Dance Workshops – Blues Remix Festival 2025

💃 Solo Dancing with Joyss

At Blues Remix, we invite you to tune into your own movement — because the more grounded you are in yourself, the more powerful your connection in partner dancing becomes.
💃 Three Thematic Classes with Joyss – Dive into Movement, Groove & Expression
This year, Joyss will guide you through three unique thematic classes, each offering a different layer of exploration into dance. You can join all three for a full immersion, or pick the ones that speak to you most. Expect play, sweat, creativity — and a whole lot of soul. Each class invites you to explore self-expression — discovering how to shape your unique style and share your presence with the world through dance

📅 Friday – Master Class: Musicality: Feel, Improvise, Embody
Let the music lead. In this class, you’ll explore how to connect your movement to the heartbeat of the music. Whether you’re on a social floor, performing, or freestyling for fun, Joyss will guide you in refining your musical listening, timing, and improvisation. This class will challenge and inspire you to move with intention, creativity, and full-body rhythm.
If you’ve been dancing Blues or other African American Vernacular Dances such as Lindy Hop or Balboa for over 5 years, and/or if you’re a dance teacher, this is the perfect opportunity to deepen your practice with advanced musicality and improvisation tools.

📅 Saturday– Vocabulary & Routine: Build, Flow, Connect
This class is all about expanding your movement vocabulary and crafting your own groove. Through guided exercises, you’ll build physical awareness, strengthen your movement patterns, and learn to flow through routines with expression and ease. Joyss will help you connect with others on the floor — not just through steps, but through shared energy and creative exchange.
📅 Sunday – Quality of Movement: Explore, Refine, Transform
Your body is your instrument — and this class is about tuning it. You’ll dive into exercises that enhance your control, fluidity, and dynamic expression. From isolations to wave-like rhythms, Joyss invites you to listen deeply to your body and discover the range of textures it can express. This isn’t about dancing harder — it’s about dancing smarter, softer, deeper.
✨ Take one, two, or all three — every session with Joyss is a new layer of inspiration waiting to unfold

💃 Mambo and Boogaloo with Daniel

💃 Mambo and Boogaloo with Daniel

🎶 Daniel Castillo is inviting you to his Mambo and Boogaloo classes at Blues Remix 💙

These two vibrant classes are here to strengthen your Latin Blues dancing — with rhythm, flavour, and groove!

💃🏽🕺🏽 Why is this historically important?

Because Latin rhythms like Mambo and Boogaloo deeply influenced the evolution of urban blues, soul, and funk in the mid-20th century, especially in cities like New York. These genres were born at the crossroads of Afro-Caribbean, African American, and jazz traditions.

📅 Saturday-Mambo:

Mambo was created in the late 30’s by the brothers Israel Cachao and Orestes Lopez in Cuba. In NY it has its expansion thanks to Perez Prado at the beginning of the 50’s, it had very important precedents like Mario Bauza, Chano Pozo and Machito, they sowed the seed of th Afrocuban jazz.

The golden age of Mambo was born: Mambo Palladium. The Palladium was a Club with a capacity for 2000 people, located on 53rd street and Broadway. The most important artists that played in this club were Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez and Machito, among others, also great dancers like Milley Donay and Cuban Pete made amazing performances on the dance floor in those unforgettable nights with famous orchestras playing mambo and other rythms live.

In the 70’s the great Master, Eddie Torres (Tito Puente’s first dancer), serves as a connecting thread between this wonderful era and the present, not only in NY, but around the world.

📅 Sunday- Boogaloo:

It is a rhythm that was born in the United States from 63 to 69, a mixture of Afro-Cuban rhythms and the United States soul sound, which is a fusion of styles such as soul, R&B, or Jazz. Its main exponents are Joe Cuba, Pete Rodríguez, Johnny Colón, among others.

Its main characteristics are the clapping of the hand on the even beats, coming from the Gospel and a Rockandrolesque rhythm coming from R&B.

