This week at Blues Union

Thursday, May 25

Hello, hello!

We’re back and continuing our month of guest instructors and DJs, and this week we have Christine Moser, all the way from San Luis Obispo, California! Christine and Paul will be teaching the lessons this week:

Intermediate Lesson (7:30-8:15): How Blues is Like an Onion
No, not that it smells bad and makes you cry. We’re going to be discussing layers of connection to your partner and your music, from solo cutting to microblues and everything in between.

Beginner Lesson (8:15-9:00): Milking the Movement
We’ll explore how to make your dancing more powerful and dynamic, letting you milk every movement for all it’s worth.

Christine will be in town all week, and available for private lessons. If you like her classes, be sure to ask her for a private!

After the lessons, Amy Kucharik and Christine will be DJing it up for us!

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

Thursday, March 18

Hey, folks!  Our month of guest instructors continues with Dan Repsch, whom you may recall from the competitions at Sweet Molasses Blues.  He’s here this week to bring us some out of town goodness.
Shapes, Shifts, and Safety belts
This is a lesson designed to acquaint beginners with the blues.  We’ll start with moving your own body, then introduce a partner and learn the basic shapes that blues dancers create in almost every dance.  If you don’t have any experience dancing you’ll be prepared for a social dance by the end of the class and if you’ve been dancing for a while you’ll come away with new ideas and some of the finer details of the fundamentals.
Putting Yourself Into Your Blues
This class uses a concrete structure to show how you can bring your personality out in your dancing.  We’ll briefly discuss the emotions present in selected songs, but the majority of the class will be spent dancing simple yet impactful ideas.  I’ll provide tools I’ve developed through both social dancing and numerous classes, and also look to the students for some of their interpretations so they can define their own dancing style

Thursday, March 11

Hello, hello!

We’re kicking off our guest instructor/DJ month with Andrew Smith (http://www.andrewsmithdance.com/), from Portland, Oregon! Andrew’s taught at Blues Union before, in addition to teaching at several national venues and local venues in Portland. This week, he and Julie Brown will be teaching the following classes:

Solo Movement (Intermediate, 7:30-8:15)
Through various improv exercises, learn how to emote in your dancing. Practice listening to the sentiment of a song and conveying that in your body through solo movement. This class covers isolations, rhythms, and musicality.

Vintage Ballroom Blues (Beginner, 8:15-9:00)
This class introduces you to Ballroomin’ — originally a slow dance done by Lindy Hoppers at the Harlem Ballroom — that has become a nationally recognized and appreciated styling for Blues dancing. The styling is ideal for dancing to vintage jazz and New Orleans blues music. The class will look at quintessential elements of Ballroomin’, such as walking, turns, posture, and aesthetic lines.

Afterwards, he and Julie will be DJing for us from 9:00 to 11:00.

As always, the lessons on their own are $5, and the dance on its own is $5. Both combined… are $10!

Thursday, March 4

This week, come to Blues Union for our very own Blues Clinic from 7:30 to 9pm, followed by four fantastic DJs from 9pm to 11pm!

This week, our DJs are Gui and Ogden for the first set, followed by Khrysti and Amy for the second set.   They will lift you up! They will not leave you low!  Oh no.

Also- a special offer!  If a dancer brings a newbie to the lesson, the dancer and their friend only have to pay for the lesson ($5)- the dance is free!

We’re all pumped after this past weekend with Sweet Molasses Blues; we hope you’re ready for some more dancing as well!

Thursday, February 25

This week, Blues Union kicks off Sweet Molasses Blues!  Come for two great classes with Paul Mandel and Amanda Gruhl:

Crazy Counterbalance!
Ever wonder how to create those lovely stretches advanced dancers have?  Want to make those counterbalance moves look and feel great?  This class will show you how to incorporate weight sharing into your social dances in closed and open.  And if we have time, we’ll throw in a few unusual positions!

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.

DJs will be special guests Jennie Shortway (NJ) and Tina Davis (TX)!

Crazy Counterbalance!
Ever wonder how to create those lovely stretches advanced
dancers have?  Want to make those counterbalance moves look and feel
great?  This class will show you how to incorporate weight sharing
into your social dances in closed and open.  And if we have time,
we’ll throw in a few unusual positions!
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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.