Kizomba Seattle

Sunday, May 1, 2016

MAY Happenings for Kizomba Seattle

Welcome to May with Spring officially here which means summer is not far behind! Here's what's up in Seattle for Kizomba.

May 6 - First Fly Friday at West Hall; Drop in lesson at 9 Dance 10p-1:30a (Cover $16, Dance Only $10) with DJ Mary
May 12 - 2nd Thursday at West Hall with DJ Jay 9:30 - 1:00a (Cover $9)
May 13 - 2nd Friday KiZouk at Salsa Con Todo 9pm - 10pm dropin; dance 10pm - 1:00am (mix of zouk and kizomba)
** May 13 - 15 Seattle Bachata Kizomba Festival at Salsa n Seattle (www.seattlebachataKizombafestival.com) **
May 21 - 3rd Saturday Late Night at West Hall with DJ Kevin Boyle 11p - 1:30a (Cover $7, $13 joint cover with All Vinyl Salsa in Main Ballroom)
May 26 - 4th Thursday at West Hall with DJ Jay 9:30 - 1:00a (Cover $9)
May 27 - 4th Friday KiZouk at Salsa Con Todo 9pm - 10pm dropin; dance 10pm - 1:00am (mix of zouk and kizomba)
May 28 - 4th Saturday Late Night Kizomba at SCT 11pm - 4am

WEEKLY CLASSES, PRACTICAS, BOOTCAMPS:
* Kizomba Bootcamp (part of the Seattle Bachata Kizomba Festival but can be paid for separately) on Fri May 13
* Weekly Practica on Mondays at Dimension Apartments or Metropolitan (please check group page for the latest) 8p - 11p
* Kizomba 1 and Kizomba Lab (NEW COURSE!) with Frances and Jay: May 19 to Jun 9
* Kizomba on Wednesdays at 8pm in Salsa N Seattle with Mario with a weekly practica following.
* Kizomba Semi-Privates with Dennis (contact Dennis Richards directly)
* Kizomba Immersion with Galina Mar 8 to May 12 Tuesdays 6-8 pm
* Kizomba Workshops every 4th Saturday kizomba workshops 6-9pm

If anything comes up at the last minute - this group page feed will have the latest.

Please post Kizomba events to Hurry Out (www.hurryout.com) and check out www.kizombaseattle.com

Friday, February 19, 2016

This Thing Called GINGA

If you type ginga on google (at least as of today), you get this on the top:

GINGA IS RHYTHM....in soccer. It's swinging your body from one side to the other to deceive. Ginga is creativity. It's the pedalada and trivela. Ginga is the opposite of boring. It's the opposite of mechanical soccer. It is having fun with the ball. It is grace. It is being fluid and coordinated. IT IS SOUL. IT IS DANCE

damn...that Brazilian has got Ginga!

I love this definition. Sure, its context is mostly in soccer (Brazilian) but for dance, these parts resonate loudly with me:

GINGA IS RHYTHM.

Ginga is creativity

Its the opposite of boring.

Its having fun.

It is grace.

Its being fluid.

IT IS SOUL

IT IS DANCE

Read that and let it soak ... let it simmer and then read on.

This thing we call Ginga is something that ultimately has to come from inside of us. Your Ginga comes from YOU: the individual, the dance partner moving with someone to the music through dance.

Since I started dancing Kizomba, I've heard people say that to dance this dance well, "you need to have Ginga". I thought, they are just talking about body movement right? So I studied how to move my bunda, my feet, my chest... and then someone said, that's not it. So I sought more clarification. Along the way I heard many different definitions for ging and someone described it as styling. So, following my experience with learning salsa, I sought out these ladies styling classes. During my very first set of lessons about "styling", my instructor said: "styling should never interfere with the lead and follow dynamic of the dance."

Since Kizomba is danced in close proximity to your partner, I thought there was a contradiction with learning individual body movement. Why are we learning these movements that we may not be able to use? Unlike salsa where there is so much space to express, there doesn't seem to be any at all in Kizomba where we have to move as one.

Another aspect of ginga also that came to my attention: what's the "right" ginga? I heard people comment about how one person's ginga was not natural and how another's was perfect. When is the movement natural and expressive versus contrived and interfering with the lead? How do you practice it? These were all things I pondered as I worked to find my ginga. I started to ask my friends who led me to let me know how it felt when I applied different movements to my walk. I also asked them to articulate what it was like to dance with different people so I had a point of comparison.

As I focused on this aspect of my dance, I had to redo, undo, retry and try many things as I received coaching from other instructors and peers about what the appropriate body movement is. Some said my body movement was just fine, some said I had too much (those salsa hips going out of control), some said it was too sharp, some said whatever I did was fine. It was quite the conundrum for me. How was I to get validation with so much mixed feedback?

