2024 CREW:
NEW YORK CITY
FUSION TEACHER TRAINING
with
Flouer Evelyn &
Mark Carpenter
2024 CREW:
BERLIN
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WHY TEACHER TRAININGS FOR FUSION?
Six Reasons for hosting Fusion Teacher Trainings:
🌟 Empowering Future Teachers and Leaders
Creative freedom in partner dance starts with a solid foundation in technique. We want to inspire dancers to become confident, skilled teachers who nurture their scenes and drive the future of Fusion forward.
🌟 Raising the Standard of Fusion Instruction
By elevating the standard of instruction, organizing, and dance skills, we aim to create a ripple effect that spreads the joy and creativity of Fusion dancing around the world.
🌟 Helping Local Fusion Communities Thrive
We want to see fusion communities grow stronger. Our training isn’t just about dance techniques—it’s also about teaching practical skills for business and instruction, which we believe are essential to thriving local dance scenes.
🌟 Passion for Fusion Dance Heritage
We’re incredibly passionate about fusion dancing as an art form. Having been there in the early 2000s when Fusion was emerging as a social phenomenon, we understand its roots and evolution—and now, we want to pass on that rich legacy to new generations.
🌟 Sharing Hard-Earned Knowledge
Our goal is to offer high-level training, distilling years of experience into lessons that will serve as a shortcut for those on their own journeys. We’re here to make your path a little easier and more rewarding.
🌟 Giving Back to Our Community
With over 20 years of experience, we feel a deep desire to help the post-COVID generation of dancers grow. By passing on the skills we’ve gathered, we hope to accelerate their learning process and build up the fusion community anew.
This week was like pchhhkkk puffff whoaa booom! I felt part of a group of like-minded people, passionate and initiative-takers! We shared our experiences in how it has been to share Fusion dancing in our respectives cities, I learned lots and was inspired by this group of newfound friends.
–Rolando Cruz -Paris, France
WHAT ARE WE OFFERING?
Teaching dance, especially the open form of Fusion, is a complex process, and it’s not something that can be fully covered in just one week.
We’ve organized our training into four (+) modules. This approach lets new, aspiring, and experienced teachers alike focus on the material and skills that suit them best, while also allowing us to better meet the diverse needs of our community.
MODULE ONE:
Refining Fundamentals
This week-long immersive teacher training is designed to help you build a strong foundation in fusion partner dance, focusing on developing both your physical dance technique and your intellectual understanding of theory. This training is ideal for those who want to refine their dancing to the level of a teacher or are looking to enhance their mastery of foundational dance skills.
You can expect a vibrant, hands-on environment filled with personal discovery, shared insights, and, of course, plenty of dancing. This experience will help you elevate your skills, dance with confidence, and communicate your knowledge clearly to others.
Why bother to learn theory?
At some point in our journey to become better dancers we cross a threshold between physically learning and exploring dance concepts to needing to intellectually understand them on a deep level so we can use them more creatively. For some learners it helps to have this theory right away, and for others it’s much later on, usually when they start wanting to share their embodied knowledge with others.
Why should I care about fundamentals?
If you are asking this question, it’s possible you are not actually ready for this course! A phenomenon we notice all the time is intermediate level dancers trying to take advanced classes, and advanced dancers trying to take fundamental classes. This workshop is filling that gap of working on deep fundamentals for experienced dancers.
If you are becoming a teacher, working on your fundamentals will allow you to be clear and consistent when demonstrating material to your students. This is a skill that will make it much easier for your students to learn from you, wanting them to continue to invest in your classes.
What will we actually do?
Each day, you’ll participate in six hours of classes, learning directly from Flouer & Mark, as well as working closely with your peers. Session topics will include concepts such as momentum, walking, tone matching, frame, and the essence of leading and following. Alongside these core elements, you’ll also explore sub-themes such as balance and body awareness, designed to make you a more well-rounded and skilled dancer.
2025 Editions of Module One:
Who is this for?
- You want to become a more knowledgeable and embodied instructor in fusion dance.
- You are an experienced dancer who wants to level up your dancing from a physical and mental perspective.
- You understand the importance of foundational level concepts in partner dance.
