WHAT ARE THE SWINGIN' HEPCATS?
Thanks for asking.The Swingin' Hepcats are a teenage swing dance performance/competition team established on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in January 1998 by Mark Cohen and his partner Sheila Phillips. They created the team to help teens master a lifelong activity while also providing a safe, fun and energetic social focus to their teenage years. Beginning with a handful of teens, the team has grown to almost fifty members. They range in age from 11 to 17, and come from throughout Kitsap County and the Seattle Metropolitan Area.
The Hepcats have performed at every major dance venue in Seattle and at a variety of festivals on both sides of Puget Sound (see below). In addition, the team performs on a regular basis for many different charitable events.In their first year of existence, the Swingin' Hepcats took fourth place with a Savoy style Lindy Hop performance piece at the prestigious 1998 U.S. Open National Swing Dance Championships in Anaheim, California, competing against teams from across the nation. The team also placed second at the 1999 Pacific Northwest Lindy Hop Championships in Seattle. Just this November, the Hepcats competed at the 1999 U.S. Open competition, in Hollywood, CA, with two team pieces and ten individual couples, with two couples placing in the top five!
In November, 2000, the Hepcats competed for a third time at the U.S. Open, and this time they outdid themselves. In the team division, not one but both of their pieces placed in the top five! And two couples placed in the top five in the Junior Lindy division! The group has also opened for a number of musical acts, including Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Big Time Operator, Indigo Swing (now Indigo) and the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra. They have made one film appearance and one commercial for Lamonts.
The Hepcats perform a variety of choreographed dance routines to a wide selection of music, from Big Band to 50's Rock & Roll, Retro Swing and Rhythm & Blues. Their dancing illustrates many swing styles including Hollywood, 50's style Jitterbug, St. Louis Shag, 4-Count, West Coast Swing, and, clearly their favorite, Savoy Style Lindy. While a few of their routines are classic swing dance standards, like the Shim Sham, most have been choreographed jointly by the team members and their coaches.Mark and Sheila teach the various styles of swing dancing on Bainbridge Island through the Bainbridge Island Parks and Recreation District, on Mercer Island through the Mercer Island Parks and Recreation District, in Silverdale through the Central Kitsap Community Schools Program, and in Bellevue at the Ground Zero teen center.
For more information, you can contact Mark or Sheila at 206-842-3012
Swingin' Links
LindyHype. This is a cool site, man
The Archives of Early Lindy Hop (for the Historian in all of us)
LindyHype: A nifty site
The Amazing Allmovie Guide!
More books than one knows what to do with
Questions? Comments? Give me (Ned Thorne, webmaster) a electronic buzz!
This page was last updated on: 7/11/01
You are swing daddy or mommaAll photography by Ned Thorne unless otherwise noted.
Copyright 1999 Tree Productions. All rights reserved.
