WEST COAST SWING
Intensive Classes & Workshops
New York City
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"The best instructor I've ever had in ANYTHING!" — Harvard Univ. students' comments 6 years in a row, for Ken's on-campus dance classes (while working on a PhD there).
Join us! Scroll down for full details & registration
Mar 3, 2022: Fundamentals for High Quality WCS
Mar 10-Apr 7: Super WCS - Level 1+2 (5 weeks)
Mar 10-Apr 7: WCS Brilliantly Upward! - Level 2+3 (5 wks)
Or swing yourself directly to our REGISTRATION page!
Mar 3, 2022: Fundamentals for High Quality WCS
Mar 10-Apr 7: Super WCS - Level 1+2 (5 weeks)
Mar 10-Apr 7: WCS Brilliantly Upward! - Level 2+3 (5 wks)
Or swing yourself directly to our REGISTRATION page!
FUNDAMENTALS for HIGH QUALITY WCS:
INTENSIVE WORKSHOP
Thur, Mar 3 • 6:30-9:55 pm
2 hrs Intensive Workshop & 1.25 hrs Guided Practice (Dancing!)
For Absolute Beginners thru WSDC-Intermediate
Become really good really fast! In this one intensive lesson, you will learn how to dance well with anyone, with confidence and joy, using just a small number of “partnered movement“ building blocks that we will mix-and-match. Plus you'll be solidly prepared to master all the rest of WCS 5X faster. (Hint, hint: see WCS Level 2+ below!)
At some point, all of us notice that the “step-step triple step” + patterns classes don’t fully prepare us for real-world WCS social dancing. If you've noticed this — and maybe blamed yourself — then THIS is the workshop you are looking for. Come try it! We will learn how to dance well with anyone, using just a small number of “partnered movement“ building blocks that we will mix-and-match. We will focus on connection skills, lead-follow flow, productive teamwork, and all the things that GOOD wcs dancers actually do all the time. Amazingly, these esoteric sounding things are dead simple, and yet they create all the WCS patterns, and even the footwork, in a natural easy way! They really should be learned first, as a foundation for everything else. We think you'll be amazed at how quickly and hugely this approach improves your social dancing, and how ridiculously easy it is to understand — while remaining really fun and challenging to master. And it makes learning advanced WCS from any teacher (not just us) so much easier!
If you are just starting WCS, this is the perfect beginning. If you are already on your journey — even up through WSDC Intermediate competition ranking — you will find this workshop to be supremely helpful in boosting your mastery. Plus the workshop is itself will be just plain fun. We hope to see you!
[Hot tip: If you are a Lindy Hop dancer, this will also radically improve your understanding and smoothness for Swingouts, Pass-by's, Turns, and Sugar Pushes.]
Prerequisite: Ability to count to 8. No prior dance experience or partner needed. If you have prior experience, we will use it to maximize your learning.
Location: Near Times Square (see your emailed Registration receipt for exact address)
Price: $35 (includes Guided Practice / Dancing)
Class size strictly limited. Pre-registration required.
COVID: Maximum protection will be required – TBD as situation evolves.
2 hrs Intensive Workshop & 1.25 hrs Guided Practice (Dancing!)
For Absolute Beginners thru WSDC-Intermediate
Become really good really fast! In this one intensive lesson, you will learn how to dance well with anyone, with confidence and joy, using just a small number of “partnered movement“ building blocks that we will mix-and-match. Plus you'll be solidly prepared to master all the rest of WCS 5X faster. (Hint, hint: see WCS Level 2+ below!)
At some point, all of us notice that the “step-step triple step” + patterns classes don’t fully prepare us for real-world WCS social dancing. If you've noticed this — and maybe blamed yourself — then THIS is the workshop you are looking for. Come try it! We will learn how to dance well with anyone, using just a small number of “partnered movement“ building blocks that we will mix-and-match. We will focus on connection skills, lead-follow flow, productive teamwork, and all the things that GOOD wcs dancers actually do all the time. Amazingly, these esoteric sounding things are dead simple, and yet they create all the WCS patterns, and even the footwork, in a natural easy way! They really should be learned first, as a foundation for everything else. We think you'll be amazed at how quickly and hugely this approach improves your social dancing, and how ridiculously easy it is to understand — while remaining really fun and challenging to master. And it makes learning advanced WCS from any teacher (not just us) so much easier!
If you are just starting WCS, this is the perfect beginning. If you are already on your journey — even up through WSDC Intermediate competition ranking — you will find this workshop to be supremely helpful in boosting your mastery. Plus the workshop is itself will be just plain fun. We hope to see you!
