Classes: September-December 2015

Classes run on Thursday evenings from 7:30-9:30pm in the Avondale Lions Hall. This block runs for 12 weeks, from September 18th to December 3rd.

Venue

Avondale Lions Hall
1630 Great North Road
Corner of Great North Road and Blockhouse Bay Road.

There is parking behind the building: turn into the carpark from Great North Road.

There is a bus stop at 1666 Great North Road, used by routes 113, 115, 135, 136, 153, 154, N13.
There are North-bound and South-bound bus-stops on both Great North Road and Blockhouse Bay Road within about 100m of the hall.

Come in by the back door - from the car-park and up the ramp

The venue has a small kitchen and urn. Feel free to bring a tea-bag or three, or a snack. The water is potable, and there are glasses, plates, etc.

Dates and Times

Classes run from 7:30 to 9:30pm every Thursday from September 17th to December 3rd: 12 classes, with probably a small ball in the 12th. I usually take a break then, and re-start classes early in February.

Cost

• REGULAR: $10 per class for the whole 11-week block (i.e. pay whether or not you attend)
• CASUAL: $10 for the first class, then $15 per class thereafter (pay only for classes you attend)

Regulars please BOOK HERE.

Regular: you are committing to pay for the whole block ($120, for 12 classes) whether or not you attend every class. I don't mind whether you pay in one block, or $10 every week. (If you expect to be away for a substantial portion, and know the dates in advance, we may be able to negotiate a smaller block at the 'regular' rate). This is a good option if you expect to attend 2/3 of the classes, or more. It also gives me some predictability in covering my own costs.

Casual: you pay only for those classes you attend. 

Class content

7:30-8:30 - Open Class

I teach to include everyone present, no matter your level of experience or skill. All are welcome, no special skills, special shoes, special clothes nor partner needed. 

In the next few months I'm planning to focus on:

• 16th century Italian dances - exactly what we do will depend on who's present. I'd like to make sure all of my regular dancers have a solid foundation in 16thC Italian steps and genres. Steps we'll cover: seguiti ordinarii, seguiti spezzati, passi, passi puntati, trabuchetti, riprese, cadenze, riverenze, continenze, trangi ... and perhaps a few more, as they come up. Dance styles: cascarde, balletti.
• We'll keep learning branles, almains and 15thC Italian dances
• We'll cover some of the dances I plan to include in the Canterbury Faire ball in early 2016

8:40-9:30 - Advanced Class

At 8:30 we take a short break, then until 9:30 it's a more advanced class.

Most of the time, everyone is welcome to watch, and to participate if they feel like a challenge ... but it's aimed at the most experienced dancers (some of whom have been doing this for many years). Sometimes it will be a reconstruction session (for my benefit) or a rehearsal for Capriol (my semi-professional performance troupe).

For the next few months I'm planning to focus on

• Il Canario - mutanze, improvisation skills
• some new, harder, balletti and cascarde
• we may work on reconstructions of some of the CF ball classes

There's no extra charge for the advanced class, but I do expect you to attend the open/beginner class too.

Cancellations

From time to time one of my more experienced students will take a class on my behalf, if I am travelling, or unwell. On the rare occasions that a class has is cancelled, I post a notice here (and refund any class fees paid in advance). I also endeavour to contact regular attendees directly.

I very much appreciate it if my regular students can let me know if they're not coming; and irregular students if they are. The more information you can give me, and the more warning, the better I can tailor classes to you.

You can contact me by email, or on 0272 282 977.