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The tools you've been missing to get the dance you've been craving
This ain't your typical Intensive...
In this paradigm-shifting small-group workshop, Myles & Tessa deliver key techniques in a unique, entertaining and accessible way, leaving you better able to connect and apply material you have collected from other dance training. Permanent improvement guaranteed.
How?
They fill in the gaps in your foundation that are holding you back, and literally transform how you learn new material in WCS.
It's all about the method. And that's just the beginning...
What is the Swing Literacy Development Method?
As master teachers and teacher trainers, we developed the Swing Literacy Development Method based on our lifetime of diversified dance training, research and certification in dance pedagogy, and decades of teaching and coaching experience.
We offer a suite of online programs for dancers and teachers to transform the way they learn and teach WCS. What makes the difference is that unlike traditional dance instruction, we use a proven progressive skill development approach.
This means we integrate physical education skills into WCS learning, and teach it in a fun and surprisingly accessible way, in a magic order that builds sustainable foundations. So you can learn any style of WCS better, faster, and easier.
Get a taste with the Swing Literacy Intensive
The jackpot of your WCS training
You know how everyone throws around the phrase "quality of movement"? Like when a teacher or judge says, "You've got your basics down, but you need to work on your quality of movement". What does that really mean? How can you work on something you can't really define?
We'll define it for you. But we won't just define it: we'll build it on you, so you have a structure and plan to practice it on your own.
No patterns; just the technique you've been searching for.
The Swing Literacy Intensive is progressive, (meaning the skills build on each other in a very intentional and effective way), we know the dancers who attend will see a permanent shift in the way they learn, practice, and grow their WCS, regardless of the style they prefer.
What is the Swing Literacy effect?
When you apply the Swing Literacy Method to your dancing, the effects are immediate, incredible, and inspiring:
Is it for me?
If you are a dedicated learner
You have a growth mindset and can handle “undergoing construction”. You acknowledge that “you don’t know what you don’t know” and are hungry for feedback.
If you are struggling to progress
You’ve been feeling blocked, but you’re ready to step out of your rut and make your dance feel more functional, comfortable, creative, and desirable to partners!
If you are an accountable teacher
You’re an accomplished dancer or teacher who appreciates technique and professional development, and you are shopping for the best methods to teach West Coast Swing.
The Swing Literacy Intensive is an incredible experience! Myles & Tessa create a supportive, encouraging environment and their passion for improving the experience of the dancers is obvious. Drawing on their extensive background in dance, sports, and pedagogy, they have created a progressive and comprehensive curriculum, which builds a strong foundation and gives dancers a toolbox of necessary skills to experience more success at every level. The Intensive gives everyone an opportunity to see it in action!
It is full of mindblowing realizations when students put the pieces together, and those realizations and developing skills leave a lasting impact on the dancers. We use Swing Literacy methods and content now in our regular classes, and our students remember their Intensive like it was yesterday, always saying that they wish they could experience it again.
Myles and Tessa bring along their Swing-Literacy-trained teachers as assistants so that students have support all around the room, and can feel the difference these skills make. This also provides us teachers with invaluable, hands-on, guided experience in teaching West Coast Swing to the highest standard possible, which does not exist anywhere else in our global community. I would highly recommend this Intensive to weekend conventions and local events.
Meaghan Efford
Which version do you want in on?
Tell your studio, Swing Club, or favourite event promoter that you want Myles & Tessa to run their Swing Literacy Intensive there ASAP! Then send them the link to this page.
Watch for upcoming Swing Literacy Intensives being promoted on our Facebook Page
At Dance Events
(3-4 hours)
We’ve often taught workshops at events and noticed skills that the attendees are missing, and thought, "If only we had them for 3 hours, we could really make a dramatic difference". The progressive skill development approach we use in The Swing Literacy Intensive makes a dramatic difference.
Community Transformation
Experience (8-10 hours)
This weekend immersion experience is a powerful way to revitalize, recharge, and reset your entire dance school or community. Everyone at all levels hears the same material at the same time, then gets trained on how to exchange feedback about it and practice it later so the learning continues long after the weekend is over.
When possible, trained Swing Literacy teachers attending the event are invited to participate as teaching assistants. Guided by us and amplifying our instruction, they coach participants with one-on-one feedback throughout the Intensive.
Part of your Swing Literacy certification
Teachers' Certification Credit
By participating in the Swing Literacy Intensive, teachers earn credit towards their Swing Literacy Teacher Development Program certification. The rest of this 40-hour program is delivered ONLINE. Click here to learn more.
Dancer Certification Credit
Dancers enrolled in the Dancer Development Program earn credit for their participation in the Swing Literacy Intensive, which goes towards their certification. Click here to learn more.
The SDLM course for me was like a eureka moment, finally understanding what I had been missing. As a WCS dancer, so many long-time outstanding questions were immediately satisfied. Having a path connecting the common ideas together, often in logical causal ways, creating real understanding, gives a real level of confidence to build my dance on. I couldn't recommend this course more highly, in the hope that future dancers find their feet more strongly, more rapidly, avoiding much of the uncertainty as a beginning dancer. The ideas and concepts in the material are so effective and make so much sense, one might wonder why this isn't the standard for all. For me, after a long time being in a plateau, it gave a new sense of satisfaction, and paved the way to a better more enriching dance experience.