[Hot tip: If you are a Lindy Hop dancer, this will also radically improve your understanding and smoothness for Swingouts, Pass-by's, Turns, and Sugar Pushes.]
Prerequisite: Ability to count to 8. No prior dance experience or partner needed. If you have prior experience, we will use it to maximize your learning.
Location: Near Times Square (see your emailed Registration receipt for exact address)
Price: $35 (includes Guided Practice / Dancing)
Class size strictly limited. Pre-registration required.
COVID: Maximum protection will be required – TBD as situation evolves.
Super WCS - Level 1+2
5 weeks
Thur, Mar 10 thru April 7, 2022 • 5 weeks • 8:00-9:20 pm
For Absolute Beginners thru Intermediate
Become really good really fast. All WCS connection skills & fundamentals & moves in 5 gently intensive weeks. You will be ready to go social dancing with confidence and skill. And solidly ready to learn all the rest of WCS 5X faster. We will learn at least 10 standard WCS moves ("patterns"), but in a way that makes you an adaptive master of improvising, embellishing, styling, and being supremely musical.
The class is intensively progressive and cumulative, to let us become really good really fast! Every lesson builds on the prior lessons. Therefore, no drop-ins, sorry.
[Hot tip: If you are a Lindy Hop dancer, this will also radically improve your understanding and smoothness for Swingouts, Pass-by's, Turns, and Sugar Pushes. And class ends with plenty of time for nearby SoHo Swings, if they start up again.]
Prerequisite: Ability to count to 8. No prior dance experience or partner needed. If you have prior experience, we will use it to maximize your learning.
Location: Near Times Square (see your emailed Registration receipt for exact address)
Price: $120 for 5 weeks
Class size strictly limited. Pre-registration required.
COVID: Maximum protection will be required – TBD as situation evolves.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEE for Level 1+2 class: We want you to be sure our teaching style suits your learning style! Full refund available any time before midnight Sunday, March 13. (That gives you 3 days to think, and gives us enough time to adjust!)
For Absolute Beginners thru Intermediate
Become really good really fast. All WCS connection skills & fundamentals & moves in 5 gently intensive weeks. You will be ready to go social dancing with confidence and skill. And solidly ready to learn all the rest of WCS 5X faster. We will learn at least 10 standard WCS moves ("patterns"), but in a way that makes you an adaptive master of improvising, embellishing, styling, and being supremely musical.
The class is intensively progressive and cumulative, to let us become really good really fast! Every lesson builds on the prior lessons. Therefore, no drop-ins, sorry.
[Hot tip: If you are a Lindy Hop dancer, this will also radically improve your understanding and smoothness for Swingouts, Pass-by's, Turns, and Sugar Pushes. And class ends with plenty of time for nearby SoHo Swings, if they start up again.]
Prerequisite: Ability to count to 8. No prior dance experience or partner needed. If you have prior experience, we will use it to maximize your learning.
Location: Near Times Square (see your emailed Registration receipt for exact address)
Price: $120 for 5 weeks
Class size strictly limited. Pre-registration required.
COVID: Maximum protection will be required – TBD as situation evolves.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEE for Level 1+2 class: We want you to be sure our teaching style suits your learning style! Full refund available any time before midnight Sunday, March 13. (That gives you 3 days to think, and gives us enough time to adjust!)
WCS Brilliantly Onward & Upward! - Level 2+3
5 weeks
Thur, Mar 10 thru April 7, 2022 • 5 weeks • 6:30-7:40 pm
We will continue directly from Ken's Fundamentals Intensive, after a brief review! Upward, onward, becoming even more brilliant!
The class is intensively progressive and cumulative, so we become really good really fast! Every lesson builds on the prior lessons. Therefore, no drop-ins, sorry.
Prerequisite: One of Ken's recent WCS FUNDAMENTALS INTENSIVE/WORKSHOP. No exceptions, sorry.
Location: Near Times Square (see your emailed Registration receipt for exact address)
Price: $120 for 5 weeks
Class size strictly limited. Pre-registration required.
COVID: Maximum protection will be required – TBD as situation evolves.
We will continue directly from Ken's Fundamentals Intensive, after a brief review! Upward, onward, becoming even more brilliant!
The class is intensively progressive and cumulative, so we become really good really fast! Every lesson builds on the prior lessons. Therefore, no drop-ins, sorry.
