We have classes every week starting at 8:30pm, before the Friday Night Blues social dance. On most Fridays we are at the TADA! Youth Theater where we offer two classes: fundamentals and extended topics.

Fundamentals

All level dancers

Our fundamentals classes are geared towards students new to blues dance and experienced students looking to hone their knowledge of the foundations of blues dance. Here we cover how to connect with the music, how to connect with a partner, and have a rotating set of material to introduce you to a variety of important concepts in blues partner dance. While you can start these topics at any time, we encourage you to go through the entire series and to revisit topics that you find more interesting or difficult. New dancers will learn all the basic tools required for a successful social dance and experienced dancers will be able to focus on the fine details that underlie all blues dancing. These classes will give you everything you need to know to have a successful dance and whet your appetite for more!

Topics:

• Turns
• Side passes
• Connection,
• Ballroomin’ close embrace
• Jukin’ close embrace
• Breakaway
• Rhythmic variations

Extended Topics

Experienced blues dancers

Our extended topics classes are technique-based classes designed to build specific knowledge and skills in students with prior blues dance experience. These classes are aimed to expand your depth of knowledge in a specific topic of blues vocabulary through body awareness and historical context. Each month we have a different theme to build upon a single topic over several classes. Ultimately, taking class is your vehicle to having even more fun on the dance floor!

Which class should I take?

You may be wondering which class is best for you. Our fundamentals classes introduce students to a breadth of different topics in blues dance, while our extended topics focus on a single theme for a month and explore that topic in depth. Our fundamentals classes are appropriate for all levels of dancers, whether you have never set foot on a social dance floor or have been dancing for several years. Many of our instructors at Friday Night Blues take the fundamentals class as way to revisit the foundations of their own dancing. Our extended topics classes are appropriate for students who have control over basic blues rhythm, posture, and partnering technique and are interested in exploring the nitty-gritty details of the monthly theme. We recommend that you take three months of fundamentals classes before trying our extended topics classes.

If you are proficient in another social dance style but do not have prior experience in blues dance, we suggest that you take several fundamentals classes or speak with one of our instructors before attending an extended topics class.

Classes at La Nacional

When we’re at La Nacional, we have a sampler blues fundamentals class geared to give you a small taste of several different topics. Here, you will learn a few tools that you can take straight to the dance floor!

Due to venue space limitations, we do not have extended topics classes at La Nacional.

Feedback

If you have attended a class at Friday Night Blues, we want to hear your thoughts! Knowing how classes went for you helps us create a better class experience for you next time. If you have recently attended a class, please fill out our Class Feedback Form. You can fill this out for each class you take so we can make your next class even better!

Have more general thoughts, suggestions, or questions? Contact Virginia and Galit, our Education Coordinators: learn@bluesdancenewyork,com