Free Online Practice Resources for Lindy Hop & Swing Dance

An Intro to Online Practice Resources for Lindy Hop, Solo Jazz, and more

POV: You go to Jazz Attack a few times and take their Lindy 101 intro Lindy Hop & jazz dance class, possibly find your way into their monthly series classes, maybe you even own five cats and live in West Philly. You hear a lot about this thing called practice, and it seems like it will help you take your dancing to the next level. You decide to give it a try. You visit your living room (lol “visit”) or gym studio, cue up some swing music, and … freeze.

And not in the fun, shim-sham kind of way.

And, while completely frozen, you ask yourself,

“Gavin, how do I practice lindy hop?”

And I respond,

“Why are you calling yourself Gavin?”

Regardless, I’m glad you asked!

Deliberate practice is a skill set in itself and deserves careful attention. I intend to address the topic in several ways over the course of the next millennium. For now, here are some amazing and free online resources to help elevate your own dance practice:

Laura Glaess’ YouTube channel: Link

This is a TREASURE TROVE of all things Lindy Hop and Solo Jazz. Explore on your own or start with these playlists: “Inspiration” and “For Beginners”. Note I learn and spend most of my time in the For Beginners section. There’s a ton there.

Lindy Hopcats Site: Link

The Lindy Hopcats are a practice group based in Boston. They’ve put together an amazing resource cataloguing moves, fun practice prompts, music, and more. Explore on your own or feel try a couple practice prompts out with friends. Visit their weekly practice prompts, or select something from their Jar o' Moves

Jazz Attack practice playlist: Link

If you know what you want to practice, but don’t know which songs to play. This playlist starts with slow songs and ends with fast ones (a term often used by dj’s is “bpm” or “beats per minute”. Lower numbers are for slower songs and higher numbers are for faster songs).

If you've been practicing for a minute and are looking to expand your music library, check out Lindy Hopcats' themed playlists

In conclusion: Practice!

The journey of a thousand swing-outs begins with one rock step. If you want to improve, do what you need to make time and space for practice. And take advantage of Philly’s in-person group practice sessions, including:

Thursdays at 7:30pm before Jazz Attack (for series and extended topics students)

Sundays around 5:00pm after Ragtag classes (more on Ragtag here)

Other occasional times as announced in the Jazz Attack mailing list - sign up!

Finally, know that a handful of vetted community members offer private lessons. This is the fastest, most personalized track to growth in your dance journey. Keep an eye out for the private teacher binder at Jazz Attack, or access it digitally here.

And of course, you can find lots of material to practice in Jazz Attack's Lindy Hop & Swing dance classes right here in Philadelphia.