Class Schedule
| FRIDAY - Jan 7, 2011 | SATURDAY - Jan 8, 2011 | SUNDAY - Jan 9, 2011 | |||||||
| Room 1 | Room 2 | Room 3 | Room 1 | Room 2 | Room 3 | Room 1 | Room 2 | Room 3 | |
| 9:15am | Breakfast | ||||||||
| 9:30am | |||||||||
| 9:45am | |||||||||
| 10:00am | |||||||||
| 10:15am | Andrew Fusion 101 (All Levels) |
Mike the Girl Learning Visually (Int/Adv) |
Chris & Lessa Who Has The Ball? (Advanced) |
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| 10:30am | |||||||||
| 10:45am | Breakfast | ||||||||
| 11:00am | |||||||||
| 11:15am | Homer & Cristina The D'Arienzo Surprise (Int, Tango Experience Required) |
Chris & Campbell Flying & Falling (Int/Adv, Partners required) |
Iconic Movement Stomp & Shout (All Levels) |
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| 11:30am | Lunch | Lunch | |||||||
| 11:45am | |||||||||
| Noon | |||||||||
| 12:15pm | |||||||||
| 12:30pm | Lunch | ||||||||
| 12:45pm | Homer & Cristina Elasticity, Groundedness & Loose Women (Int/Adv) |
Amanda & Shawn Precision Blues (All Levels) |
Heriberto Hitchhiker's Guide to Tango (Novice) |
Mario Changing it Up (Int/Adv, WCS experience Required) |
Homer & Cristina Expressive Musicality & Impulsiveness (Intermediate) |
Mike The Girl Dancing Inefficiently and Making Art (All) |
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| 1:00pm | |||||||||
| 1:15pm | |||||||||
| 1:30pm | |||||||||
| 1:45pm | Mario Night Club 2-Step (All Levels) |
Amanda & Shawn Stealing from Tango (Int Tango or Fusion Experience Suggested) |
Kelly & Orville Acro Love (All Levels) |
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| 2:00pm | |||||||||
| 2:15pm | |||||||||
| 2:30pm | Mario Spin Technique (All Levels) |
Ruby & John Lyrical Blues (Int/Adv) |
Brenda & Barry Latin Rhythm Blues and Alternative (Advanced) |
Ruby & John Ballroom Blues (All Levels) |
Mike the Girl Two Left Feet (Intermediate) |
Andrew Sutton Andrew's Special Class |
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| 2:45pm | |||||||||
| 3:00pm | |||||||||
| 3:15pm | |||||||||
| 3:30pm | Chris & Campbell Waltz Fusion (All Levels) |
Andrew Non-Evil Arm Leads & Arm Follows (All Levels) |
Ensemble Class DJ Challenge/ We Be Clubbin'/ How to Dance to Anything (Intermediate) |
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| 3:45pm | |||||||||
| 4:00pm | |||||||||
| 4:15pm | Campbell & Chris She Goes, He Goes (Intermediate) |
Homer & Cristina Intro to Tango (Novice) |
Mario Mario's Special Class |
Campbell & Chris Blues-y Cha-Cha (All Levels) |
Andrew Lindy/Blues (Int Lindy Experience Required) |
Mario Waterskiing, Picking Up Chairs & more (Int/Adv) |
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| 4:30pm | |||||||||
| 4:45pm | |||||||||
| 5:00pm | |||||||||
| 5:15pm | Andrew So Good You'll Want Seconds (All Levels) |
Amanda & Shawn Hip Hop Badassery (All Levels) |
Heriberto Sensing, Feeling & Reacting (Intermediate) |
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| 5:30pm | |||||||||
| 5:45pm | |||||||||
| 6:00pm | Amanda & Shawn Every Which Way (Intermediate) |
Mario Musicality (All Levels) |
Andrew Sutton Teacher's Brainstorm (Teachers) |
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| 6:15pm | |||||||||
| 6:30pm | |||||||||
| 6:45pm | |||||||||
| 7:00pm | |||||||||
Friday, January 07, 2011
Who Has The Ball?
10:15am: Chris Ransdell & Lessa Lamb
This is an advanced connection class, helping both lead and follow explore their sensitivity to each other's dance contribution. The exercises in this class provide a stronger awareness of subtle and dynamic movements. It is not intended to teach a specific dance style, but focus more on action/reaction or cause/effect in dance.
(Advanced Level)
Fusion 101 - ReThinking Dance
10:15am: Andrew Sutton (Sacramento, CA)
Whether you are trying to fuse two dances, ten dances, or every form of dance, you must understand the fundamentals of the dances that you're fusing so that you can make seamless fusion rather than confusion. In this class, we'll explore the similarities in foundational dance movements to help build connections across all dance forms. Fusion 101 will teach you these shared fundamentals as they will help you improve everything from your Blues to your Lindy Hop to your Tango-Blues-Lindy-Pop Fusion. Come develop the tools to build your personal dance form.