Prerequisite: One of Ken's recent WCS FUNDAMENTALS INTENSIVE/WORKSHOP. No exceptions, sorry.
Location: Near Times Square (see your emailed Registration receipt for exact address)
Price: $120 for 5 weeks
Class size strictly limited. Pre-registration required.
COVID: Maximum protection will be required – TBD as situation evolves.
ADDITIONAL DESCRIPTION
When we watch the top WCS dancers, we see complicated stuff … but it is always smooth and coherent, with great teamwork. How do they do that?
In these gently intensive workshops and classes, we will learn the secrets to high quality WCS. We will learn how to dance well with anyone, using just a small number of “partnered movement“ building blocks that we will mix-and-match!
And we will learn how this forms the perfect foundation for all the fancy moves, patterns, variations, styling, improvisations, and musicality that WCS is famous for — all while staying within the smooth & partnered flow of the dance. You will even see how our partnered movement very naturally creates the footwork — not the other way around!
When we watch the top WCS dancers, we see complicated stuff … but it is always smooth and coherent, with great teamwork. How do they do that?
In these gently intensive workshops and classes, we will learn the secrets to high quality WCS. We will learn how to dance well with anyone, using just a small number of “partnered movement“ building blocks that we will mix-and-match!
And we will learn how this forms the perfect foundation for all the fancy moves, patterns, variations, styling, improvisations, and musicality that WCS is famous for — all while staying within the smooth & partnered flow of the dance. You will even see how our partnered movement very naturally creates the footwork — not the other way around!
CLOTHING & SHOES & HYGIENE: Wear comfortable clothing. And comfortable shoes that let you pivot. Suede or hard-leather soles are good. Most dance-sneaker or plastic soles are good. Grippy rubber soles like on running shoes are bad. High heels and Salsa shoes: not good. Character shoes: marginal; your feet will probably hurt after 30 minutes. Deodorant & fresh breath required. Bring a clean shirt and change into it if needed. Please do NOT wear perfume! Please do NOT use hand moisturizing lotion immediately before class (ick slippery). RAIN & SNOW: Bring clean, dry shoes and change into them at the door, to protect the nice wood floors.
COVID: We will be requiring MAXIMUM precautions from everyone, consistent with whatever the COVID situation is in early March: Definitely fully vaxxed required, probably Booster required. Definitely ID and contact info for tracing. Probably N95 or KN95 masks required, and maybe even same-day negative tests. We will update as we get closer, but please be fully prepared anyway.
NOTE: Genuine N95 masks — aka "respirators" — are available for free from the US Government or for reasonable cost at ProjectN95.org, a national 501(c)3 non-profit. That's where I get mine. As you've heard, over 60% of the alleged "N95" and "KN95" masks on Amazon are counterfeits and fakes.
COVID: We will be requiring MAXIMUM precautions from everyone, consistent with whatever the COVID situation is in early March: Definitely fully vaxxed required, probably Booster required. Definitely ID and contact info for tracing. Probably N95 or KN95 masks required, and maybe even same-day negative tests. We will update as we get closer, but please be fully prepared anyway.
NOTE: Genuine N95 masks — aka "respirators" — are available for free from the US Government or for reasonable cost at ProjectN95.org, a national 501(c)3 non-profit. That's where I get mine. As you've heard, over 60% of the alleged "N95" and "KN95" masks on Amazon are counterfeits and fakes.
Every Month: Private Lessons
We are available for Private Lessons ($90/hr for one instructor + room rental fees, typically about $15-30/hr). We are also available for semi-private and small-group lessons, as well as corporate and private events. Contact us here.
WHY OUR INTENSIVE CLASSES?
Why our Intensive Classes? It's all about our teaching!
"The best partner dance class I've ever had, of any kind, ever!" —a very experienced dancer in many dance forms
"You guys are the gold standard for partner dance teaching. Wow." —another experienced dancer at a recent class
Our unique "building blocks" teaching approach will get you out on the dance floor fast - having a great time dancing - meeting new people - while continually getting better! Our classes themselves are friendly, entertaining, highly social, and packed with dancing!
If you want to understand WCS fast — or if you want to supplement your other WCS classes to boost your skills and technique — come join us!
