Lindy Hop - Hardwicke

A typical class starts with a warm-up and a recap, then the teachers show a move or concept a piece at a time. Leads and follows usually swap partners every few minutes, so you dance with everyone and nobody needs to bring a partner. Expect to laugh, to get it wrong a few times, and to leave with something you can use straight away on a social floor.

Lindy Hop is the original swing dance, created by African-American dancers in Harlem in the late 1920s and 1930s and danced to big-band swing jazz. It is a partner dance built on an eight-count swingout, mixed with six-count moves, and it is famously improvised – lead and follow play with the music rather than repeating a routine. It suits any age, and most classes rotate partners. Read our full guide.

Swing Jive (also called 1940s jive or jitterbug) is the wartime form of jive that came to Britain with American servicemen. It is a friendly, adaptable partner dance to big-band and swing music, and it sits between Lindy Hop and later rock'n'roll jive. Read our full guide.

Dursley-based company teaching Lindy Hop and swing jive in Gloucester, Tetbury, Swindon and Stroud, with regular swing dances and live-band socials. We list 10 of their sessions, running on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. See everything from Just Jive Lindy Hop.