Practice group for
motivated lindy hoppers
What
A weekly practice group for lindy hop and solo jazz dancers. The focus is primarily on the quality of dancing and the main viewpoint is social dancing. However, we will certainly touch other areas and treat partner dance as a whole.
The group is self-governed and self-led. For now, there is no teacher instruction planned. Group members will decide together what kind of teacher input we want (topics, frequency, budget etc.).
A high-level practice structure will be offered, but the detailed content of the practice is defined by the group members. We will often follow the Better Lindy class content, allowing us to train the topics that have been taught in the class and to explore different nuances and variations to those.
Taking the Better Lindy class is recommended if you are joining the practice group, but not required. If you have signed up for the class already, this is a great opportunity to rehearse and integrate the newly learned skills into your dancing, and receive feedback from practice partners in the group.
The initial kick off and organisational efforts are done by Tereza and Aleksis.
Format: small group of dedicated and motivated dancers. The group defines goals and themes of practice for the 2026 winter season. There will be supporting content: physical and musical exercises, instruction videos. Possible teaching will be decided on by the group. The participants are expected to provide their input and feedback to the training sessions. The partners are rotated.
Expect a lot of feedback from your peers, jam circles, and some video taping.
Cost: about 5-10 euros per practice session (in the lower end if we don’t get teaching; in the higher if we have occasional teachers). The payment covers space rental and other operational expenses. The payment is done for the whole winter season in advance.
FAQ
Do I need a partner to participate?
No, having a partner is not required. However we will aim to have an even number of followers or leads. Registering with a partner might increase your chances of getting in.
If you are registering with a partner, please mention each other's name on your separate signup forms.
Is this some closed group or inner circle?
Yes and no.
For anything like this to work, we must have a group of committed people, who are ready to spend their time and effort on the shared goal, learning to dance even better. Based on earlier experience, things just don’t work, if people come and go and in every meeting half of the people are new. In order to dive deeper each time (and not to start over every time), we need the same people to join in the meetings. In this way the group is closed once people have registered.
However, the goal is in no way to create something secret or something that starts to separate itself from other dancers. This would be against the spirit of lindy hop: lindy hop is a social dance, and everybody is there to help everybody and to dance better with others. We will have this as an important principle - every one of us has the goal of sharing the joy and developing the whole scene locally, nationally and internationally. Also (as you can see) we are spreading info about the group openly and hope everybody is interested to join! In these ways the group is totally open.
I’m a teacher-dancer, can I join the practice group?
Yes. You are welcome to join and there is no expectation from you to teach.
Who can join
In principle, anyone who can dance lindy hop. That said, this project is intense and depends on a stable group of dancers who are committed to consistent effort. It also means we have to limit the group size, so that learning stays effective and that participants can provide feedback to each other.
We ask:
Commitment to the weekly sessions. Attendance matters: dropping in and out slows down the whole group. Genuine emergencies are of course understood.
Motivation and readiness to work. If there are more applicants than places, selection will be based on motivation and current skill level. Aleksis and other Groovy Moose teachers make the final call, with the aim of keeping the group as functional as possible. If there's more interest than we can fit, we'll look at opening a second practice group later.
Existing skills. You should be able to dance lindy hop at a range of tempos and adapt to different partners with some ease. This isn't measured in years — what matters is that you can already dance fluently enough to work on the finer points, and that you approach your dancing wanting to examine, learn and understand more.
For the good (and evil) of the group, Tereza has promised to look after participation and commitment.
How to join
Submit your application through this Google Form. After acceptance to the group we will send you further info on group and payment.
Where & When
Every Sunday from 18:00 to 20:00 at Rakelandia, Hämeenpuisto 17-19, 33210 Tampere.
Starting with an open intro and tea dance on 30.8 at 18.00.
No practice session during the autumn break week: syysloma.