- You like to work smart & hard. You are looking for an intense deep dive into A LOT of material, much of which will require you to practice after the week is over to obtain mastery. This is a higher education level training camp. We’ll be treating you as researchers and discoverers.
Who is it not for?*
- You’re a beginner who has only a year or two of experience with partner dance. It will be far too much information at once!
- You just want to work on your physical dance skills. This course will be both intellectual and embodied.
- You want to only work on flashy moves and advanced tricks. This course will help you achieve the skills to be able to do some of those, but we won’t be working directly on that this week.
- Your learning style is working with little material and lots of time to integrate, such as a few hours a day + social dancing. That learning style is great! But this is an intensive week. We have nine sessions together of 2 or 3 hours each, and will be covering eight topics on a very deep level. We’ll be taking you through our material with a higher education-level training style.
*If you feel like the second category is more your style, you might want to check out Camp Kaleidoscope in Bristol or Exhale Fusion Retreat in New York instead.
MODULE TWO:
Teaching Weekly Classes, Teaching to Beginners
This module is all about working with beginners and creating great weekly fusion dance classes. It’s designed for instructors who want to make their lessons fun and accessible while building confidence in their teaching style. You’ll get hands-on experience leading classes and exploring practical teaching techniques with the support of a group going through the same journey.
Why bother to learn to teach?
There are a lot of skills beyond just being a good dancer that go into making balanced, effective classes that are both engaging and feel good. Some of these are how to present in front of a crowd, how to structure your classes, and knowing what material is the most effective for your students to learn next. These are all skills that you need to work on as well as your dance skills.
What will we actually do?
Each day, you’ll participate in six hours of classes, learning directly from Flouer & Mark, as well as working closely with a small group of peers. There will be online orientation and theory workshops prior to us meeting up together, so that when we are in person we can get right down to the nitty gritty. Session topics will include learning and being able to teach both Mark & Flouer’s intro to fusion classes, comparing and contrasting our styles so you can use ours or make your own. We’ll talk about building a curriculum for local classes, some scene building tips, as well as how to communicate clearly in your classes and make them structurally sound.
2025 Editions of Module Two:
Who is this for?
You want to start teaching local classes, hosting local practice groups and/or build a local fusion dance community.
You have spent at least a couple years consistently partner dancing.
You want to learn more about the skills that go into being a great teacher, rather than just how to dance better.
You are willing to commit and invest in a week-long intensive with like-minded folks that
You want to plug-in to the greater European fusion scene by meeting other folks who are building local classes.
Who is it not for?
You’re a beginner who has only a year or two of experience with partner dance. Keep sticking with it, and when you are ready we’d love to work with you!
You just want to work on your physical dance skills. This course will be about learning the skills around being a teacher, not level up your dancing. Consider attending Module 1 if you want to work on leveling up your dancing.
Your learning style is working with little material and lots of time to integrate, such as a few hours a day + social dancing. That learning style is great! But this is an intensive week. We have nine sessions together of 2 or 3 hours each, and will be covering a lot of material.
MODULE THREE:
Teaching Workshops, Teaching to Intermediates
This module dives into the unique dynamics of teaching workshops, with a focus on intermediate-level dancers. You’ll explore how the short format of workshop lessons differ from weekly classes; emphasizing the skills required for effective presentation and structure that engage more experienced students who you don’t see regularly. Building on material from Module 2, we will go deeper into specifics around how to present material and develop your ideas. You’ll get plenty of feedback and top-tips from Mark and Flouer, who have refined their individual techniques for the last fifteen years. Our goal is to help you gain precision and confidence by getting tons of hands-on teaching experience learning to lead impactful sessions that leave a lasting impression.
More information coming, program not offered in 2025.
MODULE FOUR:
Mentoring on your Personal Teaching
Are you ready to develop your personal teaching style at a high level and get mentored in an in-depth way? Module 4 is created to get personal attention from Mark and Flouer and teach at a large festival.
Participants will have the option to bring their own partner to develop their classes with, or be paired with someone before the week begins. The cohorts will be small, a total of four couples, to guarantee as much time mentoring with Mark and Flouer as possible. Each couple will teach either one or two classes during the weekend festival, depending on the festival organization.
This provides an invaluable opportunity to apply your skills in a real-world setting and receive constructive feedback.
