Charleston and Berlinettes Classes
02.10.26 – 04.12.26
🔥10 week classes – Charleston Couple (Int/Adv)🔥
💛 Fast feet. Powerful energy. Charleston Glamour. Welcome back to the 20’s and 30’s 💛
Over these 10 weeks, we’ll dive deeper into Charleston dance and explore the couple dynamic original for the 30’s classic moves (Lindy Charleston) and the mirror dance of the 1920’s Roaring Times. We’ll work on challenging classic charleston combinations like Aeroplane, Hacksaws, Tandem and Butterflies, so it requires already an advanced level of Lindy Hop. Get ready for quick transitions, high self body control, building and release energy for surprising your partner with more freedom in your dancing.
Charleston is a beautiful energetic, playful and full of shining personality dance. It gives you endless possibilities to show off on the dance floor and it is perfect to perform on the stage. If you master the 1920s Charleston, you are inside of the roots for any dance styles. And if you master 1930s Charleston, you will be able to dance with fast lindy hoppers when the music goes faster and your body wants to kick
Why is Charleston Dance Still Popular Today?
- Freedom of Expression – You interpret the music entirely with high movement technique.
- Musical Precision – The dance trains syncopation and rhythmic control.
- Performance Impact – Big shapes and playful character are perfect for stage and social floors.
- Historical Connection – Dancing Charleston connects you to both jazz culture’s African American roots and the flapper-era rebellion of the 1920s and the wildness of kickoff the partner dance in 1930’s
The Charleston dance was called “The King of Dances” in the 20th century, leaving a huge mark on American culture.
Difference Between 1920s & 1930s Charleston Dance Styles
The Charleston dance style has changed with time and music. We use this categories to spotlight the difference that was strongly affected by the music, more specifically rhythm section.
Charleston 20’s
In 20s Charleston with hot twists and eccentric moves was danced to ragtime, hot jazz music. It has half time pulse and accentuated the 2 and 4 beat. The movement is more even, more vertical and ragged. Danced in couple partner is often called as mirror dance, because the follower looks like a mirror from the leader with upper body and lower body shapes. Very symmetric danced in closed position, which makes a nice feeling and lots of fun shaping the classic moves together like cow tails, break aways, fast spinns, sugar pushes and Hacksaws.
The basic of 20s style for couple or solo dancing, can be also danced not only with tap and walk but with the twists and twisted kicks. The most important image is the “crossed” twisted leg. The legend says, some dancers got “Charleston twist” of the knee, when they twisted too hard.
In this video you can hear a very rag song. Notice that the dancers are holding their bodies more upright. Their pulse is ragged (even jumpy at times).
Charleston 30’s
In 1930’s the dance changed with swing music to so called lindy kicks. You could see now dancers doing big wide kicks and travelling across the floor. The look of the Charleston is like the dancers from the vintage silent movies with a very precise and synchronized technique. It reflects a sporty high energy and a constant up beat pulse in the dancers body.
The movement is “spreading”around the dance floor, making the dancers travelling and with time become more horizontal. When you master the 30’s charleston you will be a softer and smoother dancer, knowing how to save energy to last longer and automatic your breathing and cardio control become more relaxed, even in faster tempos.
Check out in the video how dancers reflect their smooth pulse. Note, when they do lindy Charleston kicks, how much they lower their upper body and start to hover over the ground.
🔥10 week classes Berlinettes – Solo Jazz Show Group (adv)🔥
💙 You know the groove. Now let’s go deeper. 💙
Dream of performing? If you’ve always watched and wished you could be part of the magic, this is your moment! Yes, this is a performance group, where passion meets discipline. Advanced Solo Jazz at this level isn’t just about expression – it’s about precision, consistency, and pushing your limits to reach your highest standard. If you’re ready to work, this is your space.This course is for Solo Jazz experience dancers ready to go beyond copying steps – bringing personality, musicality, and artistry to every move. You’ll create and refine your dance while sharpening advanced skills in rhythm, expression, and stage presence. More than that, you’ll join a supportive, inspiring crew, committing together to an exciting journey – and then shine on stage and filming videos together, showing off everything you’ve mastered.
