News Archive

Since we’ve switched over to a new format for displaying our posts that will allow comments and show when they were published, we have had to back-up our old news feed to this page. Enjoy the old posts!

Welcome to the new board!

Last Saturday the BC Swing Club held its Annual General Meeting (AGM), which included the election of a new board. On a snowy night, the club elected the following board members:

  • President: Wyatt Ritchie
  • Vice-President: Amanda Brubaker
  • Secretary: Ella Young
  • Treasurer: Evelyn Wu
  • Board Member: Vickie Langford
  • Board Member: Rick Gillespie
  • Board Member: Edoh Amiran
  • Michael Shibasaki agreed to stay on the board as past president.

Thank you to everyone that came to the AGM and voiced their opinions. We have heard what you said and look forward to making improvements to the swing club in the months to come. Stay tuned!

(On that topic, if you have any questions, general comments, concerns, or jokes, please e-mail them to info@BCSwingDance.ca. Seriously, we love to hear from you)

Annual General Meeting And Board Elections

Our next dance, February 17, will also be the night of the BC Swing dance Annual General Meeting. We will be breaking down how 2017 went for the club financially and membership-wise, opening the floor for discussion, and holding our yearly board elections.

Any club member is eligible to participate in the meeting, and all club members are welcome to run for any position on the BC Swing Dance Executive board (except for the past president, of course).

For more information on board positions or nominations for the board, see the post “Nominations for the 2018 board of directors” below.

Note: There will be no lesson at the February dance because of the AGM, but we will be offering pizza and free admission to the dance to anyone who attends the AGM. See you there!

Christmas Dance Sponsors

December Dance

This Saturday is our last dance of the year, so come celebrate 2017 and the holidays with the BC Swing Dance Club. As an added bonus, we are starting our lessons and dance an hour early, so make note of the time change.

There will be many door prizes to be won, lots of great potluck food, and an awesome intermediate lesson taught by Ian Kirkconnell, Amy Shibasaki, and Henry Hwi (beginner lesson will be taught by Michael Shibasaki). For more information, check out our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/169131947003670/

See you there!

Nominations for the 2018 Board of Directors

Somehow, someway, the year 2017 is almost over, which means it’s time to start thinking about the BC Swing Dance’s board of directors for 2018.

The board of directors is responsible for putting on dances and attending monthly meetings. Directors will have an opportunity to influence the club’s decisions and work with like-minded people to ensure the club’s success.

Any active club member is able to run for any position on the board (there will be opportunities to become a 2018 club member at the December, January, and February dances ahead of the elections). In the meantime, throw your hat into the ring!

To make a nomination (yourself included), fill out the following form and give it to any current board member, either in person of by email:  Nomination Form.pdf. Note that you can still make nominations at the election, but the nomination committee is actively trying to fill all board positions and would be pleased to know how many may need to be filled.

For more information, see this document: Information for Potential Nominees to the Board of BC Swing Club

Music Poll

Our 20th Anniversary dance is coming up in just under a week!

In order to make the dance special we asked our members to send us some of their favorite songs to dance to. We took the results and have assembled those into a poll:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NWBLHZ8

Please select up to 5 songs that you would like to have played at the November 4 dance. See you there!

20th Anniversary Dance!

Somehow, someway, the club is celebrating its 20th anniversary on Saturday, November 4th. The BC Swing Club (originally called the North West Swing Club!) is hosting the usual good-time-family-fun dance and lesson, but your executive has been hard at work cooking up some special activities to commemorate the club’s history.

PLUS! there’s a potluck (I can’t resist good food, and you probably can’t either).

Come join past presidents, current members, and even a few founders for what is turning out to be one of the biggest BC Swing dances yet. Don’t miss out!

Summer BBQ

Summer is finally here and so are our plans for the annual BC Swing Dance Club Summer BBQ!

This year, the BBQ will be held at the John Hendry Park picnic shelter at Trout lake: (map link) The event will take place on August 12 from 4:30 until around sunset.

