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My name is Jason Welke and I am one of the owners/brewer of a new brewery, Port Town Brewing Company, in down town San Pedro, CA. I am writing because I am trying to connect with like minded people and communities to share my brewery with. Our building was built in in 1918 as Liberty Auditorium as a 10,000 sq/ft dance hall which showcased many of the bands of the early jazz era such as Orys Creole Sunshine Orchestra. It was the one place in town you could bring a date safely because it was a dry establishment. Sadly it did not remain a dance hall for long and soon became a series of car garages and impound lot and more recently simply empty. Well we’ve spent years turning it into a brewery/tasting room and space for public and private events. I’ve built the bar and bar wall in the Greene and Greene craftsman style of the early 1900’s and I’ve built a sound track or early jazz up until the 1940’s. My goal is to reach out to the communities who appreciate the same things that I do and be able to share this place with them, maybe even host a big band swing night. I am very new to doing this though and would love some help or at least to be pointed in the right direction for both getting the word out and figuring out how to be a part of the community. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Jason

Hi SwingDance LA team,
Super quickly – would you be open to exploring a partnership with an International West Coast Swing Champion and partner-dance mindset coach with over 32 years of dance experience?
The idea is to work with me on a commission basis. It’s an online masterclass for partner dancers, followed by a 3-month signature program.
Inside, I’ve taken personal lessons from my 32-year dance journey and 12 years as a mindset coach and created an easy-to-experience course for partner dancers of all styles, ages, and levels to expand their joy, accelerate their progress, and embody unwavering confidence in their dance.
Would a partnership like this be worth exploring at the moment?

Hello! My fiancée would love to listen to Electro Swing in the Los Angeles area. Do you know of any upcoming events? His birthday is at the end of May and I am hopeful to treat him to something special :) Thank you in advance!

Hi, I’d like to take my wife to a big swing dance competition. By that I mean, a big prize money one, where the contestants are all….. amazing. Do such things still happen in Los Angeles? I’m willing to wait for the biggest, most over-the-top competitors. (Yes, trying to re-live something that I saw 25 years ago.) Any suggestions?

Hi! I’m traveling from Ohio and I am absolutely vaccinated and boosted. I attended Pittstop which had the same requirement…however I don’t have a copy of my original vax cards. I can see whether I have them…I am fairly confident that I have virtual proof of my booster from November. I am not due for another booster until March, however I did get a mild case of COVID in mid-january in LA. I am a speech therapist. Thoughts? I’m a dancer who runs a community event in Columbus so I completely understand the need to make guidelines/follow through. Let me know what you need and I’ll do my best to get it to you on Thursday! Crossing fingers and toes as we still only have biweekly dances (once a month blues and fusion and once a month blues and swing).

Oh, by the way, is there somewhere where we can volunteer? I can’t believe you’re running a weekly dance by yourself!