Barcelona 20-22 Octubre 2017
Drag the blues
TASTERS
Alex
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Joanna
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Alex Palamidis loves spreading the joy, pleasure and smile that Swing dances induce!
He has been doing it passionately since 2011 when he started teaching at one of the first and
largest Swing dance studios in Greece (Athens Lindy Hop).
He started Swing dancing in 2008 and has been through all Swing dances (Lindy, Blues,
Balboa, Shag, Boogie Woogie) and even a some Contemporary dancing because he believes
that a good dancer should have many ways to express himself effectively. Nonetheless, his
heart is mostly set on Blues and Lindy hop!
His teaching philosophy is based around 3 principles: building technique, giving inspiration to
his students and keeping it enjoyable and fun!
Joanna Panagopoulou started dancing at age of 4. She trained in ballet, modern jazz and
hip-hop for more than 10 years and in 2011 she discovered Swing dancing.
She took a break for a couple of years to study jazz improvisation at a conservatoire.
When she came back to Swing dancing, she discovered Blues and completely fell in love
with it! Since then she’s one of the most active members of the blues scene in Athens. She
hasn't stopped exploring the magic world of Blues through dancing, training and taking part
in international festivals. Her goal is to always be inspired, passionate and creative!
youngdon
darwa
It is all about speed
When you are dancing, what comes first in your mind? Music right? And the music has different tempo. In different tempo, we will learn how to dance by controlling the speed. By controlling the speed, you will get to have more fun and dramatic moves while dancing into the music.
Youngdon has been teaching blues since 2008. He is also known as the organizer of Bluesweet(The first blues workshop in Asia which was started from 2010) & Korea Blues Camp(The biggest blues dance event in Asia). He started his dancing life with lindyhop background in 2005. But when he first experienced blues dancing in U.S.(2007), he immediately fell in love with the blues music, dance and its culture. He visits U.S. every year to get inspiration and work hard to spread Blues dance in Asia. He was a finalist of many blues events in U.S. and got First Placed in Open Jack and Jill 2014 at BluesShout. Also, invited as a judge(prelims and level test) for BluesShout 2017.
alina sokulska
Originally from Kyiv (Ukraine), based worldwide. Alina has been dancing since she remembers herself, from the very early age. Having a rigorous training in a professional dance performance company Show-ballet A6 (Kyiv) since 8, Alina has been experimenting on and learning all possible dances. She met social dance at 17 and since then jazz, swing, lindy-hop, tap, blues, be-bop, UK Jazz, latin dance, traditional African dance, were the issues that excited her most.
Blues & Roots
On Blues & Roots class we explore the way we can train our bodies within the tradition of Afro-American body movement, from Afro roots mechanics and isolations to the blues and jazz in order to achieve better understanding of dance's physical aspect and a quality of movement.
clara llobet
Clara Llobet (Barcelona, 1992). S’inicia en la dansa des de ben petita passant per diferents escoles de Barcelona i Londres. Comença formant-se en diverses disciplines (Jazz, Dansa Clàssica, Claqué, Hip-Hop); veient la dansa des d’una vessant molt tècnica i formal. A partir de la seva formació en Dansa Contemporània i després de treballar amb coreògrafs internacionals, és quan comença a descobrir la llibertat i l’expressió del propi moviment; un món que, per a ella, té infinites possibilitats. Continua formant-se, aprenent, creant i investigant.
Improvisation and contact of contemporany dance to blues
It wants to be a class where game and expressiveness are the tools to investigate new possibilities in blues. The class will consist of an initial warm-up to prepare our body and then, different dynamics of improvisation and manipulation will be proposed. We will work individually and in pairs, to discover new ways of connecting with one's body and the other.
Power moves: Shining on the dance floor
Through this class you’ll learn how to better control your own and your partner’s body. This will enrich your vocabulary with expressive and inspiring moves and boost your creativity! By the end of this session you will have the tools to explore new dynamics and ideas on the dance floor!
Both agree in the way they want to pass on their love for Blues music and dancing; interpreting the music as a way of life rather than only a love for dancing. From this the urge for Valencia Blues Revolution rose. With this new project, Encarny and Robert want to pass on the Blues as a way of sharing and feeling together, while embracing everyone, regardless gender, origin, or whatever other way society has marginalised one.
Conection & Switch
We will talk about consent to originate a "non-taxing" dance and be safe on the dance floor. We will work on connection with our partner and introduce tools, ideas and cultural norms to give the possibility to choose the role and encourage personal expression during the dance and not subject to what is assigned.
Robert & Encarny
Dawa has been dancing blues since 2010 in Korea. She started to teach blues with Youndon since 2012 and attended blues events in U.S. to explore and get more inspiration. At Bluesweet 2013, she was the instructor with the world best instructors Damon stone, Heide Fite, and Dexter Santos. She is not only teaching blues but organizing blues dance events with Youngdon. She loves to travel and spread blues dance and its culture in Asia too. She has also competed at several Blues dance events in the States and got placed at Bluesshout 2014 and Blues Muse 2015. Recently she has invited as a Jill competitor at Blues Muse 2016. Also, She took 1st placed in Open Strictly and took 3rd placed in Open Jack and Jill at Blues Shout 2017.