***WE ARE AT A NEW LOCATION STARTING IN AUGUST***
Monday Swing will now take place at The Baker Building in NE Portland. Same time, same structure, new spot! Please join us in our new space and dance with us every Monday!
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Monday Swing is a weekly vintage swing dance practicum and social dance on Monday nights with DJ'ed music in a cozy NE PDX setting.
All ages! No partner needed!
7:00 - 8:00 Lesson — Slow Bal 2 with Mary and Rod
8:00 - 10:00 Practicum & Social Dance
Lesson — $10
Dance — $10
BOTH — $15
**PRE-SALE OFFER! Monday Swing classes/dances will be available for presale through our website. Pre-sale ends August 3rd and includes all classes and dances for the month of August, a $60 value!
Slow Bal with Mary and Rod
Slow Balboa is a vintage partnered swing dance with expressive fluid body movement, a signature "floating" feel, and an intimate close embrace connection.
Modern Slow Balboa is heavily influenced by three specific historic dancers. The first two are Dean and Nancy Raftery, two original Southern California swing dancers who developed a specific style of slow dancing that Dean taught in the swing dance community in the mid-2000s. The third is Ray Cunningham, a Los Angeles dancer who was highly regarded for his skill at Laminu, a form of slow dancing that was popular in Los Angeles in the 1940s through the 1950s. Slow Balboa works to a wide range of slow dance music, but it works especially well to slow swinging jazz and slow ballads (typically 70 to 100 beats per minute).
Some familiarity with Slow Bal and/or Balboa is recommended. This will be a progressive intermediate series of 5 classes. We will start with a quick review of the the basic steps and add in moves and styling each week.
Week 1: Elements of Slow Bal - The Fundamentals
Week 2: Building Blocks - Common Moves
Week 3: Movement & Flow
Week 4: Shapes & Textures
Week 5: Creativity
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>> What's a practicum and social dance?
We DJ music just like a regular social dance. You can come out and just dance like normal, or you can come planning to work on something: Ask for feedback, work on a move, play with variations, master a routine.
>> Have a specific question?
Experienced dancers and local teachers are available at practicum to help out with sticky spots.
>> Balboa? Shag? Solo? Learning swingouts?
Let the DJ know what you're working on if you have specific music requests!
This building is not physically accessible to enter. If you have accessibility concerns, please contact PLS.