A blog on swing dancing in Montreal, Lindy Hop and jazz music | The Cat's Paw

Come celebrate our 13th anniversary!

Three years ago, our tenth anniversary celebration brought together over 200 dancers. More recently, we’ve decided to go directly to the source of what we like most - social dancing! So no workshop classes, just a relaxing weekend among dance friends. Come join us in celebrating over ten years of Lindy Hop and Swing renewal in vibrant Montreal, Canada.

More information on the CCX website!

Cat's Corner Open house September 5 - 10, 2011

Thank you to the 325 people that came out to our open house week and to all the people that helped make it happen!
I hope to see you all on the dance floor!

Cat's Corner celebrates Frankie Week with Global Shim Sham in Montreal

Here's the video compiled by Marie N'Diaye to celebrate Frankie Manning's 95th birthday during Frankie Week.

And here's the group picture taken by Emmanuelle Girard during our Friday Downtown Stomp on March 20th, 2009:

To learn more about the legendary Frankie Manning, purchase his autobiography Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop on sale at the studio.

New in 2009

This year we've introduced a new intermediate drop-in class during our Friday Downtown Stomp. Starting at 8:45pm, we'll introduce you to authentic jazz dances from the 1920's, 30's and 40'd such as the Jig Walk, the Balboa, the Blues, the Turkey Trot. No partner required. The class is included with the $8 cover, so come early to our dances to take advantage of our new class!

Don't forget our Sunday practices from 3:30pm to 5:30pm. There is usually a teacher on hand to answer your questions and to help you with your learning. We recommend that you bring a practice partner to ensure you will have someone to dance with. Talk to our staff to learn more about Sundays.

Our teachers at large

January 3rd - Alain Wong DJ'ed during the Mike Faltesek & Casey Schneider weekend in Toronto, Ontario. Dancers were enthralled by his music at the Dovercourt House.

January 16-18 - Our teachers Sylwia Bielec and Alain Fragman inspired American dancers at the Smorgasbord of Swing in Albany, New York.

January 23-25 - During the Québec Swing Rendez-Vous in Québec city, Alain Fragman and Alain Wong DJ'ed both nights at the Impérial de Québec. They also taught their 'Les Deux Alains' routine as part of the Quebec All-Stars track.

February 6-7 - In association with the commision scolaire de Montréal (Montreal school board), Cat's Corner participated in a benefit fundraiser for the music department at St-Luc high school in Cote St-Luc. Amanda Fong and Alain Wong taught to over a hundred teenagers aged 13 to 17 during the Friday student dance, and to adults and alumni on Saturday. View the poster

Two live band nights this month and a New Year's Eve party

We're excited to bring you live jazz and blues music this December!

Friday Dec.5, 2008 - the Cangelosi Cards from New York City will be playing for us. They're an awesome band and have been widely coveted by swing events in North America. Last year we brought them in for our special Montreal Smackdown dance at Dell'Arte, and this year we're happy to welcome them to our big new space on St-Laurent. Watch a clip of them playing at the Big Big Event in Washington DC. You can also listen to an mp3 of Get Some Cash For Your Trashon the Down Home Radio Show. Cover will be $25 instead of our regular $8.

Friday Dec. 19, 2008 - Bharath and his Rhythm Four will play at a special Blues theme night organized by the Montreal Jass Coop. There will be a beginner and intermediate "Blues dance" class before the dance at 8:30pm, followed by live music and guest performances. Cover wil be $15 instead of our regular $8.

Wednesday Dec. 31, 2008 - we will be holding a celebration dance on New Year's Eve. In the past, we've had awesome Karaoke and Casino-themed dances. We'll be revealing this year's theme shortly as well as our musical guests for the evening!

More pictures from our tenth anniversary

Photography by Emmanuelle Girard - all rights reserved

We're hiring a Studio Manager

We are looking for candidates for the Studio Manager position which will be available in the coming weeks. This is a well paying job for which the schedule is flexible and requires about 30 hours of work a week. Here are the qualities we are looking for in our candidates:

• Excellent spoken French and English.
• Excellent written French and English.
• Extremely organized and responsible, with an attention to detail.
• Experience in customer service is an asset.
• Experience organizing events is an asset.
• Available to work some evenings during the week.
• Computer skills including Word, Excel, Illustrator, and excellent Internet research skills.

The main responsibilities are:

• Customer service and public relations.
• Course management.
• Studio rentals management.
• Studio schedule management (practices, courses, rentals, etc.).
• Daily administrative tasks of the studio.
• Maintenance of the studio.
• Communication of all information to Cat’s Corner’s staff members.

If you are interested in the job, please forward us your resume and a cover letter to info@catscorner.ca or give Alain a call at 514-575-9025.

Our tenth year celebration

- by Lisa Carman

Only a month and a half after our grand opening of our new studio, Cat's Corner was celebrating once again last weekend, but this time for our 10th anniversary!