Learning Visually
10:15am: Mike "The Girl" Leggett (Philadelphia, PA)
There are a lot of challenges when learning a physical art. One of the least-taught is the process of learning visually. You'll learn to watch from the micro to the macro- from "where was his hand" to "where was his follow." Once you can see dance like a professional, your learning curve steepens dramatically!
Elasticity, Groundedness, & Loose Women
12:45pm: Homer Ladas (San Francisco, CA) & Cristina Ladas (San Francisco, CA)
The floor, the follower's free leg, and an elastic frame: these are the key elements of this class. Students will work on feeling solidly connected to the floor and using that floor connection in addition to an intelligently malleable frame to generate action and reaction. Followers will work to create a toned looseness in the free leg so that leaders can (and will in this workshop) play with movements that stem from this grounded looseness.
(Intermediate)
Precision Blues
12:45pm: Amanda Gruhl (Boston, MA) & Shawn Hershey (Boston, MA)
Learn the differences between weight changes and steps and how to apply them. We'll cover how to lead basic patterns like the box step, then use them as a basis for leading and following Thelonious Monk-like rhythms and level changes, so you can turn your bodies into bebop instruments!
Hitchhiker's Guide to Argentine Tango (Fusion)
12:45pm: Heriberto Perez (Cleveland, OH)
Building on the material covered in Argentine Tango as a Second Language, this class will offer more advanced Tango steps and concepts which will lend style and sabor (flavor), expanding the Fusion dancer's movement vocabulary opportunities. This class will introduce paradas (stops), sacadas (displacements), ganchos (hooks), and molinetes.
Spin Technique
2:30pm: Mario Robau, Jr. (Houston, TX)
This class is for all dancers who wish to add flavor to their movement. You will learn to seamlessly incorporate spins into your dancing as well as to control your spins and turns. You will also learn the difference between spins, turns, and pivots and how to use them to accent the music. Mario will focus on body position, footwork, balance, and technique.
Latin Rhythm Blues and Alternative
2:30pm: Brenda Russell & Barry Douglas
How do you use those juicy Latin steps without screaming "Salsa Dancer"? If Night Club 2 Step dancers can do it, so can you! Learn to recognize underlying rhythms in Blues and Contemporary Music that call for movements found in Latin dance. We will introduce common Latin steps and use them to a variety of songs keeping the aesthetic true to the music.
(Advanced)
Lyrical Blues
2:30pm: Ruby Red (Chicago, IL) & John Joven (Chicago, IL)
Music that crosses genres, incorporating blues, jazz and pop inspire lyrical dancing more than the blues standards. With a serious focus on connection, pulse takes a back-seat to connected movement that interprets the melody. Learn how to create tension, holds and dynamic release in your dancing that both feels and looks delicious.
She Goes, He Goes
4:15pm: Campbell Miller (Austin, TX) & Chris Mayer (Austin, TX)
Dancing isn't always both people at once - in Blues, you can have a back and forth. That's where "anchoring" comes in. In this class, you will learn how to lead and follow a discussion that will add a new dynamic to your dancing.
(All levels; Blues experience encouraged)
Mario's Special Class
4:15pm: Mario Robau, Jr. (Houston, TX)
Blow your mind with amazing dance critique! This is a tangible, manageable way to significantly improve your dancing with one of the world's best and most widely-recognized dance instructors. Every year we offer small classes where some of our most experienced instructors take on a group of dedicated dancers looking for individualized critique and to watch others receive this critique. It's an intense yet manageable way to rapidly improve your movement. Please note that there is an additional fee to participate in the special classes. Find Out More...
An Introduction to Tango for Fusion Dancers
4:15pm: Homer Ladas (San Francisco, CA) & Cristina Ladas (San Francisco, CA)
(Novice)
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The D'Arienzo Surprise
11:15am: Homer Ladas (San Francisco, CA) & Cristina Ladas (San Francisco, CA)
This class, based on the rhythms of the Juan D'Arienzo orchestra will begin with a few games to get us warmed up and connected and then build on the concept of adding freeze and flow elements to the dance.
(All-Levels)
Note: All-Levels doesn't mean complete novice to tango.
Flying and Falling
11:15am: Campbell Miller (Austin, TX) & Chris Mayer (Austin, TX)
Traveling in blues is about more than just moving back and forth around the floor. In this class, we'll discuss how partners can use each other to add a new dimension to their dancing - a vertical one. We'll work with lifts, drops, drags, and spins, all to get you and your partner moving in a brand new way.
