WEST COAST SWING 'INTENSIVES'
TUESDAYS January 6, 13, 20, 27
Ripley-Grier Studios • 520 8th Ave, 17th Fl, Rm 17-S
WCS BEGINNER CRASH COURSE INTENSIVE (4 weeks)
6:30-8pm, Tuesdays, Jan 6, 13, 20, 27
Become genuinely good, amazingly fast! An immersive, gently intensive Crash Course in WCS, for Beginners "of all levels," as the pros like to say. We focus first on the skills and moves that make you a good, happy dancer on the social dance floor absolutely as fast as possible. The approach we'll take is very different and much faster than the typical one. Come see why and how! (Jan 6 special: just $10 – so you can see if my teaching style suits your learning style!)
Lindy Hoppers: See special note below in RED!
6:30-8pm, Tuesdays, Jan 6, 13, 20, 27
Become genuinely good, amazingly fast! An immersive, gently intensive Crash Course in WCS, for Beginners "of all levels," as the pros like to say. We focus first on the skills and moves that make you a good, happy dancer on the social dance floor absolutely as fast as possible. The approach we'll take is very different and much faster than the typical one. Come see why and how! (Jan 6 special: just $10 – so you can see if my teaching style suits your learning style!)
Lindy Hoppers: See special note below in RED!
WCS INTERMEDIATE INTENSIVE
8:00-9:30pm, Tuesdays, Jan 6, 13, 20, 27
Let's take our creativity and adaptivity to whole new levels
Double your vocabulary ... and dance with half the effort. Which opens the door to even more creativity, musicality, styling, and personal expression! NOTE: We will be taking seriously the notion that WCS is a *partner* dance, with its magic in *partnered* movement.
Theme 1: LEGO-LAND. First, we'll bring everything you already know into a higher level framework, a framework that is broader and more inclusive, to make learning new stuff easy. We'll play with the 5 "super fundamental" elements or building blocks that good dancers use like Legos to construct every move. We'll upgrade our connection, balance & technique skills to empower us do everything at a more Advanced level. And yes, this is exactly what allows more room for styling, musicality, and individual expression INSIDE our partnered-movement dancing!
Theme 2: Build-A-Bear. Then, working in small groups, playing with just the ideas and skills that we've picked up, can we invent a new move or two? YES! But the true goal of this game is to open our minds to being more creative and adaptive on the dance floor – while still dancing 100% great WCS.
8:00-9:30pm, Tuesdays, Jan 6, 13, 20, 27
Let's take our creativity and adaptivity to whole new levels
Double your vocabulary ... and dance with half the effort. Which opens the door to even more creativity, musicality, styling, and personal expression! NOTE: We will be taking seriously the notion that WCS is a *partner* dance, with its magic in *partnered* movement.
Theme 1: LEGO-LAND. First, we'll bring everything you already know into a higher level framework, a framework that is broader and more inclusive, to make learning new stuff easy. We'll play with the 5 "super fundamental" elements or building blocks that good dancers use like Legos to construct every move. We'll upgrade our connection, balance & technique skills to empower us do everything at a more Advanced level. And yes, this is exactly what allows more room for styling, musicality, and individual expression INSIDE our partnered-movement dancing!
Theme 2: Build-A-Bear. Then, working in small groups, playing with just the ideas and skills that we've picked up, can we invent a new move or two? YES! But the true goal of this game is to open our minds to being more creative and adaptive on the dance floor – while still dancing 100% great WCS.
INSTRUCTOR: Ken Kreshtool
LOCATION: Ripley-Grier Studios, 520 8th Ave (betw 36th & 37th St) - 17th floor, Room 17S.
PRICE:
$35 - 1 hr 30 mins.
All 4 weeks $100. (If you paid $10 for Jan 6, that counts towards the $100.)
Pay in class Venmo or Zelle, or cash (exact change, please)
• Special deal for Week #1 (January 6 only): just $10 – so you can see if my teaching style suits your learning style.
• Special deal #2: Pre-register online with a partner or friend: drop-in $30 per person (save $10 total)
• Special deal #3: Take the Intermediate class, attend Beginner free ... and if you bring a newbie to Beginner, they save $5 each week (not available Jan 6).
LINDY HOPPERS SPECIAL NOTE!
Want confident butter-smooth SWINGOUTS every time? This BEGINNER crash course, surprisingly, is the fastest way to learn Lindy Hop Advanced Connection and Follow-Through skills. WCS moves ARE Lindy Hop moves, just flatter and smoother. And equally dependent on good Connection skills. Combine this with what you already know, and you'll have <chef's kiss> smoothness and clarity in every Pass-by, Tuck, and Swingout, for both Leads and Follows. Come to the first lesson Tuesday, January 6 ($10 special), and see what we mean – if you hate it, you can have a full refund.
