A great instructor will perceive students’ needs in order to impart inspiration, technical training, and the essence of the dance. Over a decade of teaching dance, I’ve learned how to skillfully share my passion for dancing! This includes Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa, Drags, and Solo Jazz. I find Lindy Hop to be a colourful, joyful, and expressive dance form that is especially empowering.
I enjoy teaching beginners and veteran dancers alike; I’m willing to teach any individual or group, no matter the skill level, for nearly any situation required. These engagements typically include dance workshops, beginner lessons, private lessons, intermediate to advanced classes, performance team coaching, and group classes of any size.
Lindy Hopping since 2002, Birkley has made a career out of dance instruction. He is an accomplished dancer of Lindy Hop, Solo Jazz, Balboa, Slow Drags, and Charleston, and studies Tap on the side. Having taught over a thousand classes since he began teaching in 2004, including dance workshops across Canada, he has become very passionate about sharing the roots and soul of vernacular jazz & swing: it is a rhythmic art full of joy and self expresssion. With a membership of over 200 dancers, Birkley runs the Sugar Swing Dance Club, established in 2005. With it, he directs the 12-person and 20-person performance teams Mad Cat Swing and Mad Kittens, helping to cultivate the most advanced dancers in Edmonton. In his spare time, he studies old dance clips and collects music for deejaying. In the classroom, you’ll find Birkley to be a very effective instructor – he is personable, chooses great concepts to learn, enjoys delivering technique, keeps his students entertained, and commands the class with clear directions.
In terms of teaching style, Birkley approaches each class and individual with a fresh set of eyes, and draws from a big bag of tricks. Some individuals need encouragement and confidence, while others require focus on the nitty gritty fundamentals. Other dancers need to learn rhythm and how to express themselves; others want to be inspired through spicy variations, patterns and improvisation. Birkley ultimately wants every lesson to be fun and engaging, and to help students build skills toward better self-expression. It’s his duty and privilege to impart the core values and roots of this dance.
When teaching partner dancing such as swing or Lindy Hop, Birkley likes to have a proficient teaching partner he knows well for better demonstration and a more immersive learning experience for the students. Please contact him for his preferred partners. In some situations such as a workshop, team coaching, or private lesson, he can work solo or with a local dancer. For solo dance classes, he’s happy to either fly solo or play off a teaching partner.
Birkley can work with nearly any teaching situation and turn it into a fun experience while also imparting concrete dance skills. He’s taught several dance workshops regionally, and regularly teaches 8-15 hours a week locally and at his studio, Sugar Swing.
Typical Engagements
- Individual private lessons
- Team coaching
- Weekly classes
- Private group lessons
- Drop-in group lessons
Teaching Proficiencies
- Lindy Hop
- Solo Jazz
- Balboa
- Charleston
- Jive/Jitterbug/East-Coast Swing
Specific Content
Birkley has broken down the following routines from original video footage and has retaught them several times:
- Keep Punchin’ Big Apple Contest
- Tranky Doo
- California routine
- First Stops routine
- Al Minns & Leon James Shim Sham
- Dean Collins Shim Sham
Other Specialties
While considered a sufficient dancer in some other dance forms, though not a master, he’s willing to teach or demonstrate these following specialties:
- Cakewalk
- Black Bottom
- 1920’s Charleston
- Break-away Charleston
- Rhythm Tap
- Slow Drags
Current Engagements
Coaching at Sugar Swing
- Mad Cat Swing (weekly)
- Mad Kittens (weekly)
- Big Time Groove (1/month)
Weekly Classes at Sugar Swing
- Swing 1
- Lindy Hop 2
- Lindy Hop 3
- Solo Jazz 1 & 2
- Balboa 1
- Drop-In Classes (1/week)