Cat's Corner welcomed dancers from Montreal and around to party with us for this occasion, which included a weekend full of workshops and dancing, with invited teachers and DJs Mike Faltesek (Seattle), Stefan Durham (Seattle), Bethany Powell (Seattle), Adam Boehmer (Ann Arbor), Caitlin Wellman (Toronto), Dan Amores (Toronto), MIke Thibault (Rochester), Carl Nelson (New York), Joanna Lucero (Atlanta), among others.

What goes better with a weekend full of workshops than a weekend full of dances? On Friday night we welcomed back once again the Early Jazz Band who played at our grand opening, and who were just as amazing as when we first heard them play for us back in mid-September. Watch Mike, Stefan and Bethany performing the Tranky Doo on Friday night. The Saturday night dance welcomed back Colin Perry, who has been playing for swing dancers in Montreal for several years now. Northern Lights, a Montreal dance team sponsored by Cat's Corner, performed their award-winning Stomp Stomp routine. Dancing continued afterwards at our late night, which featured out of town and local DJs, and some really yummy food.

After such an incredible event, it only leaves us waiting to celebrate the 20th anniversary in another 10 years. Here's to another 10 years of swing dancing at Cat's Corner!

Here's one of the cakes I baked for CCX:

Buzz from last year

- by Alain Wong

In 2007, we were featured in La Presse. Our teachers Sylwia Bielec and Alain Fragman were invited to teach on the TV show Occupation Double. We were recommended in Le Petit Routard 2008-2009. We were interviwed on CBC radio. Ann Mony and myself appeared on Youtube's Gmail: Behind the Scenes. Finally, both Ann and Alain Fragman made it to the Top 200 on the show "So You Think You Can Dance Canada".

Here's a picture of them during their audition:

Pictures from our Grand Opening

- by Alain Wong

Photography by Mathieu Blanchette and Megan Moore - all rights reserved.

What a party!

- by Alain Wong

Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Cat's Corner came back! Last Friday, we celebrated the fifth reincarnation of our dance school, and it was a night to remember. Two photographers attended the dance, and there will be pictures up soon, so do come back.

Although the whole staff worked really hard to make this new studio happen, we'd like to recognize one person in particular who took many steps further. Thank you Owen!

As for the grand opening, all I can say is that the music was hot! I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the Early Jazz Band for their awesome music: Jean-Sebastien Leblanc (Clarinet) Jerome Dupuis-Cloutier (Trumpet, vocals) Mathieu Van Vliet (Trombone) Jonathan Gagne (Drums) Olivier Hebert (Bass, vocals, arr.) Dominic Desjardins (Banjo, vocals, arr.). They've only been rehearsing together for a few months, so I wasn't expecting too much, but they completely blew me away. I kept on hearing, "Man, this band is awesome" over and over again from dancers. We've already invited them to our tenth anniversary on October 31st and if all works out, they will once again grace our dance floor with their inspiring jazz in just over a month's time.

Almost record attendance! Over 74 people showed up for our beginner's class at 8:30pm, and over 220 danced their hearts out during the evening. It was definitely one of our most memorable dances to date, and it's a great sign of things to come!

Grand Opening of our new studio

- by Alain Wong

The grand opening of our new studio will take place Friday September 12th, 2008.

Come celebrate with the Early Jazz Band. We will have a live band just for the occasion. Note: cover will be $8 at our Friday dances starting Sept.12th

Start of our new dance classes. Our next session starts the week of September 15th. There are "Intro to Swing" classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and they are quickly filling up. Register today to save your spot!

Goodbye 486 St-Catherine West, our dance studio for the past five years!

- by Alain Wong

This summer 2008 we bid farewell to our old studio.

We said goodbye to our home for the last five years at 486 St-Catherine West. It was a good home to us, and we will forever share fond memories of that studio. Before those five years, we had jumped from small spaces to modestly bigger ones. From our humble beginnings in a rented dance studio at the Belgo, we moved to a second floor apartment near Vendome metro and then to a bigger space on St-Denis / de Maisonneuve. These past venues never really felt like home - they felt like temporary apartments until the big house purchase.

That's why moving in 2003 to 486 St-Catherine was big. Fred wore a tuxedo at our grand opening, and over 300 dancers came to celebrate our new home. It was the start of a wonderful adventure. We went from hosting a modest 20 to 30 dancers a night to becoming the biggest regular swing dance venue in town. Fred credits the success of our Friday night dance to our consistency. We have never shut down a night, except for the week of Christmas. This consistency of having swing dances every Friday has built up into a wonderful following of social dancers who all share the joy of jazz music.

Here's a picture of our last dance at Cat's Corner 486 St-Catherine street.

