We’re continuing our swing class and changing the format somewhat. This Wednesday, March 21st, swing will now be all levels: basics for total beginners, basics practice and polishing for experienced dancers, and as much new vocabulary, musicality, and advanced repertoire as students are able to absorb!
Like many things these days, the details are on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/188187327958879/
Swing is our original dance, so we’re really excited about teaching it!
Every year we get asked to help at least one student charm that special someone during a private dance lesson. Sometimes this simply means a lesson close to Valentine’s Day. One year it meant decorating our studio with red streamers and balloons, putting out chocolate and candles, and teaching our students in a much more romantic setting – and of course, this was on Valentine’s Day itself.
Whatever our students’ visions may be, we do our best to help them come to life.
This year we’re offering similar options but with a little more foresight and planning:
Sweeten your dance lesson with a bit of chocolate
Some ideas…
- one private lesson during Valentine’s Day week (not on Valentine’s Day itself) and a sample of David’s perfect homemade truffles to sweeten the moment
- one private lesson on Valentine’s Day itself, taught in candlelight and with David’s homemade truffles
- one private lesson on Valentine’s Day with candlelight, a bottle of wine to share during the lesson or take home, and David’s truffles
Please contact us for rates!
We’re open to other ideas as well. Share your thoughts with us, describe your vision, and we’ll help you make it real!
I recently had the pleasure of performing for a massive New Year’s Eve party – a first for me, actually.
It was a four room, Jame Bond-themed extravaganza at the Empire Landmark Hotel. Salsa, electro swing, hip hop/club, and world groove rooms, appetizers, drinks and desserts, several performing groups, and a lot of guests.
For the first part of the night I wandered the space on stilts.
I received some of the most enthusiastic interaction I’ve ever had. Everywhere I went, I danced hard like I usually do, and everyone around me responded with joy, excitement, and a real willingness to get close and interact. I partner danced, had people dance through my legs, and of course offered plenty of high fives all around. If anything, it felt a little dangerous in the rooms where the ceiling was lower, the space was more crowded, and the lighting was a bit darker. It was a real test of stilt walking skill, and luckily I passed!
Later on came my solo fire show, a James Bond-themed poi piece. I entered looking “normal” – a bit like James Bond in a dark suit with a dress shirt opened at the collar, and then as soon as the music started I put on goggles and removed my suit jacket to reveal a sleeveless dress shirt and leather bracers underneath. The rest of the piece was really about using the music to feature my movement and poi skills, and it all went pretty well. Unfortunately, my camera died right as I lit my poi, so I don’t have any video yet, but here at least is one guest’s quick snapshot to give an idea of what my costume looked like.
We’re teaching blues in Edmonton!
That’s right, the scene there is quickly growing, and a previous student who now lives there wants to take things further. We’re flying in early on Saturday, January 21st to teach for the day. There’s a dance that night where we’ll dance it up with all our students and anyone else who comes out to join us. The next day we’re offering private lessons for students who’d like to take their dancing even further.
It’s always an interesting challenge to plan for a crash course, 5 hour long series of workshop segments, but here’s how we’ve broken it down:
We’re definitely excited to offer our unique approach to an entirely different scene! With luck, we’ll get lots of photos, and we’ll post them here with an update once we’re back.
On Saturday August 27th, 2011, Night & Day Dance took part in the Vancouver Mitsubishi City Chase. The Mitsubishi City Chase is a unique urban adventure that requires participants to exhibit teamwork, resourcefulness, determination and the ability to make decisions on the fly as they search for ChasePoints scattered in unknown locations throughout the city. ChasePoints are designed to test teams with a variety of physical, intellectual, adventurous and humorous challenges.
Night & Day Dance set up one of the ChasePoints as a ballroom dance obstacle course. Participants were taught proper social ballroom dance frame and then how to walk, rotate and grapevine together with that frame in an obstacle course format. We increased the difficulty level by having the follow do it while blindfolded and having both of them dance together to keep a volleyball balanced between their chests. If the ball dropped at any point then the participants had to go back to the beginning of that leg of the obstacle course and start it again. For the final leg of the obstacle course, one member of each two person team had to hula hoop to the finish line while the other had to balance a ball on the back of his or hand, if either of them dropped their prop they had to stop, switch props and then keep going.
