Are Lindy Hop lessons online worth it?

Answer:

In my view yes and no. The two biggest things that will determine the value one receives from an lindy hop lessons online is education quality and price over a long period of time. More importantly, you will have to know exactly what your expectations are before signing up or a school’s perfect solution may not be yours.

There are two sides to learning swing dancing

You will first have to decide if you ultimately desire to gain skills in lindy hop choreography or lindy hop social dancing.

Here is what I mean. One aspect of lindy hop fits in the world of choreography. In fact, most people think lindy hop is a steps dance requiring both leaders and followers to memorize certain movement phraseology to avoid errors. This is true from a swing dance choreography perspective.

Conversely, the other side of swing dancing is improvised social dance. Dancers who are part of the Lindy Hop “community” understand the difference since lindy hop social dance is what takes place at most weekend swing events.

It really is an amazing art to watch live. Leaders and followers who do not attend dances together can create lindy hop moves seamlessly together because of the technique grounding improvised swing dance.

What are your expectations for lindy hop lessons online?

If you expect to learn a bunch of lindy hop moves and then gain social dance mastery, you will be disappointed. The same goes for signing up for online swing dance courses to learn a routine and then prioritize everything but practice.

Some online swing classes and videos on Youtube focus mainly on choreographed lindy hop moves, which can cripple the average swing dancer who expects to mature in lindy hop social dance.

If swing dancers desire to master social dancing they will have to unlearn the idea of leaders and followers both knowing what is going to happen next – which is intrinsic to choreography.

Solo jazz, also known as authentic jazz is another benefit that can greatly impact a dancers skills for the good. Students will initially start learning “choreography”, but will eventually learn how to improvise, which is ultimately the goal. There are many free options to learn solo jazz moves on Youtube and there are paid options offered by professional dancers which tend to yield higher quality education.

In conclusion 

Either way, I believe lindy hop online lessons are worth it if you know what you are wanting to learn and are willing to pay the price. Obviously you will need to budget for classes but more importantly, consider how much energy and time you will invest for practice over 12-24 months.

When I first started swing dancing I decided to social dance 2 hours for every hour of class time I took. This is a bit extreme, but you get the principle.

Yes, it takes a while to develop the skills, therefore, treat it like a real investment and not a throwaway gym membership expense. No matter what your budget or price for lindy hop online lessons, it’s all worth it if you practice.

Check out and compare the best online swing schools entry-level price points below. There are plenty of great options from professional teachers, and I’ve included our online swing dance courses below.

Street Smart Swing $20 a month

Syncopated City $25 a month

iLindy $30 a month

Rhythm Juice $50 a month