ABOUT US
Welcome! Thanks for visiting our site.
Why Blues Dance and Blues Music? Through blues dance we first discovered music that expressed the painful and sad journey in America of the displaced, down-trodden, and disadvantaged. The dance with this music is rhythmic, quite simple at it’s core, low-impact, connected to the music, and interpretive. The lyrics and the rhythms, though soulful and often sad, have the ability to make you feel better.
We began teaching social blues dance in 2015 in Fort Collins, Colorado (our home town), when we noticed that women seem to always outnumber the men when it comes to music and dance. We began hosting dance lessons to help give men the confidence, skill, and desire to get out on the dance floor. Our goal for that first year was to teach ten men how to lead...confidently.
Since that time, we have introduced and reinforced social dance to many individuals (men and women) through our simple, effective classes and workshops. As a result, baby-boomers and millennials in the Ft. Collins, Boulder, and Denver metro region are enjoying blues lead-follow dance at local events, concerts, and Meetups.
Some of our students have even reported that their lives have been transformed by the benefits, fun, and confidence that social dance has given them.
Please take a few moments to browse the site. You can find complete information by clicking the links at the top of this page. If you have any questions or inquiries, please contact us. We are happy to answer all your questions.
Hope to see you out dancing,
Kevin & Grace
“Awesome. Loved Kevin and Grace as instructors.” ~RS
Blues dancing has existed for almost as long as there has been Blues music, though it most likely looked different from what we see on the dance floor today. Blues dancing is a term used to describe a family of dances that have developed throughout the history of Blues music, as well as contemporary dances that are danced in a similar aesthetic.
WHAT IS BLUES DANCING?
In the 1990’s, when the Lindy Hop revival started, there began to be Lindy exchanges throughout the United States, at which there were often “Blues Rooms” where dancers could dance slowly to Blues and other mellow music. Blues soon started to become a scene in and of itself, with communities all over the United States and elsewhere in the world.
Blues offers a unique kind of partner dance. It allows for improvised steps within a set of standard techniques, including a strong connection, tension and compression, turns, traveling, etc. While Blues dancing can be a slow, intimate affair, it can also be a fast paced rush around the floor.
It can be danced to Blues music, and often is, and can also be danced to many other kinds of music (often referred to as “alternative Blues”).
It also lends itself to be fused with almost any other kind of partner dance.
~Crossroads Blues Fusion
WHY BLUES DANCING?
Through blues dance we first discovered music that expressed the painful and sad journey in America of the displaced, down-trodden, and disadvantaged. The dance with this music is rhythmic, quite simple at it’s core, low-impact, connected, and interpretive. The lyrics and the rhythms, though soulful and often sad, have the ability to make you feel better.
“Dance is the hidden language of the soul, where every movement tells a unique story. In the rhythmic embrace of partner connection and the expressive footwork, dancers find their voice and create a beautiful narrative with each step. It's in the connection, musicality, and sheer joy that the true essence of dance unfolds, allowing individuals to discover their unique rhythm and express themselves in the universal language of movement.”
M. C. (student)
“As with most things in life, all it takes is a willingness to learn (and make mistakes), while focusing on having fun, and dancing like no one else is watching! Because—they aren't!—they're dancing too! :-)”
WHAT IS BLUES MUSIC?
Blues music, as a genre, possesses many distinctive characteristics. The lyrics of early traditional blues music consisted of a single line repeated four times. It was only in the early decades of the 20th century that the most common current structure became standard: the so-called AAB pattern, consisting of a line sung over the four first bars, its repetition over the next four, and then a longer concluding line over the last bars. Early blues music frequently took the form of a loose narrative, often relating troubles experienced within African American society.
B.B. King
Many blues elements, such as the call-and-response format and the use of blue notes, can be traced back to the music of Africa. The origins of the blues are also closely related to the religious music of the Afro-American community, the spiritual. The first appearance of the blues is often dated to after emancipation and, later, to the development of juke joints. It was associated with the newly acquired freedom of the enslaved people. Chroniclers began to report about blues music at the dawn of the 20th century.
Janis Joplin
The first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908. Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a wide variety of styles and sub-genres. Blues sub-genres include country blues, such as Delta and Piedmont, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago and West Coast blues. World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a hybrid, “blues rock,” evolved.
~ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Billie Holiday
Some of our favorite blues artists include:
-Eric Clapton -BB King -Joe Bonamassa -John Lee Hooker -Jimi Hendrix -Aretha Franklin -Bonnie Raitt -Buddy Guy -Muddy Waters -The Rolling Stones -Stevie Ray Vaughn -Billie Holiday -Nina Simone
Robert S. (student)
“Awesome. Loved Kevin and Grace as instructors.”
MEET THE INSTRUCTORS
Confident Blues Dance Instruction is led by Kevin Kim of Ft. Collins, Colorado a long-time real estate investor & marketing consultant, people connector, Latin-style dancer, and blues dance instructor. He was once an un-rhythmed, socially-challenged single father with no dance skills, but with a new life mission to live more courageously, attempting social dance was suddenly on his bucket list. Kevin has been a men’s ministry group leader and served as a divorce support facilitator for 8 years. He feels a calling to help people who are on that same path in life and to share his experience and enjoyment of social dance. He is driven to connect people by creating enjoyable social events.
Kevin is joined on the dance floor by his dance and life partner, Grace Cooley, who has been partner dancing since Middle School. Grace has experience in the Texas two-step, waltz, Cotton-eyed Joe, contra, ballroom dance, salsa, Argentine tango, and blues partner dance. Grace brings in the masculine/feminine elements of dance and lead-follow, stressing the importance of respect, trust, and roles (no matter your gender) on the dance floor and in relationships. She also writes a personal blog.
Your journey begins with a single (dance) step
We invite you to join the many happy students who have dared greatly to experience the joy of blues dance.
