Hepcat Swing

Lindy Hop 1
2025-10-08 20:00 - 21:00, 2025-10-01 20:00 - 21:00, 2025-09-24 20:00 - 21:00 (America/Toronto) | Hepcat Swing Studio, 42 Erb St. E., Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 1L6, Canada
6 weeks of classes (Every Wednesday Sept 22 – Oct 27)
8:00-9:00pm
No dance experience necessary! Although this is a partner dance, you do not need to bring your own partner.
This is a great class to get started with partnered swing dancing and social dancing in general! We will go from the very basics of Lindy Hop and work through enough material to get you dancing comfortably. We will also learn some history of the Lindy Hop and why we are still dancing it today. Taking this class would be a great opportunity for experienced dancers who’d like to refresh their basics or learn a new role.

Swing 0: Guide to Swing Dancing
2025-10-08 19:00 - 20:00, 2025-10-01 19:00 - 20:00, 2025-09-24 19:00 - 20:00
6 weeks of classes (Every Wednesday, Sept 24 – Oct 29)
7:00-8:00 pm
Have you always wanted to learn how to dance, but didn’t think you could? This is the course for you! Join us for six weeks of super fun, super accessible swing dance basics designed to get you up and moving to the music as quickly and as confidently as possible. Anyone can do this class! :). We’ll explore the basics of connection with your body, the music, and another person, all skills that can be applied to other styles of dancing as well.
No partner or experience needed, just your dancing shoes and a smile!

Lindy Hop 4B
2025-10-07 20:30 - 21:30, 2025-09-30 20:30 - 21:30, 2025-09-23 20:30 - 21:30
6 weeks of classes (Every Tuesday, Sept. 23 – Oct. 28)
8:30-9:30 pm
Prerequisite is Lindy Hop 4A or permission from the teachers.
In this class, we will continue to elevate your 4A skills, such as the high-quality connection, movement, and Lead/Follow skills you have been mastering. We will now take all these wonderful building blocks and apply them to connection isolation – which brings us to every Follow’s favourite embellishment: SWIVELS! Leaders don’t worry, we’ve got you covered too. The applications for you are how to enter on 2 and creating your own style. But that’s not all! An added bonus for both Leads and Follows is a new move called switches!

Lindy Hop 5 - All Rhythm Go 5X5
2025-10-07 19:30 - 20:30, 2025-09-30 19:30 - 20:30, 2025-09-23 19:30 - 20:30
6 weeks of classes (Every Tuesday, Sept. 23 – Oct. 28)
7:30-8:30 pm
Prerequisite is Lindy Hop 4, or permission from the teacher.
Teachers are Catherine and Tobias!
This series focuses on rhythm as the engine of Lindy Hop. Each week highlights a different rhythmic “layer” that dancers can use to expand their vocabulary and play with the music. The emphasis is on versatility: moving between 6-count, 8-count, Charleston, half-time, and breakaway rhythms… sometimes in a single dance. Students will learn to recognize, embody, and transition between rhythms, and to build improvisational choices that stay true to the swing feel.

Lindy Hop 2/3
2025-10-07 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-09-30 18:30 - 19:30, 2025-09-23 18:30 - 19:30
6 weeks of classes (Every Tuesday, Sept. 23 – Oct. 28)
6:30-7:30 pm
Prerequisite is Lindy Hop 1, or permission from the teacher.

So, you’ve got the basics down, but anything beyond that feels a bit shaky. This class is meant to give you some newer moves and variations to jazz up your social dancing and make you feel more confident. We will build on what you already know and give you new moves and variations to add some stuff to that tool belt. Get ready, set, here we go!

Weekly Monday Night Dances
2025-10-06 19:30 - 22:00, 2025-09-29 19:30 - 22:00, 2025-09-22 19:30 - 22:00, 2025-09-15 19:30 - 22:00, 2025-09-08 19:30 - 22:00, 2025-09-01 19:30 - 22:00
Like many new skills, dancing is best learned by doing! We are doing our best to provide you with opportunities to come out and dance, socialize, and listen to great music.
Almost every Monday night at Hepcat Swing, we feature great swing music to keep you dancing all night! We are a friendly bunch of people who love to see new faces out on a Monday night! The dancing starts at 8:00, with an introductory lesson at 7:30 included in the admission price to get you started (no partner or experience required). Dancing ends around 10:00, depending on how much fun we are having!
Important note: Please use our Facebook or Instagram pages to confirm whether the dance is happening for a given week (it’s faster for us to update our social media than this website, so we often make announcements there first).
Admission
General Admission: $12
Members and Students: $10
*Admission payments will be taken at the door.

Annual General Meeting (AGM)
2025-09-27 13:00 - 17:00
The date has been set for Hepcat Swing’s Annual General Meeting.
If you are a member please join us from 1pm-5pm.

Teacher's Choice - CANCELLED
2025-09-22 18:30 - 19:30
Hepcat teachers are back at it again with a grab-bag of moves, techniques, and styles. We don’t know what they are going to teach, and they might not either until they start talking. What we do know, though, is that this is a chance to level up your dancing in a big and exciting way!
Note: comfort with an 8-count Lindy swing out is required for this material.
Drop-in is available, so stop by a few minutes early and we can get you registered! Here are the drop-in rates: General $25, Student/Member $20.

