Caltech Ballroom Dance Club

Winter 2008    Current Classes   beginner ballroom I instructors: Gwyneth Card and Scott Schnee. when: 8 Sundays, starting January 6th, 12:00-2:00 pm. where: In Winnett Lounge (2nd floor). price: FREE for Caltech Students (with ID); $6 per class or $40/series in advance for Caltech affiliates and alumni and for students of other universities (with ID); $10 per class or $70/series in advance for all others. * Discounts apply for full-time students from any college/ university/institution. Please bring a current student ID. ** Series price paid in whole on first day of class.     description: Four weeks of International Foxtrot & Samba and four weeks of International Tango & Jive. If you're just beginning OR looking to polish your basic ballroom technique this is the class for you! We will cover the fundamentals of ballroom dancing, spending four weeks on each dance and outlining the steps and lead-follow techniques necessary to have you moving with style and grace ASAP. Prereqs: No special attire, previous dance experience, or partner needed! However, leather or suede soled shoes make dancing easier. About the instructors: Scott and Gwyneth placed 2nd in Championship-level Standard at the 2007 Caltech Dance of the Roses. Previous years' achievements include: Scott was gold smooth and rhythm collegiate champion at the YCN portion of the Ohio Star Ball and Gwyneth won Championship Standard and Pre-Champ Latin at the Caltech Dance of the Roses.     Subscribe: Hosted by the Ballroom Team. Find out about Team events, subscribe to the 'ballroom-team' list or visit the Ballroom Team page. Back to the top intermediate Ballroom instructor: Professional instructor Jerry More. when: 8 Sundays starting January 6th, 2:30-4:30 pm. where: In Winnett Lounge, 2nd floor. Cost: FREE for Caltech students (with ID); $6/class or $40/series for other students and Caltech affiliates and alumni; $10/class or $70/series for all others. * Discounts apply for full-time students from any college/ university/institution. Please bring a current student ID. ** Series price paid in whole on first day of class. Description: Four weeks of International Foxtrot and Samba (1st hour Foxtrot, 2nd Hour Samba) and four weeks of International Tango and Jive (1st hour Tango, 2nd hour Jive). The class will cover mostly Silver patterns in each dance (time permitting), body techniques for each, some open patterns at this level (time permitting), lead and follow and presentation (for show/comp or just showing off!). Prereqs:  Dancers should be familiar with the basic bronze figures in all four dances, and there will be a brief tryout at the beginning of the first class. If you cannot come to this tryout, please contact the team captain about trying out at another time. Notes: This series is highly recommended for competitive ballroom dancers! Team membership is not required, but additional resources and opportunities are available for team members. Visit the team website for more information on joining. About the instructor: Jerry's achievements and credentials include: - 1985 and 1987 America's Amateur Dance Champion - 1989 Arthur Murray 9 Dance Rising Star Champion, 1990, 1991 and 1995 National and International Dance Finalist - A 19 year full-time Professional Teacher of both the American and International Styles of Ballroom and Latin Dancing - An accredited member of the NDCA, Terpsichore Dance Association, the U.S.I.S.T.D. and the I.S.T.D. in both the American and International Styles - Currently registered with the NDCA as an adjudicator of both International and American style Ballroom dances     Subscribe: Hosted by the Ballroom Team. Find out about Team events, subscribe to the 'ballroom-team' list or visit the Ballroom Team page. Back to the top Beginner Modern Jive instructor: Eve Stenson, assisted by Neil Halelamien. when: 8 Mondays, starting January 7, 8:30pm - 9:30pm. where: In Winnett Lounge, 2nd floor. Cost: FREE for Caltech students (with ID); $3/class or $21/series for students of other universities (with ID)*; $4/class or $28/series regular. * Series price paid in whole on the first day of class. Description: Modern Jive is based on Ceroc, a modern dance with swing influences, popular in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Caltech. A very versatile dance-style, it can be danced to most modern pop music. With a 4 step-4 beat rhythm and mostly open style dancing, it is also a great introductory dance for complete beginners and those looking to pick up flashy moves useful in other dances. Back to the top Advanced Beginner West Coast Swing instructor: Professional instructor Gary Ulaner, assisted by Leslie Huber. when: 8 Mondays, starting January 7, 9:45pm - 10:45pm. where: In Winnett Lounge, 2nd floor. Cost: FREE for Caltech students (with ID); $4/class or $28/series for students of other universities (with ID)*; $6/class or $42/series regular. * Series price paid in whole on the first day of class. Description: The official state dance of California, West Coast Swing has evolved from its roots as an offshoot of Lindy Hop into a versatile dance able to be performed to a wide variety of music including blues, rock and roll, pop and R&B. Danced traditionally in a slot where the leader