Saturday and Sunday day workshops

VENUE: All workshops will be held at Louie Louie & Juliet (Verity Lane) a short walk from Canberra Centre. Verity Lane is a great space, with easy access to food venues and a 5min walk from Canberra shopping centre.

There is available outside space for you to spend time with your friends during breaks too.

Location: Louie Louie & Juliet are located upstairs at Verity Lane Market, Sydney Building, Canberra City. Entry will be at the back of the building with lift access available as needed.

workshops schedule

Preliminary schedule below

TRACKS DESCRIPTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

LEVEL CHECK

There will be an audition for those who have ticked the “I want to audition for the top level” at registration. The audition will be judged by our teachers, and spaces are limited. The level check will be held prior to the first class of the event on the Saturday morning and will consist of social dancing in a group. We are looking at your ability to dance regardless of your partner's level and how you manage level disparity in your own dancing.

While this can be a stressful time, please be kind to yourself: you will still get to attend your workshops all weekend and learn from both sets of teachers no matter which level you ultimately get assigned to.

To help you determine where you’re at with your Balboa, check out the track description video shared by our friends at CalBal.

Track A - Lower Jurassic: Intermediate dancers

This track is for experienced Bal dancers who are comfortable dancing socially, can learn at a faster pace, and are looking for a challenge to get them to the next level. You can easily stay on time with the music without too much counting or too strong a R.B.F. (Resting Bal Face).

You are finding it comfortable to dance at 100 to 210 bpm (beat per minute) and are confident with the following:

  • Toss outs/throw outs: comfortable doing two in a row at 190+ bpm, and can walk through the general shape without a partner;

  • Can stay in balance and use the energy in pure bal and out-and-ins without a “sitting away” feeling (we see you Lindy Hoppers);

  • Adjusting to things like posture, hand-hold, balance, moves, styling choices to adapt to a range of partners;

  • Allowing the momentum to resolve, i.e. not slowing down and/or speeding through turns, no pulling or pushing, ability to absorb and redirect moment;

  • Can smoothly transition between moves, basics, and combos;

  • Can keep a solid rhythm even when you partner is struggling to stay on the beat;

  • Confident with out-and-ins, have a couple of variations you commonly use on the social floor, and you can adjust your set of “moves” to the music being played.

Audition Track - Upper Jurassic: Intermediate +/Advanced dancers

You have now officially grown feathers and are ready to take on the world of Balboa. This is the right track for you if you’re an experienced dancer, a scene leader in your town who’s inspiring others to learn, comfortable learning at a faster pace and want to be challenged in class. This is going to be less oriented towards moves, and be more conceptual, with ideas focusing on individual styling, flow, musicality and the likes.

Your are finding it comfortable to dance at tempos between 80 (slow bal) and 240bpm and are confident with required elements of the Middle Jurassic track as well as the following:

  • adapt to new ideas or recovering from mistakes without breaking the flow;

  • insert musical footwork and variations into a dance without having to think about it too much;

  • take feedback from peers and use it to improve your skills and self-awareness;

  • easily adjust your connection and moves to the person you are dancing with;

  • dance an entire song in pure bal, out and ins, rotational movements etc… and not get bored;

  • enjoy conceptual classes and happy to give it a good go!