CLASS DETAILS

SR in SD - Student Residency in San Diego
     Can't book a weekend in your scene? Well come visit San Diego.
     Whether you are an instructor, promoter, or just a social dancer; you can set up a weekend
     of intense privates with Joel Plys in beautiful San Diego and take the skills back to your scene.
     SEE $$$ RATES $$$ by clicking the link on the left menu bar for special private package prices!!!

DETAILS ON WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER:

HISTORY OF SWING WEEKEND
Few dancers can cover all of this material with your dancers.
2PlySwing can do the schedule listed, or spend more time on any of the topics here or topics listed below:
        Class 1: TEXAS TOMMY (1900s)
        Class 2: SOLO CHARLESTON / BLACK BOTTOM (1920s)
        Class 3: COUPLES CHARLESTON – the transition to Lindy Hop (1927 After Seben Sequences)
        Class 4: LINDY HOP & LINDY CHARLESTON (1930s/40s) - this can be split into 2 classes
        ========================================
        Class 5: JAZZ MOVEMENT (1930s/40s) - or any of the classic line dances...
        Class 6: LINDY HOP ROUTINES - or - Incorporating Jazz Movement in your Lindy Hop (1930s/40s)
        Class 7: COLLEGIATE SHAG (Single, Double, and Triple Rhythm Shag done all over the nation in the 30s)
        Class 8: BALBOA HISTORY - Who did you talk to? (showing various dances that influenced the creation of Balboa)

PRE-SWING
The dances of the swing era have a history rooted in dances done long before the first Swingout.
Educate your dance community with these rare and very fun dances:

    CAKEWALK (1850-1920) - CAKEWALK DETAILS - the first American dance to cross over from black to white society as well as from stage
                                                                           (minstrel   shows) to ballroom. The movements continued and can be traced in vernacular
                                                                           Jazz steps and the Lindy Hop. There are many steps both solo and partner...

    ONE STEP (1890-1914) - ONE STEP DETAILS - said to be of American origin and is a very simple and easily dance to learn and to perform.
                                                                         Many of the dances of the day were modified to fit the one step and eventually gave way to
                                                                         the modern Quick Step done in Ballroom. There are many steps to this dance, favorites include:
                                                                         Castle Rocks, Grapevine, Marcel Wave, Pivots, Pony Trot, Serpentine, and Zig Zag

    PEABODY (1915) - PEABODY DETAILS - a unique, jaunty type fast fox-trot, done to ragtime music . It is based more around a dance position
                                                               (called the "English") which lead to some unique steps or patterns.

    TEXAS TOMMY (1909-1924) - TEXAS TOMMY DETAILS - said by many to be the first swing dance due to the BREAKAWAY step.
          Steps include: Texas Tommy Basic, Back to Back turn, Breaks, Turns, Sweetheart Passes, Breakaway, Pivots

   1920s BLUES - specific moves danced in the 20s to slower tempos, including: walk, rock, twist, side lunge, suzy-Q, corkscrew, drag walk

    BLACK BOTTOM (1926) - BLACK BOTTOM DETAILS
                                  - original steps of this craze that replaced Charleston before the Lindy craze took over...

1920s CHARLESTON
The Charleston is widely considered the grandfather of the Lindy.
This a very energetic and fun dance that should be in every swing dancers' repertoire:

    Solo Charleston Figures
    Solo Charleston Routines (choreography)
    Couples Charleston Moves
    After Seben Sequences - 1929 film clip broken down

    SWINGBRAIN CDs AVAILABLE...

COLLEGIATE SHAG
History of the Collegiate Shag is unclear since it was done all over by college kids in the 20s & 30s.
There are many variations and styles in this energetic dance:

    Shag Foundation
    Single Rhythm Shag Figures
    Double Rhythm Shag Figures
    Triple Rhythm Shag Figures
    Styling (step-hop, quick-quick)
    Combinations

    SWINGBRAIN CDs AVAILABLE...

