july 8–9 2006
Solomon Douglas and Noni May Clarke will be teaching a full weekend of Lindy Hop workshops for the MIT Lindy Hop Society in July! The classes will be as follows:
Saturday classes
Registration – 9:30 am
Fundamental concepts for Lindy Hop and Blues – 10 am
This class will present the basics of Blues and Lindy Hop movement and lead-follow, starting with weight changes, turning steps, and traveling steps.
Using Delay and Stretch in Blues – 11:30 am
Leading and following from your center, the connection between your hips and your frame, feeling your partner's hips and center, and the flow of energy which is central to Blues dancing: all of these will be covered as we work on connection and timing in Blues movement.
Cool Moves in the Blues Groove – 2:30 pm
Spice up your Blues dancing with some groovy and exciting movement that expresses rhythmic features of the music.
Understanding Blues Music – 4 pm
We'll listen closely to some standard Blues songs to uncover their structure and work out ways to
use that structure in your dancing.
Sunday classes
Registration – 10:30 am
Using Delay and Stretch in Lindy Basics, part 1 – 11 am
Using the material from the first two Saturday classes as a basis, we'll explore the swingout, working on the "goosh" and getting those swivels happening!
Using Delay and Stretch in Lindy Basics, part 2 – 12:30 pm
Delving into the sugar-push, we'll keep working on putting "goosh" into your connection and making the swivels into a team effort.
Bad-Ass Social Lindy Hop Moves – 3:30 pm
Learn some really hot moves and the leading and following skills necessary to create them on the dance floor.
Swinging the Blues – 5 pm
This will be a class on mixing Blues styling into your Lindy Hop, and mixing Lindy Hop vocabulary into your Blues dancing. We'll be exploring the sweet spot where Blues and Lindy Hop meet.
Schedule and registration details
Workshops will run Saturday and Sunday, July 8–9, at the MIT Student Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Saturday classes will be held in La Sala de Puerto Rico and Sunday classes in Lobdell (both on the 2nd floor of the Student Center).
Cost per class is $11, the entire weekend is $75 ($60 for students). THANKS TO A GRANT FROM THE MIT GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL, WE ARE ABLE TO OFFER A DISCOUNTED RATE OF $15 TO ALL CURRENT MIT STUDENTS. Everyone who has already sent a check gets the discounted weekend rate of $60 ($45 for students). If you have not ALREADY sent a check, you must pay full price at the event. Student rates are for all full-time students (not just MIT students).
Registration checks should be made out to the MIT Lindy Hop Society and mailed to:
Rif
215 Green St. #A
Cambridge, MA 02139
Download a flyer for this workshop:
full-page flyer
4 mini-flyers on one page
Sponsored by the MIT Lindy Hop Society.
Contact rif for more information: rif@mit.edu
More about the teachers
Solomon Douglas (Sacramento, California) has been teaching dance since 1999, and specializes in Lindy Hop, Blues, Balboa, Charleston, and Vernacular Jazz. His teaching is both passionate and easygoing, both practical and philosophical. He has taught all over North America, Australia, Asia, and the British Isles. He is well known as a musician, playing piano and leading bands at swing dance events throughout North America and worldwide; the bands he leads include the Solomon Douglas Swingtet and Corner Pocket.
Noni May Clarke (Melbourne, Australia) has taught extensively throughout Australia with the top-notch teaching team at Swing Patrol and recently in the United States and Canada with Solomon Douglas. She holds first-place titles from the Australian Fast Foot Championship (2005), the Hellzapoppin! World Championships (2004), and the Showcase Division of the Australian Jitterbug Championships (2004). Noni specializes in Blues dancing and the art of connection. She has an in-depth knowledge of musicality that is built on a foundation of many years experience playing the double bass in big bands, and previous dance training in other styles.
