Swing, Swing, SWING!

Sat Mar 19, 20:00 - Sun Mar 20, 00:00

Hope Street Hall

ABOUT

Cape Town Swing and culturetalent SWING bring you the headline party at Mother City Hop: Swing, Swing, SWING! - a celebration of South Africa's vibrant past and present swinging jazz music and dance.

FEATURING...

LIVE BANDS! 
>>> Classics of the swing era by The DELFT BIG BAND 
>>> Township jazz hits by The SWANKY DOODLES 

DANCE SHOWCASE! 
>>> Vibrant performances by top International Lindy Hoppers from France, the USA, Lithuania and Mozambique !!!
>>> A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet legendary dancers of the Swing Era, NORMA MILLER and CHAZZ YOUNG !!!

TICKETS:
> Early bird: R150 (LIMITED!)
> Pre-sale: R190 
> Door: R220 (IF AVAILABLE!)

>>> Anyone who has a ticket to Mother City Hop 2016 automatically gets entrance to this party.

READ ON FOR MORE INFO ON THIS PREMIER EVENT:

Mother City Hop, hosted by Cape Town Swing, is South Africa’s first festival to celebrate vintage swing dances and swinging big band jazz. Over the Human Rights Day long weekend (18-21 March), the festival consists of three days of dance workshops and parties. Special guests include leading international teachers from around the world, and legends of the swing era, Norma Miller and Chazz Young. Join us for Saturday night's big event, and come dance the night away to the sounds of Sophiatown and Harlem's Savoy ballroom. Witness joy in motion as you've never seen it before!

culturetalent presents SWING, a series of live events bringing together the music, dance, lifestyle and fashion sense of the swing era in parties that give the roaring 20's a run for its money. Starting in 2008 at the old Albert Hall in Woodstock, and visiting a range of bespoke venues across Cape Town, these pop-up events are organised with a passion for collaboration and a focus on curating unique, inspired experiences.

The Delft Big Band - Official is an NGO that takes youngsters off the streets of Delft and give them a fresh new start to enable them to have a better life. The band, consisting of 16 musicians and two vocalists, has developed into one of the most professional bands in South Africa, with many of the founder members now earning incomes as music teachers and professional performers. All members of the band can sight-read at a professional level, although very few of them have ever had an individual music lesson: everything they have learnt has been taught in big band rehearsals. Big energy, big sound; an authentic Big Band!

The Swanky Doodles is a small combo swing band led by jazz drummer Andre Swartz, formed with the Cape Town lindy hop community in mind. They have a repertoire of classic swing tunes but their specialty is swinging South African township jazz.

Norma Miller (age 96), is known as the 'Queen of Swing' for good reason. She's been in show business since the age of 14, and danced with the famed New York dance group Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in the 1940s. She features in the classic Hollywood film Hellzapoppin' (Norma appears at 0:56, wearing a chef's hat).

Chazz Young (age 83), has a long and successful stage career as a tap dancer, choreographer, teacher and performer and was first inspired by his father, the late Frankie Manning (known as the 'Father of Lindy Hop'). Chazz is an integral part of the history of swing dance and has been travelling the world since the revival of the 80s, inspiring lindy hoppers everywhere. Here he is in a clip with Frankie, performing the Shim Sham (Chazz is in green).

Lindy Hop has its roots in the big band era of the 1930s and and 40s. It spread from African American communities in Harlem, New York, throughout America and further afield, but as music styles and dance habits changed in the second half of the twentieth century, it was almost lost to the world. In the 1980s, small groups of dancers in the US and Sweden sought out the dancers from vintage film clips as instructors and began a revival of the original dance styles. Norma Miller and Chazz Young are amongst these old-timers. They have been sharing their love of the dance around the world ever since.