(Intermediate/Advanced; Experience Required; Partners Required)
African-American Step: Stomp 'n Shout
11:15am: Iconic Movement
African-American Step is an exciting, percussive dance that incorporates the entire body to create unique beats and movements through a mixture of stomps, claps, and spoken word. This energetic dance style originates from military close order and exhibition drills, African gumboot dancing, and has since been adopted and popularized by traditionally black sororities and fraternities. As a student of any background and experience level, you will be introduced to an array of step styles, ranging from the traditional sharp and ordered movements derived from the military, to the more liberal and loose movements found in many southern step groups. Be prepared to enter the class with an immense amount of energy and attitude as you get ready to make the ground shake and walls tremble. This class is appropriate for all levels of experience. Please wear comfortable shoes and clothing.
Night Club 2-Step
1:45pm: Mario Robau, Jr. (Houston, TX)
Blues dancing is similar to Nightclub and unknowingly borrows much styling and footwork from this dance. Learn the basic moves and technique behind nightclub two-step and explore how it relates to blues technically and how it differs from blues aesthetically. This class will help you to adjust your dancing to better reflect the cadence and tone many songs you will commonly hear on the dance floor. It will expand your dance vocabulary by using nightclub moves and technique which will ultimately enhance your blues dancing.
Acro Love
1:45pm: Kelly Howard (Seattle, WA) & Orville Zharoff (Seattle, WA)
One of the most important activities for a dancer is stretching!!! But stretching can be so boring and time consuming. It's easily put off or ignored because, honestly, who wants to waste time stretching alone when you could be socializing with others? "Acro Love" brings the concept of stretching to a whole new dimension. Not only do you get a more complete body stretch session in, but you also get to give and share that experience with someone else. Bringing a pillow or rolled-up towel to the class for proper positioning. By the end of the class, you will have a deeper appreciation and understanding for your partner's body composition as well as the beautiful benefits of deep stretching.
Stealing From Tango
1:45pm: Amanda Gruhl (Boston, MA) & Shawn Hershey (Boston, MA)
So what's the deal with all that tango in blues dancing? Come find out! Tango has an immensely rich vocabulary, excellent for closed position dancing. Learn how to lead and follow flashy tango-inspired moves and techniques, then how to integrate them beautifully with your blues dancing.
Waltz Fusion
3:30pm: Campbell Miller (Austin, TX) & Chris Mayer (Austin, TX)
So often we are trained to think in even numbered sets -- what happens when the music is in 3? In this class, we'll help you identify songs that have a "waltz" rhythm, and then introduce you to a style perfectly suited for it. Come experience the grace, fluidity, and expression that is Fusion Waltz.
(All levels)
Ensemble Group including Ivy Grey (Portland, OR), Ruth Hoffman (San Francisco, CA), Justin Riley (Lawrence, KS?), Will Shaver (Eugene, OR), Kayce Spear (Portland, OR), and Gideon Syfrett (Portland, OR).
3:30pm:
Together, this group of teachers has danced all over the world with many dancers and great varieties of music. The group of ensemble teachers are trained in blues, west coast swing, lindy hop, Argentine tango, ballroom, African dance, hip hop, and many other types of dance. They're sure to teach you to have a great time dancing with any one to any type of music -- regardless of background or experience level!
Non-Evil Arm Leads & Arm Follows
3:30pm: Andrew Sutton (Sacramento, CA)
In this class you will learn 9 different ways that your arms can be used to connect to your partner and you will learn the benefits & negatives to matching (or not matching) each other's connections. For example, if a lead uses option #1, what are the benefits & negatives if the follow responds with option #1, #4, #7, or anything else? (All levels)
So Good You'll Want Seconds: How to Have Unforgettable Dance Nights
5:15pm: Andrew Sutton (Sacramento, CA) & Crew
This class will involve discussion, sharing, and experimentation to help make your night of dancing amazing. Andrew will lead the discussion and will invite all available instructors and advanced dancers to help you learn what it takes to make a great night of dancing in general and make dancing with you wonderful. Saturday night's dance is HUGE and this is the perfect way to make sure you have an incredible experience.
(All Levels)
Sensing, Feeling, and Reacting
5:15pm: Heriberto Perez (Cleveland, OH)
What is connection? After a while, the words we use to describe something so inherent to our dance as "connection" simply become buzz words without much meaning. In this class we will set out to refresh our definitions of "connection" by giving attention to the subtleties of this invisible and inaudible communication between partners. By focusing on energy rather than shape, and felt sensations as opposed to thoughts or visual observations, we will play with the nuances of intention in order to develop our physical "listening power" as dancers.
Hip Hop Badassery
5:15pm: Amanda Gruhl (Boston, MA) & Shawn Hershey (Boston, MA)
Learn to move your bodies (and asses) like Shawn and Amanda. We'll teach you a fun hip hop solo routine that will focus on giving you the body control essential for excellent partnered dancing.
