Free Swing Dance Lesson followed by open dancing to the band.
* 7-8pm – Free Swing Lesson included in admission. No partner needed.
* 8-11pm – Dance to Alan Thomson Little Big Band (see details below)

Albany Elks, 25 S Allen St, Albany, NY 12208 (1 block south of Rt. 20 Madison/Western)
Spacious, attractive A/C hall (plus 2 large fans) with large wooden dance floor.

Proof of vaccine is no longer required. Stay home if you feel sick, or were in close contact with someone who tested positive. Masks are not required, but are welcome.

If in the last 2 weeks, you traveled out of the area or attended a large event (e.g., festival, party, bar, wedding, wake, airplane, etc.), please take a Covid rapid test the day of the event with a negative result.

Volunteers: please contact me if you’d be interested in being on the Albany 1st Friday Swing Dance committee and helping with the dance.

COVID CONSIDERATIONS

• The Federal public health emergency for Covid has ended, so we no longer require proof of vaccines. But we still must be careful. The CDC recommends that everyone gets the most recent bivalent Covid booster that they are eligible for. That protects both the individual and those around them. The effectiveness of the vaccines and boosters reduces over time. If your last vaccine or booster was over a year ago, you are not protected very well.

• Things to consider to protect the dance community: There have been over 1.1 million Covid deaths in the US. Studies have shown that many of those deaths could have been avoided with earlier action and a greater adoption of protective measures. There is a lot of misinformation concerning Covid. Vaccines and boosters work and have negligible side effects. Good quality N95 and KN95 masks protect the wearer and those around them. A vaccinated person can get and spread Covid, BUT they are far less likely to get Covid, and if they do, it is likely to be a weak case almost never resulting in hospitalization or death, and to be less contagious and for a much shorter period of time. So a lot safer. The CDC found that in November 2022, monthly hospitalization rates for adults who were vaccinated but didn’t get an updated booster were 2.7 TIMES HIGHER compared with adults who did get a new booster. The rate of hospitalization in unvaccinated adults was 16 TIMES HIGHER.

• Attendees should recognize that regardless of precautions taken by the organizers, and other attendees, there will always be a risk of Covid exposure. Please email us immediately in the event that you develop symptoms or have a positive Covid test within 5 days after the event. firstfridayswingdance@gmail.com

• An alert of any positive result will be posted on the event page in Facebook and the www.danceflurry.org website, maintaining confidentiality.

• If there are any changes to this policy, they will be posted at the event. At this time, we do not intend to use the pre-registration system any longer.

Thank you for taking precautions to keep our wonderful dance community safe.

Schedule for 2022-2023 Season (with links to Facebook events):

10/7/22: Mark Gamsjager and the Lustre Kings

11/4/22 – Sonny & Perley Jive Five

12/2/22 – Jonathan Greene’s Grand Boubousse

Jan 6 – El Dorados

Feb 3 – The Lucky 5

Mar 3 – Alan Thompson Little Big Band

Apr 7 – Dylan Perrillo Quartet

May 5 – Phil Drum’s The Resonators

June 2 – Alan Thomson Little Big Band

Sponsored by the Dance Flurry Organization (DFO) www.danceflurry.org