Dear friends,
Come join our brand new NC2S Practice & Demo Group this September!
If you love social dancing, socializing, and would like to rapidly advance your dance skills and grow your repertoire in the context of a fun group of experienced dancers, I would love to invite you to join our new practice session this Fall! The group meets on Tuesday evenings from 7:30-9:30pm at the China Harbor Restaurant on Lake Union for a int/adv NC2S Combo's class from 7:30-8:30, and then the practice group from 8:30-9:30 where really dive in deep, and use 'rueda' techniques effectively practice the material. In addition, for a few dollars more, members of the group can join an int/adv WCS class from 6:30-7:30 -- a great way to emphasize much of the lead & follow technique we will be covering in NC2S, plus have a lot of fun learning some new material. There is also open practice time for group members from 9:30-9:55pm every Tuesday. Prices for all of these classes get progressively cheaper the longer you stay in each session.
Why a NC2S Practice &/or Demo Group?
The primary reason is simply because we love to dance NC2S! It is our hope that by forming a practice & demo group that focusses on "social dance" combinations and elements, we can both increase our own skills, and raise the level of dance in general in the NW. Creating a core group of high-level dancers who all know the same language of movement will also provide us with more opportunities to dance & practice the more technical NC2S moves on the social dance floor.
While this is a new group session following a three month summer hiatus, we have been doing this same thing with both NC2S & Waltz over the past two years, and people in the group can't speak highly enough about how it has improved their dance, not to mention how fun it is to learn with a group of more advanced dancers! The innovative "rueda" format that we have developed and used in our group, and which we will continue to use in the upcoming NC2S session, has allowed participants to learn and practice new material in a way that immediately translates those moves to the social dance floor.
As far as demoing goes, members are free to choose to participate or not in any performances we do. Unlike traditional "performance" teams whose main goal is performing for others, our goal is primarily to become better social dancers, to learn some great new NC2S moves and combinations that we can immediately incorporate into our social dancing, and to encourage and excite others about learning to dance NC2S, building toward our 2nd & 4th Friday dances at Om Culture, or larger festival events such as our annual "Waltz Fest NW" weekend in Seattle (Coming Spring of 2019)
Membership Details
Membership in the Practice & Demo Group is open to dancers of all ages who have been dancing for at least a year who already know the basic NC2S patterns (e.g., basic steps, left & right turns, peakaboo's). Participation cost is $90.00 per month for the 7:30-9:30pm classes, or $120 per month if you would like to include the WCS (Saving $35 off the non-group member price!). Plus you price goes down with each month you are in the group! PLEASE NOTE: if any of this is more than you can afford, please let us know and we will try to work something out. (e.g., helping out at the classes and/or dances in exchange for a reduced cost).
The session is three months long. While payment can be made month by month or for the entire session, we are asking each member for a commitment of at least three months in order to maintain continuity and balance (we won't be bringing new members in again until our January 2019 enrollment)
Currently we have roughly 30 members in the group including many of the best social dancers in the area. Group membership will be regulated to try to maintain an even leads & follow balance, and we will keep an active waiting list to maintain that balance as needed. Please let us know if you are interested in joining or being put on the waiting list. As openings arise, priority will be given to couples, dance partners of current members, and dancers who have taken waltz or other classes with Ari over the past year.
Here is an example of the "rueda" technique we have developed in NC2S to rotate partners within a dance when the caller signals. We will be doing something similar in our Waltz Demo Group to help us build a fun vocabulary of moves, and then to be able to practice them with enough repetition to the point of truly owning them!
