Dance Addiction YXE offers classes for new and experienced dancers
Businesses and non-profit organizations regularly open and move in Saskatoon. Today, the StarPhoenix spoke with Katie and Lorne Jensen who moved Dance Addiction YXE to a new space in Caswell Hill in April.
The Jensens grew up in small town Saskatchewan and first met while dancing in 2012. They quickly became dance partners and travelled to various areas in Canada and the US for dance competitions. They married in 2017 and started their own small dance studio two years later in their basement.
Over the last three years, they moved into a larger space while still maintaining their home studio. Now, they have expanded again.
Dance Addiction YXE specializes in west coast swing, which can be used with a diverse variety of music. They also teach nightclub two-step, country two-step and wedding dances, while offering dance nights and workshops.
Q: Why did you move Dance Addiction YXE to a new studio space?
Katie: The scene has been growing and the community here is fantastic and enthusiastic. We thought this was a really cool opportunity to create a space for our community to grow and learn. We’re just really excited to see what it becomes. We’ve got a lot of ideas.
Lorne: The opportunity came up for the space. I don’t think there really are many good dance floors for partner dancing in Saskatoon. But this was ready to go and has a nice smooth wooden dance floor.
Q: What makes Dance Addiction YXE stand out?
Katie: We are such a laid back and relaxed studio. We are really big on building community and positive experiences. It’s a low-pressure environment. Maybe in the future we will expand into having a competitive tract where we have a little bit more choreography or more serious type of training. But for right now we are pretty positive people, and we just really want to grow the community. We really love seeing people making friends and smiling and having a good time in something that we’re passionate about.
Lorne: A lot of it is the character of the dance that we chose to be excited about. West coast swing can be danced to just about any kind of music. People will be able to dance to their favorite stuff. Giving people the ability to actually move to a song that they like is really empowering. And it opens up social avenues for people. We keep hearing over and over how lonely people are these days. And dance and partner dance especially, provides a very social environment. You are one foot in front of the person when you are dancing with them so you kind of have to get comfortable with meeting new people and it’s just a great way to (do so).
Q: What is special about west coast swing?
Katie: West coast swing is a partner dance. It is unique because the leader roles and the follower roles are different. It’s not like a dance like say jive where you can just mirror each other. You have to learn the structure of it. It’s one of the most versatile dances that there is, and one of the only dances that allows for musicality and creativity from both the leader and the follower. You can dance with top 40 music or different stylizations on it like hip hop or blues dancing.
There are varying speeds and so much room for self-expression. Once you learn the structure of the dance and what makes it work, there’s just so many layers to it. You can pull it out at weddings or at the bar. It’s a really useful dance you can use in a variety of places.
Q: What do you cover when teaching wedding dances?
Katie: We teach partnering basics such as how to connect together, how to move to music. And how to dip safely when you are in your wedding dress or heels. And creating nice lines for pictures. We have our own kind of formulation for wedding dances. We do offer private lessons in our home studio or big studio space.
Lorne: It’s pretty much song specific to whatever song the couple picks.
Q: You are offering a dance workshop at the end of May with two top dancers?
Lorne: We are excited to bring in Keerigan Rudd and Mia Primavera from May 29 to 31. With these workshops you need to kind of have been dancing for a little while to really get the most out of it. You need to be fairly comfortable with the basics. Any professional high-level people who come in are fiddling with the basics or getting into fancy moves or getting deeper into technique.
These two dancers pop up quite a bit on YouTube. They are very talented upcoming dancers and extremely musical. It is quite something to see it done in person. Even if someone’s just starting out, if they would want to come to the social dance and see these two and how they move. Usually when we have them for a workshop they will teach throughout the day and then do a demonstration sometime during the social dance at night and that’s always quite mind blowing.
Katie: you can see it on YouTube, but there is something that doesn’t translate. When you see it in person it’s so dynamic and there’s so much energy. So we bring in these pros semi-regularly for kind of a boost for our community, for us to grow and learn together. Keerigan and Mia specifically are some of the biggest up-and-coming champions on the scene right now. They’re kind of exploding so when the opportunity came up we had to book these guys, before you can’t anymore.
Q: You have an upcoming beginner workshop?
Katie: Lorne and I are putting on a beginner workshop on Saturday, April 25. That is a two-hour fun introduction for people who maybe can’t sign up for a 6-week series.
Q: You offer weekly social dances on Thursdays?
Katie: No partner or experience is needed. We’re really big on just creating a positive, welcoming, relaxed environment. We kind of want to be that friendly neighborhood studio. It’s not intimidating. We just love when new people drop in. We always say bring your two left feet and all. We want to make it a safe space for people to come and explore movement and find community and find a new favorite dance.
Q: What is the atmosphere of your studio?
Katie: We have a strong hardwood floor that is a huge benefit to pretty much every style of dance. There are wall to wall mirrors and a professional stereo system. It’s 2,100 square feet. We have central air conditioning. It’s really accessible with ample free parking. It’s a good area in Caswell Hill.
Q: When are your next dance class sessions?
Katie: Spring session one is running now. Spring session two starts the week of May 17th. This is a six-week series. Registration for that is open. And we are hoping to expand in the summer. Some of the dances you can just drop in. Not all of our classes offer that because they are progressive and they build on each other. But there are some, like our line dance one, (where) people can drop in because every night is a different song.
Private lessons are available. And we have rental opportunities in our beautiful professional studio. People are always looking for spots for dance events or their own private lessons or even performance-based groups or parties.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Dance Addiction YXE
Owners:
Katie and Lorne Jensen
Address:
819 29th Street West
Phone:
306-717-4285
Email:
danceaddictionyxe@gmail.com
Website:
www.danceaddictionyxe.ca
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