Partner and Line Dances


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We are teaching four partner dance styles (East Coast Swing, Country Swing, Two-Step, and West Coast Swing) and a bunch of line dances during the hoedown for beginners and intermediate dancers. Here’s what we mean:

  • Beginner has little or no experience
  • Beginner + (also Improver) has some familiarity with the basics
  • Intermediate has solid comfort in the style and ready to learn some fun new moves and combinations.

Partner Dance Styles

We will be offering our staple Two-Step and West Coast Swing partner dance workshops along with a Country Swing workshop.

You do not need a partner to partake in these lessons/workshops.

These are just some of the partner dance styles we will be playing music for at the dances — look for Nightclub Two-Step, Lindy/East Coast Swing, Hustle, Waltz, Cha Cha and more sprinkled out throughout our dances.


Two-Step Lessons and Workshops

Two-step (Country Two-Step), at least in New England, is a partner dance where you progress around the dance floor with the pattern of quick-quick-slow-slow to 4/4 music (Our friends from the west coast start slow-slow-quick-quick and Texas folks add a lockstep in one of the quicks). Two-step is one of our favorites and will be played a lot throughout the weekend.

Here’s a list of our Two-Step lessons and workshops:

Hint: If you are absolutely new to two-step (never taken a lesson), consider taking the Friday night lesson, ask everyone to dance, and then the beginner workshop on Saturday. It will give you a dance and a break to absorb the basics before moving on to the Beginner + lessons.

Beginner Two-Step Lessons

For people who have never danced two-step (or need a refresher on the basics). Learn the basic form (quick-quick, slow-slow), a hesitation move, and an under-arm turn. After this lesson, you will be able to navigate around the dance floor.

  • Friday, 8:00-8:30 pm
    • Beginner Two-Step with Art Sullivan (Town Hall)
  • Saturday, 7:00-7:30 pm
    • Beginner Two-Step with Art Sullivan (Town Hall)

Beginner+ Two-Step Workshop

Moving on from the basic pattern noted above, learn a few new patterns. You can take this without experience doing it but I suggest you take the basic two-step lesson with Art on Friday night to digest it a bit before moving to patterns.

  • Saturday, 10:00-10:50 am
    • Beyond Basics Two-Step with Bradley Mather (Town Hall)

Intermediate Two-Step Workshop

Assumes you know a few moves in two-step and are comfortable with the basic mechanics. This will be a bit faster-paced than the Beginner + lesson.

  • Saturday 3:00-3:50 pm
    • Intermediate Two-Step with Bradley Mather (Town Hall)

West Coast Swing

West Coast Swing has a long history but not as West Coast Swing. It stems from the Jitterbug and became popular as a slot-style dance that can be done on a very crowded floor. The jitterbug’s bouncy movements were smoothed out, slowed down, and the result is a sexy dance where a leader guides their partner back and forth along the slot. It’s a damn sexy dance.

Here’s a list of the workshops for Stomp:

Beginner West Coast Swing Workshop

Learn the basic 6-count form and some patterns that will get you on the floor. 

  • Friday 7:30-8:00 pm
    • Beginner West Coast Swing with Beth Aufiero (Town Hall)

Intermediate West Coast Swing Workshop

Intermediate assumes a solid familiarity with the basic count patterns and are ready to learn a more complicated pattern that will be sexy as hell on the dance floor.

  • Saturday 11:00-11:50 am
    • Intermediate West Coast Swing with Bradley Mather (Town Hall)

East Coast Swing

We mainly do Triple Step or Six Count moves. Both have their roots in Lindy Hop, with Triple Two arriving around late 1920’s and Six Count in the 1930’s.

East Coast Swing Workshop

  • Friday 7:00-7:30 pm
    • Beginner East Coast Swing with Beth Aufiero (Town Hall)

Cha Cha

Cha Cha (and Mambo — the precursor to Salsa), first became popular in the United States in the 1950s originated in Cuba. Cha Cha’s name comes from the chasses (cha-cha-cha) in the basic rhythm. It’s a fun and lively dance that you will hear in a lot of line dances. Mambo is similar but more sultry and doesn’t have the chassis.

A LOT of line dances have a cha cha rhythm to them. If you don’t know the line dance, but hear the rhythm, try the cha cha off to the side (if space permits).

Alan is teaching the basics as well as a pattern or two that will have you move with grace and elegance on the dance floor.

Cha Cha Workshop

  • Saturday, 2:00-2:50 pm
    • Beyond Basics Cha Cha with Alan Gaskell (Town Hall)

Hustle

The Hustle (also known as the “New York Hustle” and “Latin Hustle”) is a swing dance that you can do to any disco or club-type music. It incorporates moves from samba, salsa, and swing dancing. It is fairly easy to pick up and this is workshop will get you hustling in no time flat.

Bob comment: I did this with a friend at a wedding and impressed everyone — and my partner didn’t know it! The hustle is a blast to do if you have room on the dance floor, not recommended if you’re at a disco shoulder-to-shoulder (not that I tried that noooo… hobbling off the dance floor after smashing a beer bottle). 




Line Dances

Numerous line dances are taught in the lessons and workshops this weekend. Once the line dances are determined, we will post some demo videos for you to check out.

Friday, April 19, 2024
  • 8:30-9:00 pm
    • Beginner Line Dance Lesson with Art Sullivan (Town Hall)
Saturday, April 20, 2024
  • 9:00-9:50 am
    • Beginner Line Dance with Conrad Farnham (Town Hall)
  • 1:00–1:50 pm
    • Beginner Line Dance with Conrad Farnham (Town Hall
  • 4:00-4:50 pm
    • Intermediate Line Dance with Conrad Farnham (Town Hall)
  • 7:30-8:00 pm
    • Beginner Line Dance with Art Sullivan (Town Hall)