(photo courtesy of Lindy Circle Productions)
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| Jessica Lennartsson and Dan Guest (photo courtesy of Lindy Circle Productions) |
Laminu is a dance for slow Jazz and Blues music. It developed in the late 1940's and 50's by Balboa dancers in Long Beach, California, especially for dancing to the 'hit' music of that time with singers like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Dean Martin. Laminu was a forgotten dance for a few decades, but has been reincarnated by the rapidly growing Balboa community.
Dan Guest started dancing Laminu in 2004, and in the spring of 2007 he and Jessica Lennartsson travelled to Long Beach to learn Laminu from the original dancers that danced Laminu in the old days, including the Laminu legend Mr Ray Cunningham. We are now happy to have Dan and Jessica in Gothenburg to teach the first weekend workshop of Laminu ever in Europe.
In August 2007, Dan held a one-day Laminu workshop in London with Vivien Davidhazy. Watch their demonstration on youtube (keep in mind though that Laminu is great for dancing, not so spectacular to watch).
February 23rd-24th, 2008.
The fee is 750 SEK (about 80 Euros) for the whole workshop, including the Tea dance on Sunday afternoon.
You are not required to have done any Laminu before, but this will in no way be a course for beginners! You need to have good experience (at least two years on a regular basis) of leading/following in close position from either Balboa or some other partner dance, such as Lindy Hop or Argentine Tango. Please contact us before you register if you are unsure whether you meet this requirement or not, and we will try to guide you.
Here is the preliminary schedule:
Saturday Feb 23rd
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Sunday Feb 24th
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The classes will be held at Fräntorps Folkets Hus. Read more about Fräntorps Folkets Hus and how to get there.
If you go by bus, no 513 from Heden at 09.50 will take you there in good time (both Saturday and Sunday).
On Saturday evening there's a major dance happening in Gothenburg called Duke's Place, a dance event organized by the West Coast Jitterbugs. It features a live Big Band, a café with refreshments and usually some performances during the intermissions. Although Duke's Place is mostly for Lindy Hop, we assumed that most camp participants would prefer to attend that event, so we have made no arrangements for Saturday evening of our own.
On Sunday, there's a Tea dance right after the last lesson, where you can dance Laminu and drink tea.
We will try to make arrangements to have food from a restaurant delivered to the venue. The price would be around 150 SEK (about 16 Euros) in total for both lunches, provided that at least 30 people order. Please indicate in the registration form if this would be of interest for you, and you will get more detailed info later. The other alternative is to order from the local pizza place and eat at the venue.
If you like, you can also bring your own food (heating possibilities are limited though). Coffee and other refreshments will also be available between the classes.
We welcome our dancing friends from all over Europe, and we will do our best to find private accommodation with local dancers for anyone who wishes that. If you live in Gothenburg and can host people, please try to register early so we can tell our guests in good time whether they can be hosted or not.
If you request private accommodation and we fail to find a place for you, or if you prefer to make your own arrangements, the Swingin' Spring homepage has a few suggestions for hotels and youth hostels in the area.
If you live in Sweden, you are required to pay in advance. You will receive payment information by email when your registration has been accepted. Foreigners may pay on arrival, but please note that we will require you to pay even if you don't show up. If you need to cancel your registration, we will pay back the whole fee provided that we find someone else to take your place.
Registration is open closed! Register by filling out the registration form below. Places are available on a first-come-first-served basis. You will receive a confirmation email saying if you have been admitted or placed on a waiting list.
We will change partners during the classes, so you do not need to bring your own partner. You may register with a partner or with a group of friends if you want to, then we will assume that you don't want to attend unless your partner / all your friends in the group are also admitted.
If you are on Facebook, you can now join the All Laminu Weekend event!
If you have any questions about this workshop, please contact us by email: laminu2008@gbal.se