In this 10-week course, you’ll go from “I dance well” to “I deliver under pressure.” We focus on the kind of training that prepares you for competitions, performances, and high-level social dancing – where technique needs to be solid, reliable, and sharp every single time.
Rooted in the legacy of Harlem jazz and driven by today’s competitive scene, this is your chance to:
- drill technique, control, and clean execution
- master timing, speed, and rhythmic precision
- build stamina, focus, and performance confidence
- train hard, sweat more, and see real progress
- expect repetition, detailed feedback, and that rewarding feeling of leveling up through discipline
Because here’s the thing – great dancers aren’t just talented.
They’re trained, consistent, and intentional in every movement.
Come to work. Stay to improve. Leave competition-ready.
You’ll explore:
🎵 Charleston Rhythm & Posture – drill technique, control, and clean execution. Learn how to shape beautiful movements rich, intentional, and musical.
🌀 Movement & Body Control – expect repetition, detailed feedback, and that rewarding feeling of leveling up through discipline
🎶 Musicality – we’ll explore how to respond to lyrics, instruments, rhythms, breaks, accents, and changes in energy – and translate what you hear into your own movement.
😏 Playfulness & Performing – build stamina, acting skills, strong focus, performance confidence and stage presence
🔥 Your Own Voice – train hard, sweat more, and see real progress, let’s get ready to the biggest stages of Berlin
A look, a breath, a change of energy… can completely transform your dancing presence!
What to Expect:
Learn how to express super exciting Charleston music from the 1920’s and 1930’s
Build Confidence for shining on the stage or on the dance floors
You will be able to dance for super fast tempos with tight footwork technique
Charleston History in music and dance will be taught in this course
Be part of a vintage Berlin scene and join a vibrant charleston community
Learn how to prepare your body and heart for stage performances and competitions
You’ll leave these classes with a high adrenaline and magic energy
Secure your spot now – limited capacity for maximum 20 dancers per class!
Course Details:
- Duration: 10 weeks
- Friday Timetable: (starts 02.10.2026)18h00 Berlinettes (int/adv)19h00 Charleston (int/adv)
- Location:
Tanzraume (Mitte), Klosterstraße 44, 10179 Berlin
Price:
- Early Bird: 100€ single ticket or 180€ couple ticket (ends 15 September)
- Regular: 120€ single ticket or 220€ couple ticket (this tickets will be available online to buy only until we reach the maximum capacity 20 students per class)
Music to Dance The Charleston – Just for your inspiration
The first tune you would think to dance Charleston to is, of course, famous ragtime tune “The Charleston”, written by James P. Johnson. The Charleston beat is considered a clave rhythm.
As a musical entity ragtime was, and is, an instrumental work in 2/4 time composed for the piano. The style surfaced in the early 1900’s and was developed by composer Scot Joplin. It was the forerunner to jazz. It combines a syncopated series of melodies accompanied by a steady, even rhythm. The left hand plays a steady, almost march-like succession of bass notes and chords while the right hand plays syncopated melodies in a “ragged” manner. Hence, the name of the style.
Here is a Spotify playlist of ragtime tunes. You will hear the music of Eubie Blake, Scot Joplin, James P. Johnson.
Dixieland
Other music style that one can dance 20s Charleston is early jazz. Early jazz, that is as well called “New Orleans jazz”, Dixieland jazz, hot jazz are the terms referring to the same style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. Its 4 main influences were ragtime, military brass bands, the blues, and gospel music.
New Orleans jazz or Dixieland Jazz was incredibly popular through the 1920s, Jazz Age. One of the first uses of the term “Dixieland” with reference to music was in the name of the Original Dixieland Jass Band (later changed to “Jazz”). They recorded their first vinyl in 1917. What defines the sound of Dixieland music is that one instrument plays the melody (often trumpet) and all the other musicians improvise around it.
Here is a Spotify playlist with a very popular songs for 20s Charleston. You will hear music of such artists as Original Dixieland Band, Fats Waller, Sidney Bechet, King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra, Fletcher Henderson, Bix Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, Benny Goodman and other. Or else you can listen to my YouTube Charleston compilation.