Mersey Swing C.I.C is the home of Lindy Hop and Charleston in Liverpool! Lindy Hop and Charleston are African American vernacular jazz dances, danced to swinging jazz emerging from the ballrooms of Harlem in the 1920’s, and gaining major popularity by travelling worldwide with US soldiers during WW2. At Mersey Swing we think it’s really important to share the history of the dance, honour the origi
nal dancers and musicians, and acknowledge the cultural context of racism both then and now. The Mersey Swing C.I.C committee are Cat, Helen, Hannah, Susan, Normandie and John and alongside an amazing team of teachers and volunteers have grown Mersey Swing into an exceptional environment to learn, meet new friends and to most of all, have fun. As a Community Interest Company, we strive to create a space where anyone who walks through the door feels welcomed, included, and safe. People dance in any role they choose. People of all ages and abilities attend class. We hope you feel welcomed by our community, as it has welcomed us. Our weekly classes on Wednesdays are taught by our welcoming committee members. Class times and other information can be found on our website www.merseyswing.com. Watch out for regular socials and workshops with dynamic and interesting teachers from near and afar. The committee meet regularly to discuss issues affecting our community, and most recently to readdress our values and to build an inclusivity statement and action plan. If you have anything you’d like the committee to discuss in their next meeting, or if you’d be interested in joining our team, let us know! Mersey Swing CIC acknowledges that we owe a huge debt to African American dancers and musicians for the dance that we enjoy today. We commit to being an anti racist organisation. We are always learning what this means through listening to both our local community, and the global Swing dance community. For us, this means:
-Talking about the history of the dance, and the Black dancers and musicians that made Swing dancing what it was/is
- Adjusting our hiring practices to ensure we find, consider and book more Black artists.
- Regularly and consistently contributing to organisations championing BAME representation in the arts and working to dismantle racism within institutions and communities, both in the UK and abroad.
