News

Happy Birthday to Leidance!

News
On the 6th of February it is exactly four years ago that Leidance was officially founded! In the past years Leidance has become a great place to meet other dancers, have fun, and, of course, dance! Hopefully Leidance will be this (and more) for many years to come.
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Workshop Ballroom Technique

Events, News
Amazing dancers Marcel Vos and Rozetta Kats came to Leidance to give us a unforgettable workshop. We danced waltz, tango and quickstep while they gave tips about dancing bigger and covering more distance across the dance floor while making it look more and more professional. Tricky techniques were broken down to simple pieces for easier learning, and Marcel demonstrated both humour, patience and ingenuity throughout the workshop. After the workshop there was time for some free dancing, while Marcel and Rozetta gave everyone some personal tips to improve even more. The big difference in how everyone was dancing at the beginning and at the end of the workshop was really great to see. We learned so much!
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Christmas dinner with Leidance

Events, News
Christmas is a holiday filled with cozy dinners with friends and family, so we organised our own Leidance family dinner date at La Bota and encouraged everyone to dress themselves in true holiday fashion. Jan Matteo showed up with a little Santa hat, while others were dressed in a sparkly way. Here, we enjoyed a lovely dinner accompanied with some nice drinks after Marijke gave a small speech in regards to the past year and the next. The food was delicious, and nothing but empty plates were carried to the kitchen afterwards. After dinner, some people went to the North End Pub and continued the festivities there with some cider and beer. It was a great evening!
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Leidance Lights

Events, News
At the 15th of December we had a 'Light' themed party at Quintus. Any sparkly, glittery and/or decorated-with-lights outfit was welcome at this Leidance feast! There were two rooms; one for salsa/bachata/merengue/kizomba, one for tango/waltz/chacha/rumba/quickstep/jive. Something extra was going on in this second room too. Those who were looking for a partner to dance the second or third hour of ballroom classes with, could do 'speeddating' here. At the entrance everyone received a glowstick to wear around the wrist. The colour indicated if someone was looking for a partner or not. And despite a small hiccup before the party started (the second room was full of stuff from Quintus and it had to be moved before te party started, which meant work-out time for the Board) it was a succes!…
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Workshop Friesenrock

Events, News
At the start of this month, we had no idea that Friesenrock was even a thing. Our member Simon brought our attention to it and we decided to plan a workshop about it. We learned that it is a dance that is popular in Germany, intended for just having fun to all kinds of music. Also, instead of complicated footwork, it is a dance that relies heavily on twists and turns. After some of the moves we finally understood why it was called Knopentanz, as more than once we found our limbs being tangled. Luckily we didn’t get really dizzy and we even tried a few lifts. It was fun to try Friesenrock, thanks to Michael for giving the workshop and Simon for giving us this idea!
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Kizombie

Events, News
Dressing up as creepy as you can, dancing latin all night long, having fun with fellow-Leidancers... What's not to love about the 'Kizombie' party?! Many members really made an effort and showed up in creepy costumes. Thanks to Gino and Andrew the music was on point as well. De Eeuwige Student was our host for this party and the Board turned this venue into a scary dance place. If you want to see pictures of the 'Kizombie' party, click here!
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New members dinner

News
It was time for our lovely first years to get to know each other and the senior members. What’s a better occasion to do so than to have dinner together? Everybody brought some delicious food (seriously guys, I still feel full) and we had a lovely evening. Some senior members showed up for dessert, which consisted of ice cream and homemade brownies. We thank you all for coming and hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
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Workshop Flamenco

News
On Saturday 21st of October, our very own Belgian Treasure had the delight to give us a Flamenco workshop! As this was her long-lost love, she dedicated herself dearly. We showed up with our vast collection of scarves eager to begin, but were rightly first explained what Flamenco truly was, how the music can have different beats and what to listen for. As soon as the thrill dawned on us for what we were in for, we stood in lines, and did our best to follow a tricky but beautiful string of movements using the full effect of our lovely adorned cloth. It was just tricky enough to be challenging, and yet easy enough for everyone to follow. Something that had to be justly so, as our beacon of dedication…
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El Cid

News
Last week, we were present during the El Cid introductory week of the Leiden University. Or, as we call it, new member season! We were at the Information Market on Monday and the Sports Market on Wednesday, giving new students a chance to meet Leiden's one and only student dance association. And to put actions to words, we organised some dancing workshops for our potential new members with the help of salsa teacher Jonathan Hoijer, assessor internal Danjella van Diepen and our president Colin Wels. With a stuffed dancing hall and a buzzing market outside, the El Cid so far has proven a great success!
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Bachelorette Party

News
This month we had the pleasure of welcoming to the USC a group of fine young ladies to take part in a salsa workshop by Riccardo Baptista. The workshop was part of a bachelorette party and thus a surprise to the bride-to- be. The surprise for us was the size of the group: no less than fifteen people appeared out of these little city cars. But hey, the more the merrier! Our four volunteers simply switched partners a little more often. Starting out with basic steps and meringue, we managed to put in some turns as well and even the basics of bachata! Needless to say it was a busy afternoon for both parties, and we were pleasantly surprised to find, and this is a first for us, a tip!…
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