Second City Swingout returns in 2024!

June 28-30, 2024

After a nearly 5-year hiatus, Second City Swingout is back! Second City Swingout is a vintage jazz workshop weekend in the city of Chicago!

As always, our goal is to provide world-class dance instruction and the best vintage jazz music Chicago has to offer!

Presented by:

2024 schedule

  • Friday Evening — Welcome Dance at Irish American with Jake Sanders

  • Saturday Day — Tracked Classes at Irish American

  • Saturday Evening — Main Dance at Irish American with Jake Sanders

  • Saturday Late Night — Dance at Forteza Fitness

  • Sunday Day — Tracked Classes at Irish American

  • Sunday Evening — Farewell Dance at Forteza Fitness

Class Levels

We use class levels to create groups of students with similar knowledge and experiences to give teachers a rough idea of level expectations and hopefully have students learning with their peers - plus you can’t all fit in one room! Descriptions are provided to help you suggest the right level for you, but they are relative and it’s possible that students could fit well in an adjacent level. Teachers aim to help all students learn regardless of level and we reserve the right to move students to the correct level if they have placed themselves incorrectly.

    • ~6 months or more (equivalent to 300 Level at Traffic Jam)

    • For new dancers who are familiar with the 6-count and 8-count basics, swing outs, and basic Charleston.

    • ~1 year or more (equivalent to 400 Level at Traffic Jam)

    • Intermediate students are likely social dancing, combining 6-count and 8-count rhythms, and improving their proficiency with the basics.

    • ~2 years or move (equivalent to 500 Level at Traffic Jam)

    • Intermediate/Advanced students have likely been dancing for a couple years and may have traveled out of town to a workshop already. They are proficient in the basics, but realize there’s work to be done in mastering them.

    • Audition Required

    • 4+ years

    • Advanced students have been dancing several years, have probably traveled for dancing, may teach locally, may have made a contest finals or even won. These students are ready to be challenged.

    • Audition Required

    • Masters students have been dancing for a long while, Lindy Hop has really clicked for them. They’ve probably taught, finaled or won contests.

Jake Sanders

Returning to Second City Swingout, Chicago favorite Jake Sanders is bringing an 8-piece band with him for our Friday and Saturday night dances!

A self-taught guitar and banjo player, Jake truly delved into into vintage music while working for renowned bandleader Vince Giordano in New York City. While living there he formed The Cangelosi Cards, planting a seed for the current, thriving, young, traditional jazz scene you find in New York today. He's played with many notable projects including The Fat Babies, a renowned hot jazz band playing in Chicago and beyond.

Jake has been a staple of Second City Swingout, and we’re stoked to have him back this year!

Irish American Heritage Center

4626 N Knox Ave, Chicago, IL 60630

  • Friday Evening Dance

  • Saturday Evening Dance

  • All classes

Forteza Fitness

4437 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

  • Saturday Late Night Dance

  • Sunday Evening Dance

Registration Is Now Open!

We have full passes available which give you access to all tracked classes and all four dances.

We also have a limited number of dance passes which give you access to all four dances (but no classes).

We also have an add-on for our Mix & Match Contest for those who want to compete.

Tickets for individual dances will made available after full and dance pass registration has been opened if space is available.

If you’d like to gift a full pass to someone, we have a gift pass available. Check it out.

We understand that paying for a full pass all at once can be difficult for some folks. If you’d like to set up a payment plan with us, please email us at hello@secondcityswingout.com for assistance. We also may have a limited number of scholarships available. Apply here.

Follow us on social for more news and updates as we get closer to the event!

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Interested in Volunteering at the Event?

We need quite a few volunteers to help out during the event. As a token of our appreciation, you’ll receive $10 refund for your pass per hour you volunteer at the end of the event. Sign up below and we’ll contact you with more details.