The Blues Association of Austin
The Blues Association of Austin is a non-profit organization devoted to promoting Blues Dancing through dances, workshops, and classes in the Austin area.
We were founded in 2007 to manage the Austin Blues Party an annual blues workshop weekend. Since then, we have grown and now run a weekly dance, Kick Butt Blues. We also help sponsor additional workshops... Like this one!
Dynamic Duos: San Francisco & Austin – Blues Workshop
Sept 24th & 25th, 2011
A continuation of the dynamic content from our last workshop, Part Two pairs you with a duo of instructors known for undeniable showmanship and incomparable technique. We'll feature more classes on rhythms, paired solo movement, personal style, body mechanics, isolation, multiple blues dance styles, spectacular but subtle moves, and more!
Locations
Galaxy Dance Studio
1700 S Lamar Blvd, Ste# 338 and
Kick Butt Coffee,
5775 Airport Blvd.
Instructors
- Dexter Santos & Michelle Richter (San Francisco, CA)
- Campbell Miller & Chris Mayer (Austin, TX)
Schedule
| Saturday, September 24th | |
|---|---|
| 11:30am | Check-In Opens |
| Noon-1:00pm | Introduction to Jook Joint Blues [D&M] |
| 1:00-2:00pm | Variations on the Theme of Blues [D&M] |
| 2:00-3:00pm | Turning Technique [C&C] |
| 3:00-4:00pm | Solo Blues [D&M] |
| 3:00-4:00pm | Blues Music featuring Local Musicians * |
| Sunday, September 25th | |
| 11:30am | Check-In Opens |
| Noon-1:00pm | Introduction to Ballroomin' Blues [D&M] |
| 1:00-2:00pm | Ballroomin' Lifts, Tricks, and Dips [D&M] |
| 2:00-3:00pm | Partnering for Solo Moves [C&C] |
| 3:00-4:00pm | Make the Most of the Music [C&C] |
Contact
NOTE: This workshop is all levels, but for those with some previous blues dance experience. Please email us if you're a beginner and interested in the workshop.
Classes: Saturday
Introduction to Jook Joint Blues
This class will introduce the beginner to blues dancing as done on a social dance floor. Some history and context about blues dancing and it's relation to blues music will be discussed. In this class, we will cover the basic posture, frame connection, steps, movement as well as the overall aesthetic and feel. In addition to these fundamentals we will also cover a turn and a dip. Taking this class will get you started on the dance floor and get you moving to the Blues!
Variations on the Theme of Blues
After learning the basic steps of blues dancing, now what? Add more flair and spirit to your movements by adding variations on your basic. With an introduction to basic blues dancing styles such as the shake n' bake, grind, mooche, and slow drag, you'll open up to a wider range of possibilities for dancing the blues.
Turning Technique
Turns can be one of the most challenging elements of a dance for the follows, but can also make them really shine. Follows, we'll give you the technique and confidence to show off your turns, and leads, we'll give you the tips to support them and the moves to make them look great. Be prepared to get dizzy!
Solo Blues
The roots of blues dancing started as an individual dance expression before it became a partnered social dance. Learn to incorporate solo movement in your dancing and add more character to your movement whether you're in open position or in your breakaways. Masculine and feminine movement will be discussed and practiced.
Blues Music featuring Local Musicians
Two of our favorite local blues musicians, Corey Keller and Greg Izor, will be sharing their knowledge of what blues music is and how it works from the musician perspective. It'll be part lecture, part discussion, and all blues.
Classes: Sunday
Introduction to Ballroomin' Blues
The style of Blues Ballroomin' is based from the Harlem dancers' interpretation of ballroom dancing. Coupled with the raw athleticism of Lindy Hop and their own vernacular dance, these Harlem dancers created their own style of blues dancing to big band blues. In this class we'll introduce the history and context of this dance style as it applies to the social dance floor. We'll cover basic posture, steps, hops, traveling across the floor, rhythm, turns and a fancy dip!
Ballroomin' Lifts, Tricks, and Dips
Once you've mastered the basics of connection and traveling, we'll turn up the volume with some flashy turns, styling and spectacular skips, lifts, and dips.
Partnering for Solo Moves
Solo moves are not just for solo -- they can be fun ideas with a partner as well. Here we'll take all those great solo moves you're got and show you how to use them in various connections with a partner. Instantly increase your vocabulary and have some fun!
Make the Most of the Music
Blues dancing is all about expressing the music, but often we keep dancing the same way even when the song changes. In this class, we'll work on finding the hidden cues about themes, style, attitude, and movement in each song and integrating them into our dancing. Learn to make the most of each and every song!
