Hundreds of dancers swing into the record books during Newport Beach’s birthday bash
Under the bright California sunshine, hundreds of dancers twirled and tapped their feet on the bright green grass at Newport Beach last Sunday – swinging to sounds of live jazz music and the commands coming from the talented instructors onstage.
In celebration of the American city’s 120th birthday, 579 pairs of fashionably-clad participants joined tourism board Visit Newport Beach for this fantastic celebration of local culture, which earned them a Guinness World Records title along the way.
In total, this was the largest swing dance lesson ever recorded, beating out a similar event in 2018 by the Bletchley Park Trust (UK) with 391 pairs.
“Our team members are very excited to achieve this record, and we are lucky that the weather is so beautiful and participants are fully enjoying the attempt!” said the organizers to GWR.
They told us that they chose to celebrate in this fashion to honour the Balboa Swing Dance, which originated in Newport Beach in the 1930s. The partner dance is traditionally performed to swing music – a style of jazz – and can reach high speeds as participants spin and shuffle their feet.
Read more stories about incredible dancers in our dedicated Arts and Entertainment section!
And you could hardly pick a more perfect day to hold an outdoor dancing lesson, as the morning of 19 April held blue skies and fluffy clouds above the field of participants!
The event was held at a green space near the beach, broken up into 12 zones for attendees to be sorted into.
In the front of the grass, three instructors took their places atop a giant stage, where they would teach the crowd basic footwork, posture, partner connection, rhythm, and a simple repeating pattern – and encourage the large group of beginners to perform.
And naturally, because you can’t dance without good music, a giant live band was assembled behind the participants to really help them get into the swing of things!
Once all the dancers were gathered into the zones, the attempt officially began at 11:23 a.m., and lasted for a total of 33 minutes as people danced their hearts out in the centre of Newport Beach.
Guinness World Records Adjudicator Tina Shi was present onsite to make sure that all event guidelines were being adhered to, and she remarked that the day was a perfect alignment of good weather and good vibes.
All of the dancers participated with passion – and with the stewards dressed as navy captains and the lead dancers in their blue navy uniforms, the crowd matched the sky in wonderful harmony.
“It is a very well organized attempt from checking in participants to the stewards arrangements, and it’s very impressive to see so many people dancing swing dance together,” she said.
After everyone’s feet were sore – and smiles were plastered on their faces – Tina joined the Mayor of Newport Beach onstage to announce that they had taken the title, and the audience was overjoyed to find out that they had officially danced their way into the record books.
As streamers rained down upon the crowd, you could hear cheers up and down the beach, as the community celebrated the efforts of their talented city.
So congratulations to everyone that took part in this impressive (and expressive) celebration – Newport Beach, you are Officially Amazing!