Name: CB Spring Workshop: Damon & Kelsy Stone
Start: 2024-05-18T12:00:00-05:00
End: 2024-05-19T15:00:00-05:00
Location: Center for Performing Arts

Our dear friends Damon and Kelsy Stone will be in town, visiting us from Atlanta for the weekend. They will be hosting a 2-day workshop! Each day has a different focus, so look below for details* and full class descriptions**.
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*SATURDAY May 18th, 2024: Refresh and Re-Energize Classes
- These classes are great for people who are getting back to Blues dancing after a break, are looking to solidify their fundamentals, or are experienced in another partner dance and are looking to try out Blues dancing.
*SUNDAY May 19th, 2019: Dive Deeper Classes
- These classes are great if you're looking to build beyond the foundations of Blues dancing and grow your dancing and knowledge.
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Also, please come dance with the Stones at our monthly house party that Saturday night!
Time:
Saturday, May 18th from noon - 4 pm
Sunday, May 19th from 11 am - 3 pm
Location: The "Sunroom" at the Center for Performing Arts.
HOUSING:
For out of town guests we will run a housing system to match you with locals willing to host you. We cannot make guarantees about housing, but we expect to be able to accommodate folks. We will try to keep groups together. Expect email follow-ups to begin approximately May 1st and we appreciate if you register early!

Photo credit: Ben Hejkal
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**Class Descriptions:
SATURDAY:
Class 1: 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Bring the Party
This class will focus on letting the music move us, stress the importance of being a dancer first, and remind us that at its heart, the Blues dances are dances of celebration and joy.
Class 2: 1:45 pm - 2:45 pm Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me: The Music of Sidney Bechet
We’ll explore Sidney Bechet’s history and music through the lens of Blues dance, noting the musical elements and stylings of his music that we can express through our movement.
Class 3: 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Modern Branches from the Blues Dance Tree
We’ll examine how changes in the music affected blues dances and how the tradition lives on in a never-ending continuum. We’ll explore both well-known blues dances done in a modern context and modern Black dances descended from the Blues idiom tradition.

SUNDAY:
Class 1: 11:30 am - 12:30 pm Bad Ass Ballroom
The Ballroom Blues dances are some of the most popular in our contemporary scenes but few dancers understand how to embrace the essential Black aesthetic of these Blues dances which prevents them from simply being interpretations of white movement and moves. This class will focus on making your Ballroom Blues as Bad Ass as the funkiest Juke Joint dances by focusing on broken lines, ephebism, hotness, coolness, and using multiple rhythms, centers, and pace.
Class 2: 12:45 pm - 1:45 pm Funky Blues vs. Blues Funk
Blues does not exist in isolation but instead is a continuum of Black music and movement. We’ll observe the shifting sounds and aesthetic that covers the funky segment of the spectrum and how to adapt our dancing as the music moves across it. We’ll worry less about where the line is between Blues and Funk and concentrate more on our ability to navigate it with authentic movement in the Black tradition as the bands and original dancers did.
Class 3: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm What We Wish You Knew
A frank and open examination of our dancing, where we are at as individuals, and as a scene and discussion between teachers and students, and followers and leaders about what we’d like to get more of in our dances or want to see more of in our scenes.