This week at Blues Union

Thursday, October 7

This week we have our monthly two-fer – a Blues Clinic to get things started, followed by live music! This month we’re happy to present the Monster Mike Welch Band (http://www.myspace.com/monstermikewelch), a local Blues band with tons of experience playing to dancers.

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 throughout, making the Clinic perfect for introducing newcomers to Blues Dancing.

After the Clinic, Monster Mike Welch takes the stage. Monster Mike is a Somerville local who often hosts the Johnny D’s Blues Jam, with years of experience playing for dancers in the area. He’s fresh off the plane from a month-long European tour and ready to play for you!

The Blues Clinic will be $5, and as always on band nights, the dance itself will be $10. Can’t wait to see you out!

Thursday, September 30

This week we have Julie Brown tearing up the instructor’s floor doing some awesome solo styling, and Amy Kucharik teaming up with her afterward to rock the DJ booth!

Without further ado, our classes this Thursday are:

Solo Dance: Arms, Legs and Lines (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15)

In this solo dance class, we’ll discuss how to create better lines with your body and legs and some different ways of using your arms. Then we’ll apply these ideas to some of my favorite solo moves 🙂

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

Learn (or refresh yourself on) some blues basics! We’ll cover some vintage dances, turns, traveling moves, and more. If you’re new to blues, this class will be enough to get you out on the floor, dancing, and having fun.

After those classes, Julie will take the DJ booth first and Amy will take it home!

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

Thursday, September 23

Alright folks, we’ve got double trouble in mind this Thursday!

Dan Repsch and Jennifer Sowden have both fallen in love with us, and are coming back TOGETHER. They’ve been teaching together all around the mid-Atlantic, and are coming up to teach and then throw down at the DJ booth. Hot damn! Check out their class list:

Trigonometry and Blues (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15)

Who said you’d never use high school trig? This class will show you how to make your blues dancing sharp and angular. We’ll introduce a horizontal pulse and modified vocabulary that will clearly differentiate this style from others you may know. Math jokes welcome.

Blues Power Button (Beginner, 8:15-9:00)

Your body already knows how to dance the Blues, we’re just going to show you where the “On” switch is. We’ll show you how to create common shapes and communicate with your partner through your dancing.

Once the lessons are over, they’ll be teaming up and rocking out at the DJ booth!

As always on our DJed nights, the dance will be $5 and the lessons another $5.

Thursday, September 16

This week we have a whole bunch of great stuff going down. Gui and Jenn are returning to teach a couple of classes after a long hiatus from teaching, and Solomon Douglas (http://solomondouglas.com/) will be joining us all the way from Seattle (!!!) to throw down some live Blues and jazz all night long! As with all band nights, we’ll be going to midnight to fit it all in! Without further ado:

Dancing Subtle (Intermediate, 7:30-8:1…5)

Big, flashy moves often get a lot of attention on the dance floor, but the fun use of subtle moves are usually what gets your partner smiling in social dances (and which can get tons of attention in competitions if done well). This lesson will focus on giving you a new subtle move vocabulary and starting you thinking about how to use smaller movements in your dance to greater effect.

Moves, Moves, Moves (Beginner, 8:15-9:00)

We got ’em, you want ’em. Come learn how to spin around, walk fancy, and do all sorts of fun moves on the dance floor. You’ve been asking for more moves in our beginner classes, so we’re giving ’em to you!

After the lessons, Solomon Douglas will be throwing down Blues and jazz from 9 PM to midnight with his bassist. Christine Moser will be DJing the band breaks as Solomon and company take breathers.

The lessons from 7:30 to 9:00 will be $5, and the extended dance (9-12) with Solomon playing live music will be $10.

See you all out on the dance floor!

Thursday, September 9

Hey, everyone!  We love that everyone came out last week for the Delta Generators!  It seems like that was a great way to see summer out the door. Things are cooling down now.  To everything, there is a season (turn, turn, turn).  Speaking of turns, we’ve got Shawn and Amanda this week teaching…

Intermediate – Spins and Turns
This class will focus on techniques to improve leading and following spins and turns.  We’ll start with some solo work and move on to the secrets of the connection behind spins and turns.

Beginner – Blues Connection
The basis for all great partnered dancing is connection!  This week’s beginner blues lesson will focus on how to establish connection, make it feel great, and use it to lead and follow your partner.

Following this, we’ve got John Brooks and Steve York DJing. They’ll spin you right round.