It’s always rewarding to begin the new year with a great start! We had a blast at our first week of classes. Good to see many familiar and new faces on Sundays in Newton and also wonderful to see our classes growing in our new location in Boston. We need to make this year one that is filled with fun and joy:-)
Uptown Swing
Come in out of the cold and join us for our first Uptown Swing Dance of 2011 this Saturday, January 15 at Brookline Tai Chi. We are excited to start the year with the always fun Mike DiBari Swingtet! Mike always gives us a great night of hot Swing music to keep everyone on the dance floor. Beginners are very welcome and you do not need to have a partner. The music will be excellent for Lindy Hop, Swing, Balboa and a little bit of Blues. Bring your friends and introduce them to a fun night of dancing!
New year’s resolution - get out dancing! What could be a better way to start the new year? Plus it has been scientifically proven to be good for you:-)
New Session Lindy Hop/Swing Classes
Our new 6 week session starts this Sunday, January 9 at the Newton Lower Falls Community Center in Newton and Monday, January 10 at the Ruggles Baptist Church in Boston. Here is what’s coming up:
Beginner Swing/Intro to Lindy Hop - This class is for both brand new dancers and those with some experience who would like to build a stronger foundation and gain more confidence on the dance floor. Six count basics are covered along with a different selection of fun steps each session. There are 7 different sessions at this level, which can be taken in any order, providing the opportunity to develop a good base for social dancing while continuing to learn new steps. If you have any friends who have been wanting to get started, please send them along! This class meets in both Newton and Boston locations.
Lindy Hop Level 2 - This class is aimed at intermediate level Swing dancers who can already comfortably social dance any style of triple-step Swing. It is not necessary to already know Lindy Hop. The class includes a mix of 8 and 6 count basics with a focus on technique and lead-follow connection. There are 6 or 7 different sessions at this level which continually change over time and can be taken in any order. Each session includes a mix of classic Charleston moves and newer variations. This class meets in both Newton and Boston locations.
Partner Charleston - This is a new class covering a variety of Lindy Hop Charleston moves to add to your partner repertoire while focusing on execution and pizazz to make it look really cool:-) This class will be for intermediate to advanced Lindy Hoppers and meets on Sundays in Newton.
Beginning Balboa - We like to dance some Balboa every night we’re out dancing. A great thing about it is that you can learn a little and mix it in with Lindy Hop, so there’s not much lead time to get Balboa in your repertoire. We’ll be covering the core moves as well as technique and style that gives Balboa its own special flavor. This class will be ideal for those new to Balboa as well as those wanting to review and refine basics. It meets on Mondays in Boston.
We often find ourselves reflecting on the past year as it draws to an end. This one has been kind of a rollercoaster for us with some big ups and downs along the way.
We had a truly amazing Beantown Camp this summer. It was more work than ever putting it together, which is really a reflection on the way of the dance world these days. Many events for people to attend and lots of attention needs to be devoted to marketing. Beantown has had many great years, and we always wonder how we can possibly top them, yet this year may have just been the best ever! There was a huge diversity of people attending from all over the country and beyond as well as an outstanding staff of instructors and musicians, and it all merged together into a week full of joy, laughter and a ton of fun! We owe so much to everyone who participated and contributed to making it such a positive, wonderful event.
Hop to the Beat hit an incredible milestone this year with our 15th anniversary. It is quite amazing when we think about that. It all started because we had seen this dance called the Lindy Hop and we just wanted everyone to do it! It seemed the only way to help make that happen was to teach, so we gave it a try. We added small practices which eventually led into what is now Uptown Swing. Along the way we brought in international instructors and eventually started Beantown Camp. It literally just evolved, we along with it, and it continues to be a full time endeavor.
Awesome Uptown Swing dance to close out the year! Sax Gordon and his band delivered a fun, energy filled evening, just as promised! Gordon always surprises us with the range of styles, even some hints of Gypsy Swing thrown into the mix. Thanks to everyone who joined us and we appreciate those who dressed up and added to the festive atmosphere. Just for the record, I (Aurelie, not Tony) wore a skirt at least twice this summer to dances, including one of ours, so it does happen! I didn’t realize it would be such an event:-)
Please join us for the Uptown Swing Holiday Party on Saturday, December 18 at Brookline Tai Chi. This will be our last event of 2010 and we want to make it a special one! This month’s dance features the always fab Sax Gordon Band. If you have never seen Gordon in action, you need to come check him out! He has a way of igniting the room with his power, energy and sheer joy, along with his special touch of creativity and charm.
The atmosphere will be fun and festive. Dressing up is encouraged! Holiday treats available!
Sorry to be late with our message as we’ve both had colds all week. We did want to be sure and thank everyone who joined us from near and far for the Skye & Naomi weekend. There were dancers from 8 states represented at the workshops. We said it would be awesome and awesome it was! Many positive comments on the classes and Skye and Naomi provided plenty of inspiration.
Uptown Swing dance on Saturday night was off the chart! It didn’t quite make record attendance, but it had to be the record holder for most fun ever! The energy and atmosphere in the room was fantastic from beginning to end and we were so pleased to see such a wide diversity of dancers all having a great time together. Gordon Webster and his band were on fire! Naomi was phenomenal on vocals. So many people told us that it was one of the best dances ever:-)
Hop to the Beat Dance Studio Gift Certificates are available in any amount and are valid for 1 year after the date of issue. They can be used as full or partial payment for:
