"Beyond the Basic": 1:1 Balboa lesson
The secret of good dancing is great basic technique
You can spend hundreds of pounds on group weekly and festival classes but never learn to dance properly because there is little focus on getting your individual basic technique nailed in a group. That isn't always the case, and I know that group classes can work very well for many beginners. I speak from my own experience and I do know that many others go through a tough time learning from scratch in a group and may even drop-out.
Another problem is that lots of teachers jump straight to coupled "moves" even in a beginners class! In many cases the lead isn't yet comfortable and confident enough with their own movement and timing and so the indecision transfers to their partner and it all feels a bit rubbish. Other people adapt well, and love to learn coupled sequences from teachers almost from the start. I get that too.
I do maintain though, that everyone needs to learn to dance solo first, then practice at home until they are confident. If you are not, you can frustrate everyone(including yourself) in class, and it won't be fun. I have often heard "you weren't doing that right", "I couldn't get it" or "I didn't like dancing with xyz in the class". It's soul destroying to be xyz and frustrating to be in a class with them.
If you are struggling, don't go through hell to learn - book a 1:1, and catch up that way.
Economics
It's about the return you get on your money too - a few 1:1s will be far more economical than all the weekly classes and dance festival teaching.
The sooner you nail your dance, the sooner you can go to festivals just for dance parties instead, saving you a fortune and letting you dance all night and sleep all day! Top tip: As a follow, you may learn more asking a few teachers to dance with you than in a class, dancing with leads that aren't confident themselves yet. Ask me whether I'll be at the festival first - I love dancing with beginners because I learn to be a more positive, clear lead and stay right to the bitter end of parties so you are guaranteed at least a couple of dances.
Especially as a follow, during an hour's 1:1 with me, you will relax and trust my confident lead then learn as we dance - I will have you dancing properly within an hour.
What about the 8-count basic?
Basic technique is not knowing the steps of the "8-count basic". I'd go as far as saying that memorising sequences of 8 count "moves" will hold you back from developing your musicality. Swing jazz is improvisational and the bars are really just there for structure, not to fit your moves too. Think of it as a 2-count dance from the start and don't get "stuck" in sequences or count 8s as you dance - disaster and very boring indeed.
Learn how to follow the instruments and not just the beat. Pulse the beat but express the music - that's what the best dancers do to wow us and it is something we can all learn to do when we listen. Your aim is that anyone watching you dance cannot see chained sets of "moves", but an improvised "flow" of movement that follows what the instruments are doing. Video yourself until you are happy.
My teaching always starts with nailing your solo technique before the added complication of partnering-up with another beginner! When teaching in person, I will partner with a follow early on because it is easier to learn technique through good body-lead.
What do you teach?
The main style taught is Pure Balboa(A.K.A. Balboa/Strictly Balboa), a closed hold dance that can also be danced solo. Balboa was never intended to be watched but simply experienced by two people in a bubble of intricate rhythmic shuffles and weight-shifts. They appear "glued" chest-to-chest, as one relaxed unit but maintain their own weight at all times. It is mostly danced on the spot but can slowly glide and rotate but not with centrifugal force. It has an aesthetic and the dancers still want it to look as good as it feels.
It is difficult to find teachers who give "pure" Balboa lessons, at least in the UK. What is described as "Balboa" is invariably a Bal Swing class with a rudimentary focus on some 8-count stepped-out "moves" in closed hold that look a bit like Balboa but don't have the feel of the dance. My pet hate is the "up-and-down the train-tracks" 8-count-basic because you see it danced repeatedly on the social dance floor until they get bored and swing instead. Balboa is about interesting variations in your weight-shifts and foot-work to the music, so of course they get bored going backwards and forwards in 8s! I have even heard teachers say that chest-to-chest is optional but you are not dancing Balboa if you don't have a chest lead - it then becomes a different dance, which is fine but it just ain't Balboa anymore. Teachers that don't understand and enjoy dancing Pure Bal probably won't teach it well. I love it more than any other dance and have studied the form closely.
Bal Swing is more akin to Charlston, Shag and Lindy Hop - A "show" dance. In fact, even if you are chest-to-chest but showing off your moves, it counts as Bal Swing! These days, you are unlikely to see people do a whole dance in Balboa and you generally only see short sections of "8-count basic" within a Bal Swing dance, such is the impulse to be "showy" on the dance floor and try to impress with "moves". That's fine, but it ain't Balboa.
The techniques are a fantastic platform for other swing dances such as Bal Swing(A.K.A. L.A. Swing), Collegiate Shag, Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing and Charleston. If I see you in person, we can progress to Bal Swing moves(open hold) such as "Lolly Kicks", "Swivels" and "Out-and-ins". We cover:
- 3 Ps: Pulse, Posture and Pick-up (your weight on one leg, fully)
- "Apple Jack" the pulse for stability, shuffle and glide
- Following instruments
- Partially un-weighting the leg to scoot, pivot and tripple-step
- Call and response
- Breaks
- Slowing down and speeding up
Don't just dance the 8-count basic, dance to all of Count Basie
Where did Balboa come from?
My lesson is for what we now refer to as "Pure Balboa", a closed-hold, on the spot shuffle dance, originally known as "Balboa" and created in the 1930s on the crowded dance floors of Orange County, Southern California. It is a smooth, non-showy version of closed-hold, 8-count "Collegiate Shag"(i.e. minus the bounce and showmanship, and not on toes). Note: Closed/open-hold Shag and Balboa are great when mixed within a dance and is often a smoother combination than Balboa and Bal Swing to higher tempo music where bal swing can get rather chaotic and messy looking. Learn them all!
It was still danced by the "old-timers" in clubs such as Bobby McGee's, Newport Beach as recently as the 1990s.
As a teenager in the 1980s, Sylvia Sykes constantly turned up at Bobby's and nagged the old timers to teach her. Maxi Dorf eventually gave in and she and Jonathan Bixby learnt then started classes. She was instrumental in its survival and still teaches alongside partners such as Nick Williams.
Why book a lesson with you?
My love, deep understanding, past mentors and twelve year's exclusive focus on this unique dance ranks me amongst the best in the world to teach it. Championship dancer and inspiration to me, Albert Ferran Toll commented that I was now "much, much better" than him when he saw me dance in June 2019. Since then I have progressed by attending four festivals(BalLove, Oslo Balboa Weekend, The Revival and Berlin Balboa Weekend) in 2019/20 and have practised regularly during the pandemic. I constantly tune and improve.
Sylvia Sykes has taught me in many classes as well as 1:1 at Herrang Dance Camp in 2014. I have danced with Sylvia a few times at festivals.
Over the years, I have taken many classes from most international Balboa teachers at festivals all over Europe and taken best bits to develop a unique approach to teaching. In 2019 I visited six. I just go for the dance parties now and my favourite dances are when beginner followers realise that they can dance well when the lead knows what they are doing. When you see me at a dance, always ask.
My pupil Maria said "I can really recommend this!😊💃" .