This year it is mandatory that Module 4 be taken alongside Module 1, as we believe that in order to be excellent instructors we need to be well versed in both our physical partnering skills and be able to talk about them in depth.
This module will give you the personal practice and tools to create immersive workshop experiences, structure classes effectively, and manage diverse groups of students. Whether you’re preparing to teach locally or expand to regional events, this training will sharpen your ability to design and deliver high-quality workshop classes.
2025 Editions of Module 4:
Who should apply for Module 4?
- You have either participated in the FTT 2024, or you have the equivalent in training or experience.
- Relevant group teaching experience outside of the fusion community can be taken into consideration, such as in other dance styles or arts.
- You have a partner with whom you want to deepen your teaching style and partnership dynamics.
- If you don’t have a partner you are applying with, you can apply singly and we can pair you with someone appropriate if another solo teacher registers.
- You have been exposed to the concepts presented in Module 1 before- such as tone matching, frame, momentum movement, and the significance of posture shifting for different partner dances.
- Though you will be deepening and expanding your knowledge significantly, we want you to be in a position where you are not totally overwhelmed by taking both modules at once. Online private lessons are available leading up to the week if you think you are a good candidate but there are a couple of terms that are not familiar to you.
This experience will challenge, celebrate, and elevate you as a teacher. It is an opportunity to learn from amazing instructors from those leading the group to those participating with you. The experience energized me to work on my own teaching with the tools given, and made so many quality connections for me around the country!
— Gracie Johnson -Greenville, South Carolina
WHO ARE WE?
We’re Flouer Evelyn and Mark Carpenter, seasoned Fusion Dance instructors with a shared passion for nurturing students and decades of combined teaching experience in the fusion world. We were both around when Fusion as a social phenomenon was being created in the early 2000’s, and were both onboard when it got named and shifted to “fusion”, mixing and integrating different dance forms together. Now post-covid we have a new generation of excited dancers who we are excited to help usher in by facilitating the growth of local communities. This course is our way of giving back to the community, passing on not just dance techniques, but also practical teaching skills and business acumen.
Mark Carpenter
Mark, an internationally acclaimed Fusion dance instructor, DJ, and event organizer, has been shaping the global dance scene for more than a decade. Based in the SF Bay Area, he founded the Fusion Dance Academy and has studied multiple dance styles, including Lindy Hop, Blues, Tango, and many more. Mark's innovative approach to teaching and his fluency in two languages have made him a sought-after instructor and facilitator worldwide. As the visionary behind notable events like & All That Jazz, the SLO Exchange, and Fireside Fusion, Mark continues to push the boundaries of what partner dancing is and can be. Mark stands at the forefront of defining and evolving Fusion as an artform and movement, inspiring dancers across the globe with his creativity and expertise. Mark is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and exploration of both Fusion and continually strives to make the impossible look easy, and the easy look impossible.
Flouer Evelyn
Flouer (pronounced “Flower”) is a partner dance instructor & Embodiment Coach from New York City, currently based in Turin, Italy. She has been teaching Fusion since 2011, has an MFA in dance and a background teaching and performing Blues, Contemporary, Latin Ballroom, ballet, and ice skating. She has won plenty of partner dance competitions in various styles, and has performed & taught all over the globe. Through all these years she has, of course, won plenty of competitions, but what's important is that in the classroom Flouer has a warm, encouraging personality. In Fusion, Flouer brings her fascination for how the systems of different partner dances fit together, offering simple ways to give structure and context to the concept of “free partner dancing”. She is known for her values of artistry and personal expression, complimented by her ability to break down any movement into incredibly specific detail. Using imagery, anatomy, rhythm, cultural context and embodiment concepts, she will help you become the master of your own dance from the ground up. @flouerdances “The reason to master technique is so the body does not prevent the soul from expressing itself” – la Meri
Fusion is, and can be — and will be! — so many different things. This training gave me a grounding foundation to understand how and where I fit into the fusion dance spectrum as a teacher and a student, and gave me both concrete skills that I’m already applying — from classroom management techniques to class content ideas to ways I might shift my communication — and a depth of conceptual information that I’ll continue tapping into and learning from far into the future. I am also so grateful to now have a cohort of fellow teachers to lean on, learn from, and collaborate with!
— Lyss Adkins -Freeport, Main