This track is for dancers who are new to Lindy Hop or who are still developing confidence with its foundational rhythms, movements, and partner connection.

No previous Lindy Hop experience is required.

Choose Beginner if one or more of the following are true:

• You have never taken Lindy Hop classes before.
• You have taken a small number of classes but are still becoming comfortable with the basic rhythms and movements.
• You are learning how to lead or follow through a comfortable and responsive connection.
• Six-count and eight-count rhythms, triple steps, rock steps, and basic Charleston are new or not yet consistent for you.
• You are still developing confidence with foundational movements such as pass-bys, tuck turns, Lindy circles, and swing-outs.
• You would benefit from learning or reviewing these skills at a supportive pace.
• You are returning to Lindy Hop after a long break and would prefer to rebuild your foundation before entering a faster-paced track.
• You would like more time to practise maintaining rhythm, balance, posture, and partner communication.

Classes will introduce Lindy Hop from the ground up while helping dancers build the skills and confidence needed for social dancing. Instructors will explain foundational concepts carefully and provide time to practise them.

More experienced dancers are also welcome to choose this track when they want to work deeply on their fundamentals or learn a secondary role. However, the class pace and content will remain centred on the needs of newer dancers.

Locals note: This track broadly corresponds with Sugar Swing’s Lindy Hop 1 level.

This track is for dancers who have a working foundation in Lindy Hop and are ready to expand their vocabulary, improve their technique, and become more confident social dancers.

Choose Intermediate if most or all of the following are true:

• You can comfortably social dance for an entire song while maintaining your own rhythm, balance, and basic connection.
• You are familiar with six-count and eight-count rhythms and can move between them during a social dance.
• You can lead or follow foundational material such as swing-outs, Lindy circles, tuck turns, inside and outside turns, pass-bys, promenades, and basic Charleston.
• You are developing confidence with Charleston transitions, variations, and different partnered positions.
• You can recover when something unexpected happens without needing to stop the dance completely.
• You are comfortable dancing at common social tempos. Faster music may still be challenging, but you can continue dancing while simplifying your movement.
• You are beginning to explore musicality, improvisation, personal movement, and rhythmic variations.
• You are ready to refine familiar material rather than only collect new moves.

Classes may review foundational ideas, but instructors will assume that participants already recognize and can generally perform the core movements listed above.

Locals note: This track broadly corresponds with Sugar Swing’s Lindy Hop 2 and Lindy Hop 3 levels.

Intermediate-Advanced

This track is for experienced social dancers with reliable fundamentals who are ready for faster instruction, more detailed technique, and greater rhythmic and creative challenges.

You should already comfortably meet the Intermediate description.

Choose Intermediate-Advanced if most or all of the following are true:

• You social dance regularly and can adapt comfortably to a variety of partners.
• Your swing-outs, circles, six-count movements, Charleston, and transitions are dependable without requiring a detailed review of their basic structure.
• You maintain your own rhythm, balance, and movement quality rather than relying on your partner to keep the dance together.
• You can smoothly combine six-count, eight-count, Charleston, open movement, and improvisation.
• You can recover from unexpected moments while remaining in rhythm and continuing to communicate with your partner.
• You are comfortable dancing across a broad range of tempos, including slower music and faster music around 200 BPM or above.
• You can learn unfamiliar material at a steady pace and apply feedback without needing each foundational component rebuilt from the beginning.
• You have experience with solo jazz vocabulary and can confidently participate in familiar material such as the Shim Sham. You may also have experience with routines such as the Tranky Doo or Big Apple.
• You are interested in connection, movement quality, rhythm, musical responsiveness, and personal expression, not only increasingly complicated patterns.
• You regularly practise, attend workshops, explore related dance forms, or otherwise continue developing outside your usual classes.

This track is intended to provide a meaningful step above Intermediate. Instructors will assume that participants arrive with consistent fundamentals and are ready to spend more class time on application, detail, experimentation, and refinement.

Locals note: This track broadly corresponds with Sugar Swing’s Mad Kittens program.

This is Lindy Harvest’s highest single-level track. It is intended for highly experienced dancers who demonstrate strong fundamentals, adaptability, musical awareness, and independent movement in a wide variety of social-dance situations.

You should already comfortably meet both the Intermediate and Intermediate-Advanced descriptions.

Choose Advanced if most or all of the following are true:

• You are recognized as a highly skilled social dancer both within your home community and when dancing in other established scenes.
• You can adapt your connection, movement, and choices to partners with different styles without losing your own rhythm or balance.
• You dance comfortably across slow, medium, and fast tempos while maintaining clarity, control, musicality, and partner communication.
• Your dancing includes confident improvisation, rhythmic variation, personal expression, and a strong understanding of both partnered and individual movement.
• You have a broad and practical solo jazz vocabulary that appears naturally in your partnered and solo dancing.
• You learn complex movement, rhythms, concepts, or choreography quickly and can continue working when the material is unfamiliar or initially unsuccessful.
• You can identify and adjust your own habits without requiring extensive individual correction.
• You practise deliberately, seek detailed feedback, and actively pursue learning opportunities that challenge your existing dancing.
• You are prepared for classes that move quickly, include abstract or concept-driven material, and offer little review of foundational mechanics.
• You approach advanced material with curiosity and humility and can find value in detailed work on seemingly simple ideas.

Many dancers in this track teach, perform, compete, choreograph, or train with teams. These are useful indicators of experience, but none is a requirement or an automatic qualification for the track.

Aerials, lifts, and dips are not prerequisites unless a particular class explicitly says otherwise. Experience dancing a secondary role is welcome but is also not required.

Locals note: This track broadly corresponds with Sugar Swing’s Mad Cat Swing team.