Despite the intense heat of the day, and the participants’ exhaustion from running around to the different ChasePoints, they couldn’t help laughing at themselves as they worked together to get to the finish line without tripping over each other or dropping the ball.
Here are two photos from the event. The first one shows me and a volunteer The second photo shows two participants walking from cone A to cone B while balancing a volleyball between their chests and while the follow is blindfolded. The intense look on their faces is partly due to the exhaustion of running around to the different ChasePoints on an extremely hot day.
Social Ballroom Frame
Ballroom Dance Obstacle Course!
Well, once again our blog vanished into the abyss of forgotten things-to-do, and now it has surfaced, hopefully to be reborn with more frequent content. There’s so much going on in Vancouver that it can be hard to keep up.
As always, with a return to blogging after a long delay, it makes sense to update everyone about what we’re doing. And what we’re doing is a lot!
1) Actually, I should first say that one thing we’re not doing enough of is teaching wedding dance lessons. This is a slower season, of course, but in general the frequency of our first dance lessons has decreased, and we’re not sure why. We’d love to get more students in – it’s one of the more rewarding things that we teach! For more information, visit our wedding first dance lesson page.
2) We’re starting a new blues dance class on Monday, November 14 at my live/work studio! Contact us for more info!
3) I just started a new poi class at Sideshow Studios this past Tues. There were sixteen paying students in the first class! I can’t wait to teach the next class, and I always welcome new students. There’s more info on Facebook. Find us and let us know if you want more info!
4) On November 24 I will be performing with two other musicians at Telus World of Science for private guests during a relaunch party. Our focus is on instruments made of natural materials – mostly wood – including didgeridoo, shakuhachi, fujara, native flute, and more.
5) I’m also hard at work planning the three ways I will be involved with the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival this year. Once again, I’m coordinating the fire show at the Roundhouse Community Centre. For the second year in a row I am also coordinating a group of didgeridoo players to play in the labyrinth at Britannia. And for the first time, this year I am also organizing musicians to play ambient music in the Performance Centre at the Roundhouse. It’s going to be a busy Dec 21st evening!
That’s a good start for now. Please let us know if you have questions about any of the things we’re doing. And if you know anyone who is getting married, send them our way! We’ll make sure their first dance is lovely and memorable!
So, once again it’s time to make sure everyone out there know’s what we’re up to! And it’s going to be a lot this year!
First, poi classes! Britannia poi class
You can also check out details here:
Poi class on Facebook
Next, a blues drop in class to gear up for a new session of classes:
Blues Drop in Class on Facebook
Then, in February we have several fire shows planned, including three evenings at Winterruption. We’re working under the name Firebelly. No official info is posted yet. Eventually you’ll be able to find all the details on the winterruption website: http://www.granvilleisland.com/node/845
Plus blues jams, more classes, and other events to come!
After a bit of an internal hiatus from blues and partner dance (I just wasn’t feeling compelled to do much), I feel like I’m back….and better than ever!
This time I’m delving more deeply into blues music. I remember going through a phase like this at the beginning of my swing dance craze, back when I started dancing in the first place, back when the newness of it all compelled me to learn all I could about this new thing I so dearly loved. I listened to a lot of swing music then, I learned about its origin, along with the dance, and I felt I really could embrace my experience on the dance floor from the inside out. I didn’t just dance to the music, or on the music – I danced inside it. I breathed it!
Now the same is happening, but with blues. It’s no longer enough to simply show up at a dance and dance to the songs I like. I want to know what they are, where they come from, who sings them, and what they’re about. I had no idea that blues music reaches back quite so far. I had no idea that watching a recording of old blues singers could be so compelling, but it’s true – the look in Howlin’ Wolf’s eyes from some of those old films is…well….frightening….awe-inspiring…moving. Moving. Moving!
How many blues dancers realize that they’re dancing to the deep outcry of people who struggled, who fought, who had it tough but came through the fire anyway? No wonder I needed a break – the dance was becoming all mechanics and no feeling. I’m back to that original place I entered all those years ago – feeling, feeling, feeling!
