THE BLUES VARIETY WEEKEND 2024

OUR EVENT IN ONE SENTENCE ;) - Top international teachers (Daniel Repsch, Flouer Evelyn, Alain NCA) - Intensive workshops on 3 levels (basic, intermediate, advanced) - Blues and African dance classes - Amazing bands (Boogie Mama, The Variety Blues Band, Blues Brother & Sister, Cotton Wing) - Chill out on the beach - Djembe drums workshop, an African drum concert & jams - Additional intensive training for ambitious students (Monday - Tuesday) 📣 📣 REGISTRATION: https://forms.gle/sRQH9qp44oH8uiEH9 📣 📣 EVENT HARMO IN EN 📣 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JxHRUU989y2XfJmgcTDeWo1rno9LbdLmYOhrJn13P_M/edit?usp=sharing 📣 HARMONOGRAM WYDARZENIA PO POLSKU 📣 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JQ9FqTVMUWmtxLUW6Gz2sB-2aGmyWk439nAvzUVhO14/edit?usp=sharing 🥁🕺🤩 THEMES OF THE WEEKEND CLASSES - Rhythm and creativity!!! 🥁🕺🤩 📣 One of the most intriguing things about African and blues dancing is the plethora (or variety ;)) of rhythms we hear and interpret in these types of music. At The Congo Square in New Orleans there were traditional African rhythms (e.g. tresillo, clave), which started mixing with ragtime music and polkas of the parades and parading brough on one hand the marching rhythm and on the other - interpretation of different instruments by the dancers with their own rhythms 🙂 📣 As blues dancers we would love to find out more about these rhythms, their interpretation, differences and roots in African dances :) This is why we start with village African dances, go to blues rhythms and styles and finish with walking blues inspirations ;) We hope you’ll enjoy this journey ;) 📣 But.. we would love to be creative in it and have more and more resources and ideas to do it, while respecting the aesthetics and the historical context of the dance 🙂 📣 This all sums up to the major themes of the weekend (Friday - Sunday workshops) - RHYTHM AND CREATIVITY! We want to focus on the following: 🥁 djembe drum workshops (playing drums) using traditional African dance rhythms which are also present in blues dancing, 🥁 African dance - dances of villages in Western Africa, traditional rhythms and preparation for African dance jams, 🥁 the rhythm is in your body/backbone (groove) or in your feet, so we will cover also some upper body workout in African dances to make our backbones more vivid and prepared for blues dancing, 🥁 we will work on the grooves of the Downhome (also called “Backwoods blues” - the acoustic blues of rural areas of the South) 🥁 African rhythms in blues 🥁 marching and walking blues 🥁 funk and fast blues rhythms for more creativity and ideas for music interpretation. 💥 FULL WEEKEND CLASS TOPIC DESCRIPTION ⤵️ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u5SrokNX6gFQzX01tIEwSMAEZn7xlp6zFsH0xlICk8c/edit?usp=sharing WERSJA POLSKA OPISU TEMATÓW ⤵️ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xVv2qMtOafKSFuBGB1VPMKiQvdZAqAroFJnF0LRtOE4/edit?usp=sharing 💥 LEVELS INTERMEDIATE - you have had or are attending local classes at least for a few months (or you used to dance blues and had a long break or you dance other dance styles more often than blues) and one or more workshops & international festivals and have some experience dancing socially. You know basic movements and some variations depending on the music genre of blues.You are familiar with concepts such as rhythms, grooves, open and closed position. You can express yourself while dancing in a couple. ADVANCED - you have been dancing blues for a few years now and traveling a lot to festivals or actively attending many workshops. You have a rich vocabulary of movements, genres, understanding of blues aesthetics and want to further develop your skills in improvising. You know musicality well and distinguish between various blues styles without effort.You feel comfortable dancing in different types of close embraces. You have been playing with some idioms such as chicago triple, ballroom or struttin’. SOLO BLUES (OPEN LEVEL REQUIREMENTS) - you have had or are attending local classes at least for a few months (or you used to dance blues and had a long break or you dance other dance styles more often than blues) and one or more workshops & international festivals and have some experience dancing socially. You know basic movements and some variations depending on the music genre of blues.You are familiar with concepts such as rhythms, grooves, shapes. You can express yourself while dancing solo. AFRICAN DANCE (OPEN LEVEL REQUIREMENTS) - you are fit, have no major injuries, love djembe drums and are ready for a dance workout ;) BEGINNER - you have no or very little experience in blues dancing, but you would like to participate in this festival, so you need us to show you the basics to enjoy the parties ;) OPIS POZIOMÓW W JĘZYKU POLSKIM ⤵️ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_YZW4KsqMwvu9YmQ98ZhqSt9d2NB3Wgu7MWmOZuZNWA/edit?usp=sharing 🏠 🏨 🏣 VENUES 🏠 🏨 🏣 Most venues will be in Gdynia this time :) Friday Opening Party: 🏠 Konsulat Kultury Gdynia, Jana z Kolna 25, 81-354 Gdynia Saturday Party: 🏠 Dom Kultury Przymorze, ul. Śląska 