Classes

Class levels at EtB5

This year, we're putting forth two tier systems for classes. Saturday, the levels are differentiated by previous knowledge and dance skill. Sunday, the levels are based on learning speed, in addition to previous skill. We're also offering an intro workshop on Friday night before the dance.

Saturday Class levels:
Beginner-Intermediate: This level is for anyone who wants to get a grasp on what blues dancing is, how to do it, and how to improve the fundamentals that make it rock. You'll be learning blues connection (which is distinct from the connection basics of many dances), traditional blues vocabulary, different styles of blues, and more! If you get feedback like, "your dancing is pretty good, but needs to look more like blues," or "your musicality is pretty good, but you tend to have too much/too little tone," then this is the level for you.

Intermediate-Advanced: This level is for the old hats of the blues world. You'll be covering ideas like contrast, macro/micro musicality, movement quality, performance/competition, and more. By this point, you should have a several great pulses, kick-butt fishtails, wicked-fast pivot turns, and the ability to explain to a non-dancer what blues dancing is. If you get feedback like, "you're amazing, but I'd still like to see more dynamics, and a more extreme range style/shape/etc" then this is the level for you.

Sunday Class levels:
All-levels classes: You've put in work on the basics, and you want to keep on digging! These classes will be appropriate for any dancers who've been dancing a while and took classes on Saturday.

Super-Challenge: Come with a partner, or in a small group (2-4 people) for each class. The instructors have been told to move at a break-neck speed. They'll be teaching to the top 10% of the class, so if you're the type who likes detailed explanation and lots of time to practice, then this is not the level for you. Basically, this is your chance to push yourself like a crazy person.

There will be a full day of classes on Saturday, and a full day of classes on Sunday, plus an intro-to-blues class on Friday night.

Class Schedule

Beginner-Intermediate

Saturday
Class 1: Comfy Cozy Close Embrace, Carsie and Jon
Close embrace should be comfortable and versatile. In this class, we'll review the fundamentals of the position, and present some awesome vocabulary, so that you can stay in close embrace for a whole delicious dance.
Class 2: Jook Joint Blues, Heidi and Damon
Blues dancing at its heart is about authenticity and passion. In this class, we’ll learn the closed position dances done in jook joints and rent parties. We'll cover all the fundamental skills and rhythms needed to dance with skill, but more importantly you'll learn how to feel the music and express it through these dances. It's all about the attitude.
Class 3: Call and Response, Mike and Joe
If dance is a conversation, then solo movement is a set of vocabulary, and this class is all about the grammar. You'll learn how to have integrate solo movement to have call-and-response interactions with both your partner and the music.
Class 4: Biscuits and Gravy, Heidi and Damon
Tired of the same ol’ same ol’ when you’re dancing? Want to exercise those creativity muscles? This class focuses on starting with a basic step and then using a number of different variations of it to really work the music with simple steps that allow for personal styling and musicality.

Intermediate-Advanced

Saturday
Class 1: Triple Step Blues, Heidi and Damon
Yep. Some blues dances do have triple steps. This is not your basic swing step nor a cha-cha. Come learn how to rock and groove with triple-step blues to fast and slow music and really get a new perspective on how much can be done in blues.
Class 2: Connected Expression, Carsie and Jon
This class will explore the idea that both partners can dance musically and expressively, while remaining connected. By playing with changes in tone and resistance, we'll learn how to encourage follower expression and leader receptivity, so that every dance feels like a great conversation.
Class 3: Ballroomin' Styling and Tricks, Heidi and Damon
Can't get enough of Ballroomin' Blues? If you've mastered the basics of connection and traveling, it's time to turn up the volume with some flashy turns and styling.
Class 4: Instructor's Choice, Mike and Joe
This class is going to be custom-tailored to round out your education. We'll be watching you Friday and Saturday, and will take the chance to become your coaches for an hour, filling in the details and smoothing out the rough patches in your dancing with whatever it is that we think you need!

All-Levels

Sunday
Class 1: Solo Vocabulary, Mike
You can't be a great blues dancer without a great vocabulary of vernacular blues movement. Come learn how to move your body like a pro!
Class 2: Kinds of Blues, Carsie and Jon
The range of blues songs that you hear at a dance may include Delta blues, Chicago blues, New Orleans blues, slow jazz, and more. What do these names mean? What do the different styles of blues sound like, and more importantly, how do we dance to them? In this class, we'll learn how to listen and dance to many styles of blues music, so that you'll leave the class confident in your ability to move musically to any song.
Class 3: Drag Blues, Mike and Joe
Drag blues is an elegant, syncopated dance that is perfectly suited for the lilting and tension of slow jazz music. Using advanced partnering techniques, we'll give you a taste of one of our favorite styles of movement.
Class 4: Blues Badassery, Carsie and Jon
Let's not mince words: this is a class on awesome moves. The clincher is, these are moves that leads or follows can integrate into a dance, and that dancers of all levels can tailor to their own skill level and personal style. We'll spend some time on solo movement (how to look awesome), and some time on partnered movement (how to feel awesome). What's more, we'll be musical the whole time (how to... sound awesome?).

