Shuffle Projects

Swinging Projects for Lindy Hop & Balboa Dancers

Shuffle Projects

Stefan Deuber übernimmt Downtownswing ab Januar 2014

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Downtownswing

In ihrem Newsletter von gestern Dienstag hat Ursula Ledergerber mitgeteilt, dass sie ihre Tanzschule Downtownswing aus familiären Gründen per Januar 2014 abgibt.

Stefan Deuber wird die Gesamtverantwortung und Organisation von Downtownswing übernehmen.

Der Kursbetrieb wird mit kleinen Anpassungen wie gewohnt weitergehen und Ursula wird auch selber ihre Kurse weiterhin unterrichten. 

Shuffle Projects gibt Balboa Kursorganisation ab

Um Ursula zu entlasten, hatte ich im August 2010 mit Shuffle Projects die Balboa Kursorganisation und -adminstration im Downtownswing übernommen.

Stefan ist wie ich ein begeisterter Balboa-Tänzer und stark in der Balboaszene verankert.

Damit die Kommunikation wieder einheitlicher wird, gebe ich die Balboa Kursorganisation per Januar 2014 zurück an Downtownswing.

Was macht Chris?

Solche Änderungen sind immer gut um die eigene Situation zu überdenken.

Seit dem offiziellen Start von Downtownswing im April 2009 habe ich zuerst mit Ursula, dann mit Valérie und Marcia mehrmals wöchentlich unterrichtet.

Zudem habe ich seit etwas mehr als 2 1/2 Jahren selbst eine kleine Familie und mich beruflich neu orientiert.

Um mehr Zeit für bestehende und neue Projekte zu haben, werde ich ab Januar 2014 eine Auszeit vom wöchentlichen Unterrichten nehmen.

Workshops und Privatstunden in Lindy Hop und Balboa werde ich weiterhin anbieten und unterrichten!

Hier ist noch Ursulas offizielle Mitteilung:

Information betreffend Organisation Downtownswing ab Januar 2014

Liebe Kursteilnehmende,
Liebe Interessenten und Freunde von Downtownswing

Vor fünf Jahren, im September 2008 habe ich zusammen mit Roger Frey die ersten Kurse unter dem Label Downtownswing unterrichtet. Downtownswing ist in den vergangenen Jahren von zwei „kleinen Kürsli“ zu einer gesunden Tanzschule mit rund 250 Kursteilnehmenden pro Woche gewachsen. Neben meiner Tanzschule ist mittlerweile auch mein Sohn Serafin gewachsen und wird Ende Oktober bereits zwei Jahre alt. Da wir uns als Familie noch ein zweites Kind wünschen, habe ich mich entschieden, meine Zeit ab Januar 2014 vermehrt meiner Familie zu widmen.

Aus diesem Grund habe ich mich entschlossen, Downtownswing per Januar 2014 abzugeben. Um die Weiterführung der Kurse und den zukünftigen Support der Swing Szene zu ermöglichen, hat sich Stefan Deuber entschieden Downtownswing zu übernehmen und zu leiten. Stefan ist selber im Downtownswing als Lindy Hopper gross geworden und ist bereits seit mehr als zwei Jahren Teil unseres Lehrerteams. Es freut mich sehr, dass er sich entschieden hat, Downtownswing zu übernehmen und die Organisation weiterzuführen.

Bis Ende Jahr laufen alle Kurse wie gewohnt weiter. Ab Januar 2014 wird es im Stundenplan geringfügige Änderungen geben – die meisten Kurse werden aber auch ab Januar 2014 wie gewohnt und mit den gleichen Lehrpersonen weitergeführt.

Da das Pilates Studio den Raum „Friedaustrasse“ in Zukunft sowohl Montags als auch Mittwochs für eigene Kurse brauchen wird, werden die DTS Kurse dort weichen müssen. Alle Teilnehmende von Kursen, welche nicht mehr oder mit anderen Lehrern weitergeführt werden, werden kommende Woche direkt von uns kontaktiert.

Ich selber werde meine Kurse im Downtownswing wie gewohnt weiterhin unterrichten und Stefan bei der Organisation bei Bedarf unterstützend zur Seite stehen.

