Saw a few couples dancing Balboa at Jump, Jive and Boogie this weekend and I really like the look of it. Has anyone had a go at it or know any organisers who do lessons?
I am not sure if this is going to be any help. I heard that Sylvia Sykes was going to over in London for this years London Balboa Festival. I went to look for their website so I could post a link for you but I can only find the website for the 2008 event. This event stated that there would be no lessons for beginners.
However the website does have some links to UK events and organisations that may be of help to you.
http://www.londonbalboafestival.co.uk/
Balboa is amazing. Wish there was somewhere near here I could learn it (closest venue is over two hours away)...
For London, your best (probably only?) bet is going to be Dan Guest - his website is here. He is an amazing teacher, runs the London Balboa Festival, and he runs weekly classes in Chiswick most Fridays.
We have a group called "Balboa Bunch" who teach locally, as do TRDC. I'm not overly fond of the traditional Balboa music, but it's a great dance for lead/follow.
I didn't really think I like Balboa, until Straycat put up a video of a couple, who literally looked as though they were skating it was sooo smooth
Its definitely a dance that I'd like to have a go at one day
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A quick Google shows that there are 2 types of Balboa.
What we saw at Jump, Jive & Boogie, it seems, was mostly 'Pure' Balboa, which I thought looked like controlled stumbling. Apparently it originated in packed ballrooms and so it requires unbroken chest-to-chest contact and turns, spins, kicks and pretty much any kind of 'moves' are not allowed.
The other is Bal-Swing, which IMO, looks much better because it combines pure Balboa with swing dancing and allows occasional breaks to do something a bit more interesting.
Yes, I agree. I saw clip on Youtube and thought it looked fantastic. They are putting in a few moves there which definitely looks better.Originally Posted by Gav
The other is Bal-Swing, which IMO, looks much better because it combines pure Balboa with swing dancing and allows occasional breaks to do something a bit more interesting.
For anyone else who's interested, jiveswing.com are doing a weekender near Ipswich, Suffolk. 5 - 8 June. All under one roof in a hotel. Lindy Hop, Balboa and Swing Blues classes.
3 nights half board, Live bands etc and I think it's a very reasonable price.
(no, I'm not on a commission)
I done it once at a weekender. Can't remeber who the teacher was. Think it was at a JA Southport. I think Stray was there so he might remember who the teacher was.
Natasha & Paul, of SDF fame.
Great class, excellent teachers.
What the old-timers used to say about dancing 'pure' Balboa was that if you stood out to the point that people started to watch you... then you weren't dancing Balboa.What we saw at Jump, Jive & Boogie, it seems, was mostly 'Pure' Balboa, which I thought looked like controlled stumbling
It's a pure, pure social dance - exquisitely connected, very subtle - you could think of it as high-speed minimalist blues. Most people these days dance bal-swing, which as Gav says, spices the dance up with swing-derived moves. Still pretty minimalist and subtle, still very fast, but a lot more watchable.
Speeds tend to be 170bpm+ (Candyman would be slow for a Bal track.) I have danced it (once) at about 350bpm, but that was HARD, and it took us the first half of the track to start getting the footwork down.... So much fun though.
Anyway. Enough talk. .
We're lucky in he SW to have Graeme & Ann who teach occassional classes (although they seem to be more interested in teaching Shag at the mo)
The history of Balboa is facinating and well worth a google. The dance we see / do is almost certainly not authentic though - people have asked different people who were "there" at the time and they can't agree on "the rules".
It's fun though and shouldn't be taken too seriously (I see lots of people dancing what appears to be Balboa but it clearly isn't because they just look sooooooo grim). There are a couple from Wales who are possibly the best Bal dancers I know, but if you watch them, they don't appear to do much at all in terms of numbers of shapes, but what they do looks effortless (harks back to what stray said above).
If you can't get a class, try Marcus & Barbl's DVD which I got from the states via the web (There are UK ? European sites that sell it as well) - very useful (i take it everywhere with me on my iPhone!).
When I dj'ed in Norfolk there was one couple that used to do Balboa.It did look quite smooth but kind of lazy and they would put the odd MJ move in.They ALWAYS came up and made sure I played some swing during the evening so that they could do their thing.
Am i the only one that thought this thread was going to be about Rocky!!!
Yes.
You beat me to it Gav.
Why Trouble?
Who?
Rocky Balboa, wasn't that his name.???? - or am i having a stupid day.
Nope, you're having a day off for a change. In fact, if you google Balboa, it comes up with lots of pictures of Rocky Balboa.
Oooooh, I just found a load of free on-line instructional vids.
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