Important note: Please have an open mind! We'll be looking at things you already know (or partially know) from a completely different frame of reference. We will construct every move from scratch, via connection skills. This is a completely different way of thinking about the moves ... but they are the same moves. The advantages are (a) your connection will be amazing and all your partners will be delighted, and (b) you will find yourself learning new moves about 5X faster.
LOCATION: Ripley-Grier Studios, 520 8th Ave (betw 36th & 37th St) - 17th floor, Room 17S.
PRICE:
$35 - 1 hr 30 mins.
All 4 weeks $100. (If you paid $10 for Jan 6, that counts towards the $100.)
Pay in class Venmo or Zelle, or cash (exact change, please)
• Special deal for Week #1 (January 6 only): just $10 – so you can see if my teaching style suits your learning style.
• Special deal #2: Pre-register online with a partner or friend: drop-in $30 per person (save $10 total)
• Special deal #3: Take the Intermediate class, attend Beginner free ... and if you bring a newbie to Beginner, they save $5 each week (not available Jan 6).
LINDY HOPPERS SPECIAL NOTE!
Want confident butter-smooth SWINGOUTS every time? This BEGINNER crash course, surprisingly, is the fastest way to learn Lindy Hop Advanced Connection and Follow-Through skills. WCS moves ARE Lindy Hop moves, just flatter and smoother. And equally dependent on good Connection skills. Combine this with what you already know, and you'll have <chef's kiss> smoothness and clarity in every Pass-by, Tuck, and Swingout, for both Leads and Follows. Come to the first lesson Tuesday, January 6 ($10 special), and see what we mean – if you hate it, you can have a full refund.
Important note: Please have an open mind! We'll be looking at things you already know (or partially know) from a completely different frame of reference. We will construct every move from scratch, via connection skills. This is a completely different way of thinking about the moves ... but they are the same moves. The advantages are (a) your connection will be amazing and all your partners will be delighted, and (b) you will find yourself learning new moves about 5X faster.
WHAT IS WCS? In relation to Lindy Hop?
WCS is a direct descendant of 1940s Lindy Hop, specifically Lindy Hop in the Los Angeles California area. After Swing Jazz music stopped being America's favorite Pop music in the mid-1940s, Lindy Hop per se faded ... but in many cities, small numbers of enthusiastic people continued.
In the Los Angeles area, the dancers continuously adapted their Lindy Hop to new Pop music with a smoother, more relaxed California style. They mostly danced to swung R&B (Rhythm-&-Blues), but also some straight-time Pop. Recently the music is mostly straight-time Pop.
Over the decades, WCS simplified Lindy Hop to the core partnered moves ... and then slowly expanded and "complex-ified" itself outward from that simplified core.
WCS is simple to understand because everything is very "dance logical." We build every move "on the fly" from a few basic interchangeable parts like Legos — all connected smoothly together through sweet continuous connection skills. No need to memorize anything! But of course, people do memorize their favorite moves.
When we understand WCS properly, WCS has a lot of room for individual expression and "conversational" dancing, where both partners influence each other. WCS also serves as a secret "library" of advanced Lindy Hop moves and ideas, just waiting for Lindy Hoppers with the original generation's spirit of innovation to start playing with!
Fun historical note: There is some historical overlap. On youtube, you can see Dean Collins dancing to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" in 1982, Anaheim California. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asUVGX_N1NQ)
WCS is a direct descendant of 1940s Lindy Hop, specifically Lindy Hop in the Los Angeles California area. After Swing Jazz music stopped being America's favorite Pop music in the mid-1940s, Lindy Hop per se faded ... but in many cities, small numbers of enthusiastic people continued.
In the Los Angeles area, the dancers continuously adapted their Lindy Hop to new Pop music with a smoother, more relaxed California style. They mostly danced to swung R&B (Rhythm-&-Blues), but also some straight-time Pop. Recently the music is mostly straight-time Pop.
Over the decades, WCS simplified Lindy Hop to the core partnered moves ... and then slowly expanded and "complex-ified" itself outward from that simplified core.
WCS is simple to understand because everything is very "dance logical." We build every move "on the fly" from a few basic interchangeable parts like Legos — all connected smoothly together through sweet continuous connection skills. No need to memorize anything! But of course, people do memorize their favorite moves.
When we understand WCS properly, WCS has a lot of room for individual expression and "conversational" dancing, where both partners influence each other. WCS also serves as a secret "library" of advanced Lindy Hop moves and ideas, just waiting for Lindy Hoppers with the original generation's spirit of innovation to start playing with!
Fun historical note: There is some historical overlap. On youtube, you can see Dean Collins dancing to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" in 1982, Anaheim California. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asUVGX_N1NQ)
Videos of Ken & Paula. These are 100% improvisational. We handed the DJ a long list of songs and said, "please pick any one."
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Thank you! We look forward to seeing you!