Ragtime & Jazz Dance in the Boston Area! (Saturday-Sunday, January 22-23, 2011)

For enthusiasts of the 1910s and 1920s, here are two more dance opportunities coming up soon in the Boston area on the weekend of January 22 & 23rd:

On Saturday the 22nd, I will be teaching a two-hour workshop on the hesitation waltz of the pre-World War I era.  The workshop will be from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm, at the Church of Our Savior, 21 Marathon Street, Arlington, Massachusetts, just off Mass Ave, near the Cambridge border.

Hesitation steps involve various ways of dancing only on certain beats and allow one to dance to very fast waltz music that might otherwise be difficult to keep up with. The techniques as well as the individual moves can be worked into your existing waltz repertoire.

Waltzes in the appropriate tempo are frequently played at ballroom dances, folk dances, and contra dances -- so these steps won't just sit on the shelf until the next ragtime-era or vintage event.

The cost for the workshop is $15 per person; $8 for students.  No partner is needed, but some previous waltz experience is required (any form of waltz).  Low heels are preferred for ladies -- no spike heels, please!

And there's more!

On Sunday the 23rd, the Mostly Victorian Tea Dance series presents a Ragtime, Jazz, and Blues tea dance featuring music and dances of the 1910s and 1920s, including one-step, tango, foxtrot, waltz, blues, Charleston, and more.  I will be teaching a lesson in the Yale Blues, as danced in London and Paris ballrooms in the late 1920s.

Yummy refreshments will be served.

The dance will be held at the Masonic Hall in Porter Square, Cambridge.  Admission is $8; half price for students.  Period costume is encouraged and admired but not required.  Please do not wear shorts or t-shirts.  More information may be found on the event website.

For more information on either the workshop or the tea dance: email Mike Bergman or call (617) 230-9572.