Pass the Bounce offers a mixture of levelled tracks and open level classes. We’re excited to offer this style of workshop schedule, offering different ways of learning that allow us to focus on an array of topics, dig deep and support your dance journey as well as foster stronger, value-centred social dancers.
Levelled classes offer focus and depth to meet you where you are in your dancing. They build on a common baseline and allow for clarity and development tailored to your understanding and experience.
Open level classes offer true social dancefloor collaboration opportunities, reinforcing values at the heart of Lindy Hop and fostering connection and shared understanding as a community. They also allow us to experiment and be curious without pressure or expectation of knowledge.
Every day will kick off with solo movement, giving you the opportunity to check in with your body, ground yourself in your own movement and rhythm and be ready to show up fully in the rest of your dancing.
When you sign up, you’ll sign up to a track that reflects where you are in your dancing journey. Every community focuses on different things they value in their classes and so we encourage you to read the level descriptions with an open mind and reflect honestly and openly on which level best describes your current practice. It may not be about how long you’ve been dancing but more about how you engage with learning and your readiness to evaluate and challenge your own habits.
Each track will have approx. 5hrs of classes with our teaching team across the weekend.
In addition to your track, there will be 3.5hrs of open level classes on offer for you to choose from, allowing you to pick content that inspires you and gets your creativity blossoming.
You’ve probably been dancing at least a year and take classes regularly. You are comfortable with the basics, mixing 6-count and 8-count ideas into your social dancing and have a little Charleston and a Swing Out in your pocket. This level is about refining your core skills, expanding your vocabulary and helping you get your dancing feeling great!
The Swing Project attendees: you’ve danced at least a year at Level 1.
You have probably been dancing Lindy Hop for a couple years, taking lots of classes and/or traveling to workshops and festivals. You are into learning not only new vocabulary but also refining your fundamentals, embodying rhythm and finding ways to better connect to your partner, the music and yourself. This level assumes comfort with Swing Outs and Charleston ideas - if you are still getting comfortable with those, then please sign up for “Oh! What’s Occurin’!” instead.
The Swing Project attendees: you’re been attending Level 2 for at least 6 months.
You’ve been dancing Lindy Hop for several years, and know that the more experienced you become, the more it comes back to those fundamentals. You are comfortable throwing in variations without compromising on your ability to lead and follow and are comfortable dancing at a range of tempos.
You really like to be challenged in class, working on the quality of your movement and rhythm, as well as your connection skills. You are ready to work hard, examine the way you do things and want to deepen your understanding of technique as well as individual expression in your dancing. You prioritise rhythm, connection to the music and your partner and quality of movement in your dancing over collecting moves.
The Swing Project attendees: you’ve been attending Level 3 for at least 6 months.
Learning doesn’t just happen on the dance floor, and so our schedule includes a dedicated space for Culture sessions. Although the acknowledgement of the cultural heritage of Lindy Hop will be present across all classes and workshops, we believe a dedicated time for attendees to come together, listen and reflect is a great opportunity for us to grow as individuals, and as a community.
As dancers participating in a Black American art form, we believe this dance cannot, and should not, be separated from the cultural context in which it was created. However you discovered Lindy Hop, we believe that by engaging with its history and learning more about the values this dance was built on within Black American culture, each dancer has the opportunity to become a more respectful, appreciative participant in not only this art form, but in their community and in other cultures that are not our own. Simply put, more informed dancers = better dancers = better global citizens.
This belief has informed who we chose to join us for the teaching line up of Pass the Bounce. The educators we have invited to teach are all respectful practitioners and educators, and are passionate about honouring the legacy of Lindy Hop in both our learning and our practice.
Want to learn more about engaging with the cultural legacy of Lindy Hop? Why not check out great organisations committed to this mission:
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