💃Stepping Technique & Choreography Workshop with Briana

Move as one. Sound as one. Speak as one.

This workshop immerses participants in the rich, powerful world of Stepping — a dynamic African-American percussive dance form where the body becomes the instrument.

Originating in African-American fraternities and deeply rooted in community, ritual, and rhythm, Stepping blends movement, music, and spoken word into a form of expression that is as physical as it is cultural. Dancers — or steppers — use their hands, feet, and voice to craft intricate rhythms with strength, precision, and spirit. They are at once dancers and musicians, carrying forward a legacy of resistance, creativity, and unity.

In this workshop, we’ll focus on:

Stepping technique and percussive movement
Group coordination and synchronized execution
The cultural and historical roots of Stepping
Building collective energy through rhythm, voice, and movement

You’ll be invited to move, create, and connect — body and voice in harmony — while honoring the deep cultural significance and legacy of Stepping in African-American history.

✨Partner Blues Intensive Workshop: Victor & Elena ✨

Some dances take you across the floor. Elena & Victor take you across decades.
With elegance, groove, and a deep love for Blues, this duo will guide you on a journey that blends tradition with play, intimacy with rhythm, and roots with remix.

✨ Class Title: From Juke Joints to Funk: A Blues Time Travel
⏱ Length: 60 mins
🌍 Level: Open Level (Beginner Friendly)

Step into a time machine and journey to the smoky juke joints. We’ll explore the contrast between the raw, grounded quality of Slow Drag and the playful, rhythmic energy of Funky Blues. Along the way, we’ll discover how to keep our partnership strong and our connection alive, no matter the decade or style.

💡 In this class, Elena & Victor will invite you to:
🎶 Feel the pulse of early Blues — raw, grounded, and full of soul
🔥 Let loose into the playful, funky rhythms that bring out your sass
🤝 Strengthen connection with your partner — not just through steps, but through trust, groove, and shared energy
🌍 Learn to adapt your dance across eras while staying true to Blues roots

This isn’t just a class, t’s a chance to embody the history of Blues while remixing it with your own voice. Whether you’re brand new or have been dancing for years, Elena & Victor will give you tools, inspiration, and joy to bring onto any floor.

TASTERS DANCE WORKSHOPS

✨ Burlesque Taster Class – Unleash Your Inner Tease with Cezarine DeZir✨

Step off the social floor and into the spotlight! In this playful and empowering burlesque taster, you’ll explore the art of tease, expression, and body confidence. No experience or sequins required – just bring your sass, curiosity, and a willingness to have fun. Expect a little strut, a little shimmy, and a whole lot of attitude. Perfect for anyone ready to spice up their weekend with flair. Expect a little strut, a little shimmy, and a whole lot of attitude — all in a space that celebrates freedom of expression, self-love, and joyful rebellion.

💋 All genders are warmly welcome

✨Solo Blues Taster Class: Music is the Basic- Vaiva ✨

VAIVA — all the way from Lithuania — is bringing her magic to Friday night before the party!

🎶 Solo Blues: Music is the Basic

Step into the soulful heart of blues dance: not just moving to the music, but letting it move through you.

Vaiva will guide you to:

✨ Wait — not rush — for movement to rise naturally in your body

✨ Explore your two essential solo dance relationships: with the music, and with yourself

✨ Slow down, tune in, and let your body speak when it’s ready

Whether you’ve danced for years or never before, come learn how to dance like you’re singing from within your body.

✨Partner Blues Taster Class: Chicago Triple - Asrar & Eda ✨

The Chicago Triple is a blues idiom dance with an energetic triple-step pattern, perfect for mid- to fast-tempo blues music with a shuffling rhythm. Expect rhythmic footwork, dynamic movement, and a swinging feel, using compression, stretch, and rich musicality. Rooted in African American juke joint culture, this style thrives on personal expression and a grounded yet lively connection between dancers. Join Asrar and Eda to explore its rhythm, feel, and groove in this energising taster class.