FAQ

Registration for What a Jazz dance classes happens on this website, and it must be confirmed by our email before you come to your first class.

Make sure you enter the correct email address and, after registering, check not only your Inbox but also your Spam/Junk folders.

Before starting your journey with us, you must read not only this FAQ but also the What a Jazz rules and safe-space guidelines – you’ll find them here.

You need a partner for partnered swing dances like Lindy Hop, Collegiate Shag, Balboa. We try to balance the group so that everyone dances roughly equally.

If you register without a partner, you’re usually placed automatically on a waiting list until we find you a partner or until you find one among your friends, colleagues or acquaintances.

If it turns out that we can’t take you without a partner but you still want to dance – consider dancing the other role, or think about Solo Jazz classes.

Swing dances (Lindy Hop, Collegiate Shag, Balboa) are partner dances in which one person “leads” (leader) and the other “follows” (follower). It makes no difference who chooses which role – both men and women can lead and follow equally. When you start classes you choose one role that you’ll mainly dance, although there will also be classes where we switch roles.

If the urge to dance matters more to you than the role, register without a partner for the other role or for both.

When registering, enter your partner’s full name in the comments and encourage your partner to register too – it’s better for everyone when the information from us reaches all of you.

During classes we switch partners. Even if you came with a partner – everyone dances with everyone. We rotate partners because swing dances are social and improvisational, and the learning process goes more smoothly when you dance with others. Switching partners also helps couples avoid conflicts between themselves.

The price per person is €50 for the current month, or €15 for a single class. Discounts apply when you attend two or more groups/courses. You can only pay for classes once you’ve received your registration confirmation, and you can do so in advance on our website or at the studio before class.

A monthly pass not only costs less than paying for each class separately, but also gives discounts when you attend two or more dance groups/courses.

The monthly fee is collected for the current month by the 10th.

When calculating the monthly fee, a month is taken to have four weeks, or 4 classes in the current month – i.e. once you’ve paid for a group’s monthly classes, you have four classes that particular month, not whenever you like.

If you’ve paid for the month’s classes and missed some, you can always come and make them up with another group of a similar level, or with the open-to-all Taste of Swing group, within the same current month. In that case, always warn and check with your teachers in advance.

The class fee is only carried over or refunded if:
1. you missed the class due to an illness lasting more than 14 calendar days and had let us know about it;
2. the class didn’t take place through the fault of the What a Jazz studio.

Yes, every Thursday before the What a Jazz social dances. But otherwise – there are no free first classes at the What a Jazz studio.

On Thursday evenings in summer we dance at “Kitas krantas” by Mindaugas Bridge, and during the class season – at Lukiškės Prison 2.0 or the What a Jazz studio. The socials are open and free.

We also often run free taster classes during our bigger events* (follow our events and news).

* you still need to pay for entry to the events

Once a beginners’ group has started, you can still join it within a month of the first class. Just bring the will and the ambition, and our teachers will definitely help you get up to speed, catch up and feel good.

For higher-level classes, and for beginner classes that have been running longer than a month, you can join after consulting us and/or taking an appropriately agreed number of private lessons.

If you can’t find, or aren’t sure, which group you should join, describe your situation to us at welcome@whatajazz.lt.

What matters is that you’re comfortable and your clothes don’t restrict you too much, but:

• the dance floor isn’t a gym (especially at parties);
• some classes are more physically intense than others;
• “comfortable” should also be comfortable for the people next to you and whom you’ll dance with.

It’s a good idea to bring a spare shirt to change into after class, or especially at parties.

You must change out of your outdoor shoes when you arrive for class. The same goes for the social dances, if they take place at the studio.

Comfortable footwear means casual shoes, sneakers, or shoes with a leather sole. We always recommend shoes with a slightly more slippery sole – not too much, but enough that your knees and ankles aren’t overloaded by completely non-slip or even sticky shoes.

After class you can always ask the teachers what they wear for dancing and what they recommend (e.g. Swingin’ Shoes).

Come to class at least 10–15 min early so you can get ready calmly – change, warm up, get to know people, chat and get in the mood for a good time.

During class, listen to the teachers’ instructions and always ask if you have questions.

Don’t explain to other dancers how they should do something – leave that job to the teachers.

After class, take time to cool down, but free up the space in good time for those arriving next.

Our activities are very sensitive to the effects of the pandemic and quarantine, so please assess your ability to dance and be in close contact with other people. Look after not only your own health but also that of others.

You decide for yourself whether you switch partners in class – if you don’t, that clear decision must hold for the entire class.

If it should happen that you can’t attend a class because of Covid-19, let the teachers know or write to welcome@whatajazz.lt.

If it should happen that, due to Covid-19 or similar reasons, classes don’t take place, they will be rescheduled to a later agreed time.