Wednesday nights beginning from 27th May through 24th June.
- 7:30 PM - Pure Balboa
- 8:30 PM - Bal-Swing
The ArtHouse Dance Studios (formerly The Academy Mews Studios): 15 Pratt Mews, London NW1 0AD, Camden Town tube. The workshop will take place in the BALCONY STUDIO, top floor.
IMPORTANT: It is a self-entry venue so you will need the access link to get inside. For this reason pre-booking is mandatory.
We think of these series as cumulative, with the level of difficulty increasing towards the end of both tracks. To get the most out of them we recommend taking either as a course. It is still possible to book individual classes. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch!
Please also read the descriptions below, as we will expect you to know certain steps to benefit from our classes.
PURE BALBOA: Intermediate and Intermidiate-Advanced
The emphasis will be on:
- adjusting to different partners and building the feel of togetherness with them
- exploring musicality in Balboa
- fancy footwork styles and textures
- dancing to faster tempos with ease
Expect doing drills and exercises in each class!
Requirements:
▪️Connection. This course is for dancers that are comfortable with the idea of being chest-to-chest with their partner.
While dancing socially we welcome any kind of connection that doesn’t cause discomfort, for this course we would like to stay true to Balboa in its original form. Things we will teach require body-to-body contact, so we will assume you’re Ok with it if you are in this class.
▪️Experience. You need to be able to dance these steps socially to a variety of tempos, transitioning between them:
- ✅ up-hold and down-hold basics, in place and combined with travelling
- ✅ ad-lib steps forward/back (i.e. progressive steps) and sideways (i.e. side scoots)
- ✅ repeated gathers (step-hold step-hold)
- ✅ paddle-turns
- ✅ having some understanding of Balboa counter body mechanics would be helpful
▪️Shoes. Please wear slippery shoes. Grippy footwear makes it nearly impossible to perform footwork drills and may hurt your knees if you keep trying.
BAL-SWING: Intermediate and Intermidiate-Advanced
▪️Come for tips and feedback on core mechanics of leading and following, as well as fitting your moves and footworks to music.
▪️For our intermediate dancers, the focus will also be on expanding their Bal-Swing vocabulary and gaining fluency in their movement.
▪️For more experienced dancers each lesson will also feature more challenging content: optional footworks and/or timing variations, extra turns, more intricate transitions, or all of the above.
Requirements:
▪️Experience. You need to be able to dance these steps socially to a variety of tempos, transitioning between them:
- ✅ up-hold and down-hold Pure Bal basics and paddle-turns, as well as transitioning into Bal-Swing and back into close
- ✅ lollies
- ✅ throw-out/toss-out
- ✅ basic turns
- ✅ out-and-ins: rotational and cross-overs; other variations will be helpful
- ✅ swivels
▪️Please wear slippery shoes. Leather or suede soles are ideal.