Our vision is to create a Lindy Hop festival centred on community, connection and creativity. We want to build a space that invites dancers to come together to learn, grow and collaborate together through jazz.
By bringing together educators who prioritise rhythm, play and communication, and who are passionate about the cultural legacy of Lindy Hop, we hope to provide a learning environment which supports your growth as a dancer, as a community member, and as a participant in this Black American art form.
In addition to the values outlined below, we have put together our code of conduct for attending Pass the Bounce, which we encourage you to read before you sign up to the event. Click the link below to make sure you understand your rights and responsibilities at this festival.
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Organising a festival of this size is no small undertaking, and to help guide us, we have chosen to found this festival on a core set of values which will guide every decision we make. Although the following list is what we consider most important, we recognise that both our ambitions and responsibilities don’t end here. We will endeavour to both build the best festival we can, and to gather feedback so that we can continue to learn.
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It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been dancing - everyone has value and something to bring to the table. Our best dancefloor conversations are not bound by our experience, but by two people connecting through honesty, openness and curiosity. That’s how we connect with one another, on and off the dancefloor.
So experienced dancers, ask those beginners! New to dancing? Ask everyone!
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For us, being a respectful participant in this incredible art form means continuing to learn and seek to understand the cultural and social context that these art forms were born out of. We firmly believe this dance should not be separated from its cultural history and to do so would dismiss the legacy and the struggles of those who created it, carried it and nurtured it throughout the 20th century.
Lindy Hop was created during a time of segregation and embodies resilience, self expression and social connection. We recognise that many of us have come to learn Lindy Hop with our own biases and cultural lenses and strive to recognise these along with our privilege when learning more about art forms from different cultures. Our goal is to foster dance communities that engage in cultural appreciation, not appropriation and in turn, nurture more respectful, informed global citizens.
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We aim to create a space where people are able to express who they are on the dancefloor freely and safely, regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, gender expression or sexuality. We welcome everybody from all walks of life who want to engage respectfully with other people through Lindy Hop, support other people’s learning as well as their own and deepen their own understanding of different cultures.
We are passionate about dance roles ≠ gender roles and encourage everyone to check their assumptions and biases at the door. When you ask someone to dance, simply ask whether they’d like to lead/follow/switch, rather than assume they do a certain role.
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We are interested in having fun dancing WITH you, not at you. We want to create WITH you, not without you. We want to be inspired BY you, not just beside you. That’s what true partner dancing is about. Creativity and collaboration between people who are interested in what each other has to say.
We do not believe embodying rhythm, being a supportive partner dancer and deepening our understanding of the cultural values of the dance are levelled concepts - that’s why our festival offers equal amounts of open level and levelled classes. Levelled classes offer focus and depth tailored to your experience while open level classes help us be better social dancers, collaborators and community members. Together, we hope we can meet everyone where they are in their learning, to provide a space that challenges, supports and empowers you to show up more fully in your dancing.
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Community isn’t just a trend. It’s how we build our lives, where everyone plays a part in creating the world we share. It’s not a passive entity - it can only sustain when we all actively choose to show up for one another. It accommodates the fact that we all have different capacities at different times: sometimes we can support more, sometimes we need supporting - but community only works when we all embrace that responsibility and embody it, both on and off the dancefloor.
How we check in on one another, whether we know you or not, how we support someone’s triumphs and console someone’s struggles. It’s about recognising a win for one us is a win for all of us and how we can embody these ideas in our dancing e.g. how do we respond to someone’s ideas on the dancefloor, how do support eachother in jams or performances.
Ever since we first set up Lindy Hop classes in Cardiff, we have dreamed of one day putting on our own international festival. We can’t quite believe it’s happening! It’s been a long road to get here, and we’re so grateful to everyone who has attended our past events and supported our growing community, which has led to this festival being possible.
No event can happen without the efforts of organisers, and those who show up to support through volunteering or in the many other ways that people create value for their community. Click on the link below to meet the team who are responsible for turning Pass the Bounce from dream to reality.
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