What is Flow State?
" The experience that causes us to fall in love with dance, it is the perfect balance between control & relaxation.It is a state of being free from inhibition, A state where we are able to give our peak performance. "
Lana Williams.
What is Flow?
What if you never moved
arkwardly
again?
Imagine that every-time you wanted to access your Lindy Hop vocabulary it was at your finger tips.
This is the state of Flow, wherein ideas flow from you and movements are executed effortlessly.
Mihaly Csikszentmihaly defines Flow state as:
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" When concentration is so intense that no attention is left over to think about anything irrelevant or to worry about problems. Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted. "
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
Join us in discovering flow and find your freedom in movement at our next Lindy Hop Flow workshop.
Date: 25th - 26th February 2023
Venue: Bristol. Hanham Community Centre.
The Lindy Hop Weekend - Bristol
£140.00 per person.
Daily classes: 11am - 6pm
(6 hrs of in studio training per day)
Total = 12 hours
Teachers: Lana Williams and Ezra Weil
Our course will cover fundamental Lindy Hop technique and introduce professional drills that will improve the quality of your dance. We will also introduce new exercises to explore flow state.
Below is what you can expect
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Warmup.
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Swing intensive warm up’s are designed to prepare your body, Activating, lengthening and strengthening muscle groups that are needed to dance with correct form.
The warmup is more than just exercise. It is an opportunity to enter into a relationship with your own body, to develop your balance and coordination. The warm up activates the nervous system and allows access to the expressive energy within our bodies. Enabling us to dance with more control and to avoid injury.
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Course structure​​
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Drills.
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This workshop will come with an online preparation course so that you can learn the footwork patterns at home. By practicing the drills at home, you will arrive ready to explore the micro variations within the exercise.
Our drills are designed to develop your control, posture, balance, rhythm and expression. Drills will always remain at the foundation of Swing Intensive training so expect to be doing plenty of drills together in the studio.
Drilling will give you more confidence and a more powerful attitude on the dance floor.
Movement.
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This Course will be built around fundamental Lindy Hop Movements. We will develop your understanding of the Lindy circle and core Lindy mechanics.
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Understanding Creativity.
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This course will develop your understanding of internal and external dance practice. We will explore how improvisation exists in all levels of dance, how can we create unique moment’s with our partner in all aspects of the dance. What allows us to have magical moments on the dance floor? How can we make those moments happen regularly?
You will learn how to find space for creativity with your partner, regardless of style or experience.
Join us in discovering flow and find your freedom in movement at our next Lindy Hop Flow workshop.
Date: 25th - 26th February 2023
Venue: Bristol. Hanham Community Centre.
The Lindy Hop Weekend - Bristol
£140.00 per person.
Daily classes: 11am - 6pm
(6 hrs of in studio training per day)
Total = 12 hours
Teachers: Lana Williams and Ezra Weil
FAQ
What level should I be to take this course?
Although the course is pitched toward the intermediate and advanced dancer, I always believe that it is your attitude to learning that is the most important feature. Not how long you have been dancing.
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How will you work with different levels of ability?
I enjoy working with mixed levels of ability. I have had over sixteen years teaching experience across many genres teaching
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mixed level classes. I teach concepts within movement. Where appropriate I will tier jazz movements according to ability. As long
as you are here to focus on your jazz, you are welcome.
What if I struggle to pick up choreography?
Choreography is only one aspect of dance and dance practice. Some of the best natural dancers I know struggle to pick up
choreography quickly. This has no bearing on your ability to dance.
What I do to balance this within a class, is send out any large choreographies in advance, to give those who need extra time to
process the steps that opportunity. This means that when we are in the class we can focus on the details of improvement and not
just picking up the steps.
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Do I need to do both the Solo Jazz and Lindy Hop classes to attend the course?
No.
All are welcome. Leads / Follows / Switch dancers / solo bookings and partner bookings.
