Stompin' The Blues

31/08/2026

Are you sad the bank holiday is almost over?😫 Not to worry, tomorrow's Stompin' will lift your spirit (moves)! 👻

Join Anna and Alain (the other A-Team) in an in-depth review of Chicago Triple, one of the most useful "idiomatic approach" to dancing blues. We will literally and figuratively stretch ourselves to shuffly blues rhythms.

19:00: class 1 (creating and maintaining stretch) 👣
20:20: class 2 (nerding out on fun-damentals) 🤓
21:30: Social dance (DJ Alan-chi-(triple-y)-to 🎧

24/08/2026

Hi folks! This Tuesday at Stompin’ is the last week of our theme: getting inspired by how musicians collaborate within a band.

We’ll broach an ambitious set of concepts across the two classes:

🎼 Opening movement freedom through connection change (making space for other players)

🎼 Trading ideas and creating variety in movement (exploring *what* to play)

🎼 Comping vs soloing (speaking vs listening aka knowing *when* to play)

🎼 Exploring call and response (dialoguing and contrasting)


The goal being to develop a deeper ability to listen to each other, with both dancers contributing rhythm, texture, and contrast to build a shared interpretation of the music.

Continuing what Anna and Ryan taught last week we will stay within the jukin’ side of blues music.

Your teachers this time will be Alain + special guest Anitha = the A-team.



Classes at 7pm and 8:15pm

Social dance at 9:25pm – DJ Alansito 🎶 🎵



PS: no LLM was harmed (or even used) in making this post. Maybe it should have...

18/08/2026

Stompers! At the Castle Aldgate tonight, Anna and Ryan will be continuing on our theme of being inspired by how musicians play together and applying this to your jukin’ dancing.

🕖 Class 1 (7pm)
Bands members tell each other when they did something awesome and emphasise it. Using some simple moves and turns we will be exploring how to appreciate and emphasise the moves and grooves in our dancing.

🕗 Class 2 (8:15pm)
Band members take inspiration from each other when they play, we will be exploring this and applying it to our dance in different ways in this class.

✨Social dancing from 9:15pm.
Come and dance, hang out, chat, connect and enjoy a beautiful evening of blues with us, with music provided by DJ Ryan 💙

Here's some Bobby Rush, a master performer, self-emphasiser and appreciator of other band members

Big Blues Bender - Las Vegas 9/13/15*Filmed in HD by Joan Mallotid...

22/06/2026

Anna and Alain are back at the Castle (Aldgate East) with more Chicago Triple at Stompin' the Blues tomorrow!

💨 We’ll have the aircon on full blast, making it literally as well as metaphorically one of the coolest places to be! 😎

🕖 Class 1 (7pm)
Playing with compression and stretch in Chicago Triple (there is a specific way). We recommend you take this class, whatever your level.

🕗 Class 2 (8:15pm)
Chicago Triple transitions. How to smoothly and comfortably transition between different modes within the dance

✨Social dancing from 9:15pm.
Come and dance, hang out, chat, connect and enjoy a beautiful evening of blues with us, with music provided by DJ Alain 💙

💧🪭 Don’t forget to bring water and maybe a fan if you’re travelling by public transport - it’s extra important to stay hydrated in this weather!

15/06/2026

Join Anna and Alain at the Castle for Chicago Triple at Stompin' tomorrow! As part of our month on Chicago Blues music, we will nerd out on Chicago Triple, an approach to dancing the shuffle rhythms in blues music. The more you understand the few rules and many subtleties of this game, the more you will be able to make it your own and create your own style and variations.

🕖 Class 1 (7pm)
Playing with stretch and compression in Chicago Triple (there is a specific way). We recommend you take this class, whatever your level.

🕗 Class 2 (8:15pm)
Chicago Triple foundational nerdery: making our basics solidly bluesy, improving how our dance looks and feels, and allowing further exploration.

✨Social dancing from 9:15pm.
Come and dance, hang out, chat, connect and enjoy a beautiful evening of blues with us, with music provided by DJ Alain 💙

08/06/2026

We have an exciting week at Stompin the Blues at The Castle - we have live music from Marcus Bonfanti for the after-class social, and two classes on the incredibly versatile dance Chicago Triple with Anna and Ryan.

🕖 *Class 1 (7pm)*
Join Anna and Ryan to learn/ revise the (eponymous) footwork and basics of Chicago Triple.

🕗 *Class 2 (8:15pm)*
Anna and Ryan will build on the first class, using the mechanics of Chicago Triple to build and harness momentum to create a fun and engaging dance. Do also join for class 1 if you need to revise your footwork and basics, or if this dance is new to you!