Here are some fond memories

• Performance by the Lindy Revue and the Charleston Revue students
• A collaborative Charleston performance with our friends from Swing Connexion
• Jedi swing competition (dancers were blindfolded to showcase that Lindy Hop truly was a lead/follow dance)
• Our very own Sylwia Bielec and Alain Fragman performing a classic routine for CSC
• Our very own Ann Mony and Alain Wong
• Creation of the Chabada student dance troupe
• Performance by the Marianopolis Swing Dance Club
• Performance by our friends Solid State Break Dance Collective (Jodee Allen, Helen Simard, Raul Guevara
• Themed Halloween parties





• Classy New Year's Eve celebrations







• Fred in a tuxedo at our 486 grand opening in 2003



• Going out for bagels at either St-Viateur or Fairmount after the dances (we still do that today, but it counts!)
• Playing the largest game of Werewolf (Loup-Garou) I've ever attended (23 players).
• Live music by Colin Perry & Blind (Mtl), Le Dixieband (Mtl), the Cangelosi Cards with Gordon Webster (NY), The Houserent Serenaders (Mtl), The Undulators (Mtl), Gadjano (discovered at the Montreal Jazz Festival, from France), Bharath and his Rhythm Four (Mtl)



• Countless birthday jams for wonderful Montreal dancers as well as out-of-town friends
• Dance workshops by the Harlem Hot Shots (Stockholm, Sweden), Bill Borgida (Ithaca and Austin), Peter Strom and Ramona Staffeld (Minneapolis and New York), Dan Amores (Toronto), Dianne Eramo (New York)
• Appearances by renowned Lindy Hoppers Steven Mitchell and Virginie Jensen (California), Vincenzo Fesi and Isabella Gregorio (Italy), Hanna Zetterman and Mattias Lundmark (Sweden), Mike Faltesek (Seattle), Max Pitruzzella (Montpellier), to name a few.





• Past Cat's Corner teachers and staff that have come and left: Carl Nelson, Ann Mony, Jasmine Fitzwilliam, Sara Bédard-Goulet, Richard Moss, Alex Kindrat, Sylvain Tchang

It's been a great ride at 486 St-Catherine street West suite 303. Check us out at our new studio at 3451 St-Laurent street 3rd floor, corner Sherbrooke. It's the beginning of a new adventure!

Music for dancing triple swing and Lindy Hop

- Alain Wong

As a beginner student, it might not always be obvious what music you should buy to practice.

Here's a list of songs that we use in our classes. They are appropriate for learning triple steps and Lindy Hop.

• Drop me off in Harlem - Victrola
• Savoy Blues - Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band
• All of Me - Sidney Bechet
• I've heard that song before - Harry James and Helen Forrest
• Perdido - Duke Ellington's orchestra with Ben Webster
• Organ Grinder's Swing - Buster Smith
• Smooth Sailing - Ella Fitzgerald
• C Jam Blues - Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
• Viper's Moan - Willie Bryant
• Apollo Jump - Lucky Millinder

Visit your local library for jazz music

Borrowing from the Bibliothèque Nationale (Berri-Uqam metro): if you are a Canadian citizen, membership to the Bibliothèque Nationale is free, and their jazz collection is amazing. Do visit and listen to music before buying. You can borrow three CDs at a time for a period of three weeks. Here are a few albums to check out:

• Count Basie - The Best of Early Basie
• Count Basie - Count Basie at Newport (1957)
• Ella Fitzgerald - Bluella
• Jimmy Lunceford - For Dancers Only
• Benny Goodman - B.G. in Hi-Fi
• Duke Ellington - Blues in Orbit
• Artie Shaw - The Complete Gramercy Five Sessions
• Oscar Peterson - Night Train
• An Anthology of Big Band Swing (Decca)
• Lou Rawls with Les McCann- Stormy Monday - section Blues
• Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Gate Swings - section Blues

We also sell a CD compiled by Swing DJs, For Dancers Only by Chiarusco Records, for $20 in the studio.

What do you mean, Lindy versus Swing?

- Alain Wong

The name Lindy versus Swing is inspired by our struggle to educate people on Lindy Hop, the original swing dance, and on authentic vernacular jazz dances.

There are many misunderstandings about what swing dancing is. When we say swing, the majority of Canadians associate the term to partnered dancing, swing music, rock'n roll, zoot suits, two toned shoes, crazy aerials.

An example of confusion. Last fall, our teachers Alain Fragman and Sylwia Bielec were invited to teach on the reality TV show Occupation Double 4. The researcher in charge of the swing theme for the episode did her job, asking the crew to give the set at 30's and 40's feel. She was as shocked as we were when we saw the actual set. Instead of something reminiscent of the Savoy ballroom in Harlem, the artistic director had a 1950's post-war look, complete with Tail-finned cars, hula hoops and poodle skirts.

• In the 1920's, 30's, 40's, people danced Charleston, Lindy Hop, Balboa, Tap, Cakewalk, Blackbottom, Peabody.
• In the 1950's and 60's, people danced Rock, Boogie Woogie, Rockabilly Jive, Twist.

At Cat's Corner, our mission is to promote authentic jazz dances from the swing era, conserving the meaning and traditions of the dance.

The first steps

- Alain Wong

Lindy versus Swing is a new Cat's Corner project.

The goal of this blog is to gather and promote news and information on swing dancing in Quebec and Canada. We post on Lindy versus Swing a bit more than once a week.

The Cat's Paw is a blog on swing dancing, Lindy Hop and jazz music in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Friday Downtown Stomp, our social dance night in Montreal. Drop in lesson at 8:30pm each week.

Dance classes for all levels.