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Registration options for
BluesProgressions series
All BluesProgressions series are 5 weeks
long. We offer discounts to academic students (those
with student IDs), and we also offer incentives for
those who sign up in advance. Click the registration
links below to see pricing details.
Registration may also be available at the door at
the late registration price. Contact us at (206)
313-3816 before showing up to make sure that there
is still room in class.
Schedule
Summer Session 2: August 13 -
Semptember 9
Instructors:
John Lozano &
Karen R. Smith
Fall Session 1: September 16 -
October 14
Instructors:
Miles Cohen &
Karissa Lightsmith
Interested in finding out about future sessions
from BluesProgressions?
Contact
info@bluesprogressions.com to be placed
on our mailing list.
Curriculum
Level I- Close Embrace Blues
In this class we will focus on
partnered movement with an emphasis on body to body
connection. Prepare to get close to one another! On
a crowded dance floor such as we find at
Waid’s, if
you want to move around, you’ve got to find a way to
do so without running into people. The first trick
is eliminating the space between you and your
partner. Dancing body to body can be tricky. You
have very little room for error as your feet are
within inches of your partner’s. Fortunately this
small margin of error creates a great feedback
mechanism, causing learning to happen very quickly.
Students who take this class
can expect to learn to move in the four basic
directions- forwards, backwards, right, left.
They’ll learn how to use their hips to distinguish
themselves as a blues dancers, how shared weight can
be used to create nice effects, and how to perform a
few simple tricks to spice up their vocabulary.
All levels are
welcome to register for this level I class. This
class assumes no previous dance experience and no
partner is required in order to join.
Level I- Open Blues Movement
Part of what makes blues so
much fun is that during a single song we can vary
the amount of space we have with our partner, adding
another level of dynamics to our dance. When dancing
in close embrace, we move as one unit with our
partner, communicating our intensions to move in new
directions through the direct connection of the
embrace. Then, when we open up our dancing, the
dance takes on a new dimension- the space we create
between us gives us room to show our partner what
we’re made of.
The freedom created when
opening up your blues dancing is also what makes it
difficult to do well. Though our connection to our
partner may be less direct, we still need to be able
to communicate where we want our partner to be, if
for no other reason than that we don’t want them to
run into other dancers. In this class we will
establish the concept of a slot which can give you
and your partner boundaries to work with. We’ll help
you transition smoothly between various kinds of
connection, turn and spin, fishtail, and use
leverage to add a nice “finish”.
All levels are
welcome to register for this level I class. This
class assumes no previous dance experience and no
partner is required in order to join.
Level II- Blues Music: Fast and Slow
In most of our class series we
teach how to dance to mid-tempo blues music. The
beat of mid-tempo blues music is suitable for
walking (changing weight on every beat), though
there are many other common rhythmic patterns we
teach to this kind of music as well- for example the
triple rhythm, stepping on every other beat, etc.
However, at the dances the range of tempos extends
far outside the mid-tempo range. When the tempo of
the music is no longer suitable for walking, dancers
need to know how to adapt their movement to the
speed of the music.
In this series, we’ll focus on
how to dance to music outside the mid-tempo range-
both fast and slow. To dance to slow blues
(sometimes known as 12/8 blues), we delve deep
inside the triple rhythm to discover all 12 beats
within a measure. Understanding how to make use of
the 12/8 rhythm will open up a rich world of fast
movement to slow music that can provide a great
contrast to the feel of dancing slowly on the beat.
On the other end of the
spectrum, fast music, with its high energy, often
leads dancers to lose control of their movement in
an effort to keep up. In this series, we’ll focus on
how to pulse with the music as the music gets fast.
We’ll show how to cut in and out of “half time” and
provide a good set of vocabulary which can be done
easily to this type of music.
At the end of this series,
students should feel comfortable with varying speeds
of music and look forward to the variation that such
music inspires in their dancing.
This class is meant for students who have taken both
level 1 series- “Close Embrace Blues” and “Open
Blues Movement” or have a similar background. For
those of you who wish to enter this class without
these prerequisites, contact one of our instructors
for permission.
Level II- Variation and Partner Dynamics
One thing that makes blues
dance so much fun is the room for exploration that
the dance allows. Leaders are given license to
create variation in their steps, and follows are
given permission to take initiative as well as
simply follow. When we start out dancing it’s easy
to miss these creative opportunities. Beginning
leads focus on learning a range of simple movements
and beginning follows focus on responding accurately
to the directions of the lead. To reach the next
level, both leaders and followers must go beyond
thinking of just their own role. The new element for
both to consider is the partner dynamic.
