Limited in-person. Details below. Always the 1st Monday of the month, technique / concept lesson followed by open practice. This is your opportunity to dig deeper into your dancing, work on ideas you may be unsure of, ask questions, and get feedback. Always 100% FREE for blues musicians, in order to promote a better understanding of the history and culture of the blues amongst dancers. All ages welcome.
At a private residence in La Mesa. Address provided to current students or by invite.
Private residence in La Mesa - please DM
Open by invite or to current students.
❗❗❗Address provided after class registration or by DM.❗❗❗
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The purpose is to challenge you to analyse your own dancing critically by analysing someone else's and solidify what the values of blues are both in your own bodies and in partnership. Practice is only good if you know what you're practicing!
Since this is a practice space, please try to arrive on time, especially to the lesson, and remember to come with a mindset of learning and practice!
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The Blues Lab is held monthly on the first Monday of the month.
$5 donation or potluck beverages/snacks.
Please help protect the floors! Any shoes worn must be CLEAN dance shoes or non-marking street shoes with CLEAN soles. You may also wear socks, lyrical sandals, paws, or go barefoot. Thanks!
FORMAT:
- 7:30pm-8:15pm: lesson with practice
- 8:15pm: announcements and introductions
- 8:20pm-10:00pm: open practice. Feel free to continue working on the mini-lesson idea or something else. Rotate or stay with the same partner as you prefer. Decide who will receive feedback first.
WHAT IS IT?
The Blues Lab is an informal practice session and will be run in a way similar to a guided tango practica. Each evening will begin with a lesson (30-45 minutes) that features a breakdown of a movement or concept with practice and rotations (in the case of partnered movements).
The purpose of the Blues Lab is to encourage growth in our dancing and community by deepening and broadening our understanding of blues movement and music and how to connect with one another through exchanging ideas and conscious practice. The music played will be pure blues and blues-adjacent genres (such as New Orleans jazz, blues-gospel, and blues-soul) that inspire blues dancing.
GUIDANCE
You can receive guidance directly from the lesson, the TAs (who will introduce themselves at the beginning as well as during announcements), or from one another. We encourage you to reach out to us and each other for assistance.
GUIDELINES
- Before dancing with each new partner, inform them if you are working on something specific so they can pay attention to it as you dance.
- Only one person should receive feedback at a time. This allows that person to just dance and not have to analyze their partner’s dancing. Switch at the next song if the other person requires feedback as well.
- If you are uncomfortable with feedback from a certain person, inform them before you begin dancing. Please respect your partner’s wishes not to be critiqued by you.
- Respect the purpose of the Blues Lab and the dancers. If you are not here to practice, please do not take up the time and space of those who are.
- Constructive feedback is strongly encouraged. If something feels uncomfortable or hurts, please speak up! By the same token, please be respectful and refrain from speaking negatively of the person.
- Please do not dominate your partner. Even if you consider yourself a more advanced dancer and were asked to provide the majority of the feedback, ask relevant questions to understand where your partner is coming from and help guide them through the movements rather than continually criticizing them.
- Nobody is above improvement! Even if you are an accomplished dancer, you may still have something that needs work, or you may not be as well-versed in blues as you are in other dances. Please take all constructive criticism with an open mind!
BlueNoteSD.com/events/first-monday-blues-lab/
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