This week is Fat Tuesday and PB&J will be celebrating! Come join us for some New Orleans Blues courtesy of our DJs Brenda Russell and Joshua Kereos. There will be King Cake, lights,beads and masks!

Series Lesson Turns & Pivots with Matt Mickle

This month Matt Mickle and Lucy Bellwood bring you a series on incorporating smooth pivots and turns into your dance. Building on simple moves that you can add to your repertoire of basic traveling movements, they’ll take you through slick pivots in closed position and close embrace, adding taps to your basic for increased rhythmic variation, clean preps that will lead your follow into any number of sweet open turns, and a few elegant leans and dips to round things out. This third class deals specifically with closed pivots and the mechanics of moving into open turns via preps. Please note: class starts at 7:15pm this week! Come on time to get the most out of the material.

Drop In Lesson

TBA

Featured DJs:

Brenda Russell & Joshua Kereos

Open Positions

PB&J is creating 3 new officer positions: Marketing Coordinator, Competitions Coordinator, & Special Events Coordinator. We will also have 2 board positions to fill soon: Strategic Director and Development Director. Please email pdxblues@gmail.com if you are interested in any of them. Full role descriptions are available here.

Matt Mickle has returned from Nicaragua and will be teaching this month. This week he will be working on how to do pivots in close embrace, and using turns to accent your dance. Come this week from 7:30pm-8:30pm.

Drop In Lesson

Derrick Dingman

Featured Band:

Justin Froese

Featured DJ:

Leslie Stevensen

Open Positions

PB&J is creating 3 new officer positions: Marketing Coordinator, Competitions Coordinator, & Special Events Coordinator. We will also have 2 board positions to fill soon: Strategic Director and Development Director. Please email pdxblues@gmail.com if you are interested in any of them. Full role descriptions are available here.

It’s the first week of the month, which means the series lesson is free this week! Matt Mickle has returned from Nicaragua and will be teaching this month with Lucy Bellwood. This week he will be teaching closed position turns, including the connection and frame necessary to do a closed turn, and how to do pivot turns in close embrace. Come this week from 7:30pm-8:30pm.

Drop In Lesson

Matt Mickle

Featured DJs:

Matt Mickle and Derrick Dingman

Valentine’s Day Dance: Live Music!

Next week, we’ll be having a live band play! Justin Froese is coming down from Seattle to play some traditional blues. Justin debuted at Barefoot Blues last year. You can check his sound out on his website.

Musicality Workshop with Gideon Syfrett and Magen Dean

March 17th, from noon to 3pm, Gideon and Magen will be teaching a workshop on musicality for those who are looking to expand their dance skills. It is beginner friendly, and all levels can take away important concepts from it, including using changes in speed, and energy, and isolations. $10 if you preregister, $15 at the door.

On January 31st, from 7:30pm-8:30pm, rather than a Series Lesson we will be
having a community meeting on the upcoming Rose City Blues Exchange in
November. We want your input and want to know what you would like to see at
this event. Hope to see you there.

Drop In Lesson

Bridgette Todd

Featured DJs:

Joshua Kereos and Dylan McCann

This month, Drew Robinson and Ryan Limbaugh are teaching a blues fundamentals series. This week we will work through all of the embraces, as well as learning specific moves to different rhythms.  Come this Tuesday from 7:30-8:30pm.

Gideon Syfrett

Gideon Syfrettand Brenda Russell

On January 31st, from 7:30pm-8:30pm, rather than a Series Lesson we will be
having a community meeting on the upcoming Rose City Blues Exchange in
November. We want your input and want to know what you would like to see at
this event. Hope to see you there.

Due to the anticipated snow and ice, we are cancelling tonight’s dance. There will be other dances happening this weekend; check the list below. Please be safe over the next few days.

This Friday in the Reed Student Union, there is a free dance! Gideon Syfret will be teaching on intro lesson from 9-9:30pm, then Magen Dean and Gideon will be DJing from 9:30pm-1am! More information can be found here.

This Saturday from 10pm-3am, Aria will be hosting a dance at her house. It will be feature DJed alt from Portland’s finest. More information can be found here

This month, Drew Robinson and Ryan Limbaugh are teaching a blues fundamentals series. This week we will work through all of the embraces, as well as learning specific moves to different rhythms.  Come this Tuesday from 7:30-8:30pm.

Drop In Lesson

Jae Wilson

Featured DJs:

Ben Long and Mija Sanders

This month, Drew Robinson and Ryan Limbaugh are teaching a blues fundamentals series. The first week is FREE and will be focused on both lead and follow turns.  The following weeks we will work through all of the embraces, as well as learning specific moves to different rhythms.  Come this Tuesday from 7:30-8:30pm.

Drop In Lesson

Drew and Wren

Featured DJs:

Adin Van Duyne and Mija Sanders

This week, Andrew Smith has traveled up from California and will be teaching. He has a strong dance background with expertise in solo movement and traditional blues. Here is his lesson description.

Grounded and connected movement improves the quality of communication with your dance partner. Learn how to preserve an open line of contact with your partner to transmit expansive, creative ideas. Rediscover the endless possibilities of simple movement within a creative context. Drawing from yoga and Modern dance techniques, this class will help you transform the arc of your dance from skittish, broken lines into broad, beautiful brushstrokes. Dancers leaving this class have found their dancing – and their life – more balanced and grounded.

Come this Tuesday from 7:30-8:30pm.

Drop In Lesson

Bridgette Todd

Featured DJs:

Andrew Smith and Joshua Keroes

This week, Eric Hanus will be teaching. Here is his lesson description.

“In my class I’lll be addressing the hidden desire of the Portland blues scene. That’s right, the elusive open position. From fundamentals to advanced movements, we’ll break out of the confines of closed position and explore the wonderful world of having some space between you and your partner.”

This class is for anyone who has ever ended up in open position and didn’t know what to do. Come this Tuesday from 7:30-8:30pm.

Drop In Lesson

Justin Riley

Featured DJs:

Brenda Russell and Derrick Dingman

Holiday Dance

This Tuesday the dance will be holiday themed. There will be free snacks and the ballroom will be decked in festive décor. Come dance in your finest holiday clothing.