WCS is usually described as being complex and difficult to learn. This is not true … unless your teacher makes it that way, which far too many do. Good WCS is almost ridiculously simple at heart, while still being really fun and challenging as we become more and more advanced. Good WCS is 99% based on mastering a small number of partnered-movement teamwork skills (lead-follow skills) — and a few fundamental WCS "building blocks" — and playing with them in increasingly clever ways. This is what good WCS dancers actually DO, and this is how we create every pattern and move in WCS. Our connection and partnered movements create all the patterns and even the footwork. Not the other way around! This is the key to being a good WCS dancer. We feel it should be the basis of every Beginner class ... but it is usually held back as Advanced Technique Class material, which is just crazy. We teach all this in our Level 1 classes, where it belongs, and where it is easiest to learn. And where it delivers a huge and permanent benefit to all our dancing skills! This is what empowers our students to be good, fun, skilled WCS dancers in just weeks, instead of the years it usually takes! We hope you will join us!
"The best partner dance class I've ever had, of any kind, ever!" —a very experienced dancer in many dance forms
"You guys are the gold standard for partner dance teaching. Wow." —another experienced dancer at a recent class
Our unique "building blocks" teaching approach will get you out on the dance floor fast - having a great time dancing - meeting new people - while continually getting better! Our classes themselves are friendly, entertaining, highly social, and packed with dancing!
If you want to understand WCS fast — or if you want to supplement your other WCS classes to boost your skills and technique — come join us!
WCS is usually described as being complex and difficult to learn. This is not true … unless your teacher makes it that way, which far too many do. Good WCS is almost ridiculously simple at heart, while still being really fun and challenging as we become more and more advanced. Good WCS is 99% based on mastering a small number of partnered-movement teamwork skills (lead-follow skills) — and a few fundamental WCS "building blocks" — and playing with them in increasingly clever ways. This is what good WCS dancers actually DO, and this is how we create every pattern and move in WCS. Our connection and partnered movements create all the patterns and even the footwork. Not the other way around! This is the key to being a good WCS dancer. We feel it should be the basis of every Beginner class ... but it is usually held back as Advanced Technique Class material, which is just crazy. We teach all this in our Level 1 classes, where it belongs, and where it is easiest to learn. And where it delivers a huge and permanent benefit to all our dancing skills! This is what empowers our students to be good, fun, skilled WCS dancers in just weeks, instead of the years it usually takes! We hope you will join us!
YOUR TEACHERS
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Ken Kreshtool: Internationally ranked West Coast Swing competition dancer. "The best instructor I've ever had in ANYTHING!" — Harvard University students' comments, 6 years in a row, for his on-campus dance classes (while working on a PhD there). Also has advanced degrees in psychology, education policy, and law, and formerly taught ballroom, salsa, swing / lindy hop.
Paula Wilson [not teaching in March 2022]: Internationally ranked West Coast Swing competition dancer. Graduate of the Alvin Ailey School's Professional Division. Professional modern dancer and internationally traveling Argentine Tango teacher for 12 years. Award-winning former early childhood education teacher.
Some video for your entertainment. These are purely lead-follow dancing — we are making it up as we go along. Not choreographed. Typically for a demo like this, we hand the DJ 5 songs and say "you pick - play any one of them."
Paula Wilson [not teaching in March 2022]: Internationally ranked West Coast Swing competition dancer. Graduate of the Alvin Ailey School's Professional Division. Professional modern dancer and internationally traveling Argentine Tango teacher for 12 years. Award-winning former early childhood education teacher.
Some video for your entertainment. These are purely lead-follow dancing — we are making it up as we go along. Not choreographed. Typically for a demo like this, we hand the DJ 5 songs and say "you pick - play any one of them."
WHAT IS WEST COAST SWING?
In very short: West Coast Swing (WCS) is Swing and Lindy Hop moves done to R&B and contemporary Pop music.
Here is a nice introductory video (apart from odd ideas in the subtitles about the names of music genres).
Here is a nice introductory video (apart from odd ideas in the subtitles about the names of music genres).
In very short: West Coast Swing (WCS) is Swing and Lindy Hop moves done to R&B and contemporary Pop music.
More thoroughly: West Coast Swing (WCS) is a partner dance, a smoother and highly sophisticated form of Jitterbug or Lindy Hop-style Swing dance. It kept evolving in California during the post-WW II decades when Jitterbug itself (aka Lindy Hop) went dead or dormant for 50 years. It has continued evolving dramatically even today, adapting to new music and new dancers. Over the years, it has "borrowed" (stolen and adapted) almost every cool move, turn, dip, and styling from Lindy Hop, Salsa, Hip Hop, Country, and booty-shakin', and even some Ballroom, Zouk, Tango and Blues. West Coast Swing has one of the biggest vocabularies of moves and combinations of any partner dance — and the widest range of music styles. At the same time, WCS Followers have more freedom for improvisation than in any other partner dance. WCS is the easiest of the Swing dances to learn (if you have the right teachers — that's us!), while remaining one of the most challenging to fully master. Come get in on the fun!
