Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday

Well quick post about the last couple of weekends which have been pretty fab.

Fife Party

I went to the Fife party to do a smaller version of the Heaven and Hell routine and get some freestyle in. We started out by going to a nice restaurant and having a lovely meal. Then onwards to do our thang. It's great how relaxed it felt doing the routine now, the competition really took the fear out of this performance even though we made some quite big changes to it.

It's was a quite quiet venue; as Bill has only just recently started there this wasn't a huge surprise. They really did a nice job with food and such and there wasn't a bar but soft drinks and water were laid out. It helped make it a nice atmosphere. Not surprising, given the time it has been running, that there are quite a few beginners there but they seemed good followers, Bill is obviously teaching something on the connection and other principles as they often seem to have grasped that. So it was a really nice night of dancing and I had quite a few complements which was lovely.

I got a dance with Bill a bit later on in the night. I like dancing with really proficient leads occasionally as you can feel what makes them such a good lead, something you can't pick up by just watching. Sure enough he was very smooth and I can see why he is so popular.

Tuesday Night Ceroc

I was looking forward to Tuesday night Ceroc as there was a special guest dancer there who I love dancing with. I had some good freestyle dances that evening in spite of the music which was poor and also, for the first time ever in my MJ history, too loud (I found my ears were slightly ringing at the end of the night). Still it was good fun hamming up Can't Take My Eyes Off You. Also there were new moves in the intermediate class and I mean I haven't done any of them before which was a nice surprise. I've forgotten most of them now but... oh well.

Dance Fever

I didn't go to all of Dance Fever just the Saturday workshops and party. Started out with a Lindy Hop class taught by Joseph & Trisha. I had previously done a blues class with them and they seemed a good laugh. They didn't disappoint here and had the crowd laughing loads. It was a fun class though I don't expect to take up Lindy any time soon. Next up was a WCS which was good but was aimed at beginners (which I still am but it was nothing new). I then did Bill and Fran's Blues class. I've done quite a bit of blues but only a couple of lessons. I took things away from that lesson and not just a couple of moves but a better understanding of the fundamentals. I'm always happy to practice my blues dancing. I did the Latin MJ class with Steve and Lindsay which was maybe over all to quickly to get everything in about the style. I missed the next class to relax and then finished with the WCS class to try and balance the numbers as there was a men's style class at the same time. I think I probably should have done the latter though. Steve, who was teaching it, had some interesting things lined up.

Anyway after going back to my lovely host's flat and getting some food I headed back out for a quick rehearsal in the evening before the party started. After some nice freestyle there was a brief Lucky Dip competition (which I didn't get anywhere in but that is expected :D). We did the cabaret (for the last time?) which was probably our best performance yet. There was also a couple of other performances which where amazing for two reasons. First they both looked good and second both of them had very little time to pull them together. Keith & Janey were involved in a car crash the day before and Janey didn't make it up (it's good to know that both of them and their child are ok) so Keith did the routine with someone else. James McLauchlan did a line dance performance with Ross and that was really fantastic to watch. Both men have such style and it was a really fab routine.

After getting glittered up for the glitter ball I danced the rest of the night away. Due to some exceptional dances I had a fantastic night rivalling the better nights I've had at Southport (and that's saying something). When I was dancing with someone she mentioned she wanted to applaud a dance I had with another woman earlier. That was lovely to hear and was interesting that the dance looked good from the outside rather than just feel good. Anyway I can only hope for more party nights like that. Afterwards I headed to my host's place. As I was packing the next day I realised that I forgot my dance trainers. Crisis of epic proportions! I went back to the hall and couldn't find them. Thankfully someone else did later and my trainers are in good hands which is great because I love them.

I couldn't end this without thanking the woman who gave me a place to sleep for the night and cooked me nice food and to all the women (and man) who I danced with for making it such a good evening.

Saturday Night Party And Stuff

Yes, I really am still going to post about Southport. If I can remember anything that happened. Bet you are all sitting at the edge of your seats waiting.

Was at the Edinburgh Saturday Night Ceroc party on Saturday. Got there quite early... by quite early I mean before 10pm which is good in my books. Now maybe I've mentioned this before but I've been having problems with my ankle and knee for a while now and, along with making me feel like an old man, it means I try and be cautious while dancing avoiding any large leans or drops. As I felt my knee get painful on the night I really cut back on the footwork I was doing or any moves that might be bending that knee. I'm going to get to a physiotherapist at some stage in the near future but for now I'm going to take the informal advice I got from another physio.

Anyway that aside the evening was rather good. I'm trying to smooth out my lead more at the moment and quite a few women commented on it as delightful which gave a lovely warm feeling inside. Also there were some women up from that England place (they were there for a workshop that was cancelled which must have annoyed them). They commented that us Scottish boys seems a lot more stylish than those back home. I wonder whether that is true and, if so, it has something to do with the fact that many of the guys up here are very stylish and that raises the bar for the rest of us meaning that we work on style more too.

