18
Mar '23

Lindy What? March 2023 News letter

admin

Ahoy Lindy Hoppers!

We hope you’re all doing well, and are getting ready for a swingin’ spring, because we have so much cool stuff coming, it’s almost too much to fit in one news letter! Let’s try anyway and hope you have a longer concentration span than the writer of this thing 😉

  • Topics:
  • Crash Course for absolute beginners
  • Registration new block now open!
  • Blues & Solo Jazz Lessons
  • Update Push and Pull Workshops
  • Introducing new teacher Renske
  • What’s Hop 2024 – 10 year Anniversary of Lindy What?
  • Upcoming Events
  • Video of the Month
  • Did you know?

Crash Course for absolute beginners

Every other block, we organize a Crash Course. This is a one weekend course where in 6 to 8 hours, we will teach all the material from the Lindy A course! We go over everything, from the basic bounce all up to the most important figures to survive an evening on the social dance floor!

So if you always wanted to learn the Lindy Hop and you want to learn it fast?? Like in one weekend??? Then this is the event for you!

Also we recommend Lindy A students of this block to join this Crash Course as well, as it is the perfect summary of the past 8 weeks! So much so, that this course is free for current Lindy A students to join, so make sure you sign up as well!

Remember, this is also the perfect way to get that friend you’ve been getting excited for all this time on the dancefloor, so make sure you let them know as well! 🙂

More info and sign up form here:
https://www.lindynijmegen.org/facebook-event/crash-course-lindy-hop-4-beginners-2/

Registrations new block open!

Even though we’re only half way into the current block, we have already opened up registrations for the next one! Reason for this is that we want to make sure we have balanced groups for all levels, and we wanted to allow for more time since we’re expanding our lesson offerings from coming block! (see more info below)! The next block will start on May 12th and runs until June 30th, and might be the most exciting block we have done to date!

Lindy Hop lessons
The coming block will be bursting with Lindy Hop goodness once again, where in three groups we’ll dive into all kinds of new figures, expand on technique, and play around with musicality and creativity.

Lindy A+ will directly follow up the A classes, where we will help you cement in those fundamentals, especially when it comes to swing outs and circles, making sure you’re ready to jump in Lindy B afterwards.

Lindy B is where you will vastly expand your Lindy vocabulary in terms of movement and gain better understanding of the technique that is behind them. Musicality will also become a theme here, as we’ll deepen the connection with the music we dance to.

Lindy C is where you will nerd out with us on the nitty gritty details. These classes often have a more conceptual take on the dance, and can span a vast array of subjects.

If you want to get into Lindy Hop you can join the Crash Course and directly into A+!

For more information and sign up form, please check out the following page:
https://www.lindynijmegen.org/lindy-hop-lessons/

Solo Jazz lessons
If you thought Lindy Hop was fun, you haven’t tried solo jazz yet! 😉 Many of you will know the Shim Sham, might have learned the Tranky Doo or even tried the Big Apple. Routines danced for many years world wide. But there is way more to it! Diving into the jazz steps, rhythms and ways to use your body on your own you’ll discover the freedom solo jazz gives you. Improvising on the dance floor, just reacting to the music you hear.

The term ‘vernacular’ means ‘a language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people of a particular region’. This sets it apart from modern jazz and ballet jazz dance, and is the origin of those typical named movements you see in Lindy Hop solo choreographies, like the Fall of the Log, and the Suzie-Q.

The lessons will be set up in such a way that you can join both as a pure beginner, and if you have experience, making it an all level course!

For more information and sign up form, click here:
https://www.lindynijmegen.org/lindy-hop-lessons/#SoloJazz

Blues lessons
Blues is an easy going dance full of groove, improvisation and musicality. Originated in the African American culture, it all started in the juke joints dancing the night away. The blues music is rich in its diversity. Going from the Delta & Mississippi Blues, to Chicago blues into the jazzy New Orleans Blues, there are many blues idioms to be discovered along with it!

In our partnered blues lessons, Renske will teach you the basics of blues dancing in terms of movement, rhythm and timing, and connecting to both the music and your partner.

The lessons will be set up in such a way that you can join both as a pure beginner, and if you have experience, making it an all level course! You can sign up alone or with a partner, and we will rotate partners during class.

For more information and sign up form, click here:
https://www.lindynijmegen.org/lindy-hop-lessons/#Blues

Push & Pull the tempo workshops

As you know, we have two weeks of workshops between current and next block from special teachers Deirdre, Joost, Yuliya and Ilja! These swing gurus will teach you all the tricks of dancing to very slow ánd very fast music. There are still some spots left so if you haven’t signed up yet, make sure to do so fast! (and slow :P)

For more information and registration form you can click here:
https://www.lindynijmegen.org/facebook-event/push-and-pull-the-tempo-workshops-2/

New teacher Renske

Renske has a heart made for dancing. She started when she was 3 years old and never stopped ; ) She might have tried almost every dancestyle there is, but the deep love for Blues, solo jazz and the swing dances stayed with her. In her classes she loves to spread her joy for dancing, diving into how to use your body, becoming aware of what you are doing and discovering together who you are as a dancer. Be ready to get a boost of energy in her classes!

What’s Hop 2024 – 10 year Anniversary of Lindy What?

Next year our little club celebrates its 10 year anniversary! This means that we are going all out, as we will get the coolest bands, teachers and artists to Nijmegen to party with us! Pien already started the committee and we’re looking for more volunteers to help plan and organize this very special event. Do you want to help out? Drop us a line here: lindynijmegen@gmail.com

Upcoming events

  • April 2nd NimmaHop! social with beginners taster class
  • April 14th & 21th Push & Pull the Tempo workshops
  • April 29th & 30th Crash course for beginners
  • May 7th NimmaHop Live! social with the Spirit Stompers!
  • May 12th start block 4 of 2023
  • June 4th NimmaHop Outdoors! @ Nijmegen Klinkt!

Check out the website for more info on these:
https://www.lindynijmegen.org/agenda/

Video of the month

These days it’s hard to scroll past Laura if you’ve ever searched for Lindy Hop content on YouTube, but rightfully so, because this cat can dance for real and it’s nice to see her in action here outside of a content creator context. Remy is, well, Remy! One of the legendaries of the modern age, and responsible for some of the most recognized and appreciated representations of Lindy Hop today! Enjoy!

Did you know..

  • singing rhythm in your head is one of the best ways to learn new movements?
  • if you want to have inspiration for this; Tijs has all kinds of weird sounds to make, in your head ánd out loud!
  • our move to Ammané has really improved the cohesion of our club?
  • it’s such a joy to see you all dancing together during practice time?
  • you are invited to also ask teachers questions during this time and have a dance?
  • dancing with the teachers after class is a really nice way to test all the new content you’ve learned?
  • the Opstand is our new hangout spot after classes?
  • it’s a really cozy place with nice drinks and interesting music?
  • this news letter is probably the longest we ever did?
  • it probably contains some spelling and grammar errors because of it? 😛