The History Of The Swinger's Ball
(Originally Conceptualized and Produced by Bill O'Brien and Riley Wimes Jr.February 14, 1998). This year’s event will be held Saturday, March 29, 2008 at The Willowbrook Ballroom.
It is safe to say that The Swinger's Ball is the granddaddy of all annual and major swing events, both big and small that has happened in Chicago's Lindy Hop community since swing's revival. Aside from the Aragon Ballroom show that featured The Big Swing, Indigo Swing, The Rocket 88's and The Atomic Fireballs in October of 1997, The First Annual Swinger's Ball, held at The (now defunct) Riverwest Brewery on February 14, 1998, was the next major swing event to happen. With close to 500 people in attendance, Miss Midori spinning swing music at the band breaks, The Riff Rockets (their full band) on the bandstand, Kristen Weinandt and Benjamin ? being named Queen and King of the ball, Big Tyme Riley Wimes and High Flyin' Bill O'Brien knew they had started a special tradition.
While Riley and Bill originally conceptualized and produced the "First" event, they at one time or another took less than principal roles in its' planning and final production. It was pretty much a Bill O'Brien event in 1999 with a lot of assistance from Jeffrey Cannon as well as powerhouse promoter Brad Altman. In 2000 Bill and Riley reunited and with their third partner, Jeffrey Cannon held the third event at Liquid "The Original House of Swing". In 2001 Bill and Riley played a very limited role, while Jeffrey Cannon, Julee Mertz (Big City Swing), and Evin Jacobson (Bluemoon Groove) combined wit, charm, and event experience, to pull together a great event held at Green Dolphin Street, the swankiest venue thus far!
Three years ago the event went home once again. Jeffrey Cannon and Riley Wimes Jr. produced Swingers Ball #5. The name was changed (to protect the innocent) to Kustom and the interior was totally gutted and reinstalled as Liquid reinvented themself. What we received was a deluxe, modern venue with superior sound and lighting and a neat place to have an annual event thanks to Sara and Dara. Brienn Perry headlined this event. This building is demolished now, and is now part of the swing revivals most famous casualty.

The Sixth Annual Swingers Ball was held at The Willowbrook Ballroom for the first time is it's six-year history. Again it was produced by Riley Wimes and Jeffrey Cannon. It was the first time the event was held outside of the city's interior and proved to be a winning combination. That event had the largest number of attendees up until that time, as well as great bands (The Rhythm Rockets, Douce Ambience, and Sam Burckhardt) and great dance demos by Big City Swing, Alex and Maren, Margot and Riley, Jeepers Creepers, Peter Betbasoo and Phoebe. The Willowbrook staff and management were eager to assist and help make Swingers Ball Six the best it could be.

The Seventh Annual Swingers Ball was a real treasure. This event, again held at The Willowbrook Ballroom for the second year in a row, took off as The Riff Rockets featuring Jane Baxter on vocals really set the tone as the opening act. It was nostalgic in a sense because they were the band that fronted our first event in 1998. The band led by Tom Costanzo looked really good in their white tuxedo jackets and solidified a great vibe musically that would last throughout the evening. Nino, and his staff from, www. mayIhavethisdance.com made the second room downstairs (a dj'd west coast room) a great alternative to the ballroom upstairs. It spread the event out really well. This was the first time The Swingers Ball was bi-level and the feedback was very positive.
Great performances in Lindy and Charleston (Chaotic Rhythm), West Coast Swing (Jim Becker, Nancy Tuzzolino and April Prince), Salsa ( Dora and Marco ), and Break Dancing ( Midwest Break Dancing Coalition) and Stepping (The Magnifiscents) gave the event a depth that it never had and actually showed a chronological history or evolution and connection from the swing era to our present day with all the performances except Salsa.
The real treat came when The Thomas Gunther Band took the stage for the last two sets of the evening. While Thomas can carry an evening by himself, Deborah and her room trembling, gospel-laden voice would prove to be the vital link between a good time and a great time. “Outstanding” and “you should have been there” is all you have to say! While the attendance was slightly off from 2003, it was still one of the best attended events of the seven.

Swinger's Ball #8 experimented with an outside MC in Dee from Montreal. Dee is very charismatic and bilingual in French and English. He is the primary organizer and promoter for the ECSDC in Montreal and is an avid promoter of this dance globally. I was glad to turn over those duties to him. He was great at doing the best he could in making sure the "Battle of the Coasts" dance contest kept moving which by itself was a different twist to this event. He was not-so-good at controlling his "potty mouth" but all is cool.

