Splash Biography

The class will teach the fundamentals of blues dance: correct posture, weight shifts, different positions, tension, tone, and traveling. The class is taught ambidancetrous, meaning that everyone will get to lead and follow. In doing this we hope to foster a higher level of dancing expertise, create a safer place for people of all genders and sexual orientations, challenge traditional gender roles, and shift the focus from roles and rules to dancing and connection. We believe that by learning both roles, students gain a better and fuller understanding of the dance and have double your fun! And history: (Get excited) Blues dance originated and evolved from African rhythms and movements. However, Blues dancing was never widely practiced as a "social" or performance dance in the United States outside of the Black communities; so it developed and thrived in smoky juke joints and at Blues house parties and rent parties, giving it a more intimate feel. Because Blues dancing lacked wider social approval and appeal, it remained strongly entrenched in African principles of movement, not only in the motion of the hips, but in the characteristic creation of, and dancing within, a boundary. Blues dance is strongly tied to Blues music, and many aspects of Blues dancing (for example, call and response, emotional intensity, and tension and release) are directly related to the music to which it is danced. There are many types of Blues music (rural, urban, up-tempo, slow, electric, delta, modern), and also many types of Blues dance, all with very different nuances and emotions. Incorporating modern concepts of partner connection, improvisation, and natural body movement. Blues is also an aesthetic that you bring to your dancing. Blues dance enables intense individuality in expressing the music, emphasizing that the music, not the dancer, leads the dance; the dancer is simply the interpreter. Blues dance demonstrates the passion of the entire range of human emotions - from sadness to joy - not just sensuality. If you don't have a visceral reaction to the music, your partner, and the environment, then you are missing the true beauty of Blues dance. Learning to Blues dance enables the dancer to more fully understand dance concepts such as simplicity, clarity, creativity, expression, intensity, and musical and emotional interpretation that are critical to advanced social dancing. (adaptation by Nigel Kidder-Wolff and Grace Richmond from Heidi Fite & Charlie Fuller’s website)