VERNACULAR · LEGENDARY · INIMITABLE
40 years in the service of old-school African American jazz dancing and music. Open around the clock for five consecutive weeks, passing from the past to the present and from the present to the future. All faces, all ages, all levels, all backgrounds and all retrospective. From that southern creole ragtime Cake Walk to the Transatlantic Twist. And from that uptown low-down Harlem beat to the contemporary worldwide rave: Lindy Hop, Boogie Woogie, Balboa, Slow Drag, Shag, Solo Jazz and Tap. All that old-school syncopated rhythm and all that irresistible swing. Come and celebrate. With us in the Swedish countryside.
Registrations for Herräng Dance Camp 2022 programmes are now open! Take a look at the disciplines we are offering this year, and sign up on My Herräng soon. Please note that we will open registrations slowly:
- Week 1 registrations (9 July - 16 July) opens: 1 March 2022 at 18.00 (CET).
- Week 2 registrations (16 July - 23 July) opens: 2 March 2022 at 18.00 (CET).
- Week 3 registrations (23 July - 30 July) opens: 3 March 2022 at 18.00 (CET).
SUMMER IN SWEDEN 2022
For many years, Herräng has been the world's most comprehensive and exciting swing dance festival focusing on vernacular American dances from the Golden Age of Jazz. The event, which started back in 1982, is somehow centered around the illustrious Harlem-born Lindy Hop, but is also willing to present further dance styles that were popular during the same era, as well as other pre-swing and post-swing dances and its corresponding music. Historically, we have been willing to flirt with fad dances as far back as the late 1800s, but we have also been willing to hold hands with styles of the 1950s. We somehow believe that all these satellite dances have something to say and contributes to completing the picture of traditional American swing dancing of the first half of the 20th century.
Herräng itself is a small seaside village some 100 kilometres north of Stockholm with very few inhabitants, small beaches and lots of fresh air. For eleven months of the year, the sound of silence is a natural part of the village, but for one month of the year, the sound of jazz becomes the natural part of the village. Heartily welcome to Herräng and the unlikely combination of urban street dances of the American jazz era and bright summer nights in the Swedish countryside!
NEWS · NEWS · NEWS
- The biggest news for 2022 is that the festival is back in town! Three weeks in the middle of the Swedish summer after two years of nothing. We are very happy about this and hopefully you are too. Welcome to the village in July!
- Why three weeks instead of the traditional five? Well, since the corona stepped in and took the front seat, all strategic planning has been an impossibility since rules and regulations tend to change from week to week. Also, making things even more difficult: are people out there interested to swing dance? Are they willing to travel? What possible restrictions might be in circulation during the summer? Et cetera. Bottom line: considering all of the question marks beyond our control, we have decided to compromise and compress different alternatives into three weeks at full speed. Right or wrong? In August we will know …
- The lineup of teachers will be high quality as always but still slightly different: we will have many Swedish teachers, a handful of Europe-based teachers, and very few from elsewhere. The reason is very simple: to avoid potential corona-related restrictions and to reduce our costs for travel expenses. Please be patient as we finalise the lineup - we aim to have the information on the website as soon as possible.
- All one-week programmes offer a total of 15 classes, starting on Sunday and finishing on Friday with Wednesday as a day free from classes.
- Sad news: none of our traditional veterans will be present in 2022. The reason is very obvious and of course relates to the still partly ongoing corona pandemic. We aim to change this as soon as the risks have lessened.
- More sad news: no scholarship countries this year. Our economy is too fragile at the moment and in combination with the potential restrictions on event capacity, we have to be financially careful. But, and for the future: we will bring back the scholarship programme as soon as possible.
- If you would like to be added to the mailing list for future news about Herräng, please sign up here. Welcome to the village!
