Here are the class descriptions.
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, Peabody, Mambo, Balboa, Blues, Collegiate Shag, Waltz, 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. You will be able to combine this class with the “Lindy Challenge” class to vary the learning process.
Prerequisite: Lindy Foundations or equivalent
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 will be able to join this course at the beginning of each month. Stay as long as you wish to be accompanied in your practice. Each month’s content will be different. Combine or not with Lindy hop and Tap lessons.
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. It is a good complement to the “All-Level” class to vary the modes and rhythms of learning.
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!
Prerequisite: Lindy Foundations or equivalent
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 at the beginning of each month. Each month will focus on a balboa basic. This is the prerequisite for the All-Levels 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 will be able to join this course at the beginning of each month. Each month’s content will be different. Slippery Shoes recommended.
Prerequisite: 3 – 6 months of Balboa Foundations
Advanced Balboa
Collegiate Shag Foundations
Blues Foundations
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.
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