Um meine Zeit als Leiterin von Downtownswing gebührend zu feiern und abzuschliessen und um Stefan herzlich willkommen zu heissen, werden wir am Samstag 14. Dezember von 16.00 – 20.00 einen feierlichen Weihnachtsapéro mit Speis, Trank und Tanz organisieren und freuen uns, wenn ihr alle mit uns feiert.

Ich möchte mich bereits jetzt ein erstes Mal bei euch allen für euer Vertrauen, eure Kurstreue und euere Freude am Lindy Hop bedanken. Ich habe in den vergangenen Jahren sehr viel Schönes erlebt und freue mich, euch weiterhin in den Kursen und auf dem Social Dance Floor zu sehen.

Mit herzlichen Grüssen
Ursula Ledergerber

After 3 Years and 300 Posts: Back To The Roots

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3 years - 300 posts

Hey gang!

It's crazy. Three years ago, Shuffle Projects (the blog) was born in Sydney Australia.

Happy Birthday Shuffle Projects!

300 posts later, it's still existing and that surprises myself the most.

When I started Shuffle Projects (the blog), there were not many blogs about Swing dancing, they almost could be counted on the fingers of one hand. That has completely changed over the last few years.

The fact that there are countless Swing dance blogs nowadays made me think a lot about my own one and that's why there will be some changes from today on.

But before I talk about these changes, I would like to do a short year-in-review, covering the last 14 months. It replaces the end-of-year review 2012, which I couldn't write because of technical problems in December (I couldn't reach my WordPress dashboard anymore).

Year-In-Review 2012

For those, who love numbers:

General Statistics

  • Published posts: 87 (2011: 108)
  • Unique visitors per month (peek March):  4'470 (2011: peak 1'780)
  • Page views in 2012: 64'200+ (2011: 34'900)

Highlights

In January, I published the 100th DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week.

Then in March, my visitors statistics went crazy and I had my first real post going viral: 33 Tips & Actions How To Become A Better Swing Dancer, a typical list post which is still one of the most read articles on this website.

Inspired by the 33 tips post, Musicality for Swing Dancers: AABA 32-bar Song Form followed in April and is another popular article.

Then in July, I started the 30 Day Lindy Hop Challenge as a weekly column. It abruptly stopped after 20 weeks (in November) and it still needs to be completed.

By that time, I already worked on another project:

Swing DJ Resources

As I mentioned earlier, there are now tons of blogs out there writing about swing dancing. I don't see me as a writer and even less as a philosopher about swing dancing.

I realized, that Swing music and DJing and everything related to them are the topics I'm most interested in and they need its own home.

At the same time I noticed, that there are almost no websites about Swing music and Swing DJing in particular. The idea of Swing DJ Resources was born.

On September 4, Swing DJ Resources, the new reference website for Swing DJs and music lovers, launched and was well received.

DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week is leaving Shuffle Projects

As a consequence I made a decision: I'm moving the popular series DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week.

Starting from next week, you'll find it on Swing DJ Resources, what is for sure the perfect home.

I haven't decided yet if I will move all the previous songs as well or not.

2013: Back To The Roots

Well, what's happening with the blog now?

Shuffle Projects is the hub for all my activities in the Swing dance scene, locally and abroad. So is the blog.

I go back to the original idea and that's what you can expect: articles, reviews, clips, but also announcements of events, classes and DJ gigs.

My main goal stays the same: to provide excellent content which is either inspiring, entertaining or educating.

With that said, I'll take the pressure from me to post something every week.

Finally, I would like to gently redesign the website and separate the activities (and languages) more clearly.

Thank You!

It means a lot to me that you follow and share my work. I appreciate every single feedback I get from you.

This is such a great journey.

Thank you for being a part of my community!

-Chris

Swing DJ Resources has been launched!

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Swing DJ Resources Launched

In August 2011, I started «DJ Chrisbe's Swing DJ Resources Email List» to share my knowledge and my ideas about Swing DJ'ing.

Although my goal was to send out one or two emails per month, it never went that far.

I realized pretty soon – I asked each of my subscribers what they are interested in – that this is not the right medium to do it, there must be a hub instead.

A hub where everyone can just take what he or she needs about Swing DJ'ing:

  • Some need basics in DJ skills
  • Some would love to know more about software
  • Some just prefer music tips.