We are happy to announce that the BBQ will be catered by Vera’s Burger Shack. Vera’s will be cooking up unlimited hot dogs, burgers, and veggie burgers with all the fixings, so bring your appetite. The club will also bring snack foods and salads, but we’d never say “no” if you wanted to bring a dish to share.

We are asking that club members contribute $5 towards the bbq and we welcome all non-dancing friends and family at a price of $15 per person (kids 12 and under eat free). Get to know your fellow dancers better and maybe even convert some of your non-dancing friends!

Please RSVP to the evite (http://evite.me/PFvW1ThKJT) so that we can get an idea of the number of people to prepare for.

See you there!

Summer Events Added

We’re pleased to announce several dates for BC Swing Dance Activities over the summer:

 Downtown Dance: Saturday, July 15th – Scotiabank Dance Center

677 Davie Street, Vancouver, 3rd Floor, Birmingham Studio. Doors at 7:15, flashmob lesson from 7:30-8:30, taught by Michael and Amy Shibasaki, dance from 8:30 to 11:30.

Annual Member’s BBQ: Saturday, August 12 – Trout Lake John Hendry Picnic Area

BBQ starts at 4:30, come socialize with members!

Robson Square: August 25: Details to be announced

2017 West Coast Swing Flash Mob!

Back by popular demand and this year supported by the BC Swing Dance Club, we are pleased to announce the details for the 2017 flash mob.

But wait – not sure what we’re talking about?

A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual or entertaining activity of short duration. and then quickly disperse. Although the performance is short, it is usually preceded by weeks of planning, coordination, and practice.

In 2010, Damon and Lisa D’Amico choreographed a flash mob for locals in Houston, which soon spread across the North America, including to Vancouver, following the Sea to Sky WCS Convention (https://vimeo.com/16044409), and to Denver Colorado (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHUOrPCh6YA).

Starting in 2014, there has been an annual International West Coast Swing flash mob organized and choreographed by Olivier and Virginie Massart and performed on the same day around the world. On September 3, 2016 more than 6,000 dancers participated in 240 cities (39 countries), including Vancouver (https://youtu.be/7SH7zo70Q6A). The official video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O28PNwzB54k.

Although the official date for 2017 is again the Saturday of Labour Day weekend we will do our performance the following weekend (Sept 10) in order to increase local participation by avoiding a long weekend. Your first opportunity to learn the choreography will be at a special workshop taught by Michael and Amy Shibisaki at 7pm at the Confederation Centre, one hour before the June 10 BCSDC monthly dance (https://www.facebook.com/events/291364551319730/). If you want to get a head start on learning the choreography, watch and rewatch this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv7gHFiwj28).

We will be using the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/871261773004520/ to do most of the planning/discussions/organizing. All skill levels and abilities are welcome and encouraged, so please add yourself to the group, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Check Out The Survey Results

Head on over to our club documents section to check out the results of our club membership survey taken at the end of our 19th year (2016) as a club: https://bcswingdance.ca/index.php/bc-swing-dance-survey-results/

Come See Your Board In Action

The BC Swing Dance runs monthly board of directors meetings and welcomes club members to attend meetings with us. We reserve the first fifteen minutes of our board meetings for club members to raise issues with the board and also welcome anyone to sit and observe the rest of the meeting.

Check out https://bcswingdance.ca/index.php/board-minutes/ to see what we’ve been up to in past meetings.

We’re Evolving!

Welcome to the new BC Swing Dance website. Here you’ll find dance dates, information on West Coast Swing, and more information about the BC Swing Dance.

The 2017 board of directors has made it one of their initiatives to improve our online presence and we want to serve you better. If you have any suggestions about the website, our dances, or anything else, e-mail us at info@bcswingdance.ca

Nominations for the 2017 Board of Directors

February brings our Annual General Meeting, and an election for board of directors. If you know someone who would make a great director, please review the nomination documents below.

Information for Potential Nominees to the Board of the BC Swing Dance Club.pdf

To make a nomination, fill out the following form and give it to any current board member, either in person of by email:  Nomination Form.pdf

We thought we’d have fun this year and give the nominees a chance to “campaign”.  This was our election table at the January dance.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the shoe swap at the January dance.