{"id":336852,"date":"2026-02-14T09:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T09:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/336852\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T09:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T09:54:09","slug":"i-thought-i-had-landed-in-heaven-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/336852\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I thought I had landed in heaven\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I first mentioned to my wife that I was thinking about getting involved with Dublin\u2019s<\/a> swing community, she put down her cup of tea, turned to me and said: \u201cYou\u2019re thinking of doing what?!\u201d<\/p>\n

A swift clarification that I was talking about swing dancing<\/a> saw her relax. \u201cIt still has the whiff of a man in the midst of a midlife crisis,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n

Swing is an umbrella term for a variety of partner dance styles including Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa and Collegiate Shag, among others, that emerged around 100 years ago from the pulsating big band swing jazz and social dance scenes cultivated by the African American community in Harlem, New York<\/a>. As per its name and origins, it\u2019s at its most authentic when performed in front of a live swing jazz band. The problem with Dublin is that live jazz venues, never mind those with the additional space for a dance, are rare to non-existent. But members of the scene here have been taking matters into their own hands (and feet).<\/p>\n

\"SwingSwing dancers taking part in a social dance at Mind the Step cafe in Dublin city centre. Photograph: Natalia Campos <\/p>\n

Martha Martinho moved from her native Portugal to Ireland in 2013. A contemporary dancer for 10 years, she fell \u201cfeverishly in love\u201d with Lindy Hop the first time she saw it. She thought she hit the jackpot when she discovered Dublin was hosting a Lindy Exchange \u2013 a festival of social dancing and live jazz that rotates around the cities of Europe \u2013 on her first weekend in the capital, in the now much-missed ballroom of the Garda Club on Harrington Street. The woman selling the tickets on the door introduced herself as \u201cLindy\u201d (Linda Jane Byrne, one of the stalwarts of the scene at the time).<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I had landed in heaven,\u201d says Martinho, now co-owner of Mind the Step cafe and dance studios off the north quays near the Millennium Bridge, which has become the beating heart of the city\u2019s swing scene. But after that initial weekend, the community seemed to peter out. So, she set up her own classes, starting with Blues dancing. A steady home was impossible to secure and the dancers roamed from pub to function room like nomads. Social swing dancers tend not to drink much, if at all, so while venues were initially enthusiastic about a potential boost in revenues, they were swiftly moved on when reality hit. (Some dancers I spoke to highlight the lack of booze as a big attraction, including one recovered alcoholic who was desperately seeking a way to maintain a fun social life exclusive of Ireland\u2019s ubiquitous social lubricant.)<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Dancehall days: \u2018He asked me to dance. Now we\u2019re married 42 years\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Arthur\u2019s Blues and Jazz Club in the Liberties is one of the few venues in the capital to host live music the dance community can swing to, courtesy of the Sunday night residency by Jawbone, an ensemble led by cousins Philip Christie and Phil O\u2019Gorman, the former of O Emperor and The Bonk. When Jawbone started their residency in Arthur\u2019s in 2015, the swing dancers followed the music. <\/p>\n

Se\u00e1n McKiernan had recently returned from London to Dublin to manage the family pub. Martinho approached him about using the upstairs room for her dance classes, offering a taster session to win him over. (She ended up winning his heart too. They started dating and now have a four-year-old son called Flynn. Se\u00e1n still dances the Blues. Dublin and beyond is strewn with other swing dance couples and babies, they say.)<\/p>\n

In 2019, the couple opened Mind the Step, a cosy cafe with two dance studios, which is also home to Martinho\u2019s Full Swing Dance School. The Lindy Hop community gather there every Thursday night for a free social dance where they swing until the walls sweat. (The first night I attended, one of the dancers got down on his knee and proposed to his girlfriend whom he had first met two years previous at a Lindy Hop lesson. She said yes.)<\/p>\n

\"MartaMarta Martinho and Se\u00e1n Mc Kiernan, swing dancing at Mind the Step. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"MartaMarta Martinho and Se\u00e1n Mc Kiernan, swing dancing at Mind the Step. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

