upcoming events

nyc events list

past events

Ongoing: Russian Banya Parties 12.31.13 - The Bootleggers' Ball 10.26.13 - Masquerade Macabre #5 08.09-11.13 - G&S 10th Anniversary (First-ever NYC Steampunk Weekend) 10.27.12 - Masquerade Macabre #4 12.31.12 - Black & White Masked Ball 08.11.12 - The Lost Circus 04.12.12 - The Drowned Ball 02.11.12 - Meet Me in Paris 12.31.11 - The Glitter Ball 10.31.11 - Speakeasy Dollhouse 10.29.11 - Masquerade Macabre #3 08.21.11 - Black & White & Red All Over Ball (Coilhouse Magazine BDay party) 07.16.11 - The Lost Circus 07.14.11 - Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing 2011 - Swing House 12.31.10 - The Bootleggers' Ball 10.30.10 - Masquerade Macabre #2 07.31.10 - The Lost Circus 04.24.10 - Swing House 2-Year Anniversary 03.07 & 21.10 - JaNk! 02.14.10 - The Vault of Golden Vapors 12.31.09 - The Bootleggers' Ball 10.31.09 - Masquerade Macabre 07.17.09 - Nouvelle Époque Cabaret-Salon 06.27.09 - Hobos & Mermaids on the High Seas 04.03-05.09 - Luminous Flux NYC - video art weekend 03.15.09 - Swing House 1-Year Anniversary 11.01.08 - Halloween Vintage Masquerade Ball 10.31.08 - Voodoo Culture Clash 2008 - Swing House vintage dance monthly 02.14.08 - Get Off...Line VI: Roaring 20th 08.18.07 - Radiate Fire! 10.31.06 - Halloween Parade Afterparty II: Devils n Dolls 10.31.05 - Halloween Parade Afterparty: Mardi Gras 06.21.05 - Exotica: Tiki Lounge Shindig 02.14.05 - Get Off...Line III: Say Cheese (and Chocolate) 02.14.04 - Get Off...Line II: Code Red

06.21.08: Swing House: A dazzling vintage dance monthly

"Gatsby-era fun with a twist of new school-vibe" (Village Voice)

Bootleggers and speakeasies...wild dancers and smart mouths...art that sizzles and music that roars... With live swingin' dance sounds of the early 20th century, re-bopin' DJs remixing and reinventing vintage grooves, awesome aerial artistry, dazzling dance numbers, blazing burlesque and performance art to make you swoon. Plus: projections, stilt walkers, fire performers, oh my. The Jazz Age never ended, it just got funky. Dress accordingly!

This month's music theme: brassy New Orleans hot jazz

With:
 
  • FREE dance class before the event
  • Live authentic New Orleans hot jazz all night: dixieland wonderboys Red Hook Ramblers, rumbling-raunch-jazz stealth masters Stumblebum Brass Band, and special guest directly from New Orleans, torch singer Linnzi Zaorski
  • Blazing 1920s burlesque by The Peach Tartes
  • Dazzling dance by Lindy Hop All Stars founder Paolo Lanna and partner Emily Vanston
  • Awesome aerial performance by some of our favorite artists
  • Re-bopin' jazz swingin' beats by resident DJ Dhundee and special guests from London The Broken Hearts
  • Immersive vintage dance + live feed projections by Glass Bead Collective
  • Hot live grooves by guest musicians on horns & drums
  • Plus fire spinners, stilters, magic and other unpredictable surprises

    See below for detailed info on all performers.

    Full club event at [former] Galapagos Art Space, 70 N 6th St, Williamsburg, BK


     

    Paolo Lanna and Emily Vanston doing a 20s dance demo (by quoahogian)


     

    Photos by Gene Hun


     

    Photos of Linnzi Zaorski by Chris Becker


     

    More on our artists:

    In the front room: Live authentic New Orleans hot jazz!

    Red Hook Ramblers

    Red hot dixieland jazz, gutbucket blues, and tunes of 1920's Tin Pan Alley come barreling out of Brooklyn's very own Red Hook Ramblers. This rag-tag six-piece get the juke jumpin' with long-lost #1 hits, upbeat two-steps and sweet melodies galore. Indulge yourself in a gumbo of traditional jazz, New Orleans style.

    Stumblebum Brass Band

    "As of late, this hypnotic rumbling-raunch-jazz trio has been turning up all over the city in a nearly Mephistophelean manner. They appear from nowhere, breathe smoke and fire from trumpet and tuba, pound on their drum whilst parading through the crowd...and then abruptly disappear into the New York night. Are they banshees? wraiths? demons? Do they possess some uncanny ability to locate a lull in frivolity and then dispel it with ungodly powers?" - The Cad. "The Stumblebum Brass Band's gritty, whiskey-soaked songs like "Smokin' and Drinkin'" rile up guests with Mardi Gras verve" - New York Magazine. "Rousing Anthems" - C.J. Smith, MTV News.

    Special guest from New Orleans: Linnzi Zaorski

    New Orleans Ninth Ward chanteuse Linnzi Zaorski is the kind of artist that you find standing in front of a 1940s style microphone, in a long flowing black gown, gardenia in her hair, and lit so gently as to only see a pair of fire-red lips belt out the tunes of Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, and Johnny Mercer to a smoke-filled cabaret. She is an exceptional torch singer that appears to be a cross between Cyndi Lauper and Betty Boop. Live, she turns a barroom into a speakeasy with a wink and a whisper. In the broad field of New Orleans Jazz artists she is an extreme breath of fresh air, a unique musical commodity. Sweet and a little spicy, Zaorski adds a kick to a familiar recipe.