LINDY CHARLESTON
The Charleston made some changes when the music and dance started to evolve.
Take your Charleston into the 30s with these great variations:

    Side By Side Figures
    Back to Back (Tandem) Figures
    Chase/Open Figures

LINDY / SWING
The dances of the Big Band/Swing era:

    Savoy Classic Figures
    Smooth Style Figures
    Fast Lindy Variations
    Styling / Jazz Movement / Musicality
    Jitterbug - classic 6-count figures
    Double Bug - one leader, two followers - no problem!
    Lindy/Swing Rueda - partner switching dance - www.swingrueda.com

    LINDY CHAMPIONS DVD SERIES AVAILABLE...

BALBOA / BAL-SWING
We believe this dance has roots from couples 20s Charleston,
with small intricate footwork variations. Our friend Willie Desatoff
says the Balboa comes from the Rumba. Either way, the Balboa
was very popular during the Big Band/Swing era on the West coast.

Balboa is done solely in a close connection.
Bal-Swing has patterns where you break away from your partner.

We have had the honor to personally work with the masters:
          Maxie Dorf, Willie & Lila Desatoff, and Jonathan & Sylvia.

Pictured here is Maxie Dorf, a true inspiration for the dance known as Balboa.

    Balboa (Break time/turns, Ad-Libs, Crabwalks, Paddles/Serpentines)
    Bal-Swing ( Lollies, Throwouts, Pop Turns, Crossovers)
    Classic Moves (Maxie rocks, Maxie stop step, Maxie slide; Hirsch, Damron, Helwig, Dream)
    Bal-Rueda - partner switching using Balboa moves
    Footwork / Styling / Musicality

    BALBOA DVDs AVAILABLE...

SLOW BALBOA / LAMINU
Think Balboa is only for fast tempos? Think again...
    We can work with your scene on some great BLUES DANCING techniques as well as showing
    you the versatility of Balboa with SLOW BALBOA...

BAL-TROT / SLICKER
A progressive form of Balboa, inspired from other dances such as Peabody, One Step,
Slicker, and Steven & Virginie's Swing Walk (Fox Trot).

    The birth came from an event we attended on the Queen Mary for a Vintage Dance.
    We invited our Balboa mentor, Willie Desatoff, to attend with us...
        The crowd was dancing along the floor doing One Step and Fox Trot and we were
        scared to join in and get run over doing Lindy or Balboa...
            We asked Willie what to do and of course he said "aaaah, just do Balboa..."
            so we danced into the swirling crowd and the BAL-TROT was born.
                Willie always said the Balboa was a versatile dance - how true!

Slicker is taking the Bal-Trot movement and sliding with it along the floor - smooth dance floor required!
Maxie Dorf (Joel) & Willie Desatoff (Joel & Alison) showed us steps in slicker describing it as skating around the floor...

    SWINGBRAIN CDs AVAILABLE...

ROUTINES
Jazz Routines / Groups dances were popular with many of the original dancers.
These classic routines are still popular today plus learn the jazz steps to create your own movement/routines:

    SHIM SHAM ROUTINES:
    Original Shim Sham
    Dean Collins Shim Sham - 1.5 hours recommended to learn full routine
    Al & Leon Shim Sham - 1.5 hours recommended to learn full routine

    LINDY HOP ROUTINES:
    California Routine - 1.5 hours recommended to learn full routine
    Lindy Chorus - 1.5 hours recommended
    STOPS (3 variations - 2 from Sugar Sullivan and 1 from Al Minns & Leon James) - classic routines done by dancers in the Savoy Ballroom

    OTHER ROUTINES:
    Tranky Doo (Frankie) - 2 hour class time recommended
    Tranky Doo (Spirit Moves) - 2 hour class time recommended

    Big Apple (Keep Punchin’) - 2 hour class time recommended
    Social Big Apple - there are many unique Big Apple moves - learn a bunch to do socially with your community

    Madison - 1950s line dance
    Couples Madison - partnered version of the line dance

    Jitterbug Stroll - a swing scene favorite choreographed by Ryan Francois

    Vernacular Jazz Movement - learn individual steps or a choreographed routine

JAZZ MOVEMENT DVDs AVAILABLE...

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