Feb 13-15, 2026
A dance festival dedicated to breaking down barriers and creating collaboration between performing artists of all experience levels, across heritage jazz idioms. The event caters to vernacular dancers, with workshops in heritage jazz dance, tap dance, breaking, and hip hop. Classes and events will emphasize jams, including lots of spaces/times in which jams can happen, with workshops teaching skills necessary for jams. Evenings will feature live bands, social dances, and dance battles. Registration open soon.
2026 Swing Jam Faculty:
Mark Mendonca (Tap), Jovon Miller (Tap and Hip Hop), Hannah Lane (Heritage Jazz Dance), Jon Tigert (Heritage Jazz Dance), Rae Voeut (Breaking), Doug Barber (Heritage Jazz Dance), Bailey McCully (Heritage Jazz Dance), Damian Cade (Heritage Jazz Dance and Tap).
2026 Class Level Descriptions:
Youth, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Master Classes will be offered. Please read the descriptions on our Level Descriptions page so you know what classes you should attend. Reach out to bham.hop@gmail.com if you don’t know what level you are and we will assist you.
2026 Competition/Showcase Descriptions:
This year we have a Solo Jazz Battle, Cutting Contests (Tap Battle), and our All Styles battle. This year we’re also excited to announce a new collaboration opportunity: the Short Showcase! Dancers registered for the showcase will be paired with someone whose primary dance style differs from their own. They’ll be given studio time throughout the weekend with which to create a minute-long showcase. Read more about all of our Competitions and Showcases!
Schedule:
Swing Jam will take place over three days, with three nights of social dancing, battles, and showcases, and two days of workshops. Schedules for each track will be published soon!
Friday: Evening dance with live music and battle preliminary rounds, followed by a late night
Saturday: Classes from 10am-5pm, Evening dance with battle final rounds, late night dancing and a few surprises!
Sunday: Master classes in the morning, Classes 1pm-5, and our farewell party with showcases and performances 5-8pm
Our Saturday dance will be a Valentine’s Day Dance with live music, a beginner lesson, and dance battles. This event is open to the public even if they are not registering for the whole weekend, and you can register for this individual event with the button below:
Locations
Venues are located in downtown Bellingham within walking distances:
The Majestic Ballroom: 1027 N Forest St, Bellingham, WA 98225
Opus Performing Arts School: 207 Prospect St Suite 201, Bellingham, WA 98225 *Entrance on North end of building next to car and bike parking. Class spaces are upstairs.
Other ways of supporting the B’ham Swing Jam:
Tell your friends! Help us spread the word by telling your friends about the Swing Jam!
Spread the word by sharing about the Swing Jam on Instagram and Facebook!
Posters and paper! Contact us so we can send you some snail mail delights to share with your local scene! Fold a poster into a paper airplane and send the word flying!
B'ham Hop 