Because the role of the
follower is more reactive than that of the lead, we
sometimes make the mistake of thinking the follower
is 100% reactive- that the follower is a machine
moving around the floor and that the leader is a set
of levers controlling this machine. Dancing can be
so much more fun than that! When we look into the
partner dynamic further, we can discover how to
communicate more than physics to our partners.
There’s a whole world of expression, attitude, and
musical interpretation unfolding within the partner
dynamic if we can only find it. Both leaders and
followers can contribute to this world and enjoy the
effect it has on the dance.
An awareness of the partner
dynamic helps build physical connection as well. In
order for leaders to create more complex variation
in their steps, they must be able to react to the
follower’s specific way of moving. Producing a
clearer lead is not the result of adding more
muscle. Rather, a clear lead comes from watching the
follower to see what she is inclined to do and then
finding the right moment to influence her movement.
This class is meant for students who have taken both
level 1 series- “Close Embrace Blues” and “Open
Blues Movement” or have a similar background. For
those of you who wish to enter this class without
these prerequisites, contact one of our instructors
for permission.
Level II- Blues Aesthetic: Past and Present
Blues dance is wonderful in its
ability to absorb elements of other dance forms-
forms as diverse as foxtrot, swing, tango, or salsa.
Nevertheless, there are specific movements and
styles of movement that are unique to blues dance.
Collectively these movements form what we call the
blues aesthetic.
In this class we’ll study blues
aesthetic from two viewpoints- ‘historical’, and
‘modern’. We’ll show you solo and partnered
movements associated with blues dance since its
inception in the beginning of the 20th
century- movements such as the fish tail, the slow
drag, the low-down, or the mess-around. We’ll also
explore movement principles today’s blues dancers
use to describe the dance. Such principles help us
to understand what elements define blues movement
more generally and make it feel good- alone or in
partnership.
Understanding the blues
aesthetic will allow you to invent your own way of
moving to the blues while remaining within the
tradition of the form. If you’re having
trouble explaining to your friends what blues dance
is all about, this is the class to take.
This class is meant for students who have taken both
level 1 series- “Close Embrace Blues” and “Open
Blues Movement” or have a similar background. For
those of you who wish to enter this class without
these prerequisites, contact one of our instructors
for permission.
Level II- Rhythm and Style
When first learning how to
dance the key to success is learning how to lead and
follow a variety of common movements so you can get
out there and be comfortable on the social dance
floor. Now you’ve got that covered and are
wondering: what’s next? In this level 2 class we’ll
focus on how to take the movements you know and add
texture. We’ll work with contrasts- big vs small or
“gritty” vs “classy”.
We’ll show how rhythm can spice up your
basics, allowing you to put your steps together in
ways you didn’t imagine were possible. We’ll take a
deeper dive into the music, showing you how to
create a structure to your dance that can match that
of the song. Overall, our goal will be to help you
bridge the gap from a student who can lead and
follow patterns to a dancer who uses those patterns
as tools to really dance.
This class is meant for students who have taken both
level 1 series- “Close Embrace Blues” and “Open
Blues Movement” or have a similar background. For
those of you who wish to enter this class without
these prerequisites, contact one of our instructors
for permission.
Level II- Circles and Lines
In this series we will delve
into the geometry of the dance. It turns out that
there are only two geometries that really stand out-
the circle and the line. The combination of these
two geometries produces the diverse set of movements
we can lead and follow.
In the study of the line, we’ll
review linear travelling movements & using the slot
for turns. Additionally we’ll demonstrate how to
create lines of tension when using leverage in
partnership. Incorporating lines into your blues
dance is the key to making your movement feel
natural and look beautiful.
In the study of the circle,
we’ll cover how to pivot in partnership and how to
execute more advanced turns for both leaders and
followers. Circles also come into play in other
ways. For example, in the torso we see how circles
relate to the line when
“finishing” moves. Below the waist, we can use
circles to lead lead flares. Learning to use circular motion
effectively can both help you navigate the floor
more easily and create more “flash” to your dance.
This class is meant for students who have taken both
level 1 series- “Close Embrace Blues” and “Open
Blues Movement” or have a similar background. For
those of you who wish to enter this class without
these prerequisites, contact one of our instructors
for permission.
Level II- Future Sessions
The curriculum for level II
will change from session to session. While reviewing
the basics, we will also teach material such as:
rhythm and style, more advanced spins & turns,
pivots and swivels, break away solo movement,
musicality, and blues aesthetic.
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