🎶 *Live music from 9:15pm*
Join us for live music for social dancing from the fabulous Marcus Bonfanti!

Here’s a little clip of Marcus on a previous visit to Stompin’ to see what you have to look forward to!

https://www.swingpatrol.co.uk/classes/aldgate-stompin-the-blues/

02/06/2026

Stompers! For the next month we will be focusing on Chicago Blues. Chicago Blues has a long history, from the early 20th Century to the present day, and you’ll frequently encounter it both with live bands and DJs. Over the next five weeks, we will be giving you tools to interpret the music within your dancing. This week, join Anna and Ryan to learn how to identify and dance to Chicago Blues.

🕔 Class 1 (7pm)
We will be practicing variations that allow individual expression to the music.

🕔 Class 2 (8:15pm)
We will be using these to explore using call and response in your dancing.

🌟Social dancing from 9:15pm.
Come and dance, hang out, chat, connect and enjoy a beautiful evening of blues with us 💙

🚇 Don’t forget to check your travel plans during the strike. No service is expected on the Circle line, Piccadilly line, the Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Aldgate, and the Central line between White City and Liverpool Street. Service is expected across all other Tube lines. Buses, DLR, Elizabeth line, London Overground and trams will be running as normal but are expected to be busy.

Soundfly helps curious musicians meet their goals with creative online courses. Whatever you want to learn, whenever you need to learn it — subscribe now to ...

25/05/2026

Join Anna and Ryan at the Castle on Tuesday to explore the funkier side of blues in the final instalment of Stompin’ the Blues’ Rhythms and Grooves series! Funk features frequently in more modern blues styles and has a fun, playful and party feel

Class 1 (7pm)
We’ll be looking at some of the shuffle rhythms and other basics and look at how to make them funkier while maintaining a cool blues aesthetic

Class 2 (8:15pm)
We will look at a specific dance called funky butt that works really well to this style of blues music and at cool moves that work within the framework of this dance

Social dancing from 9:15pm.
Come and dance, hang out, chat, connect and enjoy a beautiful evening of blues with us

Bootsy describes and demonstrates his basic funk formula. Once you ...

18/05/2026

Join Anna and Ryan at the Castle on Tuesday to explore some Latin blues as the next instalment of Stompin’ the Blues’ Rhythms and Grooves series! Latin blues covers a range of styles and a range of rhythms, and can be fun, playful, gooey, sultry, and so much more - so there’s a lot to explore!

🕖 Class 1 (7pm)
We’ll be focussing on the tresillo, one of the most common rhythms found in Latin blues, and how we can embody it in our dancing. We will also start exploring hip movement in the context of Latin rhythms and how it affects the look, feel and flow of our dancing.

🕗 Class 2 (8:15pm)
We will build on what we learnt in class 1 to create a feeling of flow, fluidity and seamless continuity in our dancing. To get the most out of this class, you will need familiarity with the content covered in class 1, so do join us for the first class as well if that content is new to you or you’d like a refresher.

✨Social dancing from 9:15pm.
Come and dance, hang out, chat, connect and enjoy a beautiful evening of blues with us 💙

Here’s a little video of Anna and Ryan having a warm up dance to a gorgeous Latin blues played by Big Mama’s Door’s at their soundcheck at last month’s Blues at the Ritzy to give you an idea of what the class will cover.

10/05/2026

🎶 Join Anna & Alain this Tuesday and discover how comfortable, grounded, and expressive slow blues can feel. 💙

By slow blues, we mean a specific rhythmic structure that gives dancers the freedom to improvise, connect, and create beautiful textures together. 🎶 In class, we’ll break down this rhythm so you can really hear it, feel it, and dance with it more comfortably.

🕖 Class 1 (19:00)
We’ll work on the horizontal “grind” movement pattern — an essential element of blues dancing — and explore simple rhythmic variations to make your dancing feel richer, smoother, and more musical.

🕗 Class 2 (20:15)
We’ll go deeper with these tools and concepts. If you’re not yet comfortable with the grind movement, we strongly recommend taking Class 1 first to review the fundamentals before joining Class 2.

✨ Social dancing from 21:20. Come learn, dance, connect, and enjoy a beautiful evening of blues with us!

🎧 As a little bonus, here’s a beautiful piece to whet your appetite:
https://open.spotify.com/track/4RKjCTIUIKNW2MLdjEIKJo?si=bcde1b231e61489e

Screamin' Jay Hawkins · A Portrait of a Man and His Woman · Song · 1987