Let us know what questions you have, we will be happy to hear form you! info@catscorner.ca
Swing dance classes
Intro to swing
Are you coming to dance for the first time? This is your class. You will be introduced to a variety of basic steps to get you started on the dance floor. Swing music is versatile, and so will you become! This is also a great class for experienced dancers who want to be introduced to dances of the swing family they don’t know.
Program: Lindy hop, Charleston, Jig walk, Swing walk, , etc.. Lindy hop & Charleston will be taught more regularly.
Spend a few weeks in this class to get familiar with dancing in partnership or join the Beginner Track. Both are a pre-requisite to join Lindy Foundations class.
The class is available on a drop-in basis or with a multi-pass to discover or review your favourite swing dances.
No prerequisite. No partner required.
Beginner Swing
This 8-week session is a logical follow-up to your first introduction to dance on a Friday night. You will learn to familiarize yourself with the music and several basic steps (Lindy Hop, Charleston, Jig Walk, …). You will learn useful tips for navigating social dance parties (“floor craft”…). You can join this class at the beginning of each month. You will have the choice between 2 schedules during the week and the bonus of the Friday intro class.
Yes, that exactly means that you can come to dance up to 3 times a week! Take advantage of this incredible offer!
No prerequisite. No partner required.
Lindy Hop Foundations
The foundations of Lindy hop: the equivalent of our old Swing 1 to 3. You’ve taken the time to get acquainted with partner dancing and you’ve learned a few basic steps. We now invite you to deepen your vocabulary by getting to know the Lindy hop, the mother of all swing dances!
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you feel comfortable in your foundations. This is the prerequisite to join the Lindy Hop All Levels class. Please ask for advice to your teachers. The minimum time recommended is 4 months.
Lindy Hop Open
Once the basics are learned in the Foundations class, Lindy Hop All Levels is the class where we all come together, no matter how many years of experience we have. Improvisation, listening to music and partnering continue to be at the heart of our practice. We rely on the autonomy of each dancer to better guide you in your evolution. Learning is like a spiral: at each level of understanding, we are able to visit and revisit known subjects with a new perspective, and thus access a greater complexity.
The dance floor is made up of many points of view and life trajectories. This course will be the best environment to practice communication, negotiation, listening and adaptation. It will allow us to practice this dance and this living together in its real practical context.
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice. The content will vary with the dancers present.
Prerequisite: Lindy Foundations or equivalent
Lindy Charleston Only
The Charleston is one of the most famous dances of the jazz era. A step that can be found in many dances that have since developed in the Black American communities, such as Locking or Chicago Footstep etc.
The lindy hop incorporates a plethora of charleston movements partnered and solo. This is an opportunity to work specifically on this energetic step that is very popular in faster tempos!
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice
Prerequisite: Lindy Foundations or equivalent
Lindy Hop Avancé
The title says it all. This course is here to challenge you. Whether it’s in the physical pace or the rigor of the existential questions you’ll be asked, you’ll be given plenty of work. Focus will be on improvisation, communication, sense of style, individual and reciprocal expression, the cultural modes of practice of jazz!
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you like.
Prerequisite: Lindy Open
Drop-in Solo Jazz
Jazz, danced individually, is an essential aspect of the vernacular and cultural tradition it embodies. By learning this language, jazz also invites us to express who we are and how we feel. Dancing is forging a voice so that you can fully participate in the community. This is why “solo jazz” is present in all couples lessons. The All-Level Jazz course is there to allow you to practice your body awareness, your listening to music, your finesse of improvisation, to develop your confidence, your own style and to always deepen your understanding of the culture of the jazz.
You can drop-in any time or take this class as a 2nd option in your subscription of 2 or more classes/week. Stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice. Each class’ content will be different. Combine or not with Lindy hop and Tap lessons.
Prerequisite: Lindy Foundations or equivalent
Drop-in Classic Line Dances
Drop-in (per class or with a multipass).
Learn or revise choreographies that are well known in the swing, tap & blues community.
