About the Teachers
Chester and Linda Freeman have taught in Europe, on Martha's
Vineyard, on cruises and at Saratoga's famous Dance Flurry
Festival, but their home base is the Hudson Valley where they teach
private lessons, run swing dance workshops, group classes and
monthly dances.
Since January 2010, they have been the hosts of WHVW 950 AM
The Swing Shift Radio Show on the 1st and 3rd Mondays 10-
11am.
They have been profiled and featured in many news articles,
including Hudson Valley Magazine, The Poughkeepsie Journal, The
Daily Freeman, The Woodstock Times, The Southern Ulster Times
and, in 2005, they were the cover story of Hudson Valley Life
magazine. Their work with the students at Violet Avenue
Elementary School was filmed by the Children's Media Project and
used for a national TV campaign entitled: It's Your Body, Now
Move it!
Chester and Linda Freeman have taught in Europe, on Martha's
Vineyard, on cruises and at Saratoga's famous Dance Flurry
Festival, but their home base is the Hudson Valley where they teach
private lessons, run swing dance workshops, group classes and
monthly dances.
Since January 2010, they have been the hosts of WHVW 950 AM
The Swing Shift Radio Show on the 1st and 3rd Mondays 10-
11am.
They have been profiled and featured in many news articles,
including Hudson Valley Magazine, The Poughkeepsie Journal, The
Daily Freeman, The Woodstock Times, The Southern Ulster Times
and, in 2005, they were the cover story of Hudson Valley Life
magazine. Their work with the students at Violet Avenue
Elementary School was filmed by the Children's Media Project and
used for a national TV campaign entitled: It's Your Body, Now
Move it!
Chester is a member and assistant director of the Big Apple Lindy Hoppers
performance troupe and winner of a silver medal at the Canadian Lindy Hop
Championships. Linda helped edit the original manuscript for Frankie Manning's
autobiography, "The Ambassador of Lindy Hop." They are the directors of the Hudson
Valley Swing Kids.
Our Mission
To spread the joy of swing dancing throughout the Hudson Valley.
performance troupe and winner of a silver medal at the Canadian Lindy Hop
Championships. Linda helped edit the original manuscript for Frankie Manning's
autobiography, "The Ambassador of Lindy Hop." They are the directors of the Hudson
Valley Swing Kids.
Our Mission
To spread the joy of swing dancing throughout the Hudson Valley.
Our Philosophy
We believe that dance is the best thing you can do for yourself: physically, emotionally,
mentally and socially. Many of our students started dancing as a result of life changes such
as marriage, divorce or job loss. We frequently hear "Dancing saved my life." It's true.
Dancing is an opportunity to connect with others in a supportive environment. When you
learn to dance you discover rhythms of your body and your heart that you may not have
known were there.
Our mission is to spread the joy of swing dancing as we teach people the skills to do it! We
love teaching, each other, and our students...so we all always have a good time!
Our Approach
Our objective is to teach social dance skills, so you can dance with anyone for the rest of
your life. Every move we teach is grounded in principles of lead and follow connection. With
a fundamental understanding of how to lead and follow, and being well-connected, our
students can dance practically any dance with anybody.
To help you learn to dance socially, you don't need to attend class with a partner...everyone
dances with everyone in rotation. This enhances your learning as you don't just learn to
compensate for one person's habits or rely on signals. It also creates a fun, social
atmosphere in class. Many of our students make friendships that last beyond the dance floor.
We don't teach routines, we teach moves that you learn to integrate into your dancing.
Rather than load you down with moves you can't remember, we review weekly to ensure
that you have the confidence and ability to execute the moves on the dance floor.
We've created five commandments for a safe and fun-loving environment on the dance floor.
Chester and Linda's Dance Class Commandments:
1. Thou shalt not blame or cast stones at thy partner or thyself. Give yourself
permission to learn. You are learning a partner dance that requires two people to do
something that neither knows how to do yet. Don't be too hard on yourself or your partner.
you, she, or he will certainly do something "wrong." That's how you learn to do it right. The
only "fault" is inexperience.
