Dexter & Karen Seattle Blues Dance Workshop

Workshop & Dance
One day of amazing workshops taught by Dexter and Karen on Connection, Musicality, Constructing the Dance, Masculine & Feminine Solo Styling.
Constructing the Dance - Start simple with setting the rhythm of the dance, and creating patterns, building familiarity; and then increase complexity, like a storyline with the music, embellishing movement or playing with connection. We'll explore layering movements on top of each other, adding spacial contrast or quality by incorporating traditional… Show more blues vocabulary. For followers, how to layer elements (like rotation, isolations, and accents) without disturbing what he's doing, so you'll feel as amazing as you'll look!
Connection Magic - Develop your sense for what intutively feels to be true with your partner - and seem to magically know what your partner wants next without even thinking about it. We'll cover connection in close, closed and open, learning in-depth methods for creating the magic!
Musical Variations - One of the great things about dancing is being varying the positions we dance in as well as how we move with our partner across the dance floor. In this class, we'll explore stationary and traveling dancing in relation to the music. We'll work with musical changes - in verses, intensity, and breaks.
Masculine & Feminine Solo Styling - Look fabulous dancing your chosen role! All gender identies welcome - we'll address traditional roles of Masculine and Feminine Styling. We'll cover solo blues movements and show how they can be projected with either masculine or feminine energy. Feel free to dance either role!
Critique Class - This cooperative learning experience gives direct feedback on your dancing with a chance to share and practice with the whole class. We’ll start with volunteers to dance in front of the class while Dexter and Karen make general observations and constructive comments. The class benefits from this by developing their ability to read what’s happening in the dance and applying the concept immediately to their own dancing. Being in this sort of cohort-style learning environment can be especially fun and supportive for a scene. If every couple in class receives feedback, there will be time for some Q&A. Think of this as a group private lesson/practica! (Volunteering to be critiqued is not mandatory but is encouraged.)
Tickets are also available at the door at $65/pp.
SPECIAL Private Lesson Discount for Workshop Attendees! - A sign up sheet will be available at the workshop for attendees to sign up for private lessons at a discounted rate. -
Artist in Residence - Dexter Santos! Dexter will also be in Seattle from March 22-March 31st for a teaching residency giving private lessons, group lessons, as well as teaching local classes. This is your opportunity to learn from him while he is in town! To schedule a private lesson or group lesson, please contact Dexter at dexter_santos@hotmail.com or Karen at karen@dedicateddance.com.
ABOUT Dexter Santos: When Dexter Santos discovered Blues dancing in 2005, he found himself immediately drawn to it. There was something about the music’s emotional depth and range, the varied tales and stories, the gut-wrenching and the hip-shaking, the gritty and the smooth - that gave Dexter's dancing inspiration, passion, and a new direction. With a background in ballroom dancing and Lindy Hop, Dexter has studied and collaborated with the best Blues dance teachers and dancers who inspire him to make him who he is today in the Blues dance scene. Dexter teaches classes locally in the San Francisco Bay Area and has taught at nationally and internationally renowned exchanges and workshops such as bluesSHOUT, Austin Blues Party (Austin, TX), Down Home Blues Festival (San Francisco, Ca), and BamBLOOZled (Washington, D.C.) as well as many others. For more information about Dexter's dancing, visit his website at: http://www.dextersantos.com/ .
About Karen R. Smith: Karen has been dedicated to dance since 2001, with her main emphasis in swing and blues. With her background in juggling instruction and massage therapy, she brings a high degree of body awareness, playfulness, and over ten years experience in teaching movement to her dance instruction. Karen has taught as a full-time instructor for the notable Go Dance Studios in Austin, TX; regional weekend workshops in San Francisco, Seattle, and Austin; and is pleased to regularly host, moderate, and teach at Seattle's own dances. Karen loves the partnership dynamic inherent in the dance, and that, because our job as a leader or a follower is so entwined with other people, it’s an activity and a culture that promotes cooperative interaction. For more info, visit her website at: http://www.dedicateddance.com/ See Us Dance! See Dexter and Karen in action during Seattle's Rain City Blues 2012: http://youtu.be/rHdOjdPYJA8

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