More thoroughly: West Coast Swing (WCS) is a partner dance, a smoother and highly sophisticated form of Jitterbug or Lindy Hop-style Swing dance. It kept evolving in California during the post-WW II decades when Jitterbug itself (aka Lindy Hop) went dead or dormant for 50 years. It has continued evolving dramatically even today, adapting to new music and new dancers. Over the years, it has "borrowed" (stolen and adapted) almost every cool move, turn, dip, and styling from Lindy Hop, Salsa, Hip Hop, Country, and booty-shakin', and even some Ballroom, Zouk, Tango and Blues. West Coast Swing has one of the biggest vocabularies of moves and combinations of any partner dance — and the widest range of music styles. At the same time, WCS Followers have more freedom for improvisation than in any other partner dance. WCS is the easiest of the Swing dances to learn (if you have the right teachers — that's us!), while remaining one of the most challenging to fully master. Come get in on the fun!
FAQ: World's best WCS group classes? Drop-ins? Late registrations? Can I start in level 2?
ARE THESE THE WORLD'S BEST WEST COAST SWING GROUP CLASSES?
ARE THESE NEW YORK CITY'S BEST WEST COAST SWING GROUP CLASSES?
Yes.
DROP-INS PERMITTED? Yes for our one-day workshops. But for our multi-week classes ... sorry, no. Our multi-week classes are cumulative — each lesson builds intensively on all previous lessons.
LATE REGISTRATIONS AFTER THE FIRST WEEK? (For multi-week classes.)
We are extremely reluctant. We have never had anyone catch up after missing the first week of our Level 1 classes. We want you (and all your partners in class) to be happy! Not frustrated! Our class is intensively cumulative. In our Level 1 classes, we lay all the groundwork and learn everything in the first class. And then we build on it over the remaining weeks. Please come to the first lesson! Thanks for understanding.
• If you absolutely cannot attend Level 1's first lesson, contact us to schedule a private lesson before the second lesson. Please note that — just like when going to the movies — there's no discount for starting late.
• Start at 2nd lesson? I have taken previous WCS classes, so I should be OK, right?
Sorry, but no. Our teaching method is completely different from the antiquated "steps & patterns" teaching method that you almost certainly experienced. That old teaching method from the 1890s was designed for a totally different kind of dancing, and does not work well for WCS; we have no idea why nearly all WCS teachers still use it. We use a completely different teaching method that reduces your WCS learning curve to weeks instead of years — with almost all of the important differences right at the beginning. Whatever you already know will return in a much easier-to-use form later in our class — so don't discard your skills! — but it will not help you at all at the beginning of our class.
• Start at 3rd lesson? No, sorry. No exceptions. We cover so much ground in the first two lessons, that we have never had anyone successfully start during lesson 3. We ask you to wait until our next class series starts. Thanks!
CAN I START IN LEVEL 2 or 3? I HAVE PRIOR (PARTNER) DANCE EXPERIENCE.
No, sorry. We ask everyone to start in our Level 1. Reasons:
- First, just like you, a majority who enroll in WCS classes have prior dance experience, so our Level 1+2 class already takes that into account! (But it's also perfect for folks with zero prior dance experience.)
- Second, our teaching approach is completely different, especially at the beginning, which is how our students become good in weeks while every other teacher's students take years to reach the same level. There is not any satisfactory way to skip it.
- Anecdote: Some years ago, a woman had taken several Level 1 classes with other teachers, and wanted to visit our Level 2 class "to see if it would be good enough" for her. (That's literally how she phrased it.) Of course, we said yes. She came to visit during our 4th week, but accidentally arrived before our Level 1 class was finished, was welcomed in, and sat and watched. After 10 minutes, I announced, "OK! Level 1 class, we're done! Level 2 people, come on out and let's begin!" The woman rushed over and said, "Wait – I came to visit Level 2, not Level 1." I replied, "Yes, sorry, you caught the last 10 minutes of our Level 1 class. But Level 2 is about to begin, so please stay." She looked upset and replied almost angrily, "Are you sure? That was Level 1 I was watching? Not Level 2?" I assured it was Level 1, and apologized again. She said, "But … but … but they were so GOOD!"
She enrolled in our next Level 1 class.