Authentic Jazz Weekend Level B - Baker

Level B as in "Josephine Baker" 

The Baker level is for dancers who have danced some solo jazz before, either at WCJ or workshops elsewhere. You feel comfortable dancing many common jazz steps, even though you might not remember their names. You know the Shim Sham and maybe tried other famous jazz routines.

The classes will focus more on diving into technique, finding variations of steps, working with improvisation, and discovering musicality. You will have external teachers in solo jazz, afro, and house and internal WCJ teachers. 

facts about…

Josephine Baker was an American French dancer, singer, and variety artist. She is often referred to as the first Afro-American artist who became a true star. Baker won her first dance contest at 14 and debuted on Broadway the year after. Her most known costume is the one she had in La Folie du jour (1926), where she danced in almost nothing but a skirt with yellow plush bananas covered in rhinestones.

A few years later, she moved to France, where she continued to get a lot of attention for her erotic dance almost without clothing. Baker could not have any children of her own, but she adopted children from all over the world. In the end, she had 12 adopted children. She called them her rainbow family and wanted to show the world that people of different races can live together as brothers and sisters. During the Second World War, Baker worked as a spy, for which she got an officer rank after the war.

Josephine Baker in the banana skirt.

Schedule TBA. Party Night at saturday evening is included in the registration fee!