Main classes are included in the full pass. Optional classes can be added at registration.
Levels: The main classes will be open level but you need at least some experience of dancing blues. The classes are not for complete beginners. We offer one optional class for more advanced dancers.
Roles: You choose role when you register. However, the focus of the classes will be on individual movement and partnership techniques that are very similar across roles. We recommend all the participants to be flexible and open to dance both roles. We will accept a slight unbalance between leaders and followers at registration because we are counting on your flexibility as more experienced dancers. In class, you will have the option to switch roles every round or stick to one as long as everyone gets to dance.
Tasters: To be added!
Pass options and price
Full pass – sold out, waiting list only
1700 SEK.
- 6 hours of classes.
- All parties: two nights of parties and one tea-dance, all with live bands and DJ:s.
- All tasters.
Party pass
750 SEK.
- All parties: two nights of parties and one tea-dance, all with live bands and DJ:s.
- All tasters.
Optional classes
200 SEK each.
Overview – main classes
Day 1, Saturday: We start our story with the travelling tent shows that pre-dated blues, Vaudeville, Minstrel, and medicine shows. Here in the South is where the mother of the blues got her start, Ma Rainey.
Then we travel to the Delta and explore the musicians who inspired and were inspired by the blues Queens fought to make their mark. And we’ll finish the day in the ballrooms where Jazz combos, and later Big Bands played the blues for dancers.
Day 2, Sunday. The Great Migration. Our day starts in Chicago, where the sounds of Delta blues got electrified and turned up. And then we go to California to explore West Coast blues, and the pop melding of jazz combos trying to make a new sound after WW2.
We end up back in the south where James Brown (with the help of some drummers from New Orleans) created funk.
Class descriptions – main classes
Vaudeville Queens Early women of the blues
Did you know that women were the first to record blues and bring it to a widespread audience? The blues-jazz stylings of vaudeville legends like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith may sound a little different to the blues we recognize today, but their vocal styling and the 12 bar musical structure influenced the delta bluesmen and generations on down.
Delta Blues
We’re diving aside the artists, sounds, and history that created the mythology of the blues. We’ll look at legends like Charlie Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, Skip James, as well as the present day musicians still carrying on the traditions of Delta Blues.
Big Band Blues
What do Sidney Bechet, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong have in common? They all played the blues! As well as in Juke Joints and Honky Tonks, blues was danced in big ballrooms in Ballroomin part of the 19th century. And what do you dance in ballrooms? Ballroomin’ Blues!
Chicago Blues
The Blues that sounds like what people think of when you say the word blues! We’re going to be working on rhythms and Chicago Triple with Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Howlin’ Wolf, and Willie Dixon!
West Coast Blues
West Coast Blues come from Texas! We’ll be listening to the silky smooth sounds and jazzy stylings of T-Bone Walker, Lowell Fulson, Johnny “Guitar” Watson. And the dance that goes with it is Texas Shuffle! You will need slidey shoes or socks for this class!
Funk Blues
Funky, juicy and full of attitude. We’ll blend blues foundations with funk rhythms for a grounded, rhythmic style that’s all about groove and musical play.
Class description – optional classes
Mississippi Hill Country Blues
This style is one of the most captivating, but also one of the least danced of blues in local scenes. Many dancers step aside when they hear this music, because the usual “jazzy” class moves don’t fit its sound. In this class, we’ll leave behind familiar patterns and learn to connect with the deep rhythm and hypnotic energy of the music by really dancing into it.
Blues Lab Advanced
For dancers who want to go deeper into blues aesthetics. We’ll explore how to dance your values, express nuance, and connect movement with emotion and musicality. This is an advanced, exploratory session where we break habits, refine style, and challenge ourselves artistically.