Winter '24 Newsletter
How is it already December? As we enter the holiday season and 2024 approaches its end, I want to say thank you for dancing with me this past year. Being in community with all of you fine folks is an honor, and I look forward to more!
If you read this in time, you are invited to Valley West Coast Swing’s December Sunday Social at the Carillion Wellness Center in Roa at 3 p.m. If not, we hope to catch you next weekend as we host Lara Deni for workshops, private lessons, and a social dance! Keep reading to learn more about that fun opportunity and information on other new classes and events.
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Lara Deni is coming to town on December 6th and 7th!
Next weekend, Valley West Coast Swing will be dancing their butts off as we take advantage of having guest instructor extraordinaire Lara Deni here in our neck of the woods. Click the link to find out the specifics, but we have an intermediate intensive on Friday night, Beginner workshops in the afternoon on Saturday, and a social dance to finish it off. A little something for everybody!
One of Valley West Coast Swing’s goals is to bring quality West Coast Swing dance opportunities to our area. You can read more about this group here.
Queer Tango with Elly!
Queer Dance Roanoke is thrilled to be hosting queer tango instructor Elly Fernandez for a dance residency in Roanoke this December 4-8, 2024. It’s fantastic to have so many dance opportunities this month. These workshops will not conflict with Valley West Coast Swing, so never fear! You can do it all! Click here if you would like to learn more and register.
Kicking off Queer Dance Blacksburg
Speaking of QDR, it is a queer-centering dance community that believes consent and supportive communication are at the core of dance connection. They have created such a joyful, welcoming space that challenges dance norms that no longer serve us. Their approach makes dance a richer experience for all dance communities, and I have learned so much by collaborating with them.
Rachel Rugh of Blacksburg Dance Theatre and I have been talking about creating something similar here in Blacksburg for some time. What better time than now? Join us on December 11th at Open Space Studios, 1711 North Main Street Bburg. We will have a gathering at 7:30 to kick it off! There will be food and dancing! Please feel free to reach out if you have questions, want to learn more, or have input as we shape this new group.
New West Coast Swing classes for 2025
I have begun putting my new series of Fundamentals and Next Steps classes on my calendar; check it out. You will notice some things are different, and some are the same!
What’s different? The series is now 9 weeks long, allowing me to add more classes to give a more comprehensive look at this dance. The pricing is a little different as well. There are no longer packages to keep pricing simple, but there is a hefty discount if you take the Fundamentals series multiple times.
What’s the same? These classes are always drop-in friendly. The aim is to take all of the nine different classes at some point, but I know it’s hard to make that happen in one go. Also, while the series always repeats and the topics are the same, no two classes are alike. I am constantly tweaking, refining, and mixing up my content- there are so many ways to approach the same thing! If you take the same class the second time, you will always learn something new while reviewing the concept, leading to a deeper understanding. Read more about these classes here.