Walter Nelson has led dance workshops in historical dance for around two decades, in locations as varied as Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington DC and Paris France.
Walter's next class, on the elegant dances of the Jazz Age, will be at 1 PM, May 10th 2025 at Throop Church, 300 S. Los Robles in Pasadena. $20 payable at the door.
Specific dance forms he can teach include:
- Regency era English Country Dance (with appropriate steps)
- Victorian ballroom dances (Waltz, Polka, Quadrille)
- Ragtime era couple dances (Two-Step, One-Step, Turkey Trot etc.)
- Jazz Age couple dances (Foxtrot, "Modern" Waltz, Tango, Charleston, Collegiate, Rumba, Samba, Conga etc.).
Walter does not specifically teach Swing, as there are plenty of Swing teachers already, and he feels he can have a greater positive impact by taking the path less traveled. He likes to focus on the often neglected dances that were danced by the vast majority of the population at the time.
In teaching the dances of the 20th Century, when feasible, Walter makes extensive use of films of the time, showing how the dances were actually being danced. This not only helps to make the steps more comprehensible, but also gives a clear sense of the spirit of the dance, the feel, that is so often difficult to piece out when you read a description on a printed page.
His emphasis is on making the dances accessible and fun, but also historically valid. The idea is to provide dancers with the tools to get out on the dance floor and enjoy themselves, rather than perform or put on some sort of show. He specializes in reluctant dancers, especially boyfriends and husbands, who may have been discouraged in previous attempts at learning to dance.
If this might be of interest to you, please contact Walter Nelson.