Swing Dancing, Lobdell, lesson 7:00

[Ken T Takusagawa]

* MIT Lindy Hop Society Wednesday night dance
* Wednesday, February 25, Lesson 7:00 Dancing 9-11:30 p.m.
* Lobdell Cafeteria (MIT Student Center 2nd floor)
* Free, Beginners welcome, No partner necessary
* DJs Reverend Don Coverdale and Alana Epstein

This week's 7:30pm lesson is the final one this Spring taught by
Andrew K. Stein.

ATTENTION EXPERT DANCERS: This week's lesson is for you, TOO.

***Announcing a lesson style _never_ before tried at MIT this
year...***

The Swing Lesson Potluck
a.k.a The Talent Show Lesson
a.k.a The Giant Experiment in Swing Dance Crowd-sourcing.

Q: What is this?
A: We will go around and you can show off a move that you know and
like, and then teach everyone how to do it in 5 minutes or less.

Q: Any restrictions?
A: All taught moves should be agnostic to the dance style, whether
4-count, 6-count, Lindy, etcetera, so that everyone can learn.

Q: This is a lesson?
A: Of course.  There will be lots of full-length songs to dance to
and practice with.

Q: What level(s) is this for?
A: All levels.  You can teach a move, or if you're new to swing, come
practice with us and just be entertained as everyone shows off.

To recap:
1. 7:00pm = Beginner basics lesson/refresh.
2. 7:30pm = Swing Potluck/Talent Show/show-off-what-you-got lesson
3. Consider preparing a move that can be taught in 5 minutes.

Email me <andrew.k.stein at gmail.com> with any questions/feedback.




Coming next month, Wednesdays in March, "Authentic Jazz and 
Solo Charleston", taught by Alex Abdoulaev and Megan Damon.  
Here is the class description:

As an outgrowth of such vernacular dances as the soft shoe and the
cake walk, vernacular jazz rose to popularity during the early 1900s,
quickly developing into an intricate form of solo dance. The
charleston, a direct extension of solo jazz, continued the tradition
during the 1920s following the success of the broadway show "Runnin'
Wild." Despite their vernacular origins, elements of both of these
dance forms are prominently featured in contemporary dance and the
Lindy Hop.

This series of three workshops will focus primarily on the individual
jazz steps and charleston variations. We will begin each workshop by
breaking down a few steps, discussing the technique and theory behind
them, and examine certain unifying technical features of both
charleston and authentic jazz. The steps will ultimately be combined
into pre-choreographed routines in order to build on the technical
and improvisatory features of both of these dance forms.

Routines we will study:
"Bojangles" by Mike Faltesek
"Shim Sham" by Leonard Reed
"Tranky Doo" by Al Minns & Leon James (the "Spirit Moves" version)

For further reference, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_(dance)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaPmyta9y_I


--ken

This weekend: SWEET MOLASSES BLUES WORKSHOP
 http://sweetmolassesblues.com/

Boston-area swing dance calendar
 http://www.havetodance.com/calendar.html