2026 American Lindy Hop Championships 22, 23 & 24 OCT

A weekend of swing dancing in the heart of New York City. This year’s event will feature live music, social dancing, dance contests and camaraderie. This year we welcome Danny Lipsitz and Brass Tacks on 23 October and Eyal Vilner’s band for the Battle of the Bands, Saturday 24 October. In honor of Harlem’s famed Savoy Ballroom a Brown-Bag-It dinner is planned for Saturday Oct. 24. Bring-Your-Own-Food to have dinner with Barbara Billups and Sonny Allen while they discuss what it was really like at the Savoy Ballroom. The discussion will be moderated by Felix Lambert, author of the Watch Your Step book series. He is also the author of Sonny's biography which will be on sale over the weekend. We also have the honor of being chosen by Jared Harbour, producer of the documentary NO DANCING ALLOWED, to do a showing of the film. The film follows Sekou Heru from Trenton into New York's street dance world and expands into a century-long narrative spanning the Harlem Renaissance to the present. It features Lindy Hop matriarchs Mickey Davidson and Barbara Billups — women who represent an unbroken lineage from the dance's origins — and LaTasha Barnes, who in the film demonstrates how the Lindy Hop's Jazz heritage flows directly into House dance and Hip-Hop. The dancers who compete at the American Lindy Hop Championships are the living continuation of everything this film documents. The showing is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, October 22. More details to follow. Classes include - Swing Walk (Peabody), Swing Walk 2.0, a special couples workshop with Barbara Billups, solo jazz and, of course, Lindy Hop. Contest include The March Game (or Jack and Jill), Strictly Lindy ( both complimentary entry for weekend pass holders) solo jazz and the American Showcase Harvest Moon Ball Division run in tandem with the 5th annual Battle of the Bands.