Answer:

There is such a big difference between simply moving with someone on the dance floor and really dancing. Yes, taking that next step does take some courage and extra effort - but the rewards are totally worth it! Dancing in harmony with your partner and with the music is a truly joyful experience. On the practical side, dancing becomes a lot easier and offers a lot more variety when you don't have to struggle with it. A little practice and focus on the small, simple, but important things goes a really long way...

Answer: In one respect it's very simple - for those people who turn up regularly to classes and support events we want to reward them. Practically that comes in the form of lesson discounts and social functions. However, membership is also about being part of a community. Money received from memberships helps Cool Cats be able to give more support to 'retro' dance events, competitions, and community functions.

Answer: We would love for everybody to be a Cool Cats member, but some people may find that it's not for them. For this reason we strongly recommend that prospective members will have participated in lessons for approximately 3months and can be confident that they will benefit from membership. This approach is also intended in part as a reward for our loyal students and to ensure that core skills have been attained for applicable members only lessons and workshops. The more you put in, the more you get out!

Answer: There are many advantages to being a Cool Cats member. Not only does this include discounted lessons and social functions, but also access to additional lessons (monthly workshops and general lessons at the start and finish of the year) and offers from our membership partners. Cool Cats members may also ask to include special offers or messages in The Update!

Answer: If you are a Cool Cats member and regularly participate in our classes, you can ask to include special offers in The Update! at any time for your business. Otherwise, your business should be associated in a recognisable manner with the 'retro' dance scene. Pro forma offers or enquiries will not be considered.

Answer: Safety. It does not matter if you are an experienced dancer or if you have prior aerials experience. Cool Cats teaches aerials with a focus on safety and if we cannot have confidence that you know the core elements of a selection of fundamental lifts, drops, and slides we will not introduce you to more advanced material. If you can't make the short course, which runs twice per year, or you just can't wait, you can cover the equivalent course content in our General Classes.

Answer: Aerials is essentially training in a form of acrobatics, so the good news is that you don't need to know much about dancing at all. You can be a new dancer and start learning aerials almost right away. However, this is not generally recommended as your timing and concentration should be able to focus on your lift-work rather than still trying to worry about your feet and hands while dancing! It's best to be comfortable with your dancing on the floor before you start trying to jump off it :)

Answer: It should come as no surprise that aerials performed well do demand an additional level of fitness than regular social dancing. Fitness need not come all at once though - our Basic Aerials short course is suitable for anyone who is 'dance fit' and provides the training and liftwork exercises to develop the required muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness for more advanced aerials. Your fitness will increase as your liftwork training increases in duration, complexity, and intensity.

Answer: Safety. Social dancing usually means crowded dancing - legs and arms swing around as other people dance is an annoyance and hazard to them and simply dangerous for you. Some basic lifts and drops are fairly compact and on a relatively open floor present no issue. Meanwhile, there will be occasional songs when - for whatever reason - there is a lot of room available and something more extravagant will not pose a great risk. However, safety for everyone on the dance floor should come first. If in doubt, leave it out!

Answer: Safety. Firstly, the average home or backyard was not built with the intention of accommodating people jumping about all over the place. Lifts in crowded spaces are not a good idea. However, let's say that you have a good space to work in - practicing new aerials without supervision and (as necessary) safety spotters is still a good way to get you or your partner hurt. With more practice comes greater awareness and capacity to correct for issues and errors that may arise during an aerial - but this is lacking when it is still fresh. Once a lift can be danced in and danced out in time with the music (i.e. it is 'performance' ready), you can be confident to practice safely on your own.

Answer: A general class is your class and is completely flexible. Any style(s), any focus (content, technique, skills) that you chose. However, this class format is best suited to partnered dancers. To the extent practicable we will seek to engage solo students with available class assistants, but this is not always possible to the extent desired or suitable for those looking to socialise. Cool Cats offers this class format because dancing is a partnership activity. These classes enable partnered dancers to work together and achieve their dance goals, without the need for private lessons.

