Intro to Parkour Seminar for Swing Dancers

Time: January 22, 3-5 PM

Cost: $25 before January 15, $30 after January 16

Location:

APEX Movement
2622 S Zuni St
Englewood, CO 80110

Questions: Ask Kenny Nelson (swinginstyle@gmail.com) or Ryan Ford (ryan@apexmovement.com)

I'm organizing a parkour seminar geared toward the swing dancing community. This has been motivated by dancers who have experienced parkour open gym, regularly attend aerial practices, practice with local teams, and also take local dance classes.

Parkour is an art of movement in which you train the body and mind to overcome obstacles. It requires consistent, disciplined training with an emphasis on functional strength, physical conditioning, balance, creativity, fluidity, control, precision, spatial awareness, and looking beyond the traditional use of objects. Parkour training focuses on safety, longevity, personal responsibility, and self-improvement. It discourages reckless behavior, showing off, and dangerous stunts.

You can see where there might be parallels between what we do on the social or performance dance floor and parkour. You will learn to move your bodies in different ways, learn efficient movement as you navigate through obstacles, gain better spatial awareness, learn creative ways to tackle challenges, and get more in tune with your body's movement. Dance is a whole body experience much like parkour. Sometimes we limit our range of motion between certain body parts when we have much more to gain when operating as fluid unit.

This seminar will feature quadrupedal movement, precisions, vaults, gymnastics, tumbling, bar work, and an obstacle course. You will gain balance skills, greater kinesthetic awareness, better landing techniques, air confidence, and you will have FUN!

- Kenny Nelson