The music was a little too fast for my liking. I was hoping it would drop into a more bluesy set later on but it never really came. Other people seemed to like the set more than me so perhaps I was missing something or just looking for something else that never came.

Though it wasn't quiet by any means it was quieter than it often is and there was a lack of the people I often look forward to dancing with from the rest of Scotland :'(.

So I did have a good time. That was added to by it being the one year anniversary of my girlfriend and I. She requested a track for the twilight dance which was lovely.

Scottish Competition 2006 and Britrock 2006

I figured I'd just bundle the two competitions that I recently entered into the same post.

Well the Scottish Competition was my second competition. Due to the fact I injured myself a while before and wasn't able to dance for a while I didn't enter into role reversal or intermediate as I originally planned. I did enter into Lucky Dip though I didn't get anywhere. I found the Friday night party a bit lacking. I don't know why but I did. Saturday daytime was quite good. The pacing was good in the event with plenty of freestyle in between the events and it was enjoyable to watch a lot of the other people compete. I had a great time on the Saturday night and enjoyed the addition of the blues room. I felt a little of a blues room hotshot in regards to the fact I pretty much moved to the blues room when it was open and stayed in there all night (which is more surprising because my favourite DJ was in the main room).

I had a friend from Aberdeen staying on the Saturday night. The car journey home was certainly interesting


Anyway I also recently went to another competition down in Brighton. This time it was mainly to do a team cabaret that I had been rehearsing for. Before I went down I was a little nervous about it. I still feel I didn't quite have it all together and I felt I could have done with more practice time.

We won in the end. It certainly felt close. Amir had another team entry (though he wasn't in it) and they were very technically precise. They didn't do any team formations or such like which we did a lot of. Their approach was very different to ours, I guess, and it really depended on what the judges were looking for. Anyway I thought the other team did very well. It was interesting to see them do the beginning of their routine though as it is what Amir uses to teach one of his musicality classes.

You can, maybe, see the back of us dancing at:



The Friday night started with tracks that constantly ran into each other (like at a night club). This was rubbish as it made my I'll ask that woman to dance on the next track statement difficult to carry out and meant that when I did finally ask someone we kept dancing until we finally sort of just gave up. Thankfully that ended soon enough to let us get on with enjoying the rest of the night.

There was a fun class with a line dance (which was quite good fun) and a ceilidh (which was amusing given we were in the South). I also got picked on for not keeping the teacher straight when he got it wrong. That might have something to do with the fact that I was wearing a kilt on the Friday.

The freestyle on the Friday got better as the night went on and I was definitely enjoy it by the end. Dancing in a kilt was good fun and kept me cool (except for the ceilidh top which got very warm and later on I changed into a T-shirt). Enjoyed dancing with one new dancer in particular and had the last couple of dances with her.

The competition was quite good fun. Did Dance with a Stranger and Intermediate. We didn't get anywhere in either though that might have something to do with the fact that I always seemed to end up with my butt facing the judges or maybe just the fact that I wasn't dancing very well. There were some really great dancers there though and they were good to watch.

Loved a few of the showcases; in particular Amir's routine which was graceful and amazing. I've seen his performances on the Jango DVD but they weren't as impressive as the one I watched there. He got a standing ovation at the end and it seemed the most popular showcase though didn't win. I found this a little bit of a crazy decision by the judges but maybe I was missing something.

The day came to a bit of a stop for a while when there was a wedding service in one of the other rooms (downstairs) and our organisers felt that we made to much noise and would disturb the vows. As far as I could tell this was the Britrock people rather than the venue pushing for this and that was really considerate of them. The couple came up afterwards and did a dance for us which was lovely and really brave of them to do.

The early evening got of to a really bad start. After a bit I went back to the hotel (where I caught a bit of Strictly Come Dancing where they apparently were doing West Coast Swing though I'm sceptical to say the least). Got back and had a much better evening (including a few dances with another lovely dancer from down South). Was pulled away from the dancing to dress up for the cabaret (in case we won as we had to do it straight after the awards) which resulted in me missing so many great tracks :'(. Thankfully that was over with and other than possibly one of the worse performances of the cabaret I've done it went ok. Had such a lovely time for the rest of the evening with so many lovely dances with lovely dancers. I am glad it finished when it did though since my legs were aching and I had to get up early the next day to get back to Edinburgh.

Being A WCS Demo

I've still got the Scottish Competition, Southport and Red Hot and Blue to catch up on for last month and this. I'm sure I shall at some stage but these things take time...

