New: Three-Part Beginner Swing Dance Series Continues at Jump Session!

Earlier in 2012, Jump Session began offering a progressive three part Beginner Swing Class Series that introduces students to two vintage jazz dance styles that originated in the 1920s and 1930s:
Lindy Hop and Balboa.

Each month, one part of the series will be offered. Part 1: Beginner Swing is for students new to dance or just new to swing dancing. Part 2: Beginner Lindy Hop continues the techniques learned in Beginner Swing, and is perfect for dancers who are already comfortable with “East Coast Swing” and would like to learn the “Swingout”. Finally, Part 3: Beginner Balboa teaches dancers an energetic, closed-position dance with lots of fun footwork!

Part 3: Beginner Balboa
Tuesdays at 8pm (Starting May 1st)
Taught by Corey & Susan Manke
Corey and Susan will introduce dancers to Balboa (“Pure Bal”) and Bal-Swing. Balboa, also known as the “sweetheart dance”, is an energetic closed-position dance with subtle, smooth, and fun footwork that allow dancers to maneuver through crowded dance floors and dance to music at higher tempos. Bal-Swing incorporates “breakaways” from the closed position, with turns, kicks, and other moves. Balboa originated in the early 1930s in the clubs of Newport, California that hosted swing dance nights. Over the years the dancers who did shag, Charleston, Jig Walks, Foxtrot, and Lindy Hop merged those dances into this more energetic style.

Beginner Balboa is for the novice swing dancer who knows little about balboa to the seasoned dancer who wants to brush up on their basics. Class will start with the basic step and will continue through all the essential moves and techniques needed for dancing balboa. This is a progressive series; drop-ins require instructor approval.
Cost: 4 for $40 (Register Online)

Part 1: Beginner Swing
Tuesdays at 8pm in JUNE (Starting June 5th)
Taught by Megan Adair & Richard Wright.
Beginner Swing is for anyone who is new to swing dancing and has never taken a swing dance course before. No partner is necessary! Megan and Richard will be starting at basic East Coast swing. You will learn basic six-count moves, pulse and rhythm, the rock step, basic turns, and most importantly partner connection and frame.
Cost: 4 for $40 (Register Online)

Part 2: Beginner Lindy Hop
Tuesdays at 8pm in JULY (Starting July 10th)
Taught by Tim & Sarah Munsell.
Students who take Beginner Swing and dancers who are comfortable with East Coast Swing will be ready for our Beginner Lindy Hop class with Tim and Sarah. Beginner Lindy Hop continues with the triple step, more work on lead-follow partner connection, additional six count moves, and adds the energetic eight count swingout that is so fun to dance and looks great on the dance floor!
Cost: 4 for $40 (Register Online)

 
(Return to Class Descriptions)
 

Instructors

Corey & Susan Manke
Corey & Susan are veterans of the swing dance community and have been dancing Lindy Hop for 10 years and Balboa for 7 years. During this time, they have studied with many national & international instructors. They are most comfortable on the social dance floor, teaching & participating in workshops, instigating late night shenanigans and occasionally competing. Most notably, they took 3rd place in the American Classic Balboa Championship 2009 Amateur Strictly, 1st place for Corey in the 2010 Amateur Jack & Jill, and have been finalists in several competitions.

Corey and Susan were honored to be participants of The Experiment in 2010 and 2011, a highly intensive balboa workshop built around the model of small, select groups of international students spending a week together with top dancers in an extraordinary live+work+play environment. Corey and Susan have also organized the Nashville Balboa Experience for 4 years.

Dances they teach are Swing, Lindy Hop & Balboa as well as general dance movement for social functions such as weddings. Available for privates, group lessons or workshops. No partner necessary.

Corey Manke (615) 618-0900 or manke.corey@gmail.com
Susan Manke (615) 477-9462 or susanmanke@yahoo.com

Tim & Sarah Munsell
Tim and Sarah Munsell have been teaching Nashville how to Lindy Hop since 2002. That’s a long time to pursue one hobby, and the time and energy they have spent honing their craft shows. They take complicated concepts and break them down into simple movements we do in every day life, just we usually don’t have any music playing. This approach is rooted in their philosophy that Lindy Hop shouldn’t seem impossible to learn, and most of us don’t care about being professional dancers, we just want to have an awesome time dancing to this awesome music.

Tim & Sarah bring much mirth to class with their wit, energy, and humor. From beginners to advanced dancers, they teach a dynamic style of Lindy Hop that is surprising and delightful, especially for your dance partner. You’ll learn to be able to dance with anyone, and have the time of your life doing it.
Email Tim & Sarah here.

Megan Adair
Megan Adair is a passionate and engaging dancer who brings lindy hop, Charleston, and blues to the classroom, stage, and social dance floor. A recent east Tennessee transplant, you can now find her fun-loving smile on dance floors in Nashville.

For the past 10 years, Megan has taught hundreds of students a variety of vernacular dances, increasing their body awareness and refining their quality of movement while keeping them focused on and engaged with the music. Her class material includes Lindy Hop, Blues, and Charleston. In all of her classes Megan wants her students to enjoy themselves, leaving the classroom with new moves, new understanding, new challenges, and confidence to explore improvisation and expression on their own terms.

As a performer and choreographer, Megan has graced the spotlight from D.C. to St. Louis and San Francisco to Atlanta. Her dancing is masterful and expressive; in addition to vintage blues & jazz, she adds elements of African, belly dance, and hip hop to create a style uniquely her own.

Above all, Megan brings her joy, passion, and playfulness with her into the classroom as well as onto the floor and stage. She wants to inspire people, and she wants people to dance.

Megan has garnered first place prizes at Lindy Focus and other national workshops, and her extensive teaching resume includes long stints with Knoxville's Swing Dance Association and Community School for the Arts.
Megan Adair (615) 686-7752 or lindymoogy@gmail.com