Classes, Current Classes

7:30 AM | M,W,F | Sean-nós, Old Style & More

maldonm

intro

MondayWednesdayFriday
7:30 AM PSTWoodshedKeep Her LitSpeed & Craic

Mondays 7:30 AM on Zoom
Woodshedding
In music, “woodshed” refers to practicing intensively to master a particular skill. We’ll apply this same concept to our dance practice. During this session, I’ll demonstrate the step at full speed, so you can see how it fits into the context of the whole routine. Then, we’ll break it down piece by piece, focusing on the smallest sections that can be repeated and gradually building them back into the complete movement. We’ll begin at a slower tempo and work our way up, increasing the speed by 1 or 2 beats per minute until we reach 80 bpm. Starting around 60 bpm, this session allows us to focus on one step at a time, ensuring we fully master it before moving on. This slow, methodical approach helps reinforce muscle memory and build confidence.

Wednesdays 7:30 AM on Zoom
Keep Her Lit
“Keep Her Lit” is a term musicians use when they’re playing through a tune on their own, even if it’s not perfect or if no one else joins in. The idea is to keep going, no matter what. We’ll take this approach to our dancing. We’ll begin by reviewing the step from Monday, practicing at whatever tempo we left off at. After 20-30 minutes of increasing speed, we’ll explore material from one of the courses available on the site. This is a great opportunity to revisit past content, even if you haven’t seen the material before. The goal isn’t perfection but progress and inspiration. If the speed is too challenging, feel free to focus on practicing a step you’re working on. Remember, dance is personal—express yourself and embrace your unique style.

Fridays 7:30 AM on Zoom
Speed & Craic
“Craic” (pronounced ‘crack’) is an Irish word for fun, and that’s exactly what this session is all about! We’ll dance through movements at slow, medium, and fast tempos, testing your endurance and flexibility. The beauty of our style is that the same music can be danced at various tempos, which helps develop muscle memory and gauge your current speed. This session will challenge your stamina, allowing you to build strength and confidence while dancing for longer periods at full tempo. Don’t worry if you need to adjust your speed—take it at your own pace, and feel free to slow down or speed up as needed. It’s also a great opportunity to identify steps you want to “woodshed” in future sessions to improve your speed and performance.

If you scroll down you will find links to several dances and courses. Feel free to review these and we will cover them over the course of 8 weeks.

Entire Playlist

Keep Her Lit

Speed & Craic

We will have a playlist of tunes and dance up to speed. You can improvise, dance specific steps or dances. It’s up to you. There will be no breakdown, we will just dive into these dances, steps and tunes.

week 1

Week 1 – Playlist

All the videos for week 1 in one place.

Woodshed

Our first woodshed we will learn and woodshed the reel step below.

Reels:

Collier’s reel step with triples in the second half. Heel and ball versions. 60 bpm and 80 bpm. Please note this video and the one below I am starting on the left foot as the camra I used is a mirror of what I am actually doing. Feel free to put it on your reight or left foot start, up to you.

Afton asked a great question about dacning this step to other tune types. I got very excied about her question and dived into this and recorded a jig version with heels for you.

As a Polka

We will also dance the jig steps below at several tempos to get ready for Wednesdays class were we will dance all the jig steps and work on transtions between steps.

Keep Her Lit

Frist up Collier’s Reel step starting at 80 bpm. Add in some triples and improve and play (there is a video of woodsheding triplets above. Then keep the jig steps from the jig course lit. If you want to review before class here are those steps.

Sean-nós Jigs – view the entire course

Jigs:

Speed & Craic

Speed & Craic

For Speed & Craic we will dance at orginal tempos for all the tracks. I will show slow, meduim and fast variations for each step and tune. You chose your level. If the music is too fast for you to dance the step that I am doing, dance any step in your repertoire or dance them at the speed you able (slow/med/fast). A musical note: the slow and medium speeds may not be the same rhythmic sound but they will be the same physical movement so you can practice muscle memory. I enourage you to have fun and not worry about daning anything perfectly. Test your knowledge, speed and craic (enjoyement of the music and dance). Have FUN!

week 2

Woodshed

Last term we worked on Mick and Aidan’s steps. This week we will woodshed what I calll Mick’s $500 step. We have danced it one sided. We will start with that but can look at making it two sides, using floor shuffle and traveling or moving with the step. If you want to use this for set dancing I highly enourage you to practice moving with step and keeping it one sided. Leads are left foot to start and follows are on right foot to start. If you want to use it for Sean-nós dancing you may want to dance it two sided.

Keep Her Lit

Speed & Craic

week 3

Woodshed

Keep Her Lit

  • Transitions and memorization

Speed & Craic

week 4

Woodshed

Keep Her Lit

  • Transitions and memorization

Speed & Craic

week 5

Woodshed

Keep Her Lit

  • Transitions and memorization

Speed & Craic

week 6

Woodshed

Keep Her Lit

  • Transitions and memorization

Speed & Craic

week 7

Woodshed

Keep Her Lit

  • Transitions and memorization

Speed & Craic

week 8

Woodshed

Keep Her Lit

  • Transitions and memorization

Speed & Craic

Published by maldonm