Another couple of Lindy Hop lovers were simultaneously taking steps to ensure Dublin was a city where they could pursue their passion. Kozue Kosha, originally from Niigata in Japan, and Michael, from Templeogue in Dublin, met as novices on a social dance floor in Vancouver in 2016 where the swing scene is so vibrant it regularly spills out of venues and into the parks and streets. The pair relocated to Dublin a year later and were disappointed at the lack of social dancing in a city brimming with musical talent. When they bumped into a band of musicians from Dublin City University\u2019s centre for jazz performance studies one night in 2019, they asked if they\u2019d be interested in playing live for some social swing dances. The F\u00e1ilte Hot Club, hosted monthly in the Leinster Cricket Club in Rathmines, was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome nights, if the band is good, the atmosphere can be really special,\u201d Michael says. \u201cYou might get a spontaneous jam circle where people throw-down [where experienced couples bust their best moves as the rest of the dancers gather around in a circle, whooping and clapping, before taking their turn in the spotlight] in response to a fast song from the band.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you hit the music with your partner at the same time and you both get the smile on your face, it\u2019s really a unique experience,\u201d says Kosha. \u201cThat moment makes me really high, you know. Now I just can\u2019t stop dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael, a neurologist who admits he wasn\u2019t a natural dancer and had to work hard to \u201clearn the language\u201d, testifies to the health benefits dancing offers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll exercise is good, but dancing is engaging from a physical and mental perspective, as you\u2019re trying to remember all the moves, and from a social point of view. It gets you out and makes you switch off Netflix. You go to the class that you signed up for, or to the social dance that you promised your friend you\u2019d join them at. There\u2019s lots of very good data that shows people live longer when they have that social connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ballrooms of romance: \u2018I wasn\u2019t the greatest dancer but when we danced together it was like it was meant to be\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The couple also established F\u00e1ilte Swing Dance School offering lessons; they share some teachers with the Dublin Swing Dance School, including Gabriel Rodriguez, a 35-year-old linguist from Spain who started swing dancing when he moved to Dublin a decade ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come to dancing for many different reasons. People come, like me, because you\u2019re new to a country and you feel lonely. People can do dancing because they\u2019re going through a bad time and they want to get out there. People want to meet friends. Some people want to meet a partner. Some people want to go on dates. [For] some people maybe it\u2019s just an exercise thing. But I can always tell if they are going to stick with it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Lindy Hop community gather in Dublin’s Mind the Step cafe every Thursday night for a free social dance where they swing until the walls sweat. Photograph by Natalia Campos for The Irish Times \"LindyLindy Hop is a partnered swing dance characterised by a conversation between a ‘leader’ and ‘follower’ dancer and the music. Photograph by Natalia Campos for The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Rodriguez has given talks on his experience of being queer in the swing community. \u201cI do see it as a safe space for diversity,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I think we can do way more, because at the end of the day, swing dancing, maybe not in Dublin so much, it\u2019s very heteronormative. There\u2019s always the assumption that the man is the leader and the woman is the follower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindy Hop is a partnered swing dance characterised by a conversation between a \u201cleader\u201d and \u201cfollower\u201d dancer and the music. \u201cLeaders\u201d initiate moves and structure, while \u201cfollowers\u201d interpret, respond, and enhance the dance, offering a creative contribution for both partners. Since I started dancing myself, I have seen many reversals of the gendered norms in Dublin. The swing community is also a safe space for that rare species of Irish male who is not only willing to dance without the crutch of alcohol, but will actively seek out the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Brian MacDomhnaill (50) from Co Waterford works as a consultant for the United Nations. He has travelled the world, but currently divides his time between his hometown and Dublin. He sought out some dance classes to help fill the void as he aged out of competitive hurling and soccer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always been a family of dancers, the usual rock and roll stuff and some trad,\u201d he says while taking a break from the busy social dancing in Mind the Step on a wet Thursday evening in January. \u201cI\u2019m also a survivor of the Cork rave scene in the 90s,\u201d he laughs. He mentions that Lindy Hop classes have recently started in Dungarvan, adding to established communities in Kilkenny, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Belfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been going to F\u00e1ilte Swing the past year and a half. It\u2019s been brilliant. There\u2019s few better things to make you feel alive. And I always remember my aunt telling me the only reason she first dated her husband was he was a good dancer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

I too have learned one year on that it\u2019s never too late to start swing dancing, and whatever your motivation, the rewards are manifold. Not only has it accelerated my rehabilitation post serious back surgery, it has also provided me with a passport into a vibrant community in Dublin, both international and Irish, and no shortage of fun.<\/p>\n

The Emerald Swing Festival takes place in the Pillar Room at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin next weekend, with Lindy Hop and Bilboa classes and social dancing. See pobailstomp.dancecloud.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I first mentioned to my wife that I was thinking about getting involved with Dublin\u2019s swing community,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[1880,52,18,117,2215,19,17,361,968,6642],"class_list":{"0":"post-336852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-dance","9":"tag-dublin","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-for-you","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-magazine","16":"tag-new-york","17":"tag-portugal"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116068382545635163","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}