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Changing It Up
12:45pm: Mario Robau, Jr. (Houston, TX)
Spice up your dancing with variations of all sorts based primarily on west coast swing. From Scrolling & Bending to fun, flashy syncopations, both the Leads & Follows will learn variations to make their dancing unique.
(Int/Adv, WCS experience Required)
Dancing Inefficiently and Making Art
12:45pm: Mike The Girl
There are many factors that make a dancer great: composition, spacial awareness, lead/follow technique, aesthetic choices, and mroe. Our bodies have approximately 800 skeletal muscles (the ones you can chose to move), and one of the most ignored areas of improvement in social dancers is how we use (and don't use) those muscles to make our movements into dance. In this class, we'll give our bodies the run-around, use opposing muscle groups, and generally be as inefficient as possible... and in the process, we'll lean to make art. Open to dancers from all genres.
(all dances)
Expressive Musicality
12:45pm: Homer Ladas (San Francisco, CA) & Cristina Ladas (San Francisco, CA)
This class focuses on creative walking ideas that enhance musical interpretation. By varying Staccato (sharp) vs. Legato (smooth) walking movements Leaders and Followers develop a variety of interesting and sometimes contrasting (to each other) movements. These movements, initiated by either the Leader or the Follower, can positively influence the development of a musical phrase or the outcome of an entire song. Impulsive actions (such as Linear Boleos) that stem from this walking relationship can also be explored.
(Intermediate/Advanced)
Ballroom Blues 1
2:30pm: Ruby Red (Chicago, IL) & John Joven (Chicago, IL)
Ballroom Blues is a close embrace style of Blues Dance typically done to 20's & 30's era Jazz and Blues. It is dynamic and elegant and incorporates elevation changes, partnered air-steps, traveling rotations and dips. For those who've never tried it before, we'll cover the fundamentals of connected traveling in a dynamic mode and add connected traveling spins and re-connection methods.
Andrew's Special Class
2:30pm: Andrew Sutton (Sacramento, CA)
Blow your mind with amazing dance critique! This is a tangible, manageable way to significantly improve your dancing with one of the world's best and most widely-recognized dance instructors. Every year we offer small classes where some of our most experienced instructors take on a group of dedicated dancers looking for individualized critique and to watch others receive this critique. It's an intense yet manageable way to rapidly improve your movement. Please note that there is an additional fee to participate in the special classes. Find Out More...
Two Left Feet
2:30pm: Mike "The Girl" Leggett (Philadelphia, PA)
Tangueros regularly get to play with crosses, hidden weight changes, and parallel systems, but the blues world has generally stayed out of that box of tricks. In this class, we'll play with some of the structural toys of the tangueros, and the styling toys of the blues dancers. It's time to get sneaky, feet!
Waterskiing, Picking up Chairs & more
4:15pm: Mario Robau, Jr. (Houston, TX)
Learn a great explanation of leading & following thru waterskiing diagrams, learn very interesting ideas on how to find your center by picking up boxes, and more random bits of information to improve your dancing!
(All levels)
Bluesy Cha-Cha
4:15pm: Campbell Miller (Austin, TX) & Chris Mayer (Austin, TX)
Even Latin music can get the Blues. Some rhythms inherent in Latin music can be found in Blues, including the Cha Cha. In this class, we'll show you a new basic step and introduce you to the fun and freedom that is Bluesy Cha Cha.
(All levels)
Lindy/Blues
4:15pm: Andrew Sutton (Sacramento, CA)
This class will show how Blues and Lindy are complementary dances, two ends of a continuim which blend and borrow from one another, always inspired by the music. Knowledge of Lindy Hop basics required (Swingout, Lindy circle).
Every Which Way
6:00pm: Amanda Gruhl (Boston, MA) & Shawn Hershey (Boston, MA)
We all dance face to face, but what about front to back, back to back, right side up to upside down, and more? In this class we'll revisit connection basics and show you how to use them in different positions and orientations that will likely be new for even advanced dancers.
Musicality
6:00pm: Mario Robau, Jr. (Houston, TX)
Squeeze every ounce of attitude, rhythm, and melody out of every song by improving your ability to interpret music with your body. This class will draw from movement and technique frequently found in West Coast Swing. Mario will help you understand and find different layers and attitudes in music so that you can bring more to your dancing by fine-tuning how you hear and dance to music.
Teacher's Brainstorm
6:00pm: Andrew Sutton
Andrew will facilitate a brainstorm on how to teach difficult concepts in dance. In this class you will learn at least 3 different ways to teach having a flexible frame, being grounded, weight shifts, counterbalance, and anything else that you want to learn how to teach better.