To get things started, we’re going to have ourselves a Blues Clinic. In case you aren’t familiar, Blues Clinics are hour-and-a-half long sessions (from 7:30 to 9:00) where music is constantly playing in the background and students get personalized feedback from the instructors they dance with. We bring in as many of the Boston instructors as we can, and each student gets to dance with them. There’s also an extended-length beginner lesson running at the same time, making Blues Clinic nights the perfect time to invite complete newcomers to the dance.

Once the Blues Clinic is done, we get ourselves ready for three hours of live music with the Delta Generators!

The Delta Generators (http://www.deltagenerators.com/) are a hot local Blues band that can’t wait to play for us. They made a name for themselves combining the sounds of raw Delta Blues with the energy of early rock & roll, but that power doesn’t constrain them – they routinely throw in everything from some Memphis soul to Louisiana funk to spice things up.

We’ll be open until midnight in order to fit this much awesome, my friends. Entrance to the dance will be $10 instead of the usual $5 in order to cover the band, and the Blues Clinic will be an additional $5.

Get Grounded! (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15)

Most of us have experienced many classes that focus on connect……ing with our dance partner, but what about our other major connection points? Like with the floor? Sara and Khrysti feel that all of our movement comes from the ground up, so they’ll help you develop better balance and control by exploring how we connect with the ground as we’re dancing and how to apply that to your connection with your partner.

Back to Basics (Beginner, 8:15-9:00)

Sara and Khrysti have similar dance philosophy, namely that anything is possible with a solid foundation. And that it’s a good idea to break down your basics and build them up again on a regular basis because they are always changing! So whether this is your first time on the floor, or you’ve been doing this for years, check out their take on the basics of blues dance and see if they can rock YOUR foundation.

After the lessons, Khrysti and our very own master of food Stephen York will be teaming up to DJ a couple of excellent sets for us. Amelia will be providing brownies, and if enough people bug Carl Herrmann about it he’ll be providing bacon!

As always, the lessons are $5 and the dance is $5.

Scattering JOY (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15):

This lesson delves deeper into Blues connection. This is a topic rarely discussed that is very dear to my heart. As leads and follows, there is a tendency at every level to add unwanted noise to the dance. For follows, we will discuss and pra…ctice techniques to filter out the noise and dance the intended lead. Learning to do this first; will help you clearly add shines without interrupting your connection later. For leads,we will discuss and practice techniques that help add clarity. You know what you want, so should your follow.

Embracing Close Embrace (Beginner, 8:15-9:00)

In this class we will share the 3 main shapes of Blues connection, and practice movement in each. The focus will be on relaxation and moving with your partner in close embrace. After this lesson you should be able to have a fun night of dancing with strangers, and friends at Blues Union!

After the lessons, Tim Lewandowski will be joining Joy at the DJ booth to bring us a whole jarful of Blues.

As always, the dance is $5, and the lessons beforehand are $5.

Matching the Mood of the Music (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15):
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How can you be musical without knowing lots of “moves”? Shape the vocabulary you already have to fit any song! In this class, we’ll apply some simple ideas to some simple vocabulary, and come up with infinite ways to match the music. In the intermediate version of this, we’ll be practicing how to take the same vocabulary and shape it to fit in different tempos and styles, including Chicago, Delta, and slow jazz.

Matching the Mood of the Music (Beginner, 8:15-9:00):

How can you be musical without knowing lots of “moves”? Shape the vocabulary you already have to fit any song! In this class, we’ll apply some simple ideas to some simple vocabulary, and come up with infinite ways to match the music. In the beginner version of this, we’ll work on shaping our basic to match the moods and dynamics of different songs.

After the lessons, Amy Kucharik will be teaming up with Carsie to bring us an excellent mix of Boston and Philly Blues! Margaret and Amelia will also be teaming up, to bring us lots of foodstuffs.

As always, the dance is $5, and the lessons before the dance are $5.

It’s once again time for our monthly Blues Clinic. Each month we take the time to put as many of our instructors in one room as possible, and each instructor dances with each Blues Clinic attendee and gives them personalized feedback on how to improve their dancing. Everybody then gets to practice what they’ve learned over the course of the session (7:30 to 9:00), and can go back to an instructor and ask questions… as many times as they want. At the same time as all this, we have an hour-and-a-half long beginner class running on one side of the room, making it a perfect way to bring friends into Blues dancing.

