| A Brief (and informal) History of the Rochester Swing Dance Network |
| Spring 1993 | Swing dancers reach "critical mass" at Steve Lagergren's Monday night swing classes at Brighton Reformed Church |
| Fall 1993 | Richard Newman and Esther Brill get tired of driving to Ithaca to swing dance and envision RSDN (modeled on ISDN - Ithaca Swing Dance Network) with Becky Loftus while practicing at her house. Coincidentally, the name matches Richard's initials RSN |
| Oct 1993 | Informal record hops at Heidi Dankosh's (formerly an Ithaca swing dancer) house: dancers include George Sperry, Charlene Winger-Bearskin, and Joe Clark |
| Feb 1994 | Greg Walker & the Powerglide beginTuesday Bluesday swing nights at Milestones, to the delight of Rochester's swing dancers |
| Feb 1994 | Large RSDN record hop held at Billett Ballroom, organized by Sue Micciche: 60 people attend; hops also in March and April |
| Dec 1994 | RSDN Friday night record hop at Covenant United Methodist Church (CUMC) on Culver Road, known for its fine wood dance floor and home of CDR (Country Dancers of Rochester) Thursday night contra dancing |
| Feb 1995 | Friday night dance to live music at CUMC organized by Esther Brill & Richard Newman: 120 people dance to Rochester's own Bobby Henrie & the Goners. Monthly live dances thereafter through June, resuming in September. Other bands that first season: The HotFoot Club with Dave Davies, and Diana Leigh & Crazy Rhythm, both from Ithaca |
| June 1995 | Bill Borgida, Ithaca's renowned swing dance teacher, offers Lindy Hop class series and introduces Rochester to lindy |
| Aug 1995 | RSDN, as a sub-group for swing and cajun/zydeco dancing, umbrella-ed under CDR, Country Dancers of Rochester, along with contra dancing and English country dancing |
| Sept 1995 | Dances resume - new bands playing for RSDN: Dee Specker & Swingsation (Ithaca), Skeeter & the Three Notes, Teresa Broadwell's Thrivin on a Riff (Albany), and Peter Davis & the Throbbing Hub (Saratoga Springs). Key dance volunteers include Jenny Gaul & Sue Morgan |
| Oct 1995 | Lindy Hop dance jam organized by Jeff Sciortino with Sue Leurgans & Beth Fischer, at Pyramid Arts Center, moving to the Coop Sunken Room and then to DancEncounters |
| Oct 1995 | The RSDN boom box is purchased, using dance proceeds |
| Oct 1995 | Swing dance class series at Twelve Corners Presbyterian Church, taught by Esther Brill & Richard Newman; other swing series follow |
| Nov 1995 | Jeff Folkins designs RSDN its first spiffy dance flyer |
| Nov 1995 | Record hops at Twelve Corners Church with the help of Tim White, Jenny Gaul, Anne Lazarides, and Gordon Gilfilian |
| Jan 1996 | RSDN web site established by Rich Dempsey: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/r/rsdn/ |
| Jan 1996 | Cajun dance to live music at CUMC: The Rubber Band, followed by dances with Cajun Contagion, Cajun Chaos, and the New Aliens |
| Mar 1996 | First RSDN zydeco dance class series, taught by Sally Freund of Ithaca |
| Mar 1996 | Chanka Chank formed; first performance - Sister Cities Festival in June, first club date - opening for CJ Chenier in October; by 1998, they are playing about 60 shows of all kinds each year in New York state and beyond |
| Apr 1996 | City Newspaper sponsors swing dance nights at Milestones featuring Greg Walker & the Powerglide |
| May 1996 | Second annual RSDN "Swing into Spring" dance, at Stardust Ballroom |
| May 1996 | "Dance at the Lilac Fest" features swing and cajun bands with dance instruction |
