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Event Dates
Occurs On...
from 6-7:15pm
from 7:30-8:45pm
The Summer of Salsa Fun: Week 5
Instructor: Sarah Calhoun
Enrollment: limit 20 per class
Offered by: Art of Dance Ballroom Dance Studio
Drop-in Cost: $10/individual, $15/two people
**Bring a friend/spouse/co-worker (Lead OR Follow) to class and get 50% off your tuition!**
Two classes will be offered:
New Dancer Salsa (6:00 – 7:15)
All-Level Salsa (7:30 – 8:45)
You do not need to enroll with a partner. Partner changes occur frequently in class.
Please fill out all pertinent Registration Material, and bring it with you on the first day of class.
It’s summer! In this fifth of six drop-in Salsa classes, we will continue to have FUN with our dancing. This week will be devoted to getting booky about our Salsa! We’ll delve into more details, banter about theories, and fully embrace the thinking Salsa dancer in all of us!
See, for instance:
Video of Bill and Hillary doing some Salsa
In honor of Sarah’s summer classes at Library School, a prize will be given for the most creative “costume”: (1) Your favorite librarian/piece of library furniture/library (2) Your favorite literary character (3) The Color Purple (and an extra prize if you catch the joke).
Read more about the Summer of Salsa Fun.
The 6:00 New Dancer Salsa class will be specifically designed for people who have never danced before, or who are interested in refreshing the basics. We will discover how to produce many of the common dance moves you see at social dances where people dance many energetic and exciting American-style Rhythm (Latin) dances, such as Merengue and Salsa. We will cover turns, spins, style, and basic common patterns for these Rhythm dances, as well as balance, speed, flexibility, body awareness, and expression.
The 7:30 All-Level Salsa class will be tailored each evening to the students in attendance. However, it is expected that students will have at least a basic understanding of Salsa timing, as well as connection, cuddles, and hammerlocks. We may work on skills such as advancing your understanding of basic concepts, creating fun choreography, or learning easy-but-flashy new moves!
Click on each week’s offerings (above) to learn more about the theme for the week, and more about what we will be learning.
You do not need to enroll with a partner. Expect frequent partner changes and numerous group activities and exercises.
Please, no Street Shoes on the dance floor. Dance shoes, dance sneakers, or stocking feet are all fine.
Pre-registration is appreciated. Contact the Instructor to reserve space in this class.
Held at:
Kanopy
341 State Street,
Madison, WI
(608) 255-2211
( map | website )
Kanopy dance studio is located in Downtown Madison on State Street. Nearby parking is available in the Overture Center Parking Ramp and the Capitol Parking Ramp.
The studio is located on the second floor above the Gap clothing store. The door to enter the studio is to the left of the Gap.
Each instructor at the Art of Dance is independent and sets his or her own prices. See Prices for all available private lesson packages. See Group Classes for all avaialable classes. Lesson packages and group class enrollments are not transferable. Limitations may apply. Please see the FAQ and read the studio's Policies.
Related pictures based on the following tags: advanced-beginner,american-rhythm,ballroom-dance,beginner,dance-class,discount-lessons,group-class,intermediate,kanopy,latin-dance,madison-wi,mambo,merengue,new-dancer,salsa,samba,sarah,specials
Class Notes
Week 5 (8-5-10)
Library Week Salsa
For a little variety, we worked on Samba tonight!
We started off with some basic front and side-side samba motion. 1…a2, 1….a2, etc. Use those knees, push off with the feet, get full extension. Keep the shoulders quiet, use your back to hold them in place.
We worked some Voltas into a basic pattern. The basic Volta timing: 1 a2 a1 a2. The pattern: front basic, voltas to the right, back basic, voltas to the left. Timing: 1 (front), a2 a1 a2 (to the right); 1 (back), a2 a1 a2 (to the left).
Next, we attacked bravely some samba walks, in promenade position. This uses the same front basic timing (1 a2, 1 a2), but Lead and Follow do this together, in promenade position. Pretty straight forward!
We ended the evening with some Criss-Cross Bota Fogos (according to Wikipedia, “The name comes from Botafogo place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.” Maybe, maybe not.) The Follow is moving generally down the line of dance, with the Lead leading the Follow alternating under and out from under her right hand. Generally speaking: step center, then side break; return to center, then side break again.
To get a good visual, try ballroomdancers.com’s video.
We took some fun laps around the room, enjoying the music, and partying it up!
Remember, next week (August 12) is the last class of the Summer of Salsa Fun (in true ballroom fashion, Rhinestones and Glitter!). I will be taking a few weeks off (travel and vacation), but will be back and raring to go on September 2 (same time, same place)! I will be sending out email soon with more class details. To make sure you hear about upcoming classes, you can subscribe yourself to our Announcements Newsletter. We send out periodical (infrequent) updates of classes, specials, local dances, and road trips that the studio is taking together.
I look forward to continuing to dance with you all!
Week 5
8-5-10
Library Week Salsa
Since we had a plethora of Leads this week, we did a bunch of special Lead stuff!
We started with a review of some concepts that we’ve been working on for the past few weeks.
Salsa basic: Quick-quick-slow; Yump-bump-bah; 1-2-3 HOLD 4. Toe-heel foot action. Step onto a bent knee, then straighten the leg. Use the middle of your body to move the hips. Small steps!
Cuddles: One hand up, one hand down; top hand across the Follow’s face
Hammerlocks: One hand up, one hand down; top hand away from the Follow’s face
Sliding Door series: Hammerlock; walk under the arch; sliiiide back-to-back; back up through the door
Theeeen…The Secret Agent!
FIRST MEASURE: This starts off with the Lead doing a pivot turn (or “6 part turn”). This replaces the front half of a basic. Split apart the turning parts and the changes of weight parts, so that we get a STEP-TURN-STEP-TURN-STEP pattern for the pivot. Forward on the left foot, pivot, replace your weight on the right, turn 180, then — and only then — step onto the left. Then you can do the back half of a basic. Like a pivot in basketball, you do not move your right foot AT ALL during this whole move. You end up right back where you started.
While you do this, drop your left hand down, letting go of the Follow’s hand. Let it trace along your back and run into your right elbow. Your hands automatically find each other again. No scary be-elbowed hand-offs of hands needed!
SECOND MEASURE: In the Lead’s back half of the basic, lead the Follow to do an under-arm turn (Leads left, Follow’s right hand), hand away from the face. Incidentally, the Follow is also doing a pivot turn in this under-arm turn (they’re everywhere!).
We ended the class putting all these together and having fun with it! Really, really nice job tonight, everyone! We covered a lot of material very rapidly, and you all hung in there and rocked it!
Remember, next week (August 12) is the last class of the Summer of Salsa Fun (in true ballroom fashion, Rhinestones and Glitter!). I will be taking a few weeks off (travel and vacation), but will be back and raring to go on September 2 (same time, same place)! I will be sending out email soon with more class details. To make sure you hear about upcoming classes, you can subscribe yourself to our Announcements Newsletter. We send out periodical (infrequent) updates of classes, specials, local dances, and road trips that the studio is taking together.
I look forward to continuing to dance with you all!
The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries. ~Carl Sagan, Cosmos
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