Class Descriptions
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Beginning East Coast Swing
(A.k.a. 6-Count Swing or Jitterbug)
Get in on this fun and easy to learn dance from the 40's and 50's that has you up and bouncing on day one! We craft natural walking movement into a simple, 6-count rhythm that students can "feel" right away! Now you'll finally know what all the buzz is about and what makes this happy dance so special. ECS is a great starting point to wet appetite for the rest of the swing genre dances!
Recommended Experience: No dance experience necessary!
Topics: Single-step Basic, Triple-step Basic, Open Position, Closed Position, Lead-Follow Fundamentals, Inside Turns, Outside Turns, Basic Tuck-Turn, Sit Dip
Intermediate East Coast Swing
(A.k.a. 6-Count Swing or Jitterbug)
Have your ECS fun-dimentals down pat and are now craving more? Who wouldn't want more of this crazy addictive dance - and that's just what we do here! We've got moves, moves, moves galore. Hang onto your hats and bring a notepad because we are gonna throw a lot of awesome your way!
Recommended Experience: Have completed Beginning ECS class or equivalent and have been dancing ECS weekly for at least a month.
Topics: Break-stops, Belt-Loop, Shoulder Slide, Cross-hands, Turn-style Tuck-turn, Barrel Roll, Whip-turn, Bow-tie, Cuddle, Side Dip and the Move Du Jour.
Advanced East Coast Swing
(A.k.a. 6-Count Swing or Jitterbug)
Wanna hike your dance up to that top tier and hone your mad Jitterbug skillz all at the same time? Well, we've got your ticket to ride that sweet ECS train of perfection right here!
Recommended Experience: Have completed Beginning ECS class or equivalent and have been dancing ECS weekly for at least 4 months.
Topics: Catches, Traveling Tuck-turns, Momentum Movements, Creating Shapes and Combos, Sharing the Weight, Dynamic Partner Placement, Advanced Lead and Follow and the Move Du Jour.
Beginning Lindy
Explore the fundamentals of this popular dance from the 30's and 40's by building rhythm up to the basic through a series of seven elementary movements and concepts. These movements are then woven together into an elegant mesh of stretchy goodness and partner connection while students gain clear understanding of this amazing and improvisational social dance that people all over the world know and love. This is a great starting point for those seeking to kick their dance skills up a notch from the other swing-genre dances.
Recommended Experience: No dance experience necessary, but experience in other swing genre dances (Blues, ECS, Charleston, Balboa) is helpful.
Topics: Triple Steps, Lindy Rhythm, Lindy Circle, Lindy Basic, Outside-turns, Inside-turns, Getting into and out of Lindy Hop and Partner Connection.
Beginning Lindy II
Building off of the concepts from Beginning Lindy, we dive in-depth into more core concepts of this funtastic dance to better hone the skills of the beginning dancer and make them feel right at home on the social dance floor.
Recommended Experience: Have completed the Beginning Lindy I class or equivalent and know the Lindy Basic (aka the Swing Out).
Topics: Follow Physics, Partner Influence & Adaptation, Oh-$#*@! Moments, Mixing 6 and 8 counts, Free-spins, 8-count Tuck-turn, Texas-Tommy, RJ's, Frankie Shuffle and the Move Du Jour.
Intermediate Lindy
You've got the Lindy basic down, you have some solid foundation and your swing-out is fairly clean, but now what? You need moves, style and a little extra helping of both, please! This class is all about giving you more options and getting your dance more expressive.
Recommended Experience: Have completed the Beginning Lindy classes or equivalent and have been dancing Lindy weekly for at least 4 months.
Topics: Pauses and breaks, Swivels, Switches, Quick-Stops, Turnstiles, Making Pass-By's Work, Pop-back, Kung-fu Moves and the Move Du Jour.
Intermediate-Advanced Lindy
Been dancing for a while? Got a lot of moves and style, but want to kick your dance up to the next level and crank that 2-way communication up to 11? In this class, we'll dive deep into the nitty-gritty of concepts that the expert dancers use to make their dance entertaining as hell!
Recommended Experience: Have completed all of the above Lindy classes or equivalent and have been dancing Lindy weekly for at least 8 months.