Straight from Herräng
2025-09-17 20:00 - 21:00, 2025-09-16 20:00 - 21:00
2 days of classes (Tuesday, Sept. 16 & Wednesday, Sept. 17)
8:00-9:00 pm
Herräng Dance Camp is one of the most comprehensive, inspiring, and historic Swing dance camps in the world. Operating since 1982, it’s widely credited with sparking the resurgence and global growth of swing dancing. Held annually in July for four weeks, the camp attracts the world’s top instructors and dancers from across the globe. This past summer, Sarah and Jeff had the opportunity to attend, and they’re thrilled to bring a piece of Herräng back to our community! They’ll be leading a special two-week mini-series, drawing from the lindy hop classes and dances they experienced at the camp. Over these sessions, they’ll share their key takeaways, inspiring moments, and fresh content—reflecting this year’s themes, concepts, and activities at Herräng. It’s the perfect way to immerse yourself in the latest lindy hop techniques and dance culture, directly from the source.
Tickets available at the door, make sure to arrive early!
Straight from Herräng:

General rate: $50
Student/Member rate: $40

Straight from Herräng AND Bust the Rust:

General rate: $95
Student/Member rate: $75

Bust the Rust
2025-09-16 19:00 - 20:00, 2025-09-09 19:00 - 20:00
2 days of classes (Tuesdays, Sept. 9 & 16)
7:00-8:00 pm
Looking for a way to get back into dancing after the summer holidays? A little rusty on your swingouts? Come and join us for a gentle re-introduction to Lindy Hop that will help you polish up your footwork, tighten up your basics, and shake off the summer dust!
Tickets available at the door, make sure to arrive early!
Bust the Rust:

General rate: $50
Student/Member rate: $40

Bust the Rust AND Straight from Herräng:

General rate: $95
Student/Member rate: $75

Teacher's Choice - CANCELLED
2025-09-15 18:30 - 19:30
Hepcat teachers are back at it again with a grab-bag of moves, techniques, and styles. We don’t know what they are going to teach, and they might not either until they start talking. What we do know, though, is that this is a chance to level up your dancing in a big and exciting way!
Note: comfort with an 8-count Lindy swing out is required for this material.

3rd Annual Swingin' Summer of Dance
2025-08-27 19:00 - 21:30
We are so happy to invite you to the 3rd Annual Swingin’ Summer of Dance! We hope you can join us to receive unique, high-quality lessons to build your skills and enjoyment of dance during the summer.

Lesson Logistics:
– Day = Wednesday nights
– Time = 7:00-8:00pm Lindy-Centric
= 8:00-9:00pm Not So Lindy
= 9:00-9:30pm Practice
– Dates = July 2 – Aug 27
(this is 9 weeks and up to 18 classes)

Lesson Content:
– Stand alone classes and not progressive from week to week (students can miss classes and be fine to attend next class without falling behind)
– Teachers have been offered an opportunity to develop & teach their own unique classes so expect a variety of voices to learn from

Lindy-Centric will be all lindy hop all classes all summer
>Continue building on the most popular and most danced style within our community

Not So Lindy will be any swing dance style other than lindy hop
>Not sure if you want to sign up for a full 6 week class of a style that you don’t know? This summer could be a sample of these other styles so you can try them about!
>Builds into our fall classes session
>Each class for the style will start with basic figures and then finish with different figures

Lesson Attendance & Costs:

– Can drop in each week or pre-purchase a block of classes (you will receive a ticket(s) to present at each class attended)
– For members or students…
>18 classes = $200
>15 classes = $190
>12 classes = $170
> 9 classes = $150
> 6 classes = $110
> 3 classes = $55
>Drop-in = $20
– For non-members…

>18 classes = $220
>15 classes = $210
>12 classes = $190
> 9 classes = $170
> 6 classes = $130
> 3 classes = $70
>Drop-in = $25

Hepcat’s Membership:
– Makes you a formal member of this non-for-profit group at Hepcat Swing Dance Studio
– Gives you the power to vote and elect board members at the annual general meeting (end of September)
– Your Discount Savings = $10 for class series, $2 for weekly intro lessons & dances, and additional saving on unique events (special dances, workshops, live bands, etc.) & class retakes
– Cost = $50 (valid for 1 year from purchase)

For more information or advance tickets, see Jeff or email us at info@hepcatswing.com

Dance It Off Tuesdays!
2025-08-26 19:00 - 22:00
This summer we are participating in an exciting program with The City of Waterloo. We will be dancing three times to the amazing music of the KW Kool Swing Band from 7-10pm in Waterloo Town Square. This evening program will include a free half-hour lesson with Jeff Benoit. Please mark your calendars and come out to support the KW Kool Swing Band and to promote swing dancing and building community in Waterloo 🙂 I encourage you to come out to support our West Coast Swing friends at Remix Swing on their nights too.

Tuesday, June 3 – KW Kool Swing Band and the Hepcats
Tuesday, July 15 – West Coast Swing with our friends from Remix
Tuesday, July 29 – KW Kool Swing Band and the Hepcats
Tuesday, August 12 – West Coast Swing with our friends from Remix
Tuesday, August 26 – KW Kool Swing Band and the Hepcats
