From the Land of Milk and Cheese, Beer and Brats.
www.ccswing.com
It may take some by surprise, but we actually do have a Swing Scene here in the great city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and there is an interesting history of dance and jazz in this town as well.
Tuesday Nights are @ The Milwaukee Ale House - Maureen Majeski has had Swing Nights there for over 5 years, and teaches a basic 6 count Swing lesson at 8. There is open dancing from 9:15 - midnight. It is a large bar area thats cleared out for the dance night. It is full of beginners, and is a popular social event. Attendance can range from 75-150, pending the weather and the night. Its a good place to get started, and there are many regulars. It can be intimidating for the shy socialite, and often the better dancers can feel like exhibitionists.
Wednesdays - Maureen teaches 6 ct. in Waukesha (30 minute drive from Downtown) Attendance is rarely about 30 people, and no one is under 40 years of age.
University of Wisconsin had been having their swing nights, with attendance rarely getting above 30. There is typically an abundance of leads.
Thursdays - Maureen teaches somewhere, it changes. She teaches most intermediate swing and Lindy Hop. I think she maybe gets 10-15 couples.
We have a new venue that started in February, Hot Water Swing. Music by Cream City Swing, and goes from 8:30-11:30. This is a new bar with a beautiful wood floor. There's plenty of space, but feels more intimate. Attendance sits around 50-125: still erratic due to its new nature, but attracts the more advanced dancers. This is definitely our Lindy Based night, and has been a lot of fun.
Ever First Friday of the Month, Maureen sponsors a live band at the Knights of Columbus hall. Typically a solid 200+ people attend. Its a tile floor, buts its a live band, and its what we got. Maureen teaches a basic swing lesson at nearly every event she holds.
Maureen also sponsors extra dances throughout the month. Often the Second Saturday of the Month she hosts a local boogie/ blues band, and its another chance to dance to something live.
On occasion, the Ale House will have a swing, blues, or boogie band, and they do make some* room for the dancers. One can still smoke in this town, and this is a rather large bar for drinkers in mind, not dancers. I've had some great nights dancings in my 2x4 foot space. Sometimes 6 regular dancers will show, sometimes 50.
I formed my own lindy based group and held a late night dance (midnight -5am) on April 8. About 50 people came. I'm having another June 10.
We are also heading into summer, where we have dance bands play at Jazz in the Park (Thursdays 6:30 - 9), and other bands pop up here and there in public spaces throughout the summer more than in the winter.
Amazingly, we have an energetic and enthusiastic scene, and I feel like we dance to live bands much more often than appears. Compared to Madison, or Appleton, we are lucky to have our "abundance" of live music to go out to. Our scene differs in that the age of the scene is much older, about 85% is between 33-60, and those of us in our 20s are only 10-15% represented. We do have a few that did this back when.
Our geography is 90 miles away from Chicago, 80 miles from Madison, 300 from Minneapolis, and surprising 440 miles from Cleveland (but you have to get around Chicago) St. Louis is 380 miles away, and I know that Knoxville, TN is a solid 650 miles away. (Its a long drive but a fun exchange!)
I have some additional comments I want to make, but I'll have to wait for another day to post.