The aim of this course is to enable you to participate in line dances that may emerge spontaneously on the dance floor.
As the class lasts one hour, the content will move at the pace of the participants present. Some classes will push the limits of your abilities. Challenge yourself!
Choreography varies in difficulty. Some choreographies will be taught in fragments, others in their entirety.
You are encouraged to express your requests. Depending on the context, the teacher may take them into consideration.
Shim Sham (Leonard Reed/Willy Bryant, F Manning),
Savoy Shim Sham,
Henry LeTang Shim Sham,
Dean Collins Shim Sham,
Tranky Doo,
Big Apple Contest (Franky Manning)
Stops
Trickeration,
Electric Slide,
Jitterbug Stroll (Ryan Francois),
Doing the jive,
BS Chorus
Madison…
Balboa Foundations
Have you dabbled in Balboa by taking an intro lesson? Are you looking to familiarize yourself with this exciting and subtle dance? Join us to learn to dance to faster swing music all night, explore fancy footwork and integrate close partnering.
This class is for whether you are new or want a refresher of the foundations.
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice. Each month will focus on a balboa basic. This is the prerequisite for the Open Balboa class. Slippery Shoes recommended.
Open Balboa
Once you’re comfortable with the 3 basics from the Balboa Foundations course, All-levels Balboa is where you can expand your knowledge and hone your craft through inspiration, improvisation and partnership. This course will be the best environment to practice expression, negotiation, listening and adaptation.
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice. Each month’s content will be different. Slippery Shoes recommended.
Prerequisite: 3 – 6 months of Balboa Foundations
Advanced Balboa
Refinement. Increase your range and subtlety as you bring your skills to the next level.
Audition required with the teachers. This class is for dancers with solid Balboa experience.
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice.
Collegiate Shag Foundations
Have you been seduced by Collegiate Shag during an introductory lesson? Ever wanted to dip your toe into the fun, fast and exuberant world of this dance? In this class you will learn the fundamental rhythms and shapes of Shag and a solid vocabulary of foundational moves as well as some of the history of the dance.
This class is for dancers who are already initiated into swing and are looking to learn a new style
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice.
Blues Foundations
Have you been seduced by the different forms of Blues during an introductory lesson? Do you want to learn more about this dance with its many and varied qualities? Join us to learn how to dance the night away to blues music and become part of a community of enthusiasts.
This course is aimed at dancers who are already familiar with swing and are looking to learn a new dance.
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice.
Blues Open
Blues dances vocabulary and expression.
For those who have learned the basics and fundamentals of Blues dances.
You can join this class at any time and stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice.
Cool Cats Coleslaw Collective
The show is part of jazz culture and we want to give you the opportunity to work on a project that will end with a performance in front of an audience. The project can take various forms depending on the opportunities and audiences.
To ensure a great experience for all, we ask you to commit to the session (Sept to Dec or Jan-June)
Pre-requisite : Auditions. Ease in the basic figures, in the combinations of rhythms and the various tempos (All Level Lindy equivalent).
Lindy Hop Project
The show is part of jazz culture and we want to give you the opportunity to work on a project that will end with a performance in front of an audience. The project can take various forms depending on the opportunities and audiences.
To ensure a great experience for all, we ask you to commit to the full session (Sept to Dec or Jan-June). The social dance night of the performance is included in the price of the session.
Pre-requisite : Auditions. Ease in the basic figures, in the combinations of rhythms and the various tempos (Lindy Foundations equivalent).
Chorus Line Project
Enter the world of vernacular and spectacular jazz dances. Jazz danced solo is at the origin of many “street” dances, “urban” dances, improvised, rhythmic and expressive black American dances.
The show is part of jazz culture and we want to give you the opportunity to work on a project that will end with a performance in front of an audience. The project can take various forms depending on the opportunities and audiences.
To ensure a great experience for all, we ask you to commit to the full session (Sept to Dec or Jan-June). The social dance night of the performance is included in the price of the session.
Pre-requisite : Auditions. Lindy Foundations equivalent.
