Summertown Swing Sunday Tea Dance Club 09/03/2025

Sunday 9th March 2025 from 3:00pm until 6:00pm

St Michael’s Church Hall, 2 Portland Road, Oxford, OX2 7EZ

Entry : Members £6 – Non-Members £7

The Summertown Swing Sunday Tea Dance Club 09/03/2025 is back for its Spring edition. We invite everyone to join us on Sunday 9th March 2025. This is the long standing tradition of Tea dances in Oxford. Oxford Swing Dance initiated and ran it for so long. Everyone at Swing Dance Summertown is very proud to continue this tradition. It is also now the best value social dance for Swing Dancers in Oxford, with tea and cake along with a lovely dance floor to bust your best moves. It’s a great way for dancers to spend a Sunday afternoon listening to the great sounds of Jazz Swing. It really is for everyone, so get your dancing shoes polished and head to Summertown for lovely afternoon.

Getting to the Summertown Swing Sunday Tea Dance Club 09/03/2025

Summertown provides much better options for parking than central Oxford and this makes the afternoon a lot easier to manage for those who are driving. St Michael’s Church Hall does have some parking spaces although these are often grabbed early. You can however park on Portland Road and any of the other side streets without charge on a Sunday. That makes a trip out to the Summertown Swing Sunday Tea Dance Club a lot more pleasant and convenient.

This Google Map shows exactly where St Michaels Church Hall is.

• To reach us from the Town centre there are buses available which run fairly frequently City2 buses (2, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D).
• There is also buses that run from the The John Radcliffe Hospital from Headington that run along Cherwell Drive before turning and heading up Banbury Road to Summertown. (700 and H2).

When you reach the South Parade bus stop, then Portland Road is the turning opposite.

For those coming from further afield, The Summertown Exit on the A40 provides a quick and easy way to drive down with the turning on the left as you approach The Summertown Shops.

If you use the What3Words app the reference is ///zone.door.gather
Once you arrive, just walk up the stone steps to the upper hall. You will probably hear the music playing already so we should be pretty easy to find.

Why go social dancing when there is class?

Social dancing is at the very root of Swing Dance. The reason we go to class is so that we can dance socially together. The best way to think of it is that social dances are the logical extension of your classes. Social dancing also provides things that classes can’t and these are incredibly useful for dancers as they move from Beginner to Improver and Intermediate.

Swing dancing developed in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s, especially at places like the Savoy Ballroom. Dancers didn’t learn in classrooms; they learned by dancing socially, watching each other, and picking up new ideas on the floor. Social dancing keeps that tradition alive.

When you social dance it forces you to listen actively and adjust to different tempos, breaks, and phrasing. This is different from a class structure where you memorise moves. There is nothing wrong with that, but as you develop you also need to hone your develop musical instincts. Social dancing provides this as you learn to phrase your dancing in response to the music.

That is why we say that social dance events create a strong sense of community. Here at Summertown we believe in that community very strongly. It means you meet people from different backgrounds, levels, and styles. You get to build relationships through the joy of dancing. The energy of a lively dance floor is something a class environment can’t replicate.

We are there to help you

Absolutely everyone at Summertown wants you to have the best dacning experience that you can. We are there to help you on this journey. It’s never a case of judging anyone or making a new dancer feel inadequate, but a supportive and inclusive environment for everyone to move at their own pace. This was and always will be what the tea dance is for (and cake!).

We remember only too well, our own first social dance, and we also know that it can be scary to take the first step onto the dance floor. Just remember that every dancer once felt like that, and we are there to help, support and encourage you every step of the way. It’s what being a Summertown Dancer is all about.

We keep the dance floor jumping at the Sunday Tea Dance Club 09/03/2025

Our local DJs will be at work on the decks to play some great tunes and get your happy feet tapping to the Swing Beat. We are also starting a Swing DJ Exchange Program and welcome visiting DJs from other cities and swing scenes to come and visit for a set on the decks and introduce our dancers to your music. Bring your friends too and let us promote your events to our Oxford dancers. We play everything from the 1920s to the 2020s. We hope to add an old school CD DJ set as well as more modern digital formats remastered from the originals. All this for your dancing and DJing pleasure.

Tea & Cake & A Warm Welcome For Families

One of the highlights of the Tea Dance is the cake table. For those who enjoy a treat there will be something sweet to enjoy with your tea and coffee. There will also be some savoury snacks for those who don’t have a sweet tooth. Come along and catch up with friends for a relaxed and enjoyable afternoon of music and dancing.

Summertown Swing Social offers a welcome to everyone and tries to provide a unique environment where dancers feel able to bring their non-dancing family and children. It’s perfect for young families who don’t feel they get the time to get out to dance anymore. It also provides an opportunity to catch up with friends.

We have had people driving over from Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Cheltenham, Bedford, Bristol and Birmingham so its also a great way to meet new people and chat whilst you dance the afternoon away. Come and meet new dancing friends and catch up with others you haven’t seen in ages. The venue has free car parking which makes it really convenient too. St Michael’s offers a lovely venue to spend the afternoon with a great dance floor to bust your best moves.

You can find details of all our events on the Swing Dance Summertown Calendar.

Come and join us on Sunday for a great afternoon of dancing.