Dancin’ the Rhythms of the Blues

Fifteen years is a long time to wait — but, at last, NW Dance is bringing back this live-music workshop with Jodi Fleischman, Dean Paton, and the live blues piano of Jesse Hagopian. Register today!

Anyone who can count to four will benefit from this joyous workshop. Not only will it inspire your blues dancing, but elements will also carry over into your swing, foxtrot and other dances.

Join Dean, Jodi, and Jesse for a slinky Saturday exploring the musical idiom known as 12-bar

blues — and let them help you get this evocative music into your dancer’s body.

Using a mix of recorded music, live-piano blues, and harmonica, we’ll help you fit your dancing to the rhythms of the blues — and also to what the musicians are doing onstage.

You’ll take home tips, moves — plus handouts — that will help learn the basic framework that guides blues musicians on stage. And we’ll inspire you to tell your own spontaneous story — with each dance, with every partner.

And you don’t need to be a musician, or have any musical knowledge.

When you understand how to better integrate your dancing into this music, you’ll begin to move with new confidence and verve.

Topics we’ll explore:

• Owning the rhythms of the blues
• The difference between one-step and the blues
• When the dancing is too close — or not close enough
• When to pivot • When to freeze • When to keep moving
• How to trade the “lead” from Lead to Follow — and back again
• Applying the same musical concepts to swing and foxtrot
• Mastering the style of the blues (why less is more)
• A new selection of the instructors’ favorite blues/one-step moves

NW Dance hasn’t offered this popular workshop since 2009, when it sold out. Bring a sack lunch for a 30-minute brown bag discussion.

Schedule

10:30 – 11:00 Registration
11:00 – 1:15 Session 1
1:15- 2:00 Lunch/Discussion
2:00 – 3:30 Session 2
3:30 – 4:00 Optional Guided Practica

Pricing

• Pre-register: $65
• Drop-in: $80

Includes free admission to 8 PM dance with the Joe T. Cook Blues Band.

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