After the Blues Clinic, we’ll have Khrysti Smyth and Alex Abdoualev at the DJ booth!

Steve is once again going fancy with his food planning – this Thursday we’ll have decorative dessert night, with food provided by Karen, Micki, Adrienne, and Marina!

Shape Shiftin’ (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15):

Usually, we dance face-to-face, but there are plenty of other ways to dance! Why not play around with some more interesting shapes? Front-to…-back, offset, side-to-front, who knows?! We’ll work on crazy connections and shape changes, while discussing what helps us stay connected, no matter how we’re facing.

Ballroomin’ for Beginners (Beginner, 8:15-9:00):

There are a two main overarching styles of Blues dancing, Jukin’ and Ballroomin’. Ballroomin’ is intended to be big and graceful, making gentle fun of traditional Ballroom style. In this lesson we’ll give you some moves to get around the floor classily when the music gets jazzy and sassy.

This week the DJ table is shared by an old favorite and some fresh blood – Julie Brown will be tearing it up alongside Steve “Foodman” York! Come support Steve during his first set at Blues Union!

During the dance, Steve, Micki and Adrienne will be providing yummy baked goods.

As always, the lessons cost $5 and the dance costs $5. If you sign up for both, the price is a low, low… $10!

Call and Response (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15)

You can’t have a conversation with only one person talking! Call and Response is about taking turns, letting your partner speak, and creating something *together*. We’ll even explore some solo movement — see what you can make up!

Badass Blues Basics (Beginner, 8:15-9:00)

One of the easiest and hardest things about Blues is that there is really no one basic step. It’s very freeing a lot of room for expression, but it can be daunting because you don’t always have that one thing to fall back on. But fear not! We’ll walk you through our favorite “basic” steps and show you how to get your groove on out on the Blues floor. Come learn the steps that never get old!

After the lessons are over, Khrysti Smyth and Amy Kucharik will be rockin’ and rollin’ us all night long! Steve will be bringing ceviche, Martha will be bringing pudding, Naomi will be bringing lemon cake, and Micki and Eileen will be bringing even more tasty food for us to scarf down.

As always, the lessons are $5 and the dance is an additional $5.

See you all Thursday!

It’s the first Thursday of the month, which means: time for another Blues Clinic! For an hour and a half, all the Boston Blues instructors we can get will be in a room and available for brief one-on-one coaching sessions. As an added bonus, we’ll also have Christine Moser in the mix! Our focus is on improving your dancing, so we’ll each give you stuff to work on that comes from our own backgrounds in dance, and with all of our combined feedback you’ll have a really good feel for where you stand, what you’re doing well, and what you can work on specifically! All levels are welcome to attend – we usually have an hour-and-a-half long beginner class running throughout, so feel free to come even if you’re coming to Blues dancing for the first time.

After the Blues Clinic, Christine will team up with John Brooks to spin for us all night long!

We’ll also have Amelia bringing in special brownies, Amy bringing in either cornbread or lemon squares, and surprises brought in by Naomi, Marina, and Adrienne.

As always, the lesson costs $5 and the dance another $5.

In other news, have you signed up for Chris and Campbell’s workshops on July 10th and 11th yet? There are only 10 more spots left before we close online admissions! Get your passes here: http://bluesunionboston.com/chris-and-campbell-workshops/

This week we have our very own Julie Brown and Paul Mandel throwing down a cool couple of classes:

Balance and Counterbalance (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15):

Counterbalance is one of the most exciting tools for more advanced blues dancing. Learn some balance & counterbalance moves and how to use these tools to create new moves, while still being safe and comfortable for your partner. Also, we’ll be starting promptly at 7:30pm. Be there or miss stuff!

Vintage Night (Beginner, 8:15-9:00):

Learn some vintage blues dances like struttin and the slow drag to start off the night right. Fun for first-timers and experienced dancers alike!

After the lessons, Julie Brown and John Brooks will be teaming up to spin for us all night long!

As always, the lesson costs $5 and the dance another $5.