What level am I?
At Sugar Hill Hop, we don’t level by how many moves you know or how long you’ve been dancing. We level by the quality of your movement, your self-awareness, and your ability to adapt. Our teaching is built around five core vocabulary elements — posture and stance, tension and compression, body tone, energy, and direction — and your relationship with them deepens as you progress.
Level 0 — Beginners
Building awareness of your body and your partner while developing comfort in the social dance environment.
You’re discovering what connection feels like — recognising tension and compression, maintaining simple posture, and finding your own rhythm in the music. Small changes take conscious effort and a few attempts. You’re introduced to the cultural origins of the dance: a living tradition rooted in the Savoy Ballroom and created by Black artists.
Ready for Level 1? You maintain basic connections across different partners, and you notice when something feels off.
Level 1 — Social Improvers
Developing consistent fundamentals and beginning to connect your movement to the music.
You’re building consistency in the five core elements across different partners. You recognise when your movement doesn’t match your intention and can self-correct with some prompting. Concepts are starting to connect, and the music is becoming something you dance with, not just alongside.
Ready for Level 2? You self-correct, maintain quality across different partners, and integrate changes quickly. You have been social dancing, but you are a real social dancer now.
Level 2 — Intermediate
Maintaining dance integrity across different partners and situations while developing personal expression within the vernacular tradition.
Reliable consistency in both partnered and solo contexts. You identify and correct errors as they happen without external prompting, maintain rhythm across various tempos, and recover gracefully from disruptions. Personal interpretation is emerging — you’re beginning to solidify your voice and expression on the dance floor.
Ready for Level 3? You dance with complete beginners without losing your own integrity, and you anticipate issues before they happen.
Level 3 — Proficient
Navigating any partnership with integrity, innovating within the improvisational tradition, and embodying the technical and cultural depth of the dance.
Your integrity holds regardless of partner experience. You anticipate and micro-adjust seamlessly, integrate new concepts within the same session, and generate your own movement ideas rooted in the dance’s traditions. You are starting to handle competition and performance settings with consistency, and your connection to the cultural heritage runs deep.
Ready for Level 4? Your integrity is unwavering across every context. How well you can work and communicate within a partnership is a good skills indicator, and not just the moves you can execute within that dance partnership.
Level 4 — Advanced
A mastery of movement and musical connection while serving as a steward of the dance’s cultural legacy and community.
Complete command across all contexts — social, performance, competition, and starting to enter environments of peer-teaching/working with others to improve your dancing. Self-awareness is instinctive. You generate original concepts rooted in the vernacular, African diasporic foundations of the dance, communicate them clearly, and integrate feedback instantaneously. Under pressure, you are consistent and composed. You are a steward of this dance’s heritage.
Common Questions
How do I know which level I’m at?
A mix of self-assessment and teacher guidance. Be honest with yourself using the descriptions above. Our teachers will often encourage you to move up, as many students can undervalue themselves.
Can I try a higher-level class?
Yes. If it fits, stay. If it’s a stretch, our teachers will give you honest guidance if asked. Deciding to return to your current level is good self-awareness, not failure.
I’ve danced at another school — where do I start?
Come along and try a class. Our system is based on movement quality rather than specific moves, so your experience may not map directly onto our levels. Our teachers will help you find the right fit.
How long does it take to move up?
No fixed timeline. You progress when your movement quality, self-awareness, and adaptability demonstrate it — and that’s different for everyone.
What if I feel stuck?
Talk to your teachers. They can usually pinpoint what’s holding you back and suggest a focus.
Can I attend more than one level?
Yes — many students do. Two consecutive classes on the same evening are £25.
Why don’t you level by moves like other schools?
Because knowing a move and understanding the principles behind it are different things. A dancer who knows fewer moves but executes them with consistency, intentional variation, connection, and musicality across any partner is far more developed than one who knows fifty moves but can’t maintain balance with a beginner. The moves come naturally once the principles are in place.
What Makes Our Approach Different
You might notice that our levelling system feels different. That’s intentional. Here’s what sets it apart:
Movement quality over move quantity. We assess how you move, not how many moves you know. A smaller vocabulary executed with integrity, musicality, and genuine connection will always be valued over a large collection of patterns performed without awareness.
Competency-based, not time-based. There are no minimum time requirements, no prerequisite classes to complete. You progress when your ability demonstrates it — whether that takes three months or three years.
Self-awareness and adaptability are core skills. At every level, we look at how well you know your own body, how quickly you can integrate change, and how you maintain your quality across different partners. These are the skills that make you a genuinely good social dancer.
Cultural heritage is woven in, not bolted on. Understanding where Lindy Hop comes from — the Savoy Ballroom, the musicians, the communities of Harlem — isn’t a separate history lesson. It’s part of what it means to progress as a dancer. At every level, we’ll provide small but consistent references to the cultural context, which over time accumulates and we hope deepens alongside the movement.
Process over product. We value how you learn and evolve, not just what you can currently do. A dancer who can take feedback, adapt, and grow will always progress further than one who performs well but resists change.
Still unsure which level is right for you? Just come to a class — our teachers will help you find the right fit. You can reach us at sugarhillhop.com/contact or on Instagram @sugarhillhop.