| July 1996 | Swing dance bands featured at gazebo at Corn Hill Festival |
| Sept 1996 | For the RSDN 1996-97 season, new bands include Tom Knight & the Blue Moon (Ithaca) and the O'Tones (W. Mass) |
| Oct 1996 | Cajun & zydeco dance classes first offered by Esther & Richard |
| Nov 1996 | Swing and zydeco dancing added to the 13th annual CDR Thanksgiving Weekend Dance Festival at Mercy HS |
| April 1997 | Chanka Chank plays for an RSDN dance |
| Sept 1997 | For the RSDN 1997-98 season, new bands include the Jump Kings (Buffalo) and the Jivewires (Ottawa) |
| Feb 1998 | Jeff Folkins creates new web pages for CDR/RSDN: www.ggw.org/rsdn |
| Feb 1998 | Swing dance band and instruction featured at Memorial Art Gallery exhibition opening event; also again in June |
| Fall 1998 | The Gap "khakis swing" commercial to Louis Prima's "Jump Jive & Wail" brings new dancers of all ages to swing dancing |
| Sept 1998 | For the RSDN 1998-99 season, new bands include Joe Salzano & the Blue Devils (Ithaca) |
| Sept 1998 | RIT Swing Club officially organized: President Mike Thibault, VP Alex Burr; they sponsor their first workshop and dance event featuring Joe Salzano in January '99 |
| Nov 1998 | RSDN brings the renowned Steven Mitchell to Rochester for a lindy hop workshop weekend; dancers attend from Albany, Syracuse, Ithaca, Buffalo & Toronto |
| Jan 1999 | RSDN monthly dances held at the elegant Cutler Ballroom at the Memorial Art Gallery through April |
| Summer 1999 | Swing dances continue through July & August at RMSC: Hot Swing in a Cool Place |
| Fall 1999 | RSDN dance locations now include Rochester Museum & Science Center Eisenhart Auditorium and Harro East Athletic Club Gym |
| Sept 1999 | First RSDN Battle of Bands at Rochester's own Savoy, the elegant Harro Ballroom, with Joe Salzano & the Blue Devils and the Jivewires from Ottawa |
| Jan 2000 | RSDN sponsors Cajun dance with world renowned Balfa Toujours |
| April 2000 | "Goddesses of Swing" battle of bands at Harro Ballroom, with Diana Leigh & Crazy Rhythm from Ithaca, and Alex Pangman & her Alleycats from Toronto |
| Sept 2000 | Thursday night Swing-In started by Kim Eastman at St Thomas Episcopal Church |
| Nov 2000 | "Goddesses of Swing" battle of bands at Harro Ballroom with Diana Leigh & Crazy Rhythm, and Rochester's own Janet Beaman & TeNaj |
| Nov 2000 | Third annual Steven Mitchell & Virginie "For Dancers Only..." weekend |
| April 2001 | Zydeco dances at Harmony House in Webster started by Bruce Handelman and get organized into the Rochester Cajun/Zydeco Junkies |
| Sept 2001 | For the RSDN 2001-2002 season, new bands include John Cole Blues Band |
| Nov 2001 | Fourth annual Steven Mitchell & Virginie weekend |
| Sept 2002 | RSDN kicks off its 9th dance season; new bands include Lesley Byers & the Jazz Cats from Chicago, and Jon Seiger & the All Stars from Rochester |
| Sept 2002 | Rochester Cajun Zydeco Junkies organized to promote the monthly Cajun/Zydeco dances held at Harmony House in Webster |
| Nov 2002 | Fifth annual Steven Mitchell & Virginie "the magic in the dance" weekend with Lindy Hop Heaven |
| Nov 2002 | Zydeco workshop weekend with Michael Seider from Louisiana |
| Jan 2003 | First Joel & Alison Plys Balboa workshop weekend |
| Sept 2003 | RSDN kicks off its 10th dance season |
| Nov 2003 | Sixth annual Steven Mitchell & Virginie workshop weekend with Lindy Hop Heaven |
| Jan 2004 | Second annual Joel & Alison Plys Balboa weekend |
| Feb 2004 | New RSDN website created by Mike Thibault with Alex Burr, www.rochesterswingdance.com |