Answer: If we offer lessons for it, you can do it. Follow a course structure and use the associated lesson notes and materials, or go 'off the book'. Ask the questions you want answered and work on the skills you want to develop. Pay attention and you may often find yourself also learning and benefiting from the questions and activities of the other students in class!

Answer: Cool Cats structured courses focus on good basics and dance skills, progressing through each class to explore more advanced content. The classes are intended for beginner and intermediate students and are a great way to both expand and consolidate a dance style. There are three course themes, which are aimed at developing specific aspects of dancing: body mechanics, pressure, and timing and harmony. A fourth theme, “Mix-Up!”, combines elements from the other three courses to provide variety, fun, and experience in ‘putting it all together’.

Answer:We currently offer courses in Swing, 4Beat Blues, Kick-Step Rock 'n' Roll, & Rockabilly. For those participating in General Classes, courses have also been developed for Jive and Pressure Step Rock 'n Roll.

Answer: Short courses are offered for those dance styles or skills that are more advanced or a little bit different and, hence, are not suitable for beginner students or may not have sufficient participation to warrant a weekly course. Short courses follow Cool Cats 'tiered' learning approach to explore fundamental concepts/skills before more advanced implementation and practice.

Answer: We currently offer short courses in Lead/Follow, Footwork & Body Movement, Timing & Technique (once per year), Triples Rock 'n' Roll, and Basic Aerials (twice per year).

Answer: Cool Cats runs workshops every month for members. These workshops include introductions to advanced/boutique dance styles, 'retro' line dances, and 'refreshers' for our Short Courses. We may also run additional workshops during the year for social clubs and community groups.

Answer: Absolutely! If you represent a business, social club, or youth/community group and would like a dance workshop please contact us. Workshops may cover the full spectrum of dance, either serving as an introduction to 'retro' dance or providing an opportunity to examine specific skills and content for experienced dancers. Whaterver you're looking for, we can tailor a workshop to suit your needs! Workshops can get right into the nitty gritty, or just be for fun :)

Answer: Using slightly different actions, kick-step rock 'n' roll is a 6beat style of rock 'n' roll dancing that is popular in parts of Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Like most forms of rock 'n' roll, kick-step derives from Swing dancing (the basic is a form of simplified Charleston kick), with both partners moving in a clock-wise circle. The advantage of Kick-Step Rock 'n' Roll is that the kick (occurring without weight) is free to be placed in different directions, allowing for greater freedom of movement and body action. In advanced forms of Kick-Step this also allows for additional footwork actions to be introduced, providing even greater possibilities for movement and musicality.

Answer: The basic form of Kick-Step that we teach in class (6 beats, 6 actions) is no more energetic than any other rock 'n' roll dance style. However, because the dance is able to move more freely than other rock 'n' roll styles you may find that you can't resist the urge to really get into it! The advanced forms of Kick-Step that we offer for experienced dancers are more energetic, as there are more actions required in the same number of beats.

Answer: As a 6beat dance, basic Kick-Step Rock 'n' Roll will allow you to dance with any other basic rock 'n' roll style - but with the advantage of being able to move more freely and use a greater range of footwork and body action. For those who like their dances energetic or want a challenge, the advanced forms of Kick-Step can provide a real work-out while developing a broad range of dance skills. Advanced Kick-Step is the most fluid and dynamic of the rock 'n' roll styles - just great when you really want to go for it!

Answer: Little written or videographed history of Blues dancing exists from the late 19th century when it began. While blues dancing was popular in clubs and juke joints, there were few (if any) clear rules. Blues was an improvised dance using different stepping patterns, with a focus on close connection. Due to the popularity of the music and the dance, blues actions worked their way into the different dance styles that followed - Swing, Rock 'n' Roll, & Rockabilly. 4Beat Blues is that first step from vintage Blues dancing into a more defined (4Beat) pattern of footwork that developed in different ways, in conjunction with other influences, into these dance styles.

Answer: 4Beat Blues is an extremely versatile and diverse style - how much energy you put in is up to you. It may be danced to (very slow) traditional blues music, to (fast) rock 'n' roll and rockabilly music, or use half-time actions and counts to dance to (very fast) music of almost any tempo. In our classes we tend to focus on slower blues music to learn footwork and mid-paced rockabilly or swing music when working through figures that require momentum or counter-balance.