dances in place while the follower travels back and forth, WCS allows for a full array of moves from other social dances, including East Coast Swing, Salsa and Hustle, to be adapted to its own unique style. Please arrive 15 minutes early on the first day of class for registration. Prerequisites: Be able to lead/follow a sugar push, whip, underarm turn, and tuck turn. Note: This class is the combined continuation of BOTH the Fall term Beginner and Adv. Beginner classes - if you fulfill the prerequisites above, we encourage you to attend! Back to the top Advanced Beginner Argentine Tango instructor: Professional instructor Fabienne Bongard-Mose. when: 8 Sundays, from January 13 to March 9, 8:00pm - 10:00pm. No class January 20, MLK weekend. where: In Winnett Lounge, 2nd floor. Cost: FREE for Caltech students (with ID); $5/class or $35/series for Caltech affiliates & other university students (with ID)*; $8/class or $56/series regular. * Full-time students only, from any college or university. Description: The general focus of this series will be on TURNS with an emphasis on FLOOR CRAFT and MUSICALITY. Follower's technique will be explored in depth as a tool for building turns. How to get in and out of turns with ease in both alternative and parallel systems. How to change systems within the turns. How to take a simple turn and make it fancy (while keeping the follower comfortable!!!) How to perform fluid and subtle saccadas... And there will be more alterations and FUN paradas...and of course some SURPRISES !!! Requirements: Basics of tango -- embrace, walking in parallel & alternate systems, cross, forward & back ochos (e.g. basics covered in any beginner series). Back to the top Intermediate Argentine Tango - Candombe taught with live music! instructor: Professional instructor Monica Orozco. featuring: Live music by the group Urucandombe! when: 4 Tuesdays, from January 15 to February 5, 8:00-9:30 pm. practica: After class, from 9:30-10:00pm. where: In Dabney Hall. Cost: $3/class or $8/series for Caltech students (with ID); $8/class or $25/series for Caltech affiliates & other university students* (with ID); $12/class or $40/series regular. * Full-time students only, from any college or university. Description: A rare opportunity to learn Candombe with Monica Orozco with accompaniment of live musicians -- a group originally from Uruguay, Urucandombe -- giving students the unique experience to learn the rhythms of the dance. For intermediate level dancers wishing to understand and explore the different rhythms that form Argentine Tango. First we are going to work on the rhythms, because it is something that people don't know much about. So we will start with the fundamentals of candombe -- What is the Candombe? We will introduce the different instruments of the Candombe sound -- talking about the different drums. We are going to work on musicality through excercises, with the live music played by the musicians of Urucandombe, so the students can recognize the rhythms and apply it to the dance. We will describe the meaning of madera in candombe, and define the styles in Candombe -- Milongon style and Candomble style. Also we will have a short introduction of the history of the Candombe in Uruguay, the capital of the dance -- probably 1 dancer will demostrate the basic of the Candombe danced in the streets of Uruguay and the carnaval. Requirements: Intermediate-level or above only. Students must be sufficiently comfortable leading/following and dancing to the music. Practica shoes highly recommended -- no heels -- it is better for footwork and to recognize rhythms. Back to the top Advanced Argentine Tango - Advanced Milonga Rhythms instructor: Professional instructor Monica Orozco. when: 4 Tuesdays, from February 19 to March 18, 8:00-9:30 pm. practica: After class, from 9:30-10:00pm. where: In Dabney Hall. Cost: $5/class or $15/series for Caltech students (with ID)*; $8/class or $25/series regular $12/class or $40/series regular. * Full-time students only, from any college or university. website: http://www.tango.caltech.edu/classes.html#IntermediateTango Description: We will work on intermediate and advance concepts of the Milonga steps and movements. We will start with the Milonga sincopada, and apply that to the tango dance. The musicality combination of the -1-2 and 3 rhythms- and apply this concept to the differents steps. Then we are going to work in Milonga with traspie. The definition of traspie, and the combination of the traspie and milonga sincopada. The definition of "counterpoint in the milonga!" The milonga, as a song replaces the cifra in the payadores - called "counterpoint." Definition from composer Enrique Delfino, champion of the New tango focus, and how he breaks the classic musical structure -- on 3 parts of 16 bars each = callet trio and create the recipe 1er 2nd 1er bis and 2nd to the end = called milonguita -- and apply all these new concepts of that time in the dance. Time permitting, we will try to have a brief introduction of Fraseo. Requirements: Intermediate-level. Students must understand the basic Milonga rhythm and be sufficiently comfortable leading/following Milonga basics. Practica shoes highly recommended -- no heals -- it is better for footwork and to recognize rhythms.