Back to the Dancing Dinosaur, Tokyo Swing Dance Society
Instructors:
Betina Hershey from New York City, U.S.A.
Betina Hershey is excited to be returning to Tokyo again with Shawn Hershey,
her brother and an excellent dancer and teacher in the Boston swing dance scene.
Betina is proud of having inspried Shawn to start dancing. He has become
one of her favorite partners in the swing world. Betina and Shawn have
recently choreographed and performed blues/west coast swing, smooth lindy,
and fast lindy/Charleston dances. Betina discovered partner dancing in
1997. Already a professional dancer in the ballet, modern, jazz, and tap
dance communities, she was touring the USA with Phantom of the Opera as Meg
and started going swing dancing (lindy and west coast) and Argentine tangoing
after her shows. Learning much on the dance floor, she later studied with
Bill Borgida, Steven and Virginie, Paul and Sharon,Sylvia and Jason, Robert
Royston, and others at workshops such as Swing Out Newhampshire, NADC, a
Montreal workshop and others. She won First Place at the second Jack and
Jill competition (at the Dog House, NYC)she entered, but usually doesn't
compete. Betina has performed the lindy track with Mark Eckstein as her
partner in "Swing, The Musical" (same choreography as the version that toured
here in Japan), has co-choreographed and performed waltz, fox trot, Argentine
tango and swing routines for parties and events. She is a principle partner
dancer in the Julia Roberts movie, Mona Lisa Smile (look for her in the
wedding and college dance scenes). Betina is enamoured with partner dancing
and especially loves to combine contact improv and swing dance to widen the
possibilities of weight sharing, creativity, and body usage.
Shawn Hershey from Boston, U.S.A.
Shawn Hershey began studying Lindy Hop from Kerrin (now a co-teacher at It's
All Swing) and Elizabeth at the Lindybaby studio in 1999. Having always loved
and studied jazz music he was immediately drawn in by the dance. He has
studied extensively at camps and workshops across the US with many
nationally renowned Lindy Hop instructors. In addition to being an avid
social dancer he has won awards at several national and regional
competitions. Shawn began teaching Lindy Hop with Marilee in 2002 in order
to help share his love of dance and music. In 2004, he happily joined the
It's All Swing studio and has been teaching there ever since with his
partner Diana Byrne. Shawn also occasionally teaches and performs with his
sister Betina Hershey. Betina and Shawn were brought to Tokyo in 2004 to
teach Lindy Hop workshops. For some videos of Betina and Shawn's
performances go to www.ShawnHershey.com. Shawn also spends his free time
playing trumpet with The Mustn't Grumble. Shawn is very excited to be
coming back again to Japan.
Dance Videos:
If you are using Windows operating system, down-load video files to your
computer at first using a right button of your mouse. Then, click the
file in your computer, and you can see the video with Windows Media Player,
Real One Player, et al.
Dr. John -I'm Just A Lucky So And So -slow -Low(6MB)
Duke Ellington -Jubilee stomp -fast -Low(5MB)
Ella Fitzgerald -Honey Suckle Rose -fast -High(18MB) | Low(11MB)
Nancy Wilson -Little Unhappy Boy -medium -High(14MB) | Low(9MB)
Norah Jones -Title unknown -slow -High(23MB) | Low(15MB)
Place: Seta Chiku Kaikan B1, 4-18-11, Seta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Schedule:
Day-1: Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005
Dance Workshop @ Seta-Chiku-Kaikan
13:15-14:30 Creative Connection
14:45-16:00 Body Movement 1 (Solo)
16:15-17:30 Figures With Turns
Swing Night @ Club 101 in Roppongi
19:00-21:30 Dj'ed dance dj'ed by Yuko and Shawn
Day-2: Saturday, November 26th, 2005
Dance Workshop @ Seta-Chiku-Kaikan
12:15-13:30 Fun Lindy Hop Fundamentals For All Levels
13:45-15:00 Body Movement 2
- Continuation & Integration into Partnered Styling
15:15-16:30 Professional Social Lindy Hop with Musicality
Day-3: Sunday, November 27th, 2005
TSDS Autumn Swingin' Ball @ Kusuo, Shinjuku
16:00- Door Opens
Band:
Natsuko Furukawa And Her Soul Food Cafe featuring
Tatsuji Deguchi (vibraphone) and
Betina Hershey (vocal)
Lindy Variations Class with Betina And Shawn
Lindy Performance with Betina And Shawn
20:30 The End of the dance
See the web page of TSDS Autumn Swingin' Ball for the detail.
Costs:
Day 1: 6,000 yen per day including three classes @ SetaChikuKaikan
See Swing Cats regarding the Swing Night at Club 101
Day 2: 6,000 yen per day including three classes
Day 3: 4,000 yen for TSDS Autumn Swingin' Ball including
a live band performances and a lindy class
Class Descriptions:
Dancing is a conversation and we want to help you have a fun one!
Explore body movement, playful exercises and variations with us.
Day-1:
Creative Connection: Through the use of playful exercises we examine
the joy of compression, leverage and clear weight changes.Fun for
all levels! No one is ever beyond a little more connection practice.
Body Movement 1: Solo We will teach a jazz dance warm-up including
isolations and turns, and a funky routine that we will fit to blues,
swing, and funky music.
Figures With Turns: We love to spin and so should everyone.We will
start with turn techniques and then teach some of our favorite moves.
Day-2:
Fun Lindy Hop Fundamentals: For All Levels Starting with playful
weight-changing exercises, we will go into variations on the swing-out
timing and directions that will make you and your partner smile.
Body Movement 2: Continuation & Integration into Partnered Styling
Starting with a jazz dance warm-up, we will review solo moves and then
put them into a partner dancing format, showing how movement fits into
the whole lead-follow conversation.You do not need to have taken
Body Movement 1 in order to take this class, but it is preferred.
Professional Social Lindy Hop with Musicality: In this class we will
work on advanced moves and techniques that can be done on the social
dance floor that will make Lindy Hop more fun, musical and surprising
for you and your partner.
Signing up: not required
Contact: swing@impetus.ne.jp
You DON'T need to bring your dance partner.
Prepare your own drinks.
Appropriate exercise shoes and outfits for change are needed.
No sandals nor high heels for your physical safety.
No video cameras are allowed during the class.
Same price to watch the workshop.
Subscribe to the tsds mailing lists to get updates.
The schedule might be revised, so check it out again before you come.
See the Swing Calendar too.
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