swing
welcome back / pie-and-dance TONIGHT!
howdy everybody, and welcome back!
RSDS is getting into gear for the fall semester. I can’t wait to see yall on the dance floor again!
Our first event, a meet-and-greet info session & free dance, is TONIGHT (Tuesday) at 7:30 in the RMC Grand Hall. There will be pie. We’ll dance until 9:30… or maybe (probably) later, who knows.
BALLROOM meetings this year will be TUESDAYS in the Grand Hall:
6:30 beginner ballroom classes (open to students and community members)
7:30 practice time
8:00 intermediate ballroom classes
9:00 advanced classes
10:00 free dance until the cows come home
SWING is meeting on THURSDAYS in Miner Lounge, starting this week:
7:30 beginner swing classes
8:15 practice / free dance
8:30 Swing Sampler classes
9:30 intermediate swing classes
TANGO will meet on WEDNESDAYS at the Grad Student Apartments. Shuttle service is available from campus. More details TBA.
All the schedules and details will be up on the website: http://rsds.rice.edu
I look forward to seeing yall tonight and in the coming weeks!
cheers,
Michael
Fall 2009 Update
Classes are starting soon:
Ballroom = Tuesdays 6:30-10:00, RMC Grand Hall
Tango = Wednesday evenings, TBA
Swing = Thursdays, 7:00-10:30, Miner Lounge
FREE DANCING! Every Tuesday, 10pm-midnight
TUESDAY, September 1 will be our first ballroom meeting. It’s a meet-and-greet dance, with pie from House of Pies!
More info coming soon…
Jazz Soiree 2009
The Rice Social Dance Society is gearing up for their annual swing dance, the Jazz Soiree. This is an (optionally) classy affair, so feel free to ritz it up, or come as casual as you wish. We’ll provide the snacks and water, the Rice Jazz Band will provide some live grooves, and you provide the steps. There will be an intro lesson before the night gets in to full swing, so be sure to bring your friends. And the best part? It’s completely FREE!
A call for performers:
The trouble with running a club on campus is that the officers and students turn over too fast to really continue any one legacy. However, persons older (and wiser) than us have informed us that there used to be performances at RSDS’ Jazz Soiree. We’re pretty tickled by the idea and are looking for groups, couples, and individuals who want to perform at the Jazz Soiree this year. We welcome swing dancers (of course!) but are also glad to see any other sort of social dance.
If interested, please email Natalie (nweber@rice.edu) ASAP, and no later than Wednesday, April 8th
The down-low:
Friday April 10th, 2009
Rice Jazz Band playing 9pm – midnight
Intro lesson 7:45-9:00pm
FREE!
Martel Commons, Rice University campus
- You can find Martel here (http://www.rice.edu/maps/maps.html), or it is #42 on the printable map on the same page. There is construction around campus, so it is a little confusing to get to, but we will try to have signage around the campus.
- Parking: The nearest visitors’ parking on campus is at Founder’s Court (http://parking.rice.edu/visitors.cfm). However, it is generally easier to park north of campus on a residential street that allows parking and walk on to campus.
Questions? Contact Natalie Weber (nweber@rice.edu)
Muscle Memory Minders
Last week in the beginners’ swing class we went over some of the most important things we think help your lead/follow, technique, and all-around skillz, plus said a few things specifically for the follows. These are things just to keep in the back of your head and sometimes think about consciously, until you can really get it into your muscle memory and do them naturally. Here is the list in full:
Muscle-Memory Minders:
- Footpatterns — you won’t have time to be distracted by trying to make your feet do the right thing.
- Frame fundamentals — keep your arm in front of you with a slight bend (i.e. do not let your elbows push back behind you nor let your arms outstretch).
- Follows, let your Energy Flow — that is the life blood of this dance!
- Create and Respond to changes in Energy with Counterbalance (not muscle).
- Lead with your hips as you move… letting your shoulders ride above them, moving as one piece — If we are moving “away” then with our counterbalance we would ease into a “sit” (keeping shoulders above the hips, not leading/preceding the hips) as energy is arrested.
- Follows, Return (compression, tension, counterbalance from the Lead) In Kind.
- And it’s corollary, to Respond to Energy from the Lead, not just to the tension or compression inherent in your position (i.e. don’t bounce).
Follows’ Skills & Secrets:
- RELAXING does Wonders! — If you MUST think while dancing, try to focus on your own technique (e.g. sit back in his arm, frame, flow, etc.), not anticipating his leads or moves.
- Be on top of your foot wherever you step to — try to step and move all your weight to that foot as you follow the guy’s lead. There will be a temptation to transfer your weight to the trailing foot as it comes up; but be patient, leave your weight on the foot you were led to and leave your trailing foot free as the dance continues. This means that you’ll always be on one foot with the other free, never resting on both feet with your balance split (unless your lead actually takes you there).
- Keep your shoulders back (as opposed to letting them slump forward) — doing this helps with connection, frame, and grace.
- Always look at (or at least, be able to look at) your hand when you’re being led in a turn.
- Do not release the connection with your partner. You certainly don’t want to grasp but neither do you ever want to pull your hand away.
- We start by asking you to follow a little “heavy” to be sure you don’t anticipate and that you’re letting your leads move you — but as you get more comfortable you’ll find that you can still be patient in your follow and you’ll never-the-less be able to respond and follow much more lightly.
- There are lots of places where the Follow can play in Swing. Let’s look at where/when you can find those opportunities.