The idea of the Swing DJ Resources website was born.

After a few weeks of setting up the website and creating the concept and the initial content, I'm very excited to officially announce my latest project:

Swing DJ Resources – Where Lindy Hop, Balboa & Blues DJs Connect

Have a look! Browse through the first articles and let me know what you think. If you like an article, please share your thoughts in the comment section and share it!

This is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more Swing DJ Resources updates!

Thanks once again for being a part of my community!

End-Of-Year Review 2011

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End Of Year Review 2011 | Shuffle Projects

After the first end-of-year review at the end of 2010, I decided to write another one for 2011.

There are two reasons for that:

  • I can wrap up the year and summarize what was happening here during 2011 for myself but also for you
  • It helps me to set goals for 2012. We all need goals, don't we? 🙂

Some Personal Thoughts

Before I start with the summary, I would like to write down some personal thoughts about Shuffle Projects The Blog (Shuffle Projects is actually the head label for all my activities in the swing world, that's why I mention here «blog» specifically).

When I started it in March 2010 I didn't have a proper idea where to go, I just took action on an idea that stuck in my head for a long time. I'm really glad that I did! I made so many new connections both online and in real life, it's quite rewarding and that is something I never have thought about at the beginning.

Initially, I wanted to write articles both in German and in English, what I did in the first months. But my readership is so international that I decided to write everything in English. It doesn't make it easier for me since English is not my mother tongue, but it just makes much more sense for the blog.

On avarage, I spend between 5-10 hours per week on the blog. My goal is to publish at least two articles per week. One «Song of the Week» on Monday and another post about swing dance culture and/or music during the week. Looking back, I can say that most of the times I could stick with that schedule.

During the last 20 months, I learned so much about blogging, internet marketing, SEO (search engine optimization) and social media that I'm seriously thinking about starting a new business beside my dance life (which currently takes around 30% of my time). It's still in an early stage so I'll let you know if this won't be only an idea.

However, if you have any questions about blogging or related topics, just drop me a line and I'm glad to help you.

Now, let's start with the summary.

End-Of-Year Review 2011

General statistics:

  • Published posts: 108 (2010: 94)
  • Unique visitors per month (peek November):  1780 (2010: peak ca. 500)
  • Page views in 2011: 34'900 (2010: 13'200)

Most Popular Posts about Dance

Most Popular Posts about Events

Obviously, event reviews are popular. So I'll keep posting them.

Most Popular Posts about History/Culture

Most Popular Posts about DJ'ing

Most Popular Posts about music

  • Series DJ Chrisbe's Song of The Week: Every Monday, I'm featuring a new song of the week. We are at #95 right now. Like I wrote in my first «Song of the Week» I didn't invent this, I took up the idea from another (now inactive) blog. But it seems that I can't stop the series anymore. I get a lot of feedback which motivates me to keep it going.

Goals for 2012

Since I started Shuffle Projects The Blog, many new blogs about Swing dancing and especially Lindy Hop appeared in the webspace. There is a lot of discussion going on which is really interesting!

My focus however will be more on Balboa and on Swing music, since these are the topics where I'm mostly into.

Further, I have these goals:

  • Grow the readership to 3000 unique visitors per month
  • I would love to get more comments and interactions/discussions with my readers
  • New post types: interviews and portraits

But, my main goal certainly is to provide excellent content which is either interesting, entertaining or educating.

Thank You!

I really appreciate having you on the blog and taking the time to read and comment and share my posts!

Thank you for being a part of my community!

What You Could Do

What subjects are you interested in? About what topics would you love to read more?

Please let me know! Leave a comment below or send me a message!

And the Winners are…

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This is going to be a short post.

I asked you for your help to improve this website and give me thereto your feedback. And here are the winners of a CD «Live in Philadelphia» by Gordon Webster:

  • Suse from Switzerland
  • Dörte from Germany
  • Giovanni from Italy

Thank you guys for your feedback! You'll shortly receive the CD.

I hoped for some more comments, but based on the many Facebook Likes I suppose you're pleased with the content so far ;-).

Alreet, thanks again to be part of my community.
Keep on swinging and have a great Sunday!