Swinging Air Force: 15-16 Feb 2003

The class list is final. Please read the schedule for class times and locations. Note that some classes are only offered to those who register as Beginner or Advanced dancers. All classes are 75 minutes in length.

(BEG, ADV) = offered as seperate classes to Beginners and Advanced dancers
(BEG) = offered to Beginners only
(ADV) = offered to Advanced dancers only
(ALL) = offered as a single class for both Beginners and Advanced dancers

Here we take people from where they are to a better place; we show new moves in Lindy Hop that we've encountered and the connection, musicality, partnership, balance and movement techniques behind them. Also, we show the SAF philosophy behind more fun dancing. Our Lindy-hop is very much an SAF product as we have studied with so many teachers and incorporated many different aspects that worked best for us.

We are the best and safest in Canada at teaching these as we have studied extensively with the 2000-2002 American Champion Hop Swing and a Jump team from New-York!

If you are taking the Aerials class, you must enter your partner's name. Your Aerials partner must register seperately and enter you as a partner. Although we will accept Aerials partners at different skill levels, we cannot accept Aerials registrants who do not have a partner.

Beginner

We've taken Jazz dancing in a totally new direction and created our own Swinging Air Force jazz routine.

Advanced

We will teach you the moves, styling and choreography of the Tranky Doo, an individual (or "precision mob") jazz dance.

These jazz dances are fun and challenging; no partners required.

Many scenes had Charleston dancers in the past but not any more; there is a misconception of Charleston as a crazy, unconnected dance where everything is choreographed. This is a very wrong assumption; people just didn't know how to make Charleston smooth and connected at the time.

We show many different and original charleston patterns that you could do easily by applying certain rules from Lindy to Charleston!

This course was created specifically for the people in Victoria B.C. we visited last year as they were starting a team for corporate shows and competitions. However it can be useful for dancers who want to improve their general look when they dance as we talk about lines, phrasing and exteriorization [Dave: showiness?].

The collegiate shag that is!

[Dave: That's all the info I got. More info (and a video) here.]

A vintage swing dance of the 1930's, the Collegiate Shag is danced side by side, or in open and closed position. Footwork, kicks, spins and close connection, the Collegiate Shag reminds you of the old-time cartoons in which the legs looked like noodles! The Collegiate Shag became so popular that even the prim and proper Arthur Murray taught the Collegiate Shag!

Source: The San Francisco Jitterbugs

Our version of this ever popular but often poorly done concept. We choose the most important musical aspects to work on for the short time that we have. We get great results with this class. Although we use ideas from many different places, our basic inspiration for this class is none other than Steven Mitchell. Usually a must to wrap up the weekend.