Connect the Dots - a jazz and not jazz weekend

Calling all Lindy Hop and Fusion dancers! Erin Morris is coming to Boston Sep 19-20 for an artistry-focused weekend created just for you. We've got solo and partnered classes designed to help you connect to a variety of music styles, develop your voice, dig into technique, and expand your creativity, plus a joint Lindy/Fusion dance party on Sat night. Whether you're looking to break out of familiar patterns or add some more structure to your dancing, Erin's approach will meet you where you are and push you somewhere new. Join us for this unique opportunity to learn from a superb teacher and from one another as we build bridges across dance communities! Hosted by Lindy Hopcats and Eclipse Fusion Boston for their first-ever collaboration.

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY-Day
11:30 am - 1:00 pm: Discover Your Movement Pt. 1 — Prep for a long day of dancing with an extended warm up and a deep dive into aesthetics and dropping into your unique movement.
1:00 pm - 2:15 pm: Lunch + Community Chat: What is Fusion?
2:15 pm - 3:45 pm: Partnered Jazz Fundamentals — For all levels and styles! This class will cover partner dancing fundamentals and mechanics to help provide more options in your dancing.
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Partner & Not Partner Jazz & Not Jazz — In this class, we'll explore available options when dancing in partnered and solo contexts and then reach for options you didn't know you had.

SATURDAY-Night
7 pm - 8 pm: Lesson w/ Maria — There's so much good music in the world! How can you move to a new musical genre if you haven't studied it before? This drop-in lesson is for people of all dance backgrounds. It's designed to give you touchpoints for partner dancing across a wide variety of musical genres so you can jump into our Fusion/Lindy social dance with both feet.
8 pm - Midnight: Social Dance (DJs: Stephen York, Raquel Fioroti, Maria Kakolowski) — Join us for a fun night of dancing and making new friends! DJs will be queueing up some amazing tunes that will keep you grooving.

SUNDAY
11:30 am - 1:30 pm: Dancing with Intention — What's the value of Lindy - or any other primary dance style - when you're not dancing in that genre? What in your dance toolkit is helpful when expanding out to other styles and how can we bridge solo and partnered movement?
1:30 pm - 2:45 pm: Lunch
2:45 pm - 4:15 pm: Discover Your Movement Pt. 2 — An advanced solo jazz class that builds on the previous day's material. We will be investigating how to shape movement in the context of different forms of jazz music. Any dancer is welcome; if jazz is not your primary style, just be prepared for a fast-paced learning environment.
4:15 pm - 5:15 pm: Practica — Did you know there is a Lindy Hop practice at The Abbey every Sunday? We are continuing the tradition to help solidify class content and allow time to ask Erin any lingering questions.

INSTRUCTOR BIO
Erin Morris has been teaching, performing, and competing in jazz and swing dancing for over 25 years. She has enjoyed international artist residencies in Vienna, Berlin, and Krakow but above all loves contributing regularly to her local communities and students. Erin received her MFA in Dance in 2023 from Washington University in St. Louis and is now adjunct faculty. Her art-making focus has been on blending her background in Black social jazz dance with personal explorations in postmodernism, and she finds that all paths return her to the importance of improvisation and collaboration with musicians. In 2024 she launched the performance initiative "Jazz Shift" with renowned drummer Steve Davis (her husband), aiming to shift perspectives on how jazz sounds, how jazz moves, and what is possible when the language of jazz explores both fluency and futurism. Whether in the studio, the classroom, or the jazz club, Erin is committed to laying bare cultural roots and discovering a present that is individual, informed, aesthetic, and connective.

PRICING: All tickets are on a sliding scale. Full weekend and single day tickets available. Sliding scale prices are available to help accommodate single class attendance.

POLICIES: COVID testing required on arrival (tests provided; arrive 15 minutes early). Masks optional. No scented products (perfume, cologne, fragrant personal care products). Gender neutral bathroom available. Space not wheelchair accessible (stairs at entrance and into space). Light refreshments provided; bring your own water bottle. Accessibility inquiries: [email protected] or [email protected]. Code of conduct: https://eclipse.dance/code-of-conduct/