2. Thou shalt not attempt to "teach" your partner. Concentrate on improving your own
ability, not fixing your partner's. Everyone comes to class with different levels of experience.
If you try to help by teaching or doing moves that aren't part of the repertoire being taught, it
will be distracting to your partner and to those around you. Remember you are in the class to
learn. Let the teachers do the teaching.
3. Thou shalt not look at your feet unless we tell you to. This dance is not about where
you put your feet but how you move your body. Move your body and your feet will follow.
They are attached.
4. Thou shalt smile and laugh at yourself. Swing dancing is all about having fun. Learning
to move your body in new ways may feel awkward at first. You may feel silly or not "in
control." That's okay, lose control, lighten up, and enjoy yourself.
5. Thou shalt practice and go out and dance. You learn by repetition, so you must practice.
Don't wait until you think you are "good enough" to go out dancing. The more social
dancing you do, the better you get. Swing dancing is the most social dance there is.
Everyone dances with everyone. Don't be afraid to ask dancers who you think are "better
than you" to dance.
We believe that dance is the best thing you can do for yourself: physically, emotionally,
mentally and socially. Many of our students started dancing as a result of life changes such
as marriage, divorce or job loss. We frequently hear "Dancing saved my life." It's true.
Dancing is an opportunity to connect with others in a supportive environment. When you
learn to dance you discover rhythms of your body and your heart that you may not have
known were there.
Our mission is to spread the joy of swing dancing as we teach people the skills to do it! We
love teaching, each other, and our students...so we all always have a good time!
Our Approach
Our objective is to teach social dance skills, so you can dance with anyone for the rest of
your life. Every move we teach is grounded in principles of lead and follow connection. With
a fundamental understanding of how to lead and follow, and being well-connected, our
students can dance practically any dance with anybody.
To help you learn to dance socially, you don't need to attend class with a partner...everyone
dances with everyone in rotation. This enhances your learning as you don't just learn to
compensate for one person's habits or rely on signals. It also creates a fun, social
atmosphere in class. Many of our students make friendships that last beyond the dance floor.
We don't teach routines, we teach moves that you learn to integrate into your dancing.
Rather than load you down with moves you can't remember, we review weekly to ensure
that you have the confidence and ability to execute the moves on the dance floor.
We've created five commandments for a safe and fun-loving environment on the dance floor.
Chester and Linda's Dance Class Commandments:
1. Thou shalt not blame or cast stones at thy partner or thyself. Give yourself
permission to learn. You are learning a partner dance that requires two people to do
something that neither knows how to do yet. Don't be too hard on yourself or your partner.
you, she, or he will certainly do something "wrong." That's how you learn to do it right. The
only "fault" is inexperience.
2. Thou shalt not attempt to "teach" your partner. Concentrate on improving your own
ability, not fixing your partner's. Everyone comes to class with different levels of experience.
If you try to help by teaching or doing moves that aren't part of the repertoire being taught, it
will be distracting to your partner and to those around you. Remember you are in the class to
learn. Let the teachers do the teaching.
3. Thou shalt not look at your feet unless we tell you to. This dance is not about where
you put your feet but how you move your body. Move your body and your feet will follow.
They are attached.
4. Thou shalt smile and laugh at yourself. Swing dancing is all about having fun. Learning
to move your body in new ways may feel awkward at first. You may feel silly or not "in
control." That's okay, lose control, lighten up, and enjoy yourself.
5. Thou shalt practice and go out and dance. You learn by repetition, so you must practice.
Don't wait until you think you are "good enough" to go out dancing. The more social
dancing you do, the better you get. Swing dancing is the most social dance there is.
Everyone dances with everyone. Don't be afraid to ask dancers who you think are "better
than you" to dance.
About Us...Learn to Dance with Us!
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