WEST COAST SWING
Crash Course
Paula Wilson & Ken Kreshtool
WEST COAST SWING CRASH COURSE
Saturday, July 23, 2:00-5:00 pm (3 hrs)
You Should Be Dancing Studio, 412 8th Ave, 4th Floor (betw 30th & 31st).
$40 in advance, $50 same day
In this 3-hour WCS Crash Course you will become genuinely good WCS dancers, not just hack your way through a few basic moves! You will learn the fundamental elements and building blocks that all the best dancers snap together to create all the amazingly cool moves in WCS. And you'll practice using those building blocks to build about 12-15 moves. By the end of the class, you'll be dancing genuinely good WCS. And you'll have a great foundation for future fast learning. Plus you'll be able to lead or follow other West Coast Swing dancers at all levels, in ways that they will genuinely enjoy dancing with you. The NYC WCS community is amazingly friendly. Come play with us!
7 minute break: We'll take a 7 minute break at half-time. This is NOT enough time to leave the building and return! Please bring water and any snacks with you!! (Beverages and snacks ARE allowed in the studio.) There are no snack / beverage machines in the studio. None. Not even one.
Dance Saturday night! There is a WCS dance in the same space on Saturday night, 9pm-1am! (Separate admission.) You will be ready for it after this class!
Prerequisites: Ability to count to 6 required. Ability to count to 8 recommended. No partner or prior dance experience needed. Really.
Also open to: dancers with prior WCS, Lindy Hop, Hustle, Tango, or Ballroom experience who want to hugely accelerate their WCS learning speed.
Saturday, July 23, 2:00-5:00 pm (3 hrs)
You Should Be Dancing Studio, 412 8th Ave, 4th Floor (betw 30th & 31st).
$40 in advance, $50 same day
In this 3-hour WCS Crash Course you will become genuinely good WCS dancers, not just hack your way through a few basic moves! You will learn the fundamental elements and building blocks that all the best dancers snap together to create all the amazingly cool moves in WCS. And you'll practice using those building blocks to build about 12-15 moves. By the end of the class, you'll be dancing genuinely good WCS. And you'll have a great foundation for future fast learning. Plus you'll be able to lead or follow other West Coast Swing dancers at all levels, in ways that they will genuinely enjoy dancing with you. The NYC WCS community is amazingly friendly. Come play with us!
7 minute break: We'll take a 7 minute break at half-time. This is NOT enough time to leave the building and return! Please bring water and any snacks with you!! (Beverages and snacks ARE allowed in the studio.) There are no snack / beverage machines in the studio. None. Not even one.
Dance Saturday night! There is a WCS dance in the same space on Saturday night, 9pm-1am! (Separate admission.) You will be ready for it after this class!
Prerequisites: Ability to count to 6 required. Ability to count to 8 recommended. No partner or prior dance experience needed. Really.
Also open to: dancers with prior WCS, Lindy Hop, Hustle, Tango, or Ballroom experience who want to hugely accelerate their WCS learning speed.
YOUR TEACHERS
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Paula Wilson: 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.
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).
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).
WHAT'S WEST COAST SWING?
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) 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, and both partners have more freedom for musical expression, 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!), but perhaps the most challenging to fully master. It's hugely popular on the West Coast and in Europe and South America. Come get in on the fun as it sweeps the East Coast!
CLASS DETAILS
CLOTHING: Wear anything that is comfortable. Jeans or slacks, t-shirts are fine. Bring an extra shirt.
SHOES:
Good footwear: Any clean dance footwear that lets you spin comfortably is fine — dance shoes, dance sneakers, Toms, even socks. Clean suede soles are best. Pulling large, thin socks/footies over your shoes or sneakers works surprisingly well. Low heels or flats are best for WCS.
Bad footwear: Grippy rubber soles are bad — your knees will die. NO SPIKES OR HIGH HEELS, PLEASE! Salsa heels, Tango heels, even character shoes, do NOT work well for WCS.
NOTE: Please change into your clean dance footwear in the lobby area after arriving, to preserve the wood floor. If it rains, definitely change into clean, dry footwear after arriving. Thanks.
WHAT ELSE TO BRING: (a) An extra shirt. (b) Carry your dance footwear and change into it/them after you arrive.
(c) Water. Maybe a snack. (d) Gum. Toothbrush. Deodorant. Please. (e) A smile! (f) All you friends!
7 MINUTE BREAK: We'll take a 7 minute break at half-time. This is NOT enough time to leave the building and return! Please bring water and any snacks with you!! (Beverages and snacks ARE allowed in the studio.) There are no snack or beverage machines in the studio. None. Absolutely none.
GENDER NOTE: Our classes are non-gender biased. Dance whatever role(s) you like. We'll probably all try both roles at some point, as part of learning faster and better.
SHOES:
Good footwear: Any clean dance footwear that lets you spin comfortably is fine — dance shoes, dance sneakers, Toms, even socks. Clean suede soles are best. Pulling large, thin socks/footies over your shoes or sneakers works surprisingly well. Low heels or flats are best for WCS.
Bad footwear: Grippy rubber soles are bad — your knees will die. NO SPIKES OR HIGH HEELS, PLEASE! Salsa heels, Tango heels, even character shoes, do NOT work well for WCS.
NOTE: Please change into your clean dance footwear in the lobby area after arriving, to preserve the wood floor. If it rains, definitely change into clean, dry footwear after arriving. Thanks.
WHAT ELSE TO BRING: (a) An extra shirt. (b) Carry your dance footwear and change into it/them after you arrive.
(c) Water. Maybe a snack. (d) Gum. Toothbrush. Deodorant. Please. (e) A smile! (f) All you friends!
7 MINUTE BREAK: We'll take a 7 minute break at half-time. This is NOT enough time to leave the building and return! Please bring water and any snacks with you!! (Beverages and snacks ARE allowed in the studio.) There are no snack or beverage machines in the studio. None. Absolutely none.
GENDER NOTE: Our classes are non-gender biased. Dance whatever role(s) you like. We'll probably all try both roles at some point, as part of learning faster and better.