Topics: Follow Voice, 3 Versions of the Swing-out, Changing Your Direction & Dynamic, Adding and Removing Stuff, Timing Changes, Creating Moves and the Topic Du Jour.
Lindy-Blues Mix
(A.k.a. Slow Lindy)
Ever wonder how Lindy fits in with the music once the tempos drop? Have you wanted to dance your groove but they kept playing blues music? This class has got you covered! We'll be diving in with some an awesome mix of piratical exercises and blues concepts to really stretch your swing-out to that super-slow molasses feel and a sweet, amped-up connection that will leaving you craving for more.
Recommended Experience: Must have completed Intermediate Lindy or equivalent.
Topics: T.B.D.
Lindy Steals, Hijacks and Passing the Lead
Have you seen those awesome birthday or steal jams and always wanted to partake but didn't know how to jump in? Ever watch two people oh-so smoothly trading off between lead and follow? What about a follow completely pulling off a bad-a$$ move on their lead out of no-where? Guess what we're gonna do in this class! Learn these tricks of the cool kids and your Lindy will never be the same!
Recommended Experience: Must have completed Intermediate Lindy or equivalent and know both Lead and Follow roles in the Lindy basic.
Topics: Shoulder steals, Hand Steals, Bump-off's, Momentum Steals and Hijacks, Splitting the Lindy, Passing the Lead, Follow Chicken and the Topic Du Jour.
30's Partner Charleston
(A.k.a. Side-by-Side or Jockey Charleston)
Get up to speed on the faster tempos with Charleston - that cool Lindy Hop precursor dance from the '20s and 30's that was all the rage. Blending in nicely with all of your other swing genre dances, Charleston is a great addition to your dance repertoire and is the perfect compliment for peppy, hot jazz! This class focuses on movements and forms in relation to the partners standing by each other's side. Makes an awesome pairing with Tandem Charleston!
Recommended Experience: No dance experience necessary, but experience in other swing genre dances (Blues, ECS, Linda Hop, Balboa) is helpful.
Topics: Partner Charleston Basic, Entrances and Exits, Traveling, Kick-aways, Hand to Hand Charleston and the Move Du Jour.
30's Tandem Charleston
(A.k.a. Front to Back or Inline Charleston)
Get up to speed on the faster tempos with Charleston - that cool Lindy Hop precursor dance from the '20s and 30's that was all the rage. Blending in nicely with all of your other swing genre dances, Charleston is a great addition to your dance repertoire and is the perfect compliment for peppy, hot jazz! This class focuses on movements and forms in relation to one partner standing standing in front of the other. Makes an awesome pairing with Partner Charleston!
Recommended Experience: No dance experience necessary, but experience in other swing genre dances (Blues, ECS, Linda Hop, Charleston, Balboa) is helpful.
Topics: Tandem Charleston Basic, Entrances and Exits, Traveling, Wipers, Skaters, Drunken Sailor, Kick-outs and the Move Du Jour.
Beginning Blues
Blues is the sultry and passionate child of the swing dances. Typically danced to slower tempos and having an emphasis on gobs and gobs of connection, it's no wonder Blues is a favorite not only locally but internationally as well! Jump in on this gritty, earthy, grounded, bag of pulse-tasticness to see what all the goodness is about!
Recommended Experience: No dance experience necessary!
Topics: Pulse, Posture, Connection, Lag, Open Position, Closed Position, Close Embrace, Pulsed Turns, Traveling, Cross Through's, Fish tails, Grinds and the Move Du Jour.
Intermediate Blues
Now that you have your oh-so delicious and tasty Blues basics in the bag, how about making it even better? With this class we dive into the things that make the dance 10x better- no joke! In our experience, Counterbalance and Close Embrace are some of the biggest improvements that you can do for your dance. Sink your teeth in and enjoy the savory goodness!
Recommended Experience: Have completed Beginning Blues class or equivalent and have been dancing Blues weekly for at least a month.
Topics: Counterbalance, Loose Caboose and Pops, Close Embrace Positions & Movements, Skips, Mooches and the Move Du Jour.
