Learning to dance is fundamentally about learning how to move your body to music and interacting with another human being in partner dancing. Many dancers find it helpful to take classes to build their understanding of the dance as well as their vocabulary.
CURRICULUM TRACKS
Our class syllabus is organized into a Beginners track, a Journey track, a Small Groups track, a Performance track, and a Balboa track.
BEGINNERS TRACK
The Beginners Track answers the question: “What is Swing Dance?”
PRE-REQUISITES: Two-left-feet friendly, no partner required; just bring comfy shoes and your enthusiasm!
FORMAT: There are three months of distinct curriculum mixing 6ct, 8ct, and Charleston.
- Beginning Swing ♠︎: 6-count
- Beginning Swing ♦︎: 8-count
- Beginning Swing ♣︎: Lindy hop & Charleston
JOURNEY TRACK
Journey - Break Away, Not Break Apart
Breakaways are a form of solo improvisation within partnered Lindy Hop. We will go over different entries and exits to this expressive art, learn new moves, and play with the partnered communication when you're not even touching.
PRE-REQUISITES: Three months of Beginners class series and social dancing.
Journey - Leading and Following Mixed Counts
How do I know if it's a 6-count move or an 8-count move? We will cover the techniques of clear communication, how to switch between patterns, and how the music affects our choice of phrasing for both leads and follows. The Journey series cycles through topics of self-movement, partner communication, and musical expression to level-up your social dance skills!
PRE-REQUISITES: Three months of Beginners class series and social dancing.
Journey - Me & Music: Dancing to Trad Jazz
This class will explore early jazz music and its influences across the decades. Learn how to move yourself and maintain attentive and clear partner connection even up to faster tempos. Discover how different jazz music inspires fresh vocabulary and moves. The Journey series cycles through topics of self-movement, partner communication, and musical expression to level-up your social dance skills!
PRE-REQUISITES: Three months of Beginners and/or four months of weekly social dancing. No partner necessary; students may retake Journey classes, especially in another role.
Journey - Me & Music: Hit All The Breaks
Where are the breaks in a song and how do I get that satisfying hit with my partner? What do I do during solos or long songs? Exploration of building energy and complexity in a song and with our partner.
PRE-REQUISITES: Three months of Beginners and/or four months of weekly social dancing. No partner necessary; students may retake Journey classes, especially in another role.
Journey - Me & You: Call and Response
Maybe you've heard that dancing is a conversation: regardless of role, we all want to say meaningful things and listen to each others' voices in our dancing. In this class we'll investigate the back and forth of jazz music, making room for improvisation, and riffing off each others' ideas. The Journey series cycles through topics of self-movement, partner communication, and musical expression to level-up your social dance skills!
PRE-REQUISITES: Three months of Beginners and/or four months of weekly social dancing. No partner necessary; students may retake Journey classes, especially in another role.
Journey - Me: Move This, Not That
Cross-body movement! Footwork isolations! Fake-outs! How do we add improvisation and creativity to our vanilla moves without throwing partnership under the bus? This series will focus on building your balance, isolation, and energetic movement in leaders and followers. The Journey series cycles through topics of self-movement, partner communiction, and musical expression to level-up your social dance skills!
PRE-REQUISITES: Three months of Beginners and/or four months of weekly social dancing. No partner necessary; students may retake Journey classes, especially in another role.
Journey - Me: Spring into Variations!
Independent improvisation is core value of partnered swing dance and nowhere is this more visible than in variations: the injection of personal styling and rhythm into well-worn dance patterns. Test your balance, rhythm, and coordination with these stylings that will spice up your 8-ct, 6-ct, and charleston moves!
PRE-REQUISITES: Three months of Beginners and/or four months of weekly social dancing. No partner necessary; students may retake Journey classes, especially in another role.
SMALL GROUPS TRACK
FORMAT: Class topics are all teachers’ choice.
Advanced: Small Groups - DJ Training
TBD
PRE-REQUISITES: Love of swing music.
Small Groups - Flow and Momentum
What does it mean to have good flow in your partnership? Is it an aesthetic? A sequence of fast, small moves? Does the follow move more or the lead move more? Does it mean elongated phrasing? How do we find and communicate our own flow?
PRE-REQUISITES: Three months of Beginners class series and social dancing.
Small Groups - Remains to be Seen
Historical records are incredibly important to the swing community, the advent of the dance coinciding with the development of film, radio, and recording technology. Today we continue to draw inspiration from video clips of modern competitions and performances. In this class, you will learn ways to break down video clips, apply them to your dancing, and learn about the biases, origins, and limitations of using visual records.
