We offer additional workshops to complement your track schedule.
You can choose to add these, depending on your track schedule and your energy level during the festival. There is also a talk & discussion session before the festival starts, on Thursday.
For whom? Participants to the festival with a full pass (track). Everybody who wants more input, or solo dancers who want to take a partnered workshop and vice versa.
Why add an optional workshop? This way you can have input from some of the inspirers who are maybe not in your track ‘package’, you can grow within a specific topic, or you can have an additional opportunity to learn from a specific inspirer.
What is different about an optional workshop? The optional workshops are open level and more out of the box. They are also slightly shorter, with 1 hour and 15 minutes.
How to sign up? Register separately for 1 or more optional workshops when registering for Big City Blues. Depending on your track, you will see the workshops that are compatible with your schedule.You can also add an optional workshop later onwards, as long as there are still spots. Optional workshops will only take place if sufficient people registered.
Below an overview of the optional workshops. More info will be added later.
Talk & Discussion with Jamica | Thu
Thursday 5 March
19:30 – 21:30@ Tolhuis
Jamica shares sharp & valuable thoughts on different topics concerning Blues music, dance and culture. An insightful way to start your Big City Blues weekend. This talk’s topic:
Navigating conflict in the dance scene and beyond
Blues and jazz know conflict- they have an intimate relationship with it. There is conflict everywhere we turn, and our dance scenes and their histories are no exception. Jamica will bring together culture and science to help you better understand and navigate conflict- including ways to mitigate and resolve it. Through mixed media, activities, and discussion, participants will leave more equipped to handle conflict in a variety of relationships and scenarios. This is a perfect workshop for teachers, organizers, safety teams, and anyone aspiring to be a good global citizen.
Afterwards we go together to Missy Sippy Roots & Blues Club for a night out with live music.
€25
Workshop with Jamica & Kenneth | Sat
Workshop with Annette & Dexter | Sat
Satuday 7 March
12:15 – 13:30 @ Doxtudio 2
Partnered workshop
The Stories We Tell In Our Dance
What is the structural dynamic behind a blues song and how can we interpret this into our dancing? In this deep-dive, we’ll use the framework of classic blues structure to provide a fun, collaborative, and conversational approach to our dancing. The result? A dance that’s more attuned to the music, has elements of call & response, and reflects the story-telling nature of the Blues.
€20
Workshop with Nawelle & Felix | Sat
Satuday 7 March
15:15 – 16:30 @ Tolhuis
Partnered workshop
Jazz Blues
Jazz/Swing Blues, the soulful, 12-bar rhythm that both Nawelle and Felix love, but played and sung by the big bands. Giants like Count Basie, Jimmy Lunceford, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and more. Come and explore ideas that move away from staying in the basic “one-step” and dig deep into how the music moves us.
€20
Workshop with Genia | Sun
Sunday 8 March
13:00 – 14:15 @ Doxtudio 3
Solo workshop
Whatever you do, you mean it!
We communicate with the world through movement. There are a lot of tools and techniques for doing this. We will learn and master some of these working with isolation, synchronization and contrast. We already learned a lot of movements, so it’s time to use them, finetune them, feel them…
€20
Workshop with Breonna & Felix | Sun
