Swingtime - local associatif

Associative premises dedicated to swing dancing in Lausanne!

In 2020, the Swingtime Lausanne association is spreading its wings and moving into part of a former freight station in the Sébeillon district to create a place dedicated to Swing culture, born a century ago in the streets of Harlem! With this associative premise, we wish to offer the community a friendly, cozy and integrative place where they can meet, exchange and learn.

After several years of subletting various premises, it’s time to take the plunge! This space will allow us to expand our offer of weekly courses, workshops, evening events, and training sessions and to strengthen our ties with regional traditional jazz musicians of the region. Beyond this primary objective, the premises will also be made available to other movement and dance enthusiasts and will give us the opportunity to create new cultural, educational and social collaborations.

You said «swing dancing»?

Swing dances - which include Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, Blues and Shag - were born in the dance halls of Harlem, New York in the early 1930s. Like the swing music to which they are danced, swing dances leave a lot of room for improvisation. Perhaps that’s what led to its revival in the 1980s. Today, these dances are constantly gaining new enthusiasts. This community meets all over the world for festivals, or simply for moments of social dancing, like those we have been organizing in Lausanne for the past five years. Beyond dance, swing is a culture that conveys strong values such as sharing, tolerance and inclusion. Dancers of all ages, backgrounds and cultures form a united and internationally connected community.

This is why we need your support

The renovation and furnishing of the future «Studio Swingtime» requires a substantial investment which will be covered, in part, by the Association’s own funds and subsidies, but we need you for the parquet floor! Swing outs and other fast-paced moves put the dancers’ joints to the test. A floor that absorbs shocks, has no unevenness, and offers a sliding but not too slippery surface is therefore important for a pleasant and safe dance practice. The floor is a central part of dancing and therefore, we propose to participate in the financing of this precise and symbolic object. For a dancer, what better way to feel at home than to dance on a floor that is a little bit their own! We want to support the local economy and work with local and specialized artisans. So far we have received two proposals to cover the 206 m2 of the premises. We have therefore planned two stages: a first one at CHF 15,000, which corresponds to the purchase of a quality parquet floor from a professional in the region but a laying by volunteers of the association with the help of a professional who has already committed to help us and a second one at CHF 25,000, which would allow us to entrust the laying to the local company that will supply us with the wood. If we exceed the necessary amount, this will help us to finance the other big expenses: the sound system, the mirrors and the furnishing of the room.