Swing Sampler class begins this Thursday
Thanks once more to everyone who came out last Thursday for our dance! Swing lessons are starting up proper this Thursday in Willy’s Pub:
- 6:30-7:30 Swing Sampler
- 7:30-8:00 Free Dance
- 8:00-9:15 Beginners Jitterbug
Every few weeks our Sampler class will bring in a new instructor, who will teach what they are most passionate about in dance, what they feel is most important to learn, their favorite moves, or more — anything is fair game. The first instructor of the semester will be Aramis Martinez, who many will recognize from late-night Ballroom and for his unique blend of styles. In his class we will be exploring unusual leads and different methods of finding connections with your partner. In his words:
Description
—–
One of the best metaphors for social dance is conversation — conversation whose tools are body and soul in addition to sound and word. Since there are as many ways of communicating as there are dances and dancers, learning more ways to communicate allows our conversations to become more playful, more intriguing. Melding different modes of communication also makes one a better dancer, which ultimately leads to more and more fun:
Tango displays passion through an upper torso connection and subtle technique. Whether open or closed position, blues relies on pulse and musicality and moves stolen from anywhere and everywhere to pour out one’s soul. Lindy hop relies on tension links to bounce energy and momentum between partners, while ballroom styles can rely so much on compression you could incorrectly guess that tension isn’t fun in ballroom. Salsa and cha cha can look as if tension does all the talking, yet just as often they utilize soft, highly visual leads as an invitation to play. With improv styles the limit is set only by your imagination.
During these classes we will talk about what we are saying in our conversations with our partners and how we say it: connection, frame, musicality, technique. We’ll play games, we’ll build a open and supporting environment, we’ll work on the advanced technique of listening to each other and responding as we dance. We experiment with different ways of talking to each other and explore the common threads that underly all of them. Any point of contact, or even no point of contact, is fair game if the conversation engrosses your partner.
Bio
—–
Aramis Martinez is an alumnus of Rice’s Physics and Astronomy department and is a former co-president of RSDS. He began taking lessons during the era of “Can you lindy to this?” and considers RSDS his home scene. Upon his first visit to the Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club, his funky, distinctive style attracted notice, and he was promptly integrated into Houston’s unique intersection of blues/lindy/westie/tango dancers. He now cross-trains in multiple dances, travels for exchanges and workshops, and has most recently been learning Texas two-step and West Coast swing. When a blues moon is out, beware.
—–
NEW class starting October 30
RSDS is adding a half-semester class to the Fall 2008 repertoire: Beginners’ Lindy Hop will begin on OCTOBER 30th directly after the current swing class.
Lindy Hop is the original swing dance from the first part of the 20th century, and is the grandfather to Jitterbug, West Coast, Carolina Shag and all those other swing variants out there. Lindy Hop is an 8-count dance, so it’s a little different than the 6-count Jitterbug we teach in the first class. This will be a beginner class so anyone can join, but you will have a huge headstart if you’ve been in the swing class so far. It’s not too late to join either class (or any RSDS class) but it might be a good idea to contact the instructors so they can give you a little one-on-one time before the lesson: hhauffe@mac.com and nweber@rice.edu
WHAT: Lindy Hop swing class
WHEN: Thursdays, 8:00 – 9:15 (*Begins Oct. 30!)
WHERE: Willy’s Pub
WHO: Anyone and everyone. Spread the word.
Dances with Owls
Start making plans for our upcoming dance competition and showcase, Dances with Owls:
see http://DancesWithOwls.com for more info.
Harvest Moon Ball — THIS SATURDAY!
Houston’s largest and snazziest swing dance occurs annually on Parents’ Weekend right in Rice’s very own Grand Hall. (Psst, that’s this Saturday). Harvest Moon Ball is the perfect opportunity to see social dancing in its natural environment (out on the dance floor) and to show off your moves. We know that due to Ike a lot of new RSDS members have only gotten one or two classes under their belts, so we’re offering a free hour-long intro to swing just before the dance.
WHAT: Harvest Moon Ball
WHERE: Grand Hall, in the RMC (Student Center on Rice Campus)
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 27
Free lesson 7:00 – 8:00
Dance: 8:00 – midnight
PRICE: RSDS is subsidizing $5 for its members and any Rice students. That makes the price $10 in advance or $15 at the door for RSDS/Rice, which is insanely low for the premier swing dance of the year. WE WILL BE SELLING TIX IN RSDS CLASSES THIS WEEK so bring your money then to get the lowest price. If you can’t make it to class this week, email nweber at rice dot edu to get advance tickets. Or you can always pay at the door for the $15 price. If you know anyone outside of Rice who would like to come, tickets can be bought early online at the HSDS website.
WEAR: “Your sharpest clothing.” This is the night for dress-up, so channel your inner 1940s and ’50s and dress to kill.
MUSIC: Courtesy Houston’s premier swing band, Third Coast Swing.
OTHER: photo booth, performances, competitions, good company, prizes, live music, slick threads, cool moves. =)
West Coast Swing Workshop: April 6
West Coast Swing is one of the most fun and versatile social dances. It can be danced to almost any music written in 4/4 time at speeds ranging from very slow to very fast. Any music from hip hop to blues can be used to dance WCS.
On Sunday April 6th (the sunday of Spring Recess) there will be a west coast swing workshop for beginners taught by a professional dancer Ben Hooten. Ben is 22 years old and has been dancing for 13 years.
The Details:
3:00-4:30: Lesson in the Grand Hall (Students only)
4:30-5:30: Free Dancing
No partner necessary!
and… it’s FREE!
Check out this YouTube video of Ben dancing West Coast Swing:
If these videos don’t convince you to come learn this awesome dance then consider that:
This workshop is….
- perfect for making up a class for a dancing LPAP!
- a great way to learn moves for both hip hop and blues music!
- an excellent place to meet new people!
- a wonderful way to find a date…?
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