Class descriptions

Friday:

Dances in the Jooks (Open for all):

Level: All levels

Type of class: Dancing

Based on the book ‘Jookin’, by Katrina Hazzard-Gordon, you will be introduced to a range of dances that were once danced in the Jook Joints of the Mississippi Delta. Get your butts funky, your tails fishing and your hips rocking and more!

/Vicci & Adamo

Saturday:

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What Is Blues?:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Lecture

This is a question that so many DJs and dancers have asked, but is really a misnomer. The real question this class will seek to answer: ‘what is the music that we DJ for dancers in the current Blues dance community?’. Through a bit of analysis and concrete examples, we’ll reach a better understanding of how to answer this question.

/Mike & Dan + Stefano

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Introduction to the Chicago Triple

Level: All levels

Type of class: Dancing

What will I learn?  Learn the Chicago Triple, an idiomatic approach to dancing to Barrelhouse Blues, Boogie-Woogie and similar styles of blues music.  Playing with rhythmic footwork and a feeling of stretch and compression between you and your partner, this dance creates a fun base for you to improvise from.

/Vicci & Adamo

Embrace Movements:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Dancing

Did you know there are a lot of ways to create an Embrace dance position? We'll try variations on several elements such as relative orientation and pike/lean, and see how different footworks and embellishments match up with these.

/Mike & Dan

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Speed Dating With Blues Rhythms:

Level: Beginner / Intermediate

Type of class: Dancing

Build up your own rhythm toolkit as we expose you to some of the most commonly used blues rhythms and shuffles. You will learn to identify and dance to these rhythms, playing with them in a variety of moves and a variety of body parts!

/Vicci & Adamo

Riffin 'n' Cuttin:

Level: Open to all levels of dancer, but you need to feel comfortable dancing solo in front of others

Type of class: Solo Dancing

Starting as a musical battle between various stride piano players from the 1920s - 1940s, these improvisation contests are a core element of African American music and dance. Present in tap dance, hip hop, break dancing… and blues! For me, cuttin' contests are all about inspiration. They're about constantly inspiring your partner to do better, so they can inspire you to do better… It's a partnership and a competition all rolled into one! Find your sass, throw down, and come and cut with me!

/Vicci

Essential Switch Skills:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Dancing

Looking to improve your ability in dancing both as a lead and a follow? Then we've got something for you! In this switch-dance based class, we'll explore and drill what we've found to be the most essential skills when changing between roles in a dance. We'll also share some fun ways to transition between the two roles in a smooth and sometimes flashy way!

/Dan & Adamo

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Geohistory of Blues in the U.S.:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Lecture with powerpoint & videos.

Part dance history, part music history, and way more information than we can reasonably fit into one class! This lecture will discuss the paths that some of the styles of blues music took over time, and how that affected the idioms associated with them.

/Mike

Struttin' Plus:

Level: Intermediate / Advanced - You need to feel confident with Struttin’ basics

Type of class: Dancing

Work on fast, fun Struttin’ footwork and take your Struttin’ to the next level.

/Vicci & Adamo

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Jukin' vs Jazzy Turns:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Dancing

Turns are all over Blues dancing, but they can take many forms. We'll go over how the aesthetics can change with different songs, and offer movement ideas as well

/Mike & Dan

Sunday:

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Blues songwriting workshop:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Workshop

There is one word that I often use to describe Blues: storytelling.

Each one of us has stories to tell..but do they fit in a blues structure? And what about the “sound” of our words..does it work for a blues song?

Well, let’s figure it out together!

We will analyze blues lyrics, structures, stories..and then we will write our own blues tune..and it’s better to be a good one..cause I will perform it live!

/Stefano

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Sand Dances:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Dancing

Let's play with footwork variations when your feet stay close to the ground. If you like or would like to learn movements stylistically similar James Brown or like those found in Texas Shuffle, this class is for you.

/Mike & Dan + Marcos

Angles & Asymmetry:

Level: Intermediate and above

Type of class: Dancing

One of the core characteristics of African American vernacular dance is asymmetry and angularity within the body and movement. This class will focus on intra-body shaping, and the shaping of the partnership to highlight these elements in our dancing.

/Vicci & Adamo

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Meet Piedmont Blues:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Dancing

Piedmont blues music is an acoustic, rhythmically dense style of blues from the Southeastern mountainous region of the United States.  We’ll identify the essential characteristics that make up the music, and offer ideas for how to dance to it.

/Mike & Dan

Dancing in the Multiverse:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Dancing

Each moment opens branching paths of possibility! When something starts to go differently than expected in a social dance, we can adapt to  our partner to create new opportunities. This class is about training your ability to flow with those changes.

/Mike & Dan

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Take Me To The Ballroom:

Level: All levels

Type of class: Dancing

Picture yourself in the Savoy Ballroom. The Big Band start to play. People start to dance. Perhaps they dance the Peabody, the Foxtrot, the Savoy Walk, the Lindy Hop. With so many people and so many different dances certain rules, or etiquettes were needed to prevent people from bumping into each other! This class will focus on travelling along the 'line of dance', working on fluid travelling variations and seamless floor craft.

/Vicci & Adamo

Polycentrism & Polyrhythms:

Level: All levels, but expect to be challenged

Type of class: Solo Dancing

“A good dancer is one who converses with music, clearly hears and feels the beat, and is capable of using different body parts to create visualisations of the rhythms.” (Steppin’ on The Blues, by Jacqui Malone).

This solo class will train your whole body! Learn to respond to the music with different body parts; develop your ability to isolate body parts; and explore ways to represent different rhythms in different body parts at the same time!

/Vicci

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Axis and Balance:

Level: Advanced

Type of class: Dancing

So many cool things are possible when we can feel how and where our partners are balanced! We'll increase our awareness with a few exercises, and see how we can apply this within a social dance.

/Mike & Dan