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Weekly Tuesday Night Swing Dance – Third Coast Swing

/ Cassidy Kuchenbecker / Leave a comment

You spend the week often isolated, in front of screens, toiling away. Then your dance night comes around and you see people you recognize, some you know deeply. You move your body and you sink into the music. Sometimes you dance until you can’t. Sometimes you mostly sit and chat. The night is what you needed it to be that week.

Social dancing is…special. It hits in a deeply humanizing way. You are connecting with people individually and collectively. You are physically challenging yourself at the pace that is comfortable for you. You start to recognize people at other music and dance events and suddenly you know you are in a true community. Whether you enjoy swing, Latin, ballroom, contra, or contact improvisation dance – you understand that feeling of going out to social dance.

Since 2023 Falcon Bowl has been hosting the weekly Tuesday night live band swing dance that is put on by the dancer/band collaboration called Third Coast Swing. The dance typically has between 80 and 120 swing/blues dancers on the spacious 2,000 ft2 wood ballroom floor in front of around 12 rotating bands. The night starts with a 1-hour basic swing dance lesson designed both for people who have never danced and those who are looking to refine their skills. The band then plays their hearts out for two hours. If you’ve been to this dance, you know how impassioned both the dancers and bands can be.

If you haven’t yet tried swing dancing or have been to the Tuesday night dance, you are missing out. Come at 7:00 for that basic lesson or 8:00 to 10:00 for the band. The event is free to enter. The instructors, hosts, and organizers are volunteers. The bands gets paid through tips only. If you enjoy the show, please tip the band to keep it going.

Falcon Bowl is located at 801 East Clarke Street, Milwaukee.

If you want to swing dance but Tuesday is not your night, see the Milwaukee Stomp dance calendar to find more dance options throughout Milwaukee.

First Friday Dances – Andy Stefancin

/ Cassidy Kuchenbecker / 3 Comments

October brings cooler weather, crisp leaves, and the return of the First Friday swing dances. Held at the Elk’s Lodge in Waukesha each month from October to May, this is Wisconsin’s largest dedicated-swing dance event. It was previously hosted by Maureen of the Jumpin’ Jive Club for nearly 20 years. Revived after the pandemic shutdown, this dance has a new home and a new organizer – Andy Stefancin of Andy’s Events, LLC.

As a teenager in the 1970s, Andy fell in love with dancing after being a “practice partner” for his older sister. He went to his first “First Friday Swing Dance” in 2000 and became a regular attendee in 2007. He is a familiar face around the Milwaukee dance scene. 

The First Friday Dance shuttered along with all other dancing during the 2020 pandemic lockdown. After a couple of years of hesitancy, all of us dancers were feeling the itch to get back on the dance floor. It was time to rebuild. Andy knew the scene and the city. He had the connections and the dance experience. Could he manage a dance event of this caliber?

First Friday was revived in January of 2023. Andy recounts that attendance was upwards of 200 and the traditional lesson before the dance resembled a cat rodeo. The rotation was a disaster. Maureen had done it for so long, she made it look easy. After a very steep learning curve, Andy and his partner adapted quickly and now teaching the lesson is the highlight of the evening.

Teaching a crowd of people with varying dance experience is challenging. It takes planning and a lot of preparation. Andy says, “Every dancer is always learning. There is always a new move, or a new twist on a move.

“One thing I especially enjoy is getting people out to dance.” To that end, Andy also puts out a weekly email. It lists multiple dance opportunities in the greater Milwaukee area and goes out to scores of people. To receive the emails, send him a message at: standy2026@gmail.com and use the subject: Weekly Dance Email

Andy believes it is important that dancers are exposed to a range of danceable music. His First Friday band line-ups reflect a variety of blues, swing, rockabilly and rock n’ roll. Included in the 2025/2026 season are regional bands such as The Jimmys and Swing Nouveau as well as homegrown favorites like The Hungry Williams and bluesman Big Al Dorn. The season opens October 3rd with The Incorruptibles.The charge for a terrific evening of entertainment is $20 (cash only).

Location: Elk’s Lodge #400 – 2301 Springdale Road, Waukesha

Time: First Friday of the month, 7:30 to 8:00 basic swing dance lesson – no partner needed. Band plays from 8:00-11:00.Find Andy on Facebook at the page Andy’s Events Swing Dancing, by email at standy2026@gmail, and at dancing events all over.