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Which type of fusion dance are we about?

The meeting of social dancers from various backgrounds.
If you’re fluent in AT LEAST ONE partner dance & into connecting in new ways, you just might love this!
Whether you know swing, blues, west coast swing, tango, forró, b-zouk, kizomba, salsa, etc, come fusion with us & push the boundaries of your partner dancing on a wide range of musics.
More info on our FUSION DANCE page

What does it look like ?

See what happens when partner dancers mix technics from blues with WSC, tango, funk, urban dance & more!
Tangoy  ~  Popy   ~  Switchy  ~ Housy  ~  Mixitupy  ~  Acro-y

What kind of music is it danced too?

Hear examples in the video links right above or see our page about FUSION MUSIC.

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Upcoming Dances & Events

When & where is the next dance ?!

Come fusion with us once a month at
Studio Caravane (6262 St-Hubert)

8:30 to 9:30 – Drop-in
9:30 to 1:00 – dance! dance! dance!

Check out our FB group MONTREAL BLUE INFUSION
to know when the next dance is.

~ Suggested donation of 8$ to 12$ sliding scale ~
~ You’re welcome to bring finger foods to share on the potluck table ~

Other events, workshops & dances on the East coast:

Motley Hue (New York – March 26th to 29th 2020)

Montreal infused (Montreal – May 22nd to 24th 2020)

Fusion dance

What type of Fusion dance are we talking about here?

Yes, there are many. This one is typically born out of a blues scene when some of its members
feel the need to explore, play and combine elements of different styles, on “novelty” music.
This creates a new aesthetic, though it remains mostly an improvised, lead-follow social dance,
seeing that its dancers come from such dances as blues, tango, west coast swing, kizomba and the like.

Fusion dance may employ any dance technique associated with any type of partner or solo dance. It usually incorporates partnering techniques involving frame engagement of various intensities, reason why it’s necessary to be fluent in at least one partner dance before starting fusion. In other words, to already “have a frame”, have a dance to fusion with others. Then again, solo movements are also used. For example, a dancer might employ popping in response to hip hop music. The music style may influence a fusion dancer’s choice of dance style. Especially considering the great emphasize put on musicality, characteristic of fusion dancing.

Perhaps because fusion dancers tent to be the kind who enjoy exploring, there is typically
a higher number of “ambidancetrous” in that scene, dancers who both lead AND follow.

For more info, see the Fusion X site.

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“Fusion is the opportunity to exchange ideas with other practitioners. There is no “one right way” to lead and follow a move, to rotate, to travel, to create energy, and interpret the music. Working with dancers from other styles helps us solidify how our own technique works for styles we are fluent in, and gives us inspiration and vocabulary to add to our dance.”

— Ruby Red

Fusion music

What is fusion music?

The differences between blues, indigo (or turquoise) and fusion music (from the Fusion X site)

The majority of the dancers in our scene come from blues,
so understanding what this music is (and isn’t) is important.

BLUES:  Blues is over 100 years old and has been defined and redefined. “Vintage” refers to a time (anything from before the early 1950s) and “Traditional” refers to a style. The categories of “authentic blues” vary in vocal style, rhythms, textures, finger-picking, instrumentation, etc. See this page for details on the different styles of blues like Delta, Piedmont, New Orleans, Kansas City Blues, Chicago Blues, Shuffle, Jump Blues, Rhythm and Blues and Urban Blues.

INDIGO (or turquoise) :  Indigo refers to music that might share elements or feel like blues, but isn’t authentic blues, music that is similarly composed to blues, but done by non-traditional artists, with non-traditional instruments. It might be missing elements like chord structure, phrase structure, melodic structure or musical instrumentation and yet still be appropriate for blues dancing.

FUSION:  The type of music that fusion dancers will enjoy dancing to should be looked at as a vessel capable of holding a lot of different dancing. It’s about optimizing a combination of tempo, pulse, melody, phrasing and accents between odd and even beats. Fusion music tends to be more synthetic or electronic in nature and provides the opportunity for many different dance styles to be used during any set, or even during a single song. Fusion sets have a wide variety of alternative music including indigo blues, nuevo tango, dub step, roots, soul, hip pop, lyrical or rhythmic electronica. This allows dancers to incorporate skills from a wide variety of dancing.

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A few examples that can simultaneously serve various dances

 Tango Cancion ~ Sail  ~ Alice  ~ Mil pasos ~  Playboy ~ Dirty laundry ~ Mayfair song ~ Whiskey

Contact

Any questions?    Want to get involved?

You can reach us at montrealblueinfusion@gmail.com
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We are from the blues scene, very interested in making connections with dancers, teachers
& Djs from other scenes such as the tango, west coast swing, kizomba, forró, salsa, etc.