So you\u2019ve been attending beginner classes on and off for a while and you\u2019re wondering when you can join the Intermediate Class? Here is everything you need to know!<\/p>\n
I\u2019m often asked by dancers if they can join the Intermediate Class as the class time suits them better or they have previous dance experience in another style and therefore consider themselves to be able to pick up new steps quickly or they feel it\u2019s been some time since they\u2019ve started beginner classes, and although these are all valid reasons, there are certain skills and qualities that I look for before inviting dancers to join the Intermediate Class.<\/p>\n
It is worth noting that progress is not always related to the number of weeks or months that you have been dancing in the class. Progress usually relies on both attendance and engagement, so if you turn up to class regularly and engage as fully as possible, then your dancing will improve quickly, whilst if you attend class sporadically, you have to leave early and you rarely dance with other students, then your progress will be slower. It is important to really focus on building your basic Lindy Hop toolkit, so that you don\u2019t struggle or hold others back in the Intermediate Class.<\/p>\n
When joining the Intermediate Class, you will be joining a group of experienced dancers who have been working on their dancing for a while. They are also keen to keep improving all the time, and although you can expect everyone to be very welcoming and encouraging, please bear in mind that when you rotate partners all of you will affect each other.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re interested in joining the Intermediate Class, then practice, attendance, an openness to teacher feedback and enthusiasm are key. My advice would be to stay back after class to practise with other dancers and to ask for feedback from your teachers as regularly as possible to build your foundation before moving to the Intermediate Class.<\/p>\n
The focus of learning to dance at Lindy Jazz is personal development; to build our skills, confidence and to gain more joyful dance experiences. Our focus is not social status so you will find that we are not concerned about which \u2018level\u2019 we might be. Within the Intermediate Class, you will find that some dancers are more advanced, more skilled and more experienced than others and everyone has different aims and learn at a different pace.<\/p>\n
Every scene or community runs classes in their own way, and at Lindy Jazz, we have some expectations of what we\u2019d like to see before you join the Intermediate Class. These skills are taught at our weekly classes and weekend workshops, and we encourage you to attend these classes before jumping into the Intermediate Class.<\/p>\n
1. a clear and consistent pulse (or \u2018bounce\u2019)
\n2. \u00a0relaxed arms & shoulders that \u2018stretch & release\u2019 without over-extending
\n3. a \u2018free foot\u2019 when shifting weight
\n4. triple step footwork with ease
\n5. Charleston footwork with ease
\n6. an open attitude to feedback
\n7. a positive response to mistakes e.g. joy instead of stress
\n8. regular attendance at intermediate and beginner classes \u2013 every week if you can
\n9. regular attendance at weekend workshops \u2013 at least once a month if you can
\n10. regular practice \u2013 staying back to practise social dancing every week and practising your drills for 5 minutes every day if you can<\/p>\n
When I see dancers meet most of the above expectations, I will invite them to join the Intermediate Class. Sometimes, I may invite them to join the warm up drills at the beginning of the class and then to observe the rest of the class, sometimes, I might ask a lead-follow couple to stay with each other instead of \u2018rotating\u2019 for a couple of weeks until their basics are secure.<\/p>\n
Every class is different<\/b><\/p>\n
Please remember that there are no set rules in the \u2018world of Lindy Hop\u2019 and that every class is run independently so the expectations as explained in this blog post are created as a guide for classes at Lindy Jazz.\u00a0Having said that all Lindy Hop communities are united along similar key philosophies which are joy, fun and friendship through social dancing, so keep dancing!<\/p>\n
Join Lindy Jazz classes on Tuesdays at Gosforth Parish Hall\u00a0NE3 1YT<\/strong><\/p>\n 19:30\u00a0Beginners\u2019\u00a0 Class<\/p>\n 20:45 Intermediates\u2019 Class<\/p>\n 21:30 Social Dancing & Practice<\/p>\n Join Lindy Jazz classes on Wednesdays at St Aidan’s Church Hall DH1 5BL<\/strong><\/p>\n 19:30\u00a0Beginners\u2019\u00a0\u00a0Class<\/p>\n 20:30 Intermediates\u2019 Class<\/p>\n 21:15 Social Dancing & Practice<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So you\u2019ve been attending beginner classes on and off for a while and you\u2019re wondering when you can join the Intermediate Class? Here is everything you need to know! I\u2019m often asked by dancers if they can join the Intermediate Class as the class time suits them better or they have previous dance experience in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,3,1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beginners","category-dance","category-uncategorized","category-lindy-hop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=542"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":635,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions\/635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}