Super-Challenge

Sunday
Class 1: Learning Eyes, Heidi and Damon
In this class, you'll take a move or series of moves demonstrated by the instructors, break it down, talk about the technique and the style of it, then put it back together again, adding your own style and flair.
Class 2: The Spanish Inquisition, Mike & Joe
What else could we call a class that's all about how to lead and follow the unexpected? Because nobody expects this class. Plus, it's a more fun title than "Cool Stuff About Leading and Following."
Class 3: Extreme Musicality, Carsie and Jon
This is a hardcore musicality class, and is not for the faint of heart! We'll discuss rhythmic patterns, synchopation, and polyrhythms, and how to hear them in blues music. Once we've identified these rhythms, we'll learn how to express them in our own bodies (using isolations), and between partners (using tone-changes and resistance). Take this class, and learn to dance like a musician!
Class 4: Open-vs-Closed-Ended Leading, Mike and Joe
If you ask certain instructors, this concept is one of the most under-appreciated distinctions that leads and follows can make. Both are crucial to a dynamic dance; one allows you lead intricate, zoomy movements that wow, while the other leaves space for each partner to have a voice and be responsible for the dance. Come join us to learn to rock your partner's world.

Class Descriptions

                                                   Saturday: Beginner-Intermediate
Comfy Cozy Close Embrace, Carsie and Jon
Close embrace should be comfortable and versatile. In this class, we'll review the fundamentals of the position, and present some awesome vocabulary, so that you can stay in close embrace for a whole delicious dance.

Solo Vocabulary
You can't be a great blues dancer without a great vocabulary of vernacular blues movement. Come learn how to move your body like a pro!

Call and Response, Mike and Joe
If dance is a conversation, then solo movement is a set of vocabulary, and this class is all about the grammar. You'll learn how to have integrate solo movement to have call-and-response interactions with both your partner and the music.

Jook Joint Blues, Heidi and Damon
Blues dancing at its heart is about authenticity and passion. In this class, we’ll learn the
closed position dances done in jook joints and rent parties. We'll cover all the fundamental skills and rhythms needed to dance with skill, but more importantly you'll learn how to feel the music and express it through these dances. It's all about the attitude.

                                                        Saturday: Intermediate-Advanced
Triple-Step Blues, Heidi and Damon
Yep. Some blues dances do have triple steps. This is not your basic swing step nor a cha-cha. Come learn how to rock and groove with triple-step blues to fast and slow music and really get a new perspective on how much can be done in blues.

Connected Expression, Carsie and Jon
This class will explore the idea that both partners can dance musically and expressively, while remaining connected. By playing with changes in tone and resistance, we'll learn how to encourage follower expression and leader receptivity, so that every dance feels like a great conversation.

Ballroomin' Stylin and Tricks, Heidi and Damon
Can't get enough of Ballroomin' Blues? If you've mastered the basics of connection and traveling, it's time to turn up the volume with some flashy turns and styling.

Instructors' Choice, Mike and Joe
This class is going to be custom-tailored to round out your education. We'll be watching you Friday and Saturday, and will take the chance to become your coaches for an hour, filling in the details and smoothing out the rough patches in your dancing with whatever it is that we think you need!

                                                                 Sunday: All-Levels
Kinds of Blues, Carsie and Jon
The range of blues songs that you hear at a dance may include Delta blues, Chicago blues, New Orleans blues, slow jazz, and more. What do these names mean? What do the different styles of blues sound like, and more importantly, how do we dance to them? In this class, we'll learn how to listen and dance to many styles of blues music, so that you'll leave the class confident in your ability to move musically to any song.

Drag Blues, Mike and Joe
Drag blues is an elegant, syncopated dance that is perfectly suited for the lilting and tension of slow jazz music. Using advanced partnering techniques, we'll give you a taste of one of our favorite styles of movement.

Biscuits and Gravy, Heidi and Damon
Tired of the same ol’ same ol’ when you’re dancing? Want to exercise those creativity muscles? This class focuses on starting with a basic step and then using a number of different variations of it to really work the music with simple steps that allow for personal styling and musicality.

Blues Badassery, Carsie and Jon
Let's not mince words: this is a class on awesome moves. The clincher is, these are moves that leads or follows can integrate into a dance, and that dancers of all levels can tailor to their own skill level and personal style. We'll spend some time on solo movement (how to look awesome), and some time on partnered movement (how to feel awesome). What's more, we'll be musical the whole time (how to... sound awesome?).
                                                    Sunday: Super-Challenge
Spanish Inquisition, Mike and Joe
What else could we call a class that's all about how to lead and follow the unexpected? Because nobody expects this class. Plus, it's a more fun title than "Cool Stuff About Leading and Following."

Learning Eyes, Damon and Heidi
In this class, you'll take a move or series of moves demonstrated by the instructors, break it down, talk about the technique and the style of it, then put it back together again, adding your own style and flair.

Extreme Musicality, Carsie and Jon
This is a hardcore musicality class, and is not for the faint of heart! We'll discuss rhythmic patterns, synchopation, and polyrhythms, and how to hear them in blues music. Once we've identified these rhythms, we'll learn how to express them in our own bodies (using isolations), and between partners (using tone-changes and resistance). Take this class, and learn to dance like a musician!

Open-vs-Closed Ended Leading, Mike and Joe
If you ask certain instructors, this concept is one of the most under-appreciated distinctions that leads and follows can make. Both are crucial to a dynamic dance; one allows you lead intricate, zoomy movements that wow, while the other leaves space for each partner to have a voice and be responsible for the dance. Come join us to learn to rock your partner's world.