At one point during my search for new music, I tried to find playlists for blues dancers. Not much luck there! I realized that there is a huge hole out there in the internet – not enough information about the songs that are great for dancing. Perhaps DJs would rather hide their secrets. I’ve decided I’d like to expose them, or I guess I mean I’d like to share them – share my own adventures in music so that others can have the experience of dancing to the songs that are really moving. So, time permitting, that’s my plan – start listing the artists that sing and play their hearts out, first of all, and then list the songs that are best for really going somewhere on the dance floor. I’ll list slow, medium and faster blues along with fusion, world, and other not-quite-blues genres as well as non-blues music that has enough bluesy elements or simply enough feeling to make me want to blues dance to it. Perhaps blues dance is no longer blues dance once you change the music, but it’s close enough. The feeling is there. The same elements apply.
Speaking of the elements of blues dancing, Diane and I are also teaching blues again, and it feels great. We’re delving deeper into the dance now, and we’re finding new ways to break down the things we do and offer concepts that will help other dancers expand what they do as well. Our latest mini blues dance class went really well, so we’re organizing more, spreading our unique insights, hoping to positively influence the Vancouver dance scene one dancer, or one small group of dancers, at a time!
Here is a long-ish summer poi update. Please, please, please let me know if there’s something big I’ve missed, and I’ll add it!
In this update: 1) Poi classes, 2) Fire jams, 3) Non-fire jams, 4) Fire shows, 5) Poi community.
1) I’m teaching two classes this summer:
Thursdays in July – Trout Lake. Drop-in beginner and intermediate/advanced classes from 7-9 pm.
Mondays all summer – Britannia Community Centre. All level class from 8:30 to 10 pm.
More info: http://www.nightanddaydance.com/poi/lessons/
2) Fire jams are lighting up the summer nights!
Wednesdays at Trout Lake are gaining momentum. It’s said to be a slightly more “beginner-friendly” vibe, which is great for newer spinners. I go when I can!
Sunday at Trout Lake is the bigger night, sometimes with a dj or drummers, and lots of great spinners. This night tends to draw a bigger audience too. Come see what’s cookin’, or do some spinning yourself!
3) There are two regular non-fire jams now.
They happen at around the same day/time: Saturdays around 2 pm. One is at the Art Gallery, and the other is at Trout Lake. Oh, woe is I, how does one decide? Trout Lake is closer to where I live, and I like going there after the Farmers Market. This weekend I’d like to go to one, then the other. We’ll see! Both are are blast and worth checking out!
Another jam happens a little farther out – Wednesdays in New West. Check out http://www.vanjug.org for info!
Other folks have also been getting together on their own to practice and play. I’d love to see them post their info online, perhaps on the Vancouver Poi Enthusiasts page on Facebook. I wouldn’t mind having a few more friendly outdoor practice/play sessions myself! Anyone have a few new cool moves to share?
4) There are a few fire shows coming in July.
You’ll see fire-aplenty at Illuminares at Trout Lake on July 25th – a tradition during that event. The following night, I’ve been asked to perform with fire at an event on/near Spanish Banks. I’ll send more info when I know more, but it should be a pretty magical/meditative experience!
5) Poi community – I love it!
And I’d love to see it grow. One of my favorite moments at Firedrums was when I stood up from lunch in the lodge and started spinning. A few minutes later, five others had joined me and we were sharing moves and ideas. About ten minutes later, one of the kitchen people started banging out an awesome rhythm with a ladle on the steel counter. Then all the kitchen people joined in. Suddenly the room exploded into a thundering harmony of rhythm and sound – it was breathtaking, and it was coming from US! Then Burning Dan, an amazing spinner and teacher, jumped into a clear spot and starting jamming out and dancing with poi, and we all watched and cheered. What an amazing moment! Poi community!
So maybe this is what I’m suggesting: we need a poi day. We pick a day. We pick a place. We get together for the day, and we spin, eat, make music, and jam. The sun goes down, and then we burn, eat some more, make more music, jam, take photos and videos. Then we share our day, in images, online. Then we do it again and again!
So, what do you think? A poi day, this summer? August? Or do we think even bigger and call it Flow Vancouver and invite all the hoopers/staffers, etc too! What do you think?
I hope to see you out spinning soon!
Happy spinning, happy living!
David
New poi spinning classes start soon!
The big one is on Monday nights at Britannia Community Centre at 8:45 pm. Starts April 20. $140 for all ten classes.
Learn all the poi basics, intermediate poi concepts, and advanced poi moves. Did I mention poi?
I’ll have practice poi to borrow or buy, and we’ll plan at least one fire safety orientation and outdoor fire jam.
All the important info is here: http://www.nightanddaydance.com/poi/