Collegiate Shag Project
10 week project and presentation at a live music evening at Cat’s Corner on March 15th.
If you think you need some extra practice to join the project, we recommend that you attend the Shag workshop on January 20.
Showmanship is part of jazz culture, and we want to give you the opportunity to work on a project that culminates in a performance in front of an audience. You’ll learn classical sequences and choreography.
To ensure a great experience for all, we ask for a full length commitment. The cost of the session includes the end-of-year performance evening.
Prerequisites: Shag Fondations.
Auditions. If you are unable to attend, please contact us by email to express your interest.
Tap Dance Classes
Intro to tap
An introduction to the basics of tap dancing. You will learn the essential basic steps such as the toe, heel, shuffle, hop, flap …
Spend a few weeks in this class to familiarize yourself with dancing and the sound of the shoes. A minimum of 4 weeks is the prerequisite to then integrate the Tap 1 course.
We can lend you a pair of shoes depending on the availability of your size. The course is available in “drop-in” and “multi-pass” format of 8 sessions.
Tap 1
The Tap 1 course helps to solidify the foundations of tap dancing after acquiring a few basics in the introductory course. This is the first “practice” of the rudimentary aspects of the rhythmic language specific to this dance, according to the oral tradition curriculum of Ethel Bruneau, taught by her daughter Suzanne, her granddaughter Majiza (main teacher of the program) or her students.
You can join this course after evaluation of the teachers and stay a few months to feel comfortable in your foundations. This is the prerequisite to then integrate the Tap 2 course on the personalized advice of your teachers.
Prerequisite: A few months of Intro-to-Tap
Tap 2
The tap 2 class progresses from the previous courses with the integration of some new steps and combos. We begin to feel a little more comfortable to converse rhythmically, with time steps, pull backs, other classics and with improvisation.
You can join this course after evaluation of the teachers and stay a few months to feel comfortable in your practice.
Prerequisite: Tap 1
Tap 3
The tap 3 class progresses from the previous courses with the integration of new steps (wings…), combos and higher tempos. Improvisation becomes more fluid and choregraphies push your limits to the next level.
The tap 3 class progresses from the previous courses with the integration of new steps (wings…), combos and higher tempos. Improvisation becomes more fluid and choregraphies push your limits to the next level.
You can join this course after evaluation of the teacher.
Creative dance 3-4 yo
A class for the youngest: discovering dance! On the program: ballet jazz warm-up, introduction to tap, creative exploration of movement, gymnastic and rhythm.
The children will be hosted by Suzanne Bruneau. They will have the privilge of being introduced to the dance pedagogy of Suzanne’s mother, the one and only “Miss Swing”, Miss Ethel Bruneau.
The class are 45min long.
Tap beginners 5-7 yo
Children from 5 to 7 years old will be introduced tap dance in the jazz tradition. Their feet will compose rhythmic and expressive phrases in cadence and harmony, like a moving drum. What better dance to dialogue with the music and join the orchestra itself?
Children will work on their sense of time, their listening to themselves and to others. Tap dancing also trains a sense of balance and proprioceptive finesse by learning to use body weight and control different parts of the foot.
Tap beginners 8-12 yo
Children from 8 to 12 years old will be introduced tap dance in the jazz tradition. Their feet will compose rhythmic and expressive phrases in cadence and harmony, like a moving drum. What better dance to interact with the music and be part of the orchestra?
Children will work on their sense of time, their listening to themselves and to others. Tap dancing also trains a sense of balance and proprioceptive finesse by learning to use body weight and control different parts of the foot.
Tap Intermediate-Advanced Level 8-15 yo
Children and teens in the advanced program will continue to work on their sense of time, various rhythmic combinations and choreographic memory. This year, the youth will also be introduced to jazz dance movements.
New in 2022-2024: A virtual participation in the International Lindy Hop Championships will be suggested at the beginning of the year (the event takes place in NYC from May 26-29, 2023). The event happens each year during the week of World Lindy Hop Day and International Tap Dance Day.
Musical Theater
