A Workshop Weekend Unlike Any Other with Lindy Hop + Blues Fusion Jedi Andrew Sutton

What is Blues Fusion?

At it's simplest, blues dancing is essentially a basic weight shift to the rhythm. And since the basic step is so “simple”, where the magic REALLY happens is in the connection with your partner and your connection to the music.

You know that feeling where you just want to move to the music? How would that feel to move with a partner? And then in a way where you responding to one another? Blues dancing can be simple or complex, it all depends on how you connect to it and with your partner.

Although it is an intimate dance, there are many more emotions that can be conveyed; playfulness, sadness, consolation, joy. The dance can be a conversation, a game and clearly addictive for some of us. Blues fusion is taking moves and styles from other dances and adapting it to blues dancing as a whole. It could be adding a taste of tango to your blues or spicing it up with salsa. Either way, it's a different twist on your dancing, and loads of fun!

What makes Andrew's classes unique?

Andrew believes that to become a great Lindy Hopper it is first important to become a great social dancer.  His workshops help all levels of dancers become better social dancers, including, but not limiting them to improving their Lindy Hop.  Andrew will be showing techniques that will improve everything from your Lindy Hop to your Blues & Balboa, or even your Salsa & Tango.  No matter what your level, Andrew guarantees that you will get an overload of information to improve your dancing.  By guarantee, he means it... 
 
If at the end of the workshop, you aren't completely satisfied, Andrew will personally refund you... the entire workshop price!

If you want to know more about him, check out his website www.SmoothSavoy.com, where you can watch videos of crazy routines like Dogpile, read several articles about improving your dancing, and get a general idea of his dancing and personality.  Join his mailing list, and he sends you monthly newsletters with ideas on how to improve your dancing, favorite songs, etc... and you might even win a dance trip.

Class Descriptions

Saturday

The Beauty of Doing Nothing
Most of us move more often than we need or mean to.  This class is designed to show you how doing less movement in your dancing will allow for so much more to happen!

Musicality - It's ain't what'cha do, it's the way that'cha do it
Whether you are a beginner hearing about feeling the music for the first time or you are an advanced dancer always looking for new ways to become even more musical, this class will teach you some creative, easy, and fun ways to increase your musicality.

Fusion Moves for Your Dancing
Okay, okay...you've got the basics by now, the connection thing is coming, and you're really starting to *Dance*... Then why do you feel like everyone else out there on the dance floor?  Time to step up, Chuck.  In this class, you will learn some moves and grooves to take your dancing up a notch and get you lookin' cool out on that dance floor.  Next time you go out dancing, you'll be the one everyone is watching...yeah, daddy-o!

Contact Dancing
Contact Dancing is a new collective dance/game, in which at any one moment you might be dancing solo, leading or following in a couple or with multiple partners, or even leading one partner while following another. Throughout each song, partnerships swap and change organically, allowing each individual to create their own spontaneous choreography. As well as being a ton of fun and very easy to learn, Contact Lindy uses and teaches a great deal of lead/follow technique which allows for the possibilities of this dance to grow exponentially with the dancers!

Sunday

101 Styles of Connection
Those of you that have already danced a lot with partners from other dance scenes will know that there are many ways to lead and follow.  Dancing Relaxed or with Tension, Using Body Leads or Arm Leads, In Counterbalance or Not, these are just some of the things that start to change the style of your dance.  In this class you will learn to understand when to use some of these different techniques, how to switch between them, and also how to react to a partner who is dancing with a specific technique.

Improvising with a partner
Learn how to use jazz steps to improvise on the social dance floor.  This class will also include information on how to learn new moves/movements faster than the average dancer. If you are a shy, timid, or conservative dancer, this class will start to break you out of your shell so smoothly you won't even notice it.

That Extra Something Special
You know when you watch someone who has been dancing for a long time and they just seem to have something special that makes them seem to move more gracefully then newer dancers.  This class will get you moving more fluidly by discussing detailed techniques on continuous momentum and giving you some challenging drills that you can do to dramatically increase your ability to move with grace, balance, and precision when executing your movements.

Making Your Night Out Dancing Amazing
Sometimes you go out dancing and the energy in the room is amazing!  Other nights at the same venue, with the same people, and the same music, sometimes it is just NOT amazing at all.  This class will teach you the things that can make your night (and many other people's nights) change from not so great to "Remember the time when we..., Wow, that was one heck of a night!"

Events

Atomic Swing!
Friday, November 13, 9PM - Midnight
Zabor Dance Studio
Free with Workshops, $5 at the door

Turkey Day Dinner Buffet
Saturday, November 14 at 6PM
Greek Orthodox Church
$10 per person - pre-orders only please!

Live Music with Slinky's Garage
Saturday, November 14, 8PM - Midnight
Greek Orthodox Church
Free with Workshops, $20 at the door

Late Night Dance
Sunday, November 15, 1AM - 3AM
Zabor Dance Studio
Free with Workshops, $10 at the door