dance, a Chicago favorite, is hosting a special outdoor dance event on Monday after SCS!

    Location:
    Gallagher Way, 3635 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60613, USA

    Time:
    Beginner-friendly lesson: 7–8PM
    DJ: 8–10:30PM

    Cost: FREE!

    For more details, check out fizzswingdance.com

Class Note

Wondering which instructor pair is teaching which lesson? Looking for class titles or topics? We won't be adding these details to the schedule so as to allow for flexibility on the backend for any last minute changes, but also to allow the instructors to cater the material to the students in the room each class. The folks we've hired to teach are professional instructors with decades of experience who will do their best to customize each class to fit the needs of the students at hand.

Sponsors

Registration Is Now Closed! See you soon!

We’ve closed registration for full passes and dance passes, but you can still register for contests at the dances!

Any remaining full class passes will be $225 and full dance passes will be $110, and may be purchased at the door if available!

Follow us on social for more news and updates as we get closer to the event!

Facebook | Instagram

Interested in Volunteering at the Event?

We need quite a few volunteers to help out during the event. As a token of our appreciation, you’ll receive $10 refund for your pass per hour you volunteer at the end of the event. Sign up below and we’ll contact you with more details.