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For April, we’re serving up not one, but two series of classes where everyone is welcome:

All Levels: Building Solo Vocabulary (7:30-8:30)
with Jenn Martinez
Do you like solo dancing, or even the idea of it, but find yourself running into road blocks? Maybe you can’t think of ideas easily, find yourself doing the same things in the same way, or just don’t know how to tackle some genres of blues music. In this special all levels series, each week will dive into a different way to approach expanding your repertoire and creativity. First up will be a look at the very social mode of riffin’.

Blues Basics: Jukin’ A (8:30-9:30)
with Charlene Chow and Amy Blank
This drop-in class is designed for new-to-blues dancers or anyone wanting to focus on the basics! No experience or partner required! This month focuses on Jukin’, a sub-style of blues dances that were danced in juke joints, house parties, and other small social spaces. Danced to guitar, harmonica, and piano-based blues, this style has greater independence between partners. This month at Union, we’ll work on getting great hip movement, working on the Fishtail, Mooch, Grind, Figure-8s, and Slow Drag.

Steve York and Amy Blank will be behind the DJ booth to get your Blues groove on.

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

We’ve got one more installment of stylish Drag Blues, this time with Jenn Martinez and Chris Mayer:

Drag Blues (7:30-8:30)
Learn some stylish moves in Drag Blues! In this series, we’ll be using close embrace, counter body movement and weight-sharing to create dips, leans, drags, and maybe even a few lifts. We’ll challenge your core strength and your control to add more dynamic movement into your dancing!

Note: To take this class, you must be at the intermediate level at New School Swing, or have a recommendation from a Blues Union instructor. To get a recommendation, ask an instructor at the Blues Clinic 🙂 More information can be found on our Upcoming Classes page.

Blues Basics (8:30-9:00)
This will be a weekly class designed not only for the novice, but anyone wanting to focus on the fundamentals of Blues dancing. It will provide enough vocabulary to have fun on the dance floor, as well the opportunity to hone and polish the core techniques behind the dance.

Devona Cartier and Amy Kucharik will be behind the DJ booth to meet your Blues needs.

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

This week we have Jenn Martinez and Jamie Triplett teaming up to break down some of the basics to help you feel the Blues:

Feel those Turns (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15)
Like true stories, the Blues has a beginning, a middle, and an end. We’ll break down each piece of some fundamental turns so that leads can be clear and dynamic, and follows can be controlled and receptive. By the end of the class you’ll be more confident to use higher energy turns that are exciting and feel great!

Pulse It (Beginner, 8:15-9:00)
If you wanna dance the Blues, you gotta have pulse. It adds spice, it’s musical, and it’s fun! The class will cover creating a pulse to the music, using variations, and communicating clearly with your partner; everything you need for a great dance.

Afterward, Stephen York and Khrysti Smyth will be ready to give you the Blues.

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

All right folks, we have another treat for you this week. Boston recently acquired 2 more top-notch instructors, Joshua Boroff and Devona Cartier. This week marks the first time they’ll be teaching together at Blues Union.

Technique in Partnering (Intermediate – 7:30-8:15)
The fundamentals beyond a basic understanding are what this class is about. Specifics of frame, connection, leading and following are looked at in greater depth. What does it mean to lead with your body? What does it mean for follows to wait until led?

Slow Drag (Beginner – 8:15-9:00)
Slow Drag the most useful of all the vintage blues dances. You can use it for any blues song, any tempo. The simplicity of the basic step allows you to focus on body movement and connection in class, and musicality and improvisation out on the dance floor.

Afterward, Devona will also be joining John Brooks behind the DJ booth to tickle your Blues fancy.

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

It’s that time again… we’ve got a Blues Clinic and live music this week!

Our monthly Blues Clinics are 1.5 hours of personalized instruction, where students dance with instructors and get individual feedback on their dancing. Music play…s continuously in the background, and students are encouraged to social dance and give each other feedback while not dancing with instructors. There is also a long beginner lesson running thro…ughout, making the Clinic perfect for introducing newcomers to Blues Dancing.

In case you didn’t know, every year the Boston Blues Challenge is thrown down to determine which band to send to the International Blues Challenge. This year, Erin Harpe and the Delta Swingers won the challenge, and this week, we are delighted to have them playing for us. And, if that isn’t enough, Jenny Sowden from NYC will be DJing the band breaks.

As on all live music nights, we will be running till midnight. The dance will cost $10 to cover the band, and the Clinic is an additional $5.