Answer: Improvisation, musicality, footwork, body movement and the capacity to dance to almost any piece of music - what's not to like??? In addition, as a 'base' style for Swing, Rock 'n' Roll, and Rockabilly the basics are not only very easy to learn, but allow you to use what you learn to develop into any of the other styles we teach. Top that off with a FREE lesson on Monday nights (6-7pm) at the Mustang Bar - why aren't you already learning this excellent dance style!?

Answer: Rockabilly, as a dance style, means something quite different depending upon where you come from - even though the music is the same. A quick look on You Tube will show you some very different Rockabilly dancing in Japan, to the UK, to Australia. Even within Australia there are slight differences in interpretation between the East and West coast.

At Cool Cats, we recognise Rockabilly as a 4beat dance style where the man moves anti-clockwise around the woman - and there is no back-step! This marks Rockabilly as distinctly different from the other dance styles, which move clockwise and use a back-step as preparation for dance figures. Rockabilly is a rebel and it just keeps on moving when the other dances stop!

Links:

http://www.perthrockabilly.com

Answer: No dance style demands a high energy output - but Rockabilly is built for speed! It is the fastest of the dance styles and, we believe, just doesn't have the same feel, connection, or impact when danced too slow. Rockabilly even lets you 'change gears' so that you can keep going faster. Of course, in class you need time to learn how to make that happen so the pace is modest. However, we will keep encouraging you to try the faster music, because that is when this dance style really shines!

Answer: Rhythm, speed, and connection. Rockabilly has a movement, a look, and a feel that is both distinct and addictive. If you love this style of music, there really is no other dance style that can fit with it so well. Not to mention, you can also dance really, really fast :)

Answer: There is so much encompassed by 'Swing', that this is a difficult question to answer. In the US and much of Europe, 'Swing' also captures most of the dancing that in Australia is referred to as Rock 'n' Roll or Jive. At Cool Cats we keep our definition of 'Swing' pretty simple, considering it to be any style consistent with the blues based 'Swing' arising on the East Coast of the USA in the late 1920s. This contrasts with West Coast Swing, which is an upright style and thus Latin in presentation (rather than blues) though much of the footwork and figure patterns are very similar or effectively the same. Check out the 'Dance Styles' page for more discussion...

Answer: The general distinction between 'Swing' and 'Lindy-Hop' is primarily one of dance tempo and the use of Lindy Kicks. Our classes focus first on Smooth Swing, which is well suited to slower music and (as implied) a smooth and fluid body and footwork movement. While Smooth Swing can be danced with a lot of energy if desired, this dance is typically sultry and flirtatious and not about burning up the dance floor. In contrast Lindy-Hop is a rocket, with lots of energy and dynamic movement. Heaps of fun, but not for the faint hearted!

Slow and smooth, or fast and furious - it's up to you; either way we are glad to help!

Answer: Improvisation, musicality, connection, and variety. Swing has a lot to offer as a beautiful, though at times complex, dance style. No other dance style feels both so elegant and expressive; or when you ramp it up into Lindy Hop - so explosive and sheer fun!

Answer: While we would love to be able to teach all of the different 'retro' dance styles we have in our bag of tricks, there is only so much time in the week and so many courses we can run. However, in our General Classes you have the opportunity to try any and all of them. Other dance styles include: Jive, Continental, and a variety of Rock 'n' Roll forms.

Answer: Unlike the dances developed in the ballroom studios of the day, the 'retro' dance styles evolved on the streets from a mixture of different influences. Actions were rarely defined and dancers were respected for their ability to innovate and improvise. In addition, with the dispersion of US culture following WWII, different places about the world acquired and retained different - but all genuine - aspects of that culture and the dance styles it generated.

Perhaps with time and collaboration by dance teachers across the globe a unified codex for 1930s-1950s dance styles will be developed; but the dance itself will continue to change and develop as new music, trends, and (hopefully) better ways of dancing are discovered.