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" Lana's approach to teaching was transformative, it gave me confidence in the fundamentals so that under the pressure of my first performance i was able to remain playful & present."
Daniel Newton
Who are the instructors?
Lana williams.
Lana is a professional dancer, choreographer and dance educator with over 16 years experience working in the performance industry; including TV, Theatre and Film. Some of her work includes; Bridgerton on Netflix, BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, See How They Run (film) - Universal Studios, The Muppets Movie and The Orchestra Of The Swan. Lana trained at vocational dance college obtaining multiple Associate teaching qualifications and diplomas in a variety of dance genres, including Tap, Classical Ballet, Modern Theatre, Drama and Musical Theatre. It was right back at the beginning of her career, at just 20 years old, that Lana was introduced to the world of Vernacular Jazz and of course the Lindy Hop. Her training in Lindy Hop involved, the history, the repertoire, the airteps, the fundamentals, the performance and the social. From Charleston, to Black Bottom, to Cake Walk, to blues, to the Lindy Hop Lana has studied them all. She has taught Lindy throughout the UK and Europe in International Festivals and Workshops. Throughout the years that followed Lana has honed her skills and developed her personal styling of her vernacular movement. Lana prides herself on being grounded in the movement history and the origins of this dance genre whilst still being able to unleash her ever present and contemporary styling influenced by today's world. Lana lives for the passion, freedom and unlimited release that dancing gives. Most recently Lana has been awarded Arts England Funding to continue her research, development and creative fusions with the Lindy Hop and other movement styles, including Contemporary dance, Afro beat, and circus.
Throughout Lana’s career she has continued to develop her teaching style and movement philosophy. Her unending interest in movement and the body has led Lana to work and research with some of the best minds in dance teaching, whilst training many professional dancers of tomorrow. Her love for teaching is obvious. To be in a room with her is to get her undivided attention on what will make you a better dancer. “I just don’t know any other way to teach”
Working with students from all levels; professionals, hobbyists, advanced dancers to absolute beginners, Lana has a drive to unleash each students true potential. I live in two worlds, the professional dance industry and the Lindy Hop Community. I love them both and I want to share with the Lindy Community the level of training and knowledge available to you. The way so many other dancers and athletes train. From Hip Hop, to Ballet to Jazz. So ultimately you can reach your full potential as a dancer and so that the Lindy Hop will continue to live on, grow and be recognised and enjoyed for the movement genius it is.
Ezra Weil.
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Ezra is from Seattle Washington, where he grew up street performing with his sister. His act, back in those days, was standing on 5 stacked-up skateboards and juggling knives. After many years of training at circus school in Seattle, he went on to perform with a Vermont based youth circus, called Circus Smirkus. After graduating high school, Ezra attended the prestigious l‘Ecole National de Cirque in Montreal, where he completed his studies in 2015 with a degree in aerial rope and hat juggling.
Since then Ezra has performed in North America, South America and all across Europe. He enjoys playing music on and off the stage, as well as pursuing his passion for Lindy Hop dancing, which he has recently taken onto the stage. Ezra has trained Lindy Hop for many years, in the USA, Europe and the UK. HIs style is uniquely his own. Citing his movement influences from the authentic jazz and lindy hop era with his stylised twist that has risen from dancing in modern times and taking classes from a variety of different teachers. Ezra has an all round and contemporary lindy style. From shag, to blues, authentic solo jazz, to The Lindy Hop, Ezra dances them all. Within the last few years Ezra has taken to teaching Lindy Hop and Blues. A natural teacher with a flair for both detail and style, Ezra embodies the joy and natural movement of Swing Dancing. We cannot wait to share with you our creative syllabus for Lindy Hop training.
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Most people assume that relaxation makes them happy. They want to work less and spend more time resting in a hammock perhaps. However, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of the book ‘Flow State’ reveals in his studies that most people have this wrong;
“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive or passive times… The best moments usually occur if a persons body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile”
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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
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