Blues Muse 2011 Levels
Class levels will be determined by tiered auditions. Auditions will take place on Saturday, October 15th, starting promptly at 11:00am. There will be complimentary fresh pastries, tea, and coffee available for those who are waiting to audition. Those who wish to try out for the masters classes will audition first, advanced auditions will take place at 11:15, and intermediate auditions at 11:30. Following the auditions, we will allow up to thirty minutes of question and answer time with the instructors, for those who wish to learn more about the audition and class placement process.
If a student does not show up on time for the auditions he or she will be placed in the beginner track without exception. We assume that anyone who has been blues dancing and taking regular instruction for less than one year will be placed in the beginner track. If this sounds like you, you are welcome to sleep in and skip the auditions altogether, unless you have a strong suspicion that you will be placed in a higher level.
We intend to make the audition process as efficient, pleasant, and stress-free as possible. When registering, you will be asked to list your preferred track. This does not guarantee that you will be placed at that level, the purpose is to give us an idea of the number of people who plan to audition, and a rough estimate of class sizes. Please read our level descriptions before you place yourself during the registration process.
Different dance communities and instructors have different views of what qualifies a person’s dancing as being at a particular level. By holding auditions, and requiring agreement between all eight Blues Muse instructors (who hail from six different dance communities) in order to place each dancer in their level, we hope to calibrate the Blues Muse class levels with those of the national blues dance community.
By registering to take workshops from these instructors you agree that you trust and respect their opinion of your level. We aim to place dancers at the level from which they will benefit most. Beginners and masters alike will receive high quality instruction that will be designed to push each dancer to grow and learn. If the level of the dancers in each track is more uniform, the class as a whole will benefit the most from the instruction presented.
We acknowledge that this process can be difficult for individual dancers, and we hope that each dancer who chooses to audition does so with a light heart, and with a willingness to thoughtfully receive feedback, and to change their perspective on their own dancing.
Level Descriptions
Beginner
Pre-requisites: 6-12 hours of instruction in partnered blues, 18-36 hours of social blues dancing. Beginner dancers should already be comfortable with open, closed and close-embrace positions; basic blues vocabulary like fishtails and grinds; and both moving (ballroomin, drag, slow jazz) and in-place (jukin, groovin) styles of blues.
Approximate Time-Frame: 3 months to 1 year of consistent blues dancing and lessons.
Level Description: Beginner dancers should spend the beginner period on moves and patterns, building up the vocabulary of the dance. During this time, you should be working on developing comfortable connection, and on the basic, ’vanilla’ positions, steps, and movements of the dance.
Intermediate
Pre-requisites: Lots of classes, and countless nights of social dancing. Mastery of the basics, and ability to smoothly and comfortably integrate them through an entire song. Intermediate dancers have started to focus on movement quality, and the aesthetic sense of the dance. You understand what it means to have clear, consistent connection throughout your dancing. You should be comfortable transitioning smoothly between different movements, rhythms, and styles of blues.
Approximate time-frame: 1-3 years of consistent blues dancing and lessons.
Description: Intermediate dancers have solid foundations of connection, vocabulary, movement quality and musicality, and are now striving to learn variations to their moves, discover the full dynamic range of the dance, deepen their understanding of music and musicality, find different ways of connecting, and work on style and aesthetics. Mastery of the basics is critical, because this level of classes is where we break down your understanding of the dance and reconstruct it in exciting new ways.
Advanced:
Pre-requisites: Fluency with the dance. You stopped thinking about patterns ages ago. Now you just react, physically, to any style of blues music and any partner.
Approximate time-frame: 3+ years of consistent blues dancing and lessons.
Description: At this point, you realize that itÕs all about music and connection, with infinite layers of styling, attitude, and aesthetics. You not only have conversations with your partner, you sing duets. In advanced classes, youÕll be challenged with new concepts, approaches and styles, and asked to integrate them quickly and completely, so that you have more choices in every moment about how to express yourself in the dance.
Masters
The Blues Muse masters track will be limited to twenty dancers or less, and will be chosen at the discretion of our eight instructors. In the past, the Blues Muse masters class has been composed primarily of dancers who teach regularly in their own communities and/or nationally, and who compete in blues at the national level (however, none of these activities guarantee entry into the masters track). Our instructors will present material that they deem maximally inspiring for the group they have chosen, with heavy emphasis on personal feedback, exploring new ideas about the dance, and developing teaching technique.
If you have any questions about the skill levels, don’t hesitate to contact us at
lab@lindyandblues.com.
Jack & Jill Competition Information
Get ready for the third annual Blues Muse Jack & Jill! Sign ups will take place at the Friday dance, prelims will take place at the Friday late night dance, and finals will take place at the Saturday main dance. There is a $5 entry fee which must be paid at sign up. Judges will include all our Muses and Dudes.
Being Blues Muse, this will be a little different than your average J&J competition. Participants will be judged on the usual (musicality, movement quality and blues aesthetic), as well as what we’re calling "Creative Partnership". For leaders, that includes creating space for followers; clear, connected leading; and "Dudeliness" (masculine, musical movement). For follows, that includes expressive contributions to the dance; responsive following; and "Museliness" (feminine, inspiring movement).
If you’re not the competitive type, don’t worry: we will be holding our fourth annual ’Most Muse-ical Lead’ and ’Most A-muse-ing Follow’ awards, in which attendees will nominate their favorite social dancer. Prizes for both events include bragging rights, and a free pass to Blues Muse 2012.