CLASSES

The language of the classes 

English.

Levels

We have different levels in the balboa classes and in the slow bal classes. 

Levels in balboa classes: Intermediate, Intermediate-advanced, Advanced and Invitational.  

Levels in slow bal classes: Discovery and Experienced.

Please find the level description below.

Leader-follower ratio policy

We try to provide the best experience for all the participants and it requires the leader-follower ratio to be at least nearly equal (even though there are always more follower registrations). Therefore in the intermediate, in the intermediate-advanced and in the advanced group we will allow max. 2 extra followers/class. The best is if you register with your dance partner. If you register alone, you may get on the waiting list 

Regarding the invitational level we won't allow extra leaders or followers, the best is if you apply in couples. If you apply alone, you may get on the waiting list.

Audition

There will be audition for the advanced group. We believe that the most efficient way for your learning is that you take part in the class that fits best to your skills. Depending on the result of the audition you may stay in the advanced group or go to the intermediate-advanced group or you might get an invitation to the highest level. Please trust and respect the decisions of the teachers, don't take it personal, they want the best for your balboa journey.

You can get a spot to invitational level in 3 ways:

1. If you are invited to this level. Unfortunately we have no contact to all the dancers in the world who we should invite. So if you are a top dancer and you are interested to join our festival, but you haven't got an invitation please apply for it in the registration. You are very welcome!

2. If you apply for it. If we don't know you, we need more information about your dance skills to be able to decide if this is your level. Therefore we ask you about your experiences and ask you to send us a short video about your dancing in the registration form. The video can be a record of your practice, social dancing or competition. Please upload the video to Youtube or any other type of file/video sharing application. If the video is not public please set the visibility to 'Unlisted' instead of 'private'. Thank you!

3. If you registered to the advanced group and if there are free spots in the invitational group you may get an invitation to this level from the teachers during the audition.

Levels in balboa classes:

Intermediate

This is your level if you started to dance balboa minimum 1 year ago and you know the basics of pure-bal (uphold, downhold, some travelling steps, single time, double time, crab walks, come around,...), you know the basic bal-swing elements, throw outs, inside turns, lollies, swivels, out and in. You want to jump more deeply into balboa, increase your vocabulary and feel comfortable for a faster tempo.

Intermediate-advanced

This is your level if you have solid basics, in addition you make more variations, you are able to dance for faster tempos but struggling on real high tempos. You want to improve your technique, musicality, you are looking for the flow of your dance and want to learn more complex variations. You enjoy parties, you have already taken part in a couple of workshops beside your regular classes. 

Advanced

You are an experienced dancer, started to dance several years ago. You do several footwork and rhythm variations, some fancy moves and dance as much as you can. Fast tempo is not a problem for you. You took part on some international festivals and balboa became your passion.

Invitational

This is your level if balboa is more than just a passion. You feel that balboa is calling you and you can't imagine your life without it. You are a very experienced dancer, maybe a balboa teacher or you are competing time to time in international festivals. We would like to provide the best learning environment so we maximize the number of participants in this group and we won't make any compromise in the level just to have the planned number of people in the group. The group will run with a few couples also.

Levels in slow balboa classes:

Discovery

This is your level if you never danced slow balboa or you might have taken some classes but you are not an experienced slow balboa dancer.

Experienced

This is your level if you are an experienced slow balboa dancer. You take the chance to dance slow bal whenever the music slows down, you took part in more workshops, maybe slow bal international festivals. You would like to improve your moves, your style and the flow, and smoothen the transitions and learn new combinations.