My aha moment arrived when I realized that the reason I was getting so much mixed feedback was because I was trying to hard to dance the way I thought I needed to dance instead of just trusting myself to dance. I was working with another instructor who was trying to explain a nuance in the movement. I was very confused with what he was saying so I just decided to stop thinking and just move with him and he exclaimed - "That's it! You got it."

Many of us suffer from Ginga - Envy: we see someone else's bountiful bunda and the movements resulting from their expression and grace and we want "to be like that". In that moment of wanting to be like someone else, we can easily forget that to truly have ginga, we each have to find OUR OWN way to move with grace and soul.

One part is practicing movements to extend your range of motion and get to know the muscles in your own body and how they can move independently and in concert with other body parts. I call this part the mechanics of understanding your walk and how to flow naturally with it, how to extend movements when the music allows and where it can be extended while still staying connected to another person.

The other part, is learning to love who you are: wobbly bits or skinny bits or whatever you think kind of bits - ALL OF IT. We are each blessed with our own beauty that often times we ignore and to really develop your ginga, you need to embrace all of you. This way, when you move, you move with all the confidence and grace that is uniquely yours.

As you are learning about how to move and how your body works, spend LESS time in the space of "do I look like that person?" and MORE time in the space of "do I feel and look good about how I move?".

I got this suggestion from my belly dancing instructor when we were working on our "freeze" pose. She said "Don't be afraid to look at yourself in the mirror and try different poses to find your best one." No one is looking so try a pose that highlights everything good about you. Its can be difficult to do (and it sounds so narcissistic) but this exercise of looking at yourself can help to make you appreciate who you are.

I think this might be the hardest part about learning ginga: loving what you can do with your own body. You can take all the movement and styling classes you want and in fact I highly recommend it. But, don't lose sight of the fact that you when you're dancing, you to have love who you are, love how you move, love how it makes you feel and then love how you can connect with your dance partner when you dance.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

CANCELLED: Kizomba Weekend with Ennuel Iverson in Seattle: Feb 13 - 14, 2016

We regret to inform you that Ennuel has been denied entry to the US so he will not be able to come for this weekend.

Refunds WILL be issues (please give us time).

We are happy to welcome Ennuel Iversion for Valentines Weekend 2016! This will be Ennuel's first visit to Seattle so let's give a warm hug and welcome!. An international artist, choreographer and one of the more prominent Urban Kiz dancers, he comes to us from France. General Workshops will be held on Saturday Feb. 13th and small group sessions on Sunday Feb 14th. We'll also be planning Saturday night party somewhere (stay tuned!) See the details below and scroll down to register.

Saturday February 13, 2016 WORKSHOPS
Phinney Ridge Community Center, Room 7 in the upper level of the Blue Building
1:00 - 1:15 Registration
1:15 - 2:15 Urban Kizomba Foundations
2:15 - 2:30 break
2:30 - 3:30 Urban Kizomba Improvers
3:30 - 3:45 break
3:45 - 4:45 Urban Kizomba Breakthrough
4:45 - 5:00 Wrap-up, Pictures, etc.

Sunday February 14, 2016 SMALL GROUP INTENSIVES
Main Ballroom of the Century Ballroom

For the dancer that's looking for more specialized attention at an affordable rate. You MUST register for the Saturday workshops to take part in the small group. If you have scheduling conflicts, please email kizombaseattle@gmail.com to confirm.

Each of the 1.5 hour sessions will be limited to 10 people (5 couples). These sessions are designed for dancers who want to take their dancing to the next level, working in a small group with other dancers with comparable experience. You will receive individual attention from the instructor AND you will be able to learn with other dancers that share the same goals and similar experience.

When you register for this option, you will be emailed a set of questions to help confirm and ascertain your level and goals so you can be grouped with the right people.

Session 1: 12:30 - 2:00
Break 2:00 - 2:15
Session 2: 2:15 - 3:45
Wrap-up 3:45 - 4:00

PRICING
1 class $25 [with cc service fee]
2 classes $50 [with cc service fee]
All day (3 classes) $65 [with cc service fee]
Small Group Intensive is $45 [$47 with cc service fee]
Full Weekend (1 Small Group Intensive and all day Saturday) $95 [$100 with cc service fee]

REGISTER AND PAY

REFUNDS
Classes, Workshops and Mini-Intensives are transferable and non-refundable. Please contact kizombaseattle@gmail.com for transfers .

NOTE: For the Small Group Intensives, your substitute should be of the same level of dance and role as you. All transfers MUST be confirmed.

Kizomba is...