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Dear Lindy Hop community...
After a robust experiment to see if we could create a nonprofit organization to bring back the old school Lindy Hop music and energy, we have decided to close the Doghouse. Although this isn’t the outcome we wanted, we are glad we created a positive, inclusive, and fun place to dance over the last year. We are incredibly grateful to you all for your support and participation! This journey would not have been possible without you.
TLDR: The Doghouse closes down operations effective Feb 2025, with our last two dance events happening on Thursday Feb 06 & Feb 13, 2025 (Open House). Come join us for the final dances!
It has been a great run! Our goal as old school Lindy Hoppers was to give back, passing on the lessons we learned from the original founders and teachers like Frankie Manning, Dawn Hampton and others to a new generation of dancers. We established ourselves as a non-profit because we were interested in building a dance venue that was by and for the community.
The instructors and DJs featured at The Doghouse brought 20+ years of dancing, teaching and DJing experience, enabling them to share the nuances of lindy hop they learned over the years. We provided our teachers, DJ’s and staff among the highest rates in the Bay Area to help ensure that the creative art form we all enjoy could continue. We are proud of our commitment to supporting the arts!
We planned our classes intentionally with skill-building in mind, creating 6 week series rather than 4, since many dancers may not retain what they learned in only 4 weeks (especially if they missed a class). Our classes emphasized connection and musicality over steps, knowing that Lindy Hop derived from creative improvisations - we believe in teaching movement over steps!
Our music was based on classic jazz, jump swing, and contemporary swing, bringing back the vibe of the swing resurgence in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. We will always get on the dance floor when we hear Indigo Swing, Nina Simone, Barbara Morrison, Lavay Smith and so many others. We’re glad we did our part to (re)introduce these amazing musicians and vocalists to new dancers.
Thank you for making all this possible! The community’s contributions over the last year enabled us to start the organization, pay rent at the Russian Center, pay our teachers and DJs, support a local band and bring many new dancers into the Lindy family. We are pleased that we have leveraged your starting contributions of over $12,000 – initially enough funding for only several months of The Doghouse – into nearly 10 months of weekly dances for the community to enjoy. We are ending this collective effort with little financial debt; only a debt of gratitude to our donors and the incredible Bay Area Lindy Hop community.
We recognize that our vision for a renewed Doghouse has not inspired broad attendance as we had hoped, and we have unfortunately reached the end of the financial runway. Rather than conduct another round of fundraising, we’ve decided to close the venue.
As a nonprofit organization, our mission is still to promote Lindy Hop and swing dancing in the Bay Area. As we wind down our event at the Russian Center, we would love to hear your ideas about how we can continue to make a positive impact on the community; we can best be reached via email info@doghousesf.com.
With gratitude and Lindy love,
Chad, Ali, and Melanie and the staff of the Doghouse
The Doghouse is managed by Two Dogs Barking Inc., a US-based nonprofit organization (501c3 EIN 93-4923547).
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