Beginners, Classes, Current Classes, Intermediate, Irish Sean-nós Dance

Wednesdays Sean-nós Dance | Beginners & Intermediates

maldonm

overview

Hello dancers,

For the next 8 Wednesday evenings

week 1

Week 1 — You Can Dance

1. Start Here: You Can Dance

The goal of this course is not to collect as many steps as possible.

The goal is to be able to dance.

Some of my favorite dancers have only a handful of steps. What makes their dancing compelling is not how many steps they know. It is how they use what they have, how they listen, and how they play with the music.

This week we begin with three pieces of vocabulary: 3 Shuffles, 2 Shuffles, and 4 Heels. 

Intermediates you will have grapevine step & triplets.

These are building blocks, not a routine you have to reproduce.

One movement is enough to begin. A handful of movements can make a lot of dancing.

And one step is enough to begin.

Intermedates

week 2

Week 2 — Practice Counts

Practice does not have to be long, formal, or happen on a dance floor. Thirty seconds counts. One small piece counts. Coming back to it counts.

This week, beginners learn Cross Step and revisit 3 Shuffles, 2 Shuffles, and 4 Heels. Intermediates learn a cross step with extra beats and build on Grapevine and triplets, exploring direction, both sides, and connections to familiar movements.

Our focus is on making the movements more comfortable and finding our way from one to another.

Learn a Little Chunk

I once found myself practicing a tiny piece of a dance step in the cheese aisle at the grocery store. It helped change the way I thought about practice.

You can practice while the kettle boils, while waiting for something, or during a little pause in your day. You don’t always need music or a whole step.

Read the cheese-aisle story.

This week we’ll use a word I say often: woodshed.

To woodshed something means to take out one small piece, slow it down, repeat it, listen to it, and then put it back into the larger movement.

Where Is Your Weight?

When something feels tangled, ask:

Where is my weight? Where does it need to be?

  • Step: If you step it alows you to change your weight from one foot to the other.
  • Tap: If you tap it alows you to make a sound while keeping your weight the same.

Notice which foot is available for the next movement. Sometimes changing a step to a tap—or a tap to a step—opens up a connection.

Make the weight change obvious at first. You can make it smaller as it becomes familiar.

The Transition Game

Choose two movements. Dance the first into the second, then reverse the order.

For beginners, try Cross Step and one movement from Week 1. Intermediates can try Grapevine and something already in their feet.

If the connection feels sticky, practice just the end of the first movement and the beginning of the second. Then put them back together and try with music.

These are experiments. You don’t have to memorize a particular sequence.

Home base and Keep Dancing

Choose one comfortable movement as your Home Base. This is the step that is easies for you and that you can come back between playing with these steps. My dance teacher Mick calles this is banner step.

Put on a jig. Begin with your home base step and bring in another movement when you’re ready.

If you get lost, return to home base. Listen. Choose again.

You don’t have to use everything you know every time you dance.

Your Practice Menu

Choose one thing that helps today:

  • Practice one small piece for 30 seconds.
  • Revisit Cross Step or Grapevine.
  • Connect two movements.
  • Check your weight at a sticky connection or change weight in a step.
  • Listen to your feet without music.
  • Put on a jig and dance.

This is a menu, not a checklist.

What felt more comfortable this week? Where could a tiny moment of practice fit into your day?

resources

Resources

Published by maldonm