With the addition Of Frida Lee singing with Carl Woodley and The Groovemasters along with Thomas Gunther bringing up the rear, Swinger's Ball #8 was the best attended event in the history of this great party. Performances by Riley and Kristin, Margot and Riley, Julee and Jan, Alex and April and The May I Have This Dance Crew rounded out this event.

In review and self-criticism of SB8, it had too much down time during the main part of the dance. Even though there was actually more dancing added because of the "Frank Sinatra Hour" when the doors opened, there was more perception of less dance time and perception eventually becomes reality. This year the organizers have added a stage manager (Jenna S.) to keep things moving and they will allow the contest prelims to take place in both available rooms. There will always be a room playing music between the two floors.

These events have always been well received and promoted by the community at large including Chicago Swing Half-Breeds (Nicolle Wood) Swing-Out Chicago (Howard Bregman), Big City Swing (www.bigcityswing.com) and Bluemoon Groove. It was through the use of Howard and Nicolle's massive mailing list that helped Bill and Riley reach their market for the initial event. Promotional contributions from all Chicago groups and dance establishments, has contributed to the popularity of The Swinger's Ball!

2006 was the first year we had an out-of-town band play the event. The Boilermaker Jazz Band was welcomed with outstretched arms and served SB 9 well with their authentic sounding renditions of classic and original tunes.
Nino Digiulio (www.mayIhavethisdance.com), hosted the the west coasters downstairs once again but with other conflicts and events going on in their community,that part of the event withered in comparison to the prior year's performance and attendance. The weather last year also affected overall attendance as compared to the year before.

All in all the event flowed a lot better. The Lindy (only) contest moved quickly and Chris and Roxie proved to be the couple to beat once again by taking first place and taking home the money! The attendees looked fabulous and Dennis DeRamos and Alisha Bloom took home the King and Queen honors and gained free lifetime admission to this event.

The 2007 event was musically led by Thomas Gunther. He put three separate bands on the stage in the main room while the Flat Cats played downstairs in the Bunkeris. Swinger's Ball 10 was designed to have at least one band playing at all times, somewhere. Even though we experienced the worst weather day up until that point and definitely the worst weather ever for this event, the event still drew a respectable number of attendees and was a great way to celebrate 10 years. Tracy Hogan and Andrea Hundt's husband took the King and Queen honors, while Andrea Hundt and Dan Skibo bested the field to win the $800.00 in the "Bringing the Heat Contest" #1.

At the time of this writing all the details for SB11 are not finalized. After much personal debate and agony, the promoters of The Swinger's Ball have decided that it is in the best interest of their mental health :) to move the event from the coldest month of the year (February) and offer a spring event to be held March 29, 2008. It has taken ten long years to come to this decision and we understand that the mood of the event will be altered because of it.

We also feel that giving the ladies a little more time after the holidays to pick the "right" outfit and hopefully giving them warmer temperatures, will inspire them to look even better ( I don't know how that could possibly be considering you all are already looking top notch) when they get that fresh renewed feeling that only the beginning of spring can provide. The Swinger's Ball as we have known it is gone. Please say hello to the New Swinger's Ball!

The Bringing The Heat Dance Contest is back. More details will emerge soon (especially when we update our site and make www.swingersball11 a working site)! $800.00 is the starting prize and once again it is a just dance contest. We really wanted to do a showcase contest but at this point it will take more energy and planning than what was originally anticipated. It also makes it a less complicated deal for those who wish to participate.

Alan Gresik's Big Band will play this event for the first time ever and we are excited to have him. You can read all about the Alan Gresik Orchestra at www.swingshiftworld.com. Alan Gresik will bosat a 13-piece ensemble on one of the most famous ballroom bandstands in the nation. As always "Come One Come All To The 11th Annual Swinger's Ball". More details soon!

The Swinger's Ball is an event that is broader than the scope of just dancing. It is about styling,attitude, sipping wine, cosmos, martinis and things. It is about conversation, hanging out, and being social. It is about being with that someone special or treating yourself especially nice. A date is not necessary. This event has traditionally had a lot of singles in attendance. In closing I will simply say "Come One Come All to The 11th Annual Swingers Ball".