    Also in the front room: Mind-blowing performance!

    Blazing burlesque: The Peach Tartes

    The Peach Tartes, New York City's juiciest burlesque troupe, are Veruca Honeyscotch, Rita Menweep, Scarlet O'Gasm, Madame Rosebud, and Penny Dreadfulz--a band of show women committed to challenging what you think about burlesque, what you know about women and what you expect from entertainment. They collaboratively shake, shimmy and twirl together choreography, storytelling, comedy, emotion, darkness and fire to create innovative and unforgettable events.
     
    The ladies will titillate and tantilize you with numbers from their 1920s prohibition-themed show "Peel for Repeal!"

    Dazzling dance: Lindy Hop All Stars founder Paolo Lanna & partner Emily Vanston

    Paolo "Keep Punchin" Lanna has been specializing in swing partner dances since 1995. He has toured with Wynton Marsalis and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, "Swing Dance America" and "Forever Swing," The Big Band Musical Revue. He has appeared on numerous TV programs from CNBC's Great Stuff to The David Letterman Show. He's won First Place at the New York Lindy Hop Open Swing championships and American Swing Dance Championship with Janice Wilson. Paolo founded the renown dance group Lindy Hop All Stars in 2000, comprising of award winning dancers, acclaimed instructors and professional performers.

    Awesome aerial

    Some of our favorite aerialists return to stun and astound you with their airborne grace.

    Feats of fire

    We bring back a dozen fire breathers, spinners & hoopers from parties past.

    In the back room: Swingin' beats, reimagined & remixed!

    Resident: DJ Dhundee

    DJ Dhundee is known for his eclectic and soulful sets that fuse delicious 1920s-30s jazz and broken beats. From his extensive music collection filled to the brim with classic gems, popular songs, and rare finds, he serves up the sounds with his signature style and seamless flow. Performing throughout New York, with appearances from LA to London, Dhundee also curates the legendary party "Brooklyn Bounce" alongside DJ partner Stimulus of The Real Live Show. He has spun at private parties for Comedy Central, Istar Financial, Spike TV 2006 US Tour, Straight No Chaser Magazine, Good Magazine, HOME Magazine, Wired Magazine, David Torres Productions, and Danny Simmons Gallery. Winner of four gold International Promax/BDA Awards for its music compositions for Comedy Central and MTV, Sugarcuts, Dhundee's boutique music production company, also supplies such top TV networks as Showtime, Nickelodeon, VH1, FUSE, Spike TV, and many more.

    Special guest DJs from London: The Broken Hearts

    Combining eclectic DJ sets with a flair for costumes and spectacle, the girls provide a sensational visual and aural experience. Influenced as much by Weimar Berlin as circus sideshows, they are an extravaganza of Technicolor that has landed them in the pages of British Vogue, The Observer and Time Out. In June, they begin 'Broken Hearts Mystery Hour,' their own national UK radio show, which promises to take listeners on a journey to a land of swing-time hits and eccentric curiosities that is the Broken Hearts world.
     
    "A Hollywood musical on hallucinogenics" - The Independent. "This act is full of the style and panache that will leave onlookers gawping enviously from the sidelines" - Artrocker.

    Guest DJ: Miss Bliss

    Miss Bliss has performed for crowds of 1000+ on four continents over the last eight years, touring Europe, Asia and South America three times each. She has performed in 19 countries, 22 US States, and at over 150 venues worldwide. In 2006, Miss Bliss decided to hang up the headphones and dedicate herself to environmental conservation and international development. Since then, she has spent over 20 months living in developing countries including Tanzania, Nepal and Costa Rica, including 10 months in Zanzibar as a Fulbright scholar studying community-based marine conservation. Now back in New York, Miss Bliss is returning to DJing again -- only this time look out for her in the speakeasys and cabarets because she's DJing jazz and swing!

    Guest DJ: Punching' Paolo

    Paolo focuses on those recordings that have big sound and a real swingin' groove; the Hammond B3 is one instrument you'll definitely hear during his sets. Paolo started building his collection of jazz and swing 25 years ago. He's a solid music provider for the New York Lindy crowd, showcasing both solid standards and a unique collection that spans 70 years in his usual sets at Swing 46. Paolo has been in DJ rotation at the New York Swing Dance Society (Irving Plaza) since the late 1990's and had been featured at: Bill Cameron's New Year's Extravaganza 2006, Swingin' New England 2006, Rock That Swing Munich Germany, ULX Utah Lindy Exchange 2006, Summer Jamboree Dance Camp Italy, Frim Fram Club 412 NYC, Connolly's NYC, MidSummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center and countless other events

    VJs: Glass Bead Collective

    GBC brings together individuals from diverse academic and professional backgrounds including video art, film, theater, architecture, photography, music, mathematics, fine arts and philosophy to create works which re-contextualize culture and the world in which we find ourselves today. GBC was founded in 2002 with a multimedia theatrical performance of Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit. They have since produced various live art events and films experimenting with a multi-disciplinary approach to contemporary issues (mixing visual and literary narratives in real time) as well as created live visuals for groups such as Billionaires for Bush, The War Resisters, Brooklyn Media Lab, GRACE (Global Resource Action Center for the Environment) at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival among others.

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