Ian Manson
Sponsor Your Teacher
Would you love to see your local teacher(s) benefit from this kind of training? Know an up-and-coming dancer with teaching ambitions you would like to support?
Many teachers would love to get training like this, but struggle to afford it.
It's possible for you, as an individual or as an organization to sponsor their tuition for either the Swing Literacy Intensive, or for the Swing Literacy Teacher Development Program. Contact us for details.
You're in excellent hands:
Canadian Swing Champions, Myles Munroe & Tessa Cunningham Munroe
Tessa’s academic background started with competitive swimming, where she received National Coaching Certification, created a Coach Training Program, graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Kinesiology, and started an Olympic-track coaching career, all before returning to school to complete her Bachelor of Education.
Tessa has been professionally practicing physical education, movement analysis, and pedagogy for the past 30 years, and this constant training in “how to teach” was the other huge factor that allowed Myles and Tessa to create such a powerful and effective program (Swing Literacy).
Myles brings a classical dance training background, 6 UCWDC World Championship titles, Karate, Wing Chun Kung Fu, Jiu-Jitsu, golf and motorcycle racing to the table, and considers himself an eternal student of manipulating kinetics for sport and art
Myles is so passionate about improving his craft, he literally has a tattoo that reads, “Technique prevents the body from limiting the soul’s expression”. His studies in all of these non-dance fields, along with being classically trained and studying the inner workings of over 14 different dances, is a huge part of what made it possible for him and Tessa to create Swing Literacy.
As currently active, highly decorated WCS Champions and master teacher trainers, Myles and Tessa have traveled the world accumulating, studying, and analyzing a variety of teaching resources in order to narrow down the elements the most successful ones all have in common. Myles and Tessa hunt for the best and worst methods available, analyze why they work (or don't), and diligently research and test any new methods against physical education best practices, to produce a current, curated, comprehensive collection. Through teaching thousands of group classes and private lessons, and a variety of workshops and intensives, they have already tested their methods on real students many thousands of times.
Swing Literacy is the product of all of this research and development.
“We are in the business of R&D for teaching West Coast Swing, and making Swing Literacy the gold standard for West Coast Swing teaching.” - Myles and Tessa
What people are saying
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I thought this was the best use of 3 hours during the entire event. Myles and Tessa's instruction and focus helped me work on the basics and feel like I made some progress vs learn another pattern I probably wouldn't use or do well. I look forward to studying with them any chance I get.
Katina Wyder
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Highly recommend the Swing Literacy Intensive, it was a fantastic tool for correcting or acquiring new skills. The course content was applicable to a wide range of experience students- from novice to expert levels. Myles & Tessa's high energy, fun delivery added value to the experience, and I personally hope to build on what I just started.
Manuel Montero
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This Intensive provided knowledge of the subtle yet essential aspects of WCS that I have not found elsewhere. I would highly recommend it for people just starting to learn the dance, as well as people who have done it for years but would like to improve their technique and enjoyment.
Reggie Jess
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The SLI is great because it focuses us on the fundamental skills of WCS required to produce the cool patterns, stylings, and musicality we so often see. It also challenges us to re-think how we as teacher teach WCS (even to first day newbies). It *is* possible to give students the essential tools they need to succeed and have fun immediately while also forming foundational skills!
Eryn Cantrell
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Taking SLI is like finding the missing piece of the puzzle in my WCS dance. I’ve taken countless lessons in 1.5 years. For the first time I heard detailed information, instruction and demonstrations of technique, body movements, timing, foot work and much more. And SLI is just the tip of the iceberg! Myles and Tessa go deeper! Can’t wait for more!
Linda Kilhoffer
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I have been dancing WCS for about ten or fifteen years, but I’ve mostly given up because I seem to be stuck and have not been able to improve much. This was exactly the game changer I was hoping for: a way of understanding that went beyond patterns and footwork. I appreciated the body mechanics and the way it integrated the different focuses and explained the logic behind the techniques we sometimes learn. My WCS feels revitalized and re-motivated, thank you!
Nora Ishibashi
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is this Intensive going to be just basic techniques?
A: Swing Literacy gives you the fundamental details you deserve and need in order for your WCS to progress. But this does not mean it will be basic! Dancers from Novice to AllStar have taken the SLI and walked out completely blown away that they have been surviving this long with an incomplete foundation, and since the SLI, have been able to progress where they were previously stuck. While Techniques will play a dominant role, we will explain exactly HOW to apply them to Tactics and Strategies such as invitation leads and follower styling, surviving and compensating for partner “habits”, and how to prioritize what musicality you should aim for.
Q: What level is the Intensive geared towards?
A: This intensive is not appropriate for new beginners. Dancers should be comfortable with their basic patterns. The level is otherwise irrelevant, because we will be training the underpinnings of movement and learning that are not level-dependent. The Intensive will be immensely valuable to ALL dancers, regardless of their stage of development.
Q: I’ve already taken an Intensive, I don’t need to hear this information again.
A: Myles and Tessa are leading a global team of hundreds of progressive teachers teaching WCS using this revolutionary method. At a Swing Literacy intensive, you are guaranteed to hear new information and feel it working in your body to make a difference in your dancing immediately. You are also very likely to finally have a breakthrough in understanding other advice that teachers have been trying to tell you for years.