The Wheaton Collage Swing Club was created in the Fall of 2002. Currently, we have approximately 40 members in the club. Meetings are held in the dance studio in Balfour Hood Atrium on Tuesdays from 7:45pm to 9:00pm. We offer yearlong professional lessons by Hop to the Beat dance studio instructors and bi-monthly outings in the greater Boston area that offer an alternative to parties with alcohol.
Member of the United States Amature Ballroom Dancing Association-Youth and Collegiate Network
To educate the Wheaton community about the physical, mental, and social benefits of partner dancing through instruction by fellow students, professionals, and swing dance workshops.
General Benefits
Understanding of music's rhythm and tempo
Economics and fluidity in movement
Poise and balance
Self-confidence
Physical Benefits
Build stamina equal to that of runners
Excellent physical conditioning
Balance, synchronized, and coodrinated movement
Mental Benefits
Will stretch your thinking and "do-it" abilities
Teamwork is mutually stimulating
Social Benefits
Discover a new alliance with the opposite sex, an alliance built on courtesy, cosideration, and
mutual achievement
Find yourself much appreciated at social functions and always popular
Hop to the Beat Dance Studio is based in the Boston, Massachusetts, area and specializes in Lindy Hop (the original form of swing/jitterbug partner dancing) by providing dance classes, performances, dances, workshops and annual summer camp and championship. Other dance styles include Balboa, Collegiate Shag, St. Louis Shag, Blues, Authentic Jazz, Aerials, '50s Rock 'n' Roll, Jitterbug, Charleston, Black Bottom and Big Apple. Regular classes are also offered in Hip Hop, the kind of dancing often seen in today's music videos.
Tony and Aurelie Tye
Tony began dancing in 1989 and Aurelie in 1990, and met shortly afterwards in a Swing dance class in Boston. They first experienced Lindy Hop while attending a week long dance camp featuring Steven Mitchell. Once hooked, they soon began to travel both nationally and abroad to take classes with the top international Lindy Hoppers. In 1993 they began to bring some of these world class instructors to New England. This led to the International Lindy Hop Workshop Series, holding three to four weekend workshops each year.
Tony and Aurelie initially started teaching in 1994 in Providence, Rhode Island where they held Lindy Hop classes for two years. In 1995, wanting to share their passion with others, and with Steven's urging, they established Hop to the Beat Dance Studio and began teaching in the Boston area, offering a full range of Lindy Hop classes. In 1997, along with Ivan and Elisabet Berggren, they held their first annual Beantown Lindy Hop Summer Camp, the first week long dance camp in the U.S. devoted to Lindy Hop. Before long, the studio became their full time passion and occupation.
Regular classes with Tony & Aurelie have also been held in Mystic and Hartford, CT, Amherst, MA and at several local universities and high schools. They have also taught at workshops and dance weekends throughout the East Coast from Maine to Florida. Weekends have included the North Atlantic Dance Championships, Swing Fling, The Boston Tea Party, Frankie Mania! and the FAC Oktoberfest. Aurelie has also had the incredible pleasure of assisting in weekend workshops with some of the world's best, including Steven Mitchell, Warren Heyes of the Jiving Lindy Hoppers, Eddie Janssen of the Rhythm Hot Shots and the legendary King of Swing, Frankie Manning.
While performing with The Kamikaze Jitterbugs, Tony and Aurelie toured in Asia with the Artie Shaw Orchestra and appeared with the Boston Pops Orchestra in a nationally-televised 4th of July Esplanade Concert. At the 1994 American Swing Dance Championships they were members of the winning team. They have been featured twice in Chronicle, a Massachusetts based TV program, have made numerous cable TV appearances, and were the instructors for the Friday Swing Night at the Roxy in Boston during its one year run, one of the largest Swing venues in the country.