Cretan Swing Shots

We are a self-managed dance group based in Heraklion, Crete. Founded in 2013, we’re part of a broader community active within the University of Crete campus. Our group is driven by values of selflessness and co-creation, with organisation and decisions made collectively. We rely on donations from members and the public during the events we host, keeping everything community-centered. Honouring this dance's history means recognising both the joy and the struggle woven into the movement, and resisting the way commercial culture often strips such art forms of their roots. We work outside the logic of profit, built on shared effort, mutual learning, and open participation. An organising team helps keep things moving and we hold regular assemblies, where decisions are made collectively and everyone has a voice. For us, dance isn’t just performance; it’s a way to connect, to learn, to create and to push back against the idea that culture is something you buy rather than build together.