PRE-REQUISITES: Completion of 3 months of Beginners, 6 months of Journey and/or social dancing weekly for a full year. No partner necessary. Students are expected to arrive with curiosity, kindness, and a willingness for self-directed study.
Small Groups - Style Lab
How do you develop your own unique style? Well, one way to go about it is to start by noticing, studying, and copying someone else's style! You "try it on," see what parts you like, what parts you don't, and figure out how it all fits together with the rest of your dancing. In this class, be prepared to take inspiration from your fellow students, as they're going to be your models AND your collaborators, while Sam and Calvin help walk you through the process.
PRE-REQUISITES: Completion of 3 months of Beginners, 6 months of Journey and/or social dancing weekly for a full year. No partner necessary. Students are expected to arrive with curiosity, kindness, and a willingness for self-directed study.
Small Groups - The Rhythm in You
Everyone has a song in their heart! This class will focus on developing your unique relationship with the music and how to use it to unlock organic dance movement. There will be exercises to improve your expression and communication of musical ideas, as well as partnered and peer group experiments to spark your creativity.
PRE-REQUISITES: Completion of 3 months of Beginners, 6 months of Journey and/or social dancing weekly for a full year. No partner necessary. Students are expected to arrive with curiosity, kindness, and a willingness for self-directed study.
Small Groups - The Solo Jam Circle
How do we jam solo jazz? How do we exchange ideas with other dancers, riff on historical moves, and also shine with moves of our own invention? How does innovation fit into the lindy hop aesthetic? How does a shared vocabulary and musicality bring disparate dancers together? Small Groups instructors ask deep questions about how we dance along with dedicated time for experimentation, innovation, and discussion with peers.
PRE-REQUISITES: Completion of 3 months of Beginners, 6 months of Journey and/or social dancing weekly for a full year. No partner necessary. Students are expected to arrive with curiosity, kindness, and a willingness for self-directed study.
PERFORMANCE TRACK
Performance - California Routine
The California Routine as we know it is a fascinating mix of Frankie Manning's choreographies in Hollywood, Al Minns' lessons to the Swedish group, The Rhythm Hot Shots, and close calls and misnomers danced in preserved film footage. Wherever it came from, this partnered routine is a classic for swing performance groups the world over. Come learn to dance this energetic routine (sans air steps) and flex your Lindy/Charleston chops!
PRE-REQUISITES: Students should have familiarity with Swing Outs, Lindy Hop 8 and 6 count basics, as well as some Charleston to participate.
Performance - Flash Mob
TBD
PRE-REQUISITES: TBD
Performance - Just Doo It
Come learn the Frankie Doo! This solo jazz routine was originally choreographed as the Tranky Doo by the Ambassador of Swing, Frankie Manning, but was reimagined by him and others many times over the decades. We will discuss its similarties and differences with other versions over the course of its complex history. At the end of the month, students will have the option to perform the routine in front of the Wednesday Night Hop community.
PRE-REQUISITES: All levels are welcome - this class will have something to learn for everyone!
Performance - Solo Jazz (January 2023)
In this solo jazz performance class, we will draw inspiration from the rich history of jazz dance and music in movies! Come to expand your jazz movement repertoire, add some theatrical flair to your dancing, and have the opportunity to perform a full solo jazz routine for the Wednesday Night Hop community at the end of the series!
PRE-REQUISITES: All levels are welcome - this class will have something to learn for everyone!
Performance - St. Louis Shim Sham
The St. Louis Shim Sham is a routine choreographed by Jon Tigert. He was visiting St. Louis when his friend asked him to participate in a local line dance competition. It is an advanced beginner to intermediate solo jazz routine.
PRE-REQUISITES: All levels are welcome - this class will have something to learn for everyone!
Performance - Triple Threat Routine
Often we think of Lindy Hop, Balboa, and Collegiate Shag as completely separate dances, but their foundations in swing music and co-development make them closer than one might think. In this class, we'll be exploring how these three dances connect through a routine that will switch between them and highlight their similarities and differences. At the end of the month, students will have the option to perform the routine in front of the Wednesday Night Hop community.
PRE-REQUISITES: Familiarity and comfort with at least one of the three dances (more are helpful, but not required) and a willingness to explore the boundaries of swing dance.
BALBOA TRACK
Coming soon…