Many Dance Styles now boast styling, aesthetics or even moves borrowed from other styles – but the Island Dance Wizards believe that all of that has very little to do with the current explosion of interest in Fusion Dancing! Accomplished Fusion Dancers instead appear to have the ability to establish a telepathic communication between them that enables them to move seamlessly from style to style within a single track at will and as a partnership, rather than being tied to the moves or structures of any one style… That ability is of course, in reality, based on a common knowledge of the core techniques both of the dances themselves and of how to Nail the Transitions between the styles being employed… and today we’ll be sharing how to do that for Blues / Tango Fusion Dancing…
The bond between original style Blues Dancing and Argentine Tango goes back for over a century... This gives dancers from either style a serious advantage when experimenting with crossing to the 'other side' or creating their own unique Fusion Style - and this series of Workshops shows you how! Each Workshop deals with an individual topic in depth, so you can attend any as a stand-alone Workshop or come to as many as you wish*
Mandy and Basil – the Island Dance Wizards – have over 40 years of full time professional teaching experience between them. They teach in a variety of social partner styles, but specialise in Tango, Blues and Tango/Blues Fusion, and were the first UK teaching couple to offer dancers a choice of weekly lessons in all of these styles concurrently. They strongly believe that close connection lies at the heart and soul of partner dancing and that this connection itself relies on a greater mutual understanding of technique – this principle underlies all of their Dance Teaching.
- N.B. You need some previous experience in Tango and/or Blues to attend this Workshop, but please note that those who have learned their Blues elsewhere must attend the first part in order to get the best from the rest of the afternoon, as our approach to technique may be radically different to your previous experience!
We will be rotating all partners in this Workshop. Numbers are strictly limited to ensure plenty of personal attention (and places book early, so please do not delay!).
Dancers who are not sure if they meet the minimum experience requirement for our Intensive Workshops in Southampton or Tango dancers who want a less intensive way to dip their toe into the dark waters of experimenting with using Tango Technique for Blues Fusion Dancing may wish to consider our monthly Beginner-Friendly Blues Workshops in Chichester - see https://www.facebook.com/events/1177255315671417/
For more details of all of our events, including classes on the Isle of Wight, other Blues/Tango Fusion Workshops in Southampton and Monthly Blues/Expressive Workshops and Freestyles in Chichester, please see our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/IslandDanceWizards
Arrive at 14:00 for 14.15 start
Part 1 (14.15-15.15): Introduces Tango dancers and Blues dancers from a Contemporary/Modern background to some of the core elements of Traditional Blues Dancing – if you have attended a previous Workshop with us in this series you may choose to omit this part and arrive at 15.15 instead, or use it as a refresher / come along anyway to support newer dancers.
Part 2: The main Workshop is 15.30-18.15, with a chance to dance and practice to a mixture of music afterwards – we can’t wait to see you there!
We can only accept bookings from leader/follower pairs - £55/pair - Early Bird price of £48/pair held for payments received by midnight Sunday June 26th.
Pre-book is essential. Please PM Island Dance Wizards for booking/payment details
Nailing the Transitions - Blues / Tango Fusion Dance Workshop
Friends Meeting House