66 b, Gdansk, Poland 📣 Sunday Afterparty: Carnivale Club Sopot, Tadeusza Kościuszki 16/4, 81-704 Sopot 📣 Monday Party: Przystanek Fontanna, skwer Kościuszki 81/370, 81-370 Gdynia 📣 Tuesday Farewell Party: Konrad & Agnieszka's garden, Sędziowska street, Gdynia Orłowo 📣 CLASS VENUE (SATURDAY & INTENSIVE TRAINING): LATINO CAFE, Gdynia (Redłowo district), Cypriana Norwida 4C (the studio is inside a block of flats, so enter from the parking lot to the block of flats and go till the end of the corridor to the left; if you get lost easily, please try to ask our regular students for help ;)) 📣 CLASS VENUE (SUNDAY): DANCE FUSION, Gdynia (Wzgórze Maksymiliana District), Poleska 25, 81-321 📣 LUNCH PRE-ORDER: https://forms.gle/xmNtkFuEBogUuKcX7 📣 FRIDAY EVENING & PARTY - CLASSES, DESCRIPTION & TICKETS 📣 On Friday night we would like to invite you to one of our favorite places in Gdynia which is Konsulat Kultury Gdynia :) Beautiful bar & theatre, nice patio and interior of a former Swedish Consulate :) We will start the evening with a djembe drums workshop on the patio followed by the African dance class with Viola in the theatre :) We will then continue with an African drums concert, showcases and jams :) And finally we will welcome one of our blues bands and and some great Harlem Beats DJs to spend awesome time on the dancefloor with them in the beautiful theatre ;) We hope you like this idea :) 📣 TICKETS FOR FRIDAY PARTY: 🏣 The Party/ Impreza: 🏣 English version: https://gck.interticket.pl/program/noc-kupaly-w-konsulacie-kultury-pokazykoncertypotancowka-9451 Wersja polska: https://gck.interticket.pl/program/noc-kupaly-w-konsulacie-kultury-pokazykoncertypotancowka-9451?lang=pl 🥁 Djembe workshops\ Warsztaty gry na djembe: 🥁 English version: https://gck.interticket.pl/program/warsztaty-gry-na-bebnach-w-noc-kupaly-9450?lang=en Wersja polska: https://gck.interticket.pl/program/warsztaty-gry-na-bebnach-w-noc-kupaly-9450 📣 PRICES OF FRIDAY TICKETS - djembe workshop with your drums - 12 euros/ 50 zlotys; with djembe rental - 19 euros/ 80 zlotys - African dance intro class + concerts and party - 12 euro / 50 zlotys 🏆 INTENSIVE TRAINING SESSIONS - MONDAY & TUESDAY 🏆 🤼 Just like the Blues Essentials, the Intensive Training Sessions of the Blues Variety Weekend are meant for smaller (up to 10 couples per level) groups of ambitious and curious dancers (dancer geeks ;)) who go one step further to master their dance, are open to work solo, in groups, and couples, but are also not afraid to ask questions and try out new things with the teachers! 🤼 The sessions will be full of exercises, guidance, feedback and options to try with teachers in small groups, but also time to test certain connections with peers and ask for feedback without rushing. Teachers will assign tasks to analyze, test, discuss and elaborate and come up with your own style or opinion about the topic of assignment. 🤼 Most classes will be partnered. Some of the sessions will be solo classes with a demo of how to use the same grooves/moves in a couple :) 🤼 The classes will be held on two levels/ in two groups, but the levels and groups depend on the experience and background of the participants. Therefore, in order to be placed in one of the groups, please answer the questions in the registration form 🙂 🤼 In the registration form we will ask you about your blues dancing experience, your training goals, your frequency of attending classes and events, your favorite blues genres/music and your blues challenges you hope to tackle during these sessions :) Based on the answers or all the participants you will be placed in one of the groups with dancers with a similar profile. We suspect one group might be slightly more advanced than the other, but as this is the first time we are organizing these Intensive Sessions, it is difficult for us to foresee the levels in advance :) 💥 DETAILED CLASS TOPIC DESCRIPTION AND 📋 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF THE INTENSIVE SESSIONS ⤵️ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bQhWCYJ4W5-7Th8OY6EI9gYGRqBeK_ui41waILU2R0Y/edit#heading=h.c61h989it0tj 🎤🎹🎸🎷🥁 MUSIC BANDS 🎤🎹🎸🎷🥁 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MF4Z5z363tK6_m7d91X5-72M34b6s7Qb4kwP6o6dXLo/edit?usp=sharing -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tickets for classes: 🎷 Solo Track (4 hours) + Party (SAT + SUN) - 360 PLN /85 EUR 🎷 Couple Track (4 hours) + Party (SAT + SUN) pass - 400 PLN / 95 EUR 🎷 Afro Track (5 hours) + Party (SAT + SUN) Pass - 415 PLN / 100 EUR 🎷 Solo Track + 1 afro class on Saturday + 1 afro class on Sunday (6 h) + Party (SAT + SUN) Pass - 465 PLN / 110 EUR 🎷 Couple + 1 solo class on Saturday + 1 on Sunday (6h) + Party (SAT + SUN) Pass - 500 PLN / 115 EUR 🎷 Solo Track + Afro Track (8 hours) + Party (SAT + SUN) Pass - 560 PLN / 130 EUR 🎷Crazy Pass (couple pass 4h, solo track 4 hours, + 2 extra afro classes) + Party (SAT + SUN) Pass - 670 PLN / 160 EUR 🎷 Party Pass without classes - (Saturday + Sunday) - 120 pln without parties: 📣 📣 REGISTRATION: https://forms.gle/sRQH9qp44oH8uiEH9 📣 📣 In any questions contact us: [email protected] cheers!