Swing Dynamite Blog
Thoughts and news about swing dancing in Ottawa
New Intermediate/Advanced Lindy Hop Class – Audition Only
Posted by byron on 07.26.11 4:37PM under Auditions, Getting Good at Swing Dancing
We’ve got a new pilot project at the Swing Dynamite dance school: the audition-only Intermediate/Advanced Lindy Hop class. Yes, the name is a mouthful and we’re still working on the final title. It was originally the “Advanced” class but that seemed to be scaring off people who should really be auditioning. And if it’s the idea of auditioning itself that scares you, see below for some words of encouragement.
The concept
The concept has been in the works for many years. Long ago we recognized that the most effective way for swing dancers to progress was as a member of a dance troupe. The combination of intense troupe training plus regular social dancing is virtually unbeatable as a way to accelerate the learning process. It’s like a swing dance immersion program. Getting to practice regularly with hand-picked, dedicated partners, and under the watchful eye of attentive coaches, has a powerful effect. The proof is in the pudding, as they say: nearly every one of the top swing dancers in Ottawa or Montreal is or has been a member of a dance troupe. Within Swing Dynamite we’ve repeatedly had dancers achieve their first competition successes after less than a year in a dance troupe.
However troupe membership isn’t a perfect solution:
- Not all dancers want to perform, compete or learn choreography. When I personally started swing dancing, none of those things interested me.
- Many dancers don’t want to do acrobatics, or simply can’t for health reasons.
- Not all dancers can manage the commitment level that’s required in a team, where missing a single practice can have a huge impact on other members, and where often additional practice hours are required to keep up.
- A dancer needs to already have strong lead/follow technique in order to learn complex choreography and be able to lead or follow each movement properly.
- There are improvisational skills that are harder to address within a troupe.
The Focus: Social Dancing
Here’s the run-down:
- The first audition is
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011. Contact us if you can’t make it but would like to audition. We’ll definitely be auditioning again in September, but we may audition again even sooner if there’s a lot of demand. - Auditions are only $5 for what’s essentially a really cool Lindy Hop drop-in class.
- Auditions are open to anyone who’s comfortable with the basics of Lindy Hop. You should at least know the swingout, tuck turn, underarm turn, sugar push, side charleston, tandem charleston, and hand-to-hand charleston, as well as be used to leading or following variations on those movements. You should be comfortable with different footwork patterns for at least some of your basics. For reference only, the minimum requirement would be Swing III, but Swing IV/V are recommended.
- The auditions will be run roughly the same as a regular class. You’ll learn some cool stuff, and afterwards we’ll select the dancers who seem ready to go beyond their basics.
- The class is intended to be a commitment of at least a few months.
- You’ll have one main instructor (that’s me, Byron Alley) and any number of guest instructors throughout the year.
- Pricing: $90/month for the first three months, then $60/month from the fourth consecutive month onwards. (If you take a break for a month or more, you’re back to the first three months again.)
- Dates and times: The class will run on Tuesdays, starting August 2nd, 2011 from
8:30pm-10:00pm. The time slot will change as of November–the new time slot is to be determined.Update: as of October 2011, the class now runs Tuesdays from 5:30pm-7:00pm.
Why Do Auditions?
In order to run a higher-level class, we need to make sure that everyone is ready to advance so that we can keep the dancing level high. It doesn’t mean you need to be perfect, just that your dancing needs to be ready to handle something more!
We prefer to offer auditions that are open to everyone rather than simply making the class “by invitation.” We feel this way it’s fair for everyone who’s interested.
What will the audition entail?
This audition will be a lot more chill than our troupe auditions. Think of it as a Lindy Hopper sorting hat. The goal is just to help figure out if this particular class is the best match for you right now. If you’re amazing at swingouts but need a lot of work on your Charleston, maybe some work on your Charleston would be the right next step. Or maybe you have great basics but need a little more time for them to settle into your brain and body before tackling new moves and ideas.
The audition is also just a fun class. Even if you can’t join us for the actual class, come do the audition and learn some fun stuff!
Here’s the sign-up form:
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Posted by Swing Dynamite Auditions Start Tonight on 09.19.11 10:17 am
[...] We’ve got auditions starting this week – in fact tonight - for both our new Intermediate/Advanced Lindy Hop class, and all of our swing [...]