Cooperative Blues & Dancing Switch
Ever been unable to decide who should lead or follow in a dance? What about having two people ask you for a dance at the same time? Tough questions deserve creative solutions and that is what this class is all about. Melding roles on the fly is fracking awesome, having multi-partner dances is mind bendingly cool and being able to do either of these just conveys all the right things. If you want to have some of the the most creative and unforgettable dances, this is how you do it!
Recommended Experience: Have completed Intermediate Blues or equivalent and know both Lead and Follow roles from Beginning Blues.
Topics: Switch Position, Passing the Lead, Multi-level Leading, Constructive vs. Destructive Movements, Multi-partner Dances, Stealing Vs. Passing, Sharing Shapes and the Topic Du Jour.
Dips, Slides and Musicality
This is the magic go-go juice that you need for any and all of your swing genre dances! Just sprinkle some of this in and it will make your dances exciting, memorable and highly sought after - just like a rock star! Plus, it's the perfect way to change that period at the end of your dance into an exclamation point! You're welcome.
Note: Very slippery shoes or socks (or socks over shoes) are required for the slides portion of the class.
Recommended Experience: Have completed any Beginning swing genre dance or equivalent and have been dancing weekly for at least 4 months.
Topics: Musicality for any Dance, Basic Slide, Side-cross Slides, Split Slide, Lock slide, Basic Dip, Twist Dip, Lunge-Dip, Side Lean Drop, Arm-bar Double Dip, Suicide Dip and the Dip Du Jour
Lindy Steals, Hijacks and Passing the Lead
Have you seen those awesome birthday or steal jams and always wanted to partake but didn't know how to jump in? Ever watch two people oh-so smoothly trading off between lead and follow? What about a follow completely pulling off a bad-a$$ move on their lead out of no-where? Guess what we're gonna do in this class! Learn these tricks of the cool kids and your Lindy will never be the same!
Recommended Experience: Must have completed Intermediate Lindy or equivalent and know both Lead and Follow roles in the Lindy basic.
Topics: Shoulder steals, Hand Steals, Bump-off's, Momentum Steals and Hijacks, Splitting the Lindy, Passing the Lead, Follow Chicken and the Topic Du Jour.
Lindy-Blues Mix
(A.k.a. Slow Lindy)
Ever wonder how Lindy fits in with the music once the tempos drop? Have you wanted to dance your groove but they kept playing blues music? This class has got you covered! We'll be diving in with some an awesome mix of piratical exercises and blues concepts to really stretch your swing-out to that super-slow molasses feel and a sweet, amped-up connection that will leaving you craving for more.
Recommended Experience: Must have completed Intermediate Lindy or equivalent.
Topics: T.B.D.
Cooperative Blues & Dancing Switch
Ever been unable to decide who should lead or follow in a dance? What about having two people ask you for a dance at the same time? Tough questions deserve creative solutions and that is what this class is all about. Melding roles on the fly is fracking awesome, having multi-partner dances is mind bendingly cool and being able to do either of these just conveys all the right things. If you want to have some of the the most creative and unforgettable dances, this is how you do it!
Recommended Experience: Have completed Intermediate Blues or equivalent and know both Lead and Follow roles from Beginning Blues.
Topics: Switch Position, Passing the Lead, Multi-level Leading, Constructive vs. Destructive Movements, Multi-partner Dances, Stealing Vs. Passing, Sharing Shapes and the Topic Du Jour.
The Variety Pack!
Mix and match! Anything that we have listed above in any of the classes is fair game for learning in this smorgasbord of lessons. Simply select some topics, bring them to class and we'll teach 'em to ya! Can't decide on a topic? No problem- we'll mix and match on the fly. Got something that isn't listed above? We'll do our best to accommodate. Heck- you can even bring in a You Tube video if you want and we'll figure it out- it's your class!
Recommended Experience: All levels welcome.
Topics: Varies, based on request.
Keep in mind that this is in no means an exhaustive list of classes - we make more of them all the time! If there is something missing or if you have a fantastic idea for a class that you would like us to teach, let us know! We would be happy hear from you!
Ready to jump on board? Sign up for the next round of classes or check the event schedule to jump in on any of the current classes we have going on!
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