Bios
Michelle & Dexter
Michelle Richter
Michelle Richter has been dancing for over 20 years and studying dance for about 18 years. Her background in ballet and modern dance has inspired her to focus on technique combined with creative movement in her teaching style. She has studied the movement of the human body in many forms of dance, including African-Caribbean, Jazz, Contact Improvisation, Belly Dance, Hip Hop and various Ballroom styles. Michelle also enjoys performing and creating choreography. For the last 12 years, her main focus has been Lindy Hop and Blues dancing. Her teaching focuses on connection, attitude and self-expression, proper body mechanics, and one-on-one attention. She finds that her profession as a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist, which gives her extensive knowledge of anatomy/physiology, compliments her dance instruction in a unique way.
Michelle teaches classes locally in San Francisco and has taught at national exchanges and workshops such as bluesSHOUT (Chicago, IL), Austin Blues Party (Austin, TX), Down Home Blues Festival (San Francisco, CA), Blues Rising (San Francisco, CA) BamBLOOZled (Washington, D.C.), and Mile High Blues (Denver).
- Blues Shout Invitational Jack and Jill Division Champion 2007, 2008
- Blues Shout Strictly Ballroom Blues Division Champion 2007, 2008, 2010
For more information and to contact Michelle, please visit her website at www.bluestherapist.com.
Dexter Santos
Dexter Santos discovered Blues dancing in 2005 and has since been inspired by the soulful and expressive quality of Blues music. Whether he is teaching, performing, or social dancing, Dexter is very passionate in his interpretation of the Blues. One of the things that makes his dancing stand out is his musicality and the way he translates it on the dance floor. Dexter has studied with the best Blues dance teachers, and collaborated with teachers and dancers who inspire him to make him who he is today in the Blues dance scene.
As a teacher, Dexter's passion comes from his desire to teach Blues dancing with respect to its roots, identity, to celebrate its art form, and more importantly, to inspire dancers of all levels with the possibilities that Blues dancing has to offer. Dexter teaches classes locally in San Francisco and has taught at national exchanges and workshops such as bluesSHOUT (Chicago, IL), Austin Blues Party (Austin, TX), Down Home Blues Festival (San Francisco, CA), BamBLOOZled (Washington, D.C.), Steel City Blues Festival (Pittsburgh), and Mile High Blues (Denver).
When not teaching or performing, Dexter continues to refine his skills on the dance floor as a frequent competitor. At bluesSHOUT 2010 in Austin, Texas, Dexter won all four partnered competitions: Open Jack & Jill, Strictly Jook Joint, Strictly Ballroomin', and Champions Division. His other accomplishments include: 1st place at the 2007 & 2008 bluesSHOUT Strictly Ballroomin', 1st place at the Emerald City Blues Festival 2008 Invitational Jack & Jill, 1st place at the Enter the Blues 2008 Jack & Jill, and 1st place in the Down Home bluesSHOUT 2008 Invitational Jack & Jill Champions Division.
For more information about Dexter, please visit his website at: www.dextersantos.com.
Chris & Campbell
Campbell Miller
When Campbell dances with a partner, it is a complete experience: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. She is grounded with a diverse technical background, but her dancing is unpretentious; she follows to make each dance the best it can be for her partner. She is known for melting into her leader's connection and making leaders more aware of their own movement by mirroring even the most subtle detail.
Campbell loves living in Austin, where she teaches social dance courses celebrated to be the most popular on the UT campus. Her approach fosters an appreciation for fusion by drawing connections between the varied styles she has studied — some of her favorites being lyrical, waltz, lindy hop, and tap. While her warmth and patience create an inviting atmosphere for all levels of students, she carefully challenges them to realize their full potential.
Chris Mayer
Chris was drawn into Blues by the freedom and expression that sets this dance apart, and he's never looked back. As an addict since 2006, Chris has been slowly developing a style all his own, taking the parts he loves from other dances and molding them into the blues "aesthetic": the footwork and the precision of argentine tango, the energy and exuberence of lindy, the smoothness and sly attitude of west coast swing, the rhythm and motion of latin, and moves and tricks that could only come from the depths of his bizarre mind. Call it... Macro-Blango-Hop.... Yeah.
Though through all of this, it's musicality at the core of his dancing. You'll often see Chris on the side of the floor, too tired to stand, but still dancing with his hands and feet (or fingers and toes if its *really* late). Between this focus on rhythm and a strong sense of partnering, he keeps people on their toes.