Taught by Ashle ~ Jazz, Bachata and Salsa as well as Latin Fusion:
You are about to experience a dance class like no other! Delightfully challenged from the moment you enter the room to simply HAVE FUN & LET GO, you will explore various rhythms of Latin music and touch on the cultural background of these dances and their originating countries.
Warm Up will consist of stretching and breathing using jazz techniques to prepare and strengthen the body. Moving into an Afro Cuban syllabus to loosen the body and get the heart rate pumping we may play across the floor working on latin walks, hip action, traveling Cubans, samba hips and such.
Combos will range from Salsa, Bachata, Reggaeton, Samba, Cha Cha Cha, Bolero/Rhumba to any style you’ve heard of and maybe a few you never knew existed! The fusion of this class comes from my background in styles such as Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop and combines it with my heart and passion for Latin Dance and culture.
We will most definitely move beyond the 1st eight basic moves of each rhythm in class. We will be DANCING them and having a blast while challenging the body, mind & soul to take us somewhere new each class. Feel free to express YOU!
Starting on the floor breathing and connecting mind to body. It will challenge you to concentrate on focusing your breath into different muscle groups and areas of the body through medium paced stretching. This encourages blood flow and allows the body to prepare itself for the rest of the class. The warm up allows you to focus on developing a stronger understanding of your body, discovering where your center is each given day and how to adjust to your body’s individual needs. The same syllabus is always followed but will be in a different sequence, as to keep the brain engaged and not go into auto pilot where muscle memory takes over.
Class will then move across the floor beginning to integrate movements that deliver a full body workout. Depending on the focus for the day, class will move into choreographed phrases across the floor, raising adrenaline and building stamina. Across the floor combos will focus on using your center to control your movement through varied jumps and turns. A strong core is essential to execute any movement properly, especially when working in “off” center positions.
Combinations will be a marriage of the two styles with a deep emotional emphasis expressed through facial expressions in conjunction with body movement. Dancers are given the phrase and encouraged to explore their own movement within the given choreography.
The class begins in partners, working through spinal rotation, aiding each other to encounter a completely relaxed state in both mind and body. We discover how to create and develop natural movement of the spine and full open stretching using our natural breath. We use “open air observation” creating an observation circle in each section of the warm-up. This allows the students to observe the movement and its details specifically and visually from above so that when we move to the floor, there is a clearer understanding physically and not just through what you hear the instructor saying. After a full, core-developing and strengthening warm up, we move to across the floor variations. Each phrase will challenge the dancer to explore new levels and dimensions while approaching the floor, using slides, spirals, handstand techniques, using full back motion, shoulder strength and power of legs and pelvis. We will also learn how using our own head weight can increase speed rising and falling into each step.
We’ll discuss the PROPER way to fall and leap to the ground, without injury or damage to the body. The skills that you will develop in this class will help to remove the fear of the floor that many technical dancers have, it will also help you gain a stronger understanding for any floor work that may be presented in a variety of other styles. Above all, AshlÈ makes what seems like scary impossible tricks FUN and attainable to the dancer at any level. So come check out FloorWork: Improving your relationship with the floor, the only relationship I can at least help you with in your life.