Anyway last night I was the demo at the WCS last night. I've never done any form of demoing (at dancing) before and I always assumed, if I did, it would probably be a modern jive event since I quite good at MJ (I'd say intermediate anyway) whereas I consider myself a beginner at WCS. There are certainly better dancers who attend on a weekly basis and though being a teacher or demo shouldn't be about whether you are a great dancer having a much better understanding of the dance is.

It got worse as someone who doesn't really do classes (he tends to have private tuition instead because he is passed what classes cover) came along. I'm not really sure what information I can give someone like that.

Anyway despite my nervousness I think I did ok. For some reason I also ended up walking through some of the footwork and doing some of the calling out (including counting people in and calling out the moves). I didn't really get to dance with that many people either though the teacher is very good and it was a joy getting to dance with her.

Classes

I've still got to write about the Scottish Competition or Southport but I'm sure I'll get around to both. Recently most class nights have seemed pretty average to me. I figured I needed bigger events to get the same enjoyment that I used to get at a class night. I'm pleased to say this week's classes have be really good though.

I had quite a good time at Ceroc on Tuesday, I think a couple of silly dances really made my evening fun. At West Coast Swing on Wednesday, even though there weren't a whole lot of people there just two really good dances were enough for me to think my dancing is coming on and to make my evening.

Finally Thursday night Ceroc seemed to attract a lot of people I don't often see in regular class nights (and one person I haven't seen in ages). I think I had two bad dances in the evening. I felt on form and rushing to try and get dances with all the women I wanted to dance with. The set seems so much better than what I've come to expect of a class night. I don't think that was just because of my dance high, rather the tracks played were just better.

Anyway it's been such a reassuring week for me. Really good to remember how it should be rather than worrying that my class nights just are short term fixes :D.

Asking and Being Asked To Dance

A friend of mine pointed me (ages back now) to a dancer's site which had a few good (and funny) articles in. I lied his article on asking people to dance. It's interesting because, without realising it, you do asked people based on many of these factors. Ceroc tends to have a lot of women asking men though (in part because it is very open about that and, in part, because there are often a lot more women than men).

Google Calendar

While I currently do not seem to be posting about the quite good time I had at the Scottish Competition or the fantastic time I had at Southport I thought I'd mention I've set up a calendar with Modern Jive events in for in and around Edinburgh (though I might expand this to other places or someone else can if they are interested in joining the list. I'll try and keep it up to date and include all the events rather than just ones that I'm going to. I've included a widget on this page to show events and a button to subscribe to the calendar (if you are using Google Calendar that is).

Though I'm adding many of the events anyway and therefore it isn't much work let me know if you find it useful, it might help me remember that it is worth keeping it up to date for others too.

August Round Up

Well August was a fairly quiet month with me taking it easy and making sure I didn't overwork my ankle (which is still not quite right). It was so good to be back and really enjoyed being back dancing, it was like it was the first time all over again. I was following in a few classes to get ready for Role Reversal at the competition (though I never entered into it in the end). I found following in class really interesting and I hope it helped my following.

I also went to the Edinburgh party night which was good mainly as a chance to see all those people from Glasgow and such that I've missed. So August... a bit light on the dancing :(.

Other People Dancing!

Amir uploaded a routine of a workshop he did. I was watching the video and found it very useful as a reminder of some of the stuff that I did in his classes. If you've done some Jango before you might well find it useful.

A Year On and When Things Go Wrong

Well late last June I went to my first Ceroc class. Nervous and uncertain what to expect. I arrived early (something never really seen since) and was greeted by a lovely Taxi dancer who explained what to expect. At the same time I remember being overwhelmed by a couple of dancers doing a warm up dance and thinking that I was way out of my league being there. Anyway the beginner class was difficult. I think I had trouble getting a Shoulder Drop right and spending ages worrying about it. We moved from class into freestyle while I nervously danced with a few women. Even though I was finding it difficult and I knew four moves I loved every bit of it. A lot of men have said it has taken them weeks to actually get to a stage where they were actually enjoying it but I found I was taken with it from the word go.

It didn't take long before I was back again. Part of that was my desire to learn more and to get the moves right. The other part was to get another fix. Less than three months in I found myself in my first competition and my first weekender. That experience just got me both wanting to learn more and realising how much I enjoyed it. I was more hooked than ever before. I tried some other dance styles as well. Salsa never stuck but WCS did and I'm still hoping to learn others (such as actually doing a reasonable level of Tango).

One thing that has always surprised me in dancing is what a lovely, friendly bunch of people go; and how enjoyable it is dancing with people you've danced with many times before and also dancing with people you've just met that night. I met my lovely girlfriend there and it has been so enjoyable to go dancing with her.

I've traveled more in Scotland and around the UK this last year than I have done in my entire life previous to taking up dancing. It's been a fantastic part of my life and I'm so glad that a friend pointed it out and that I decided to go. So to everyone out there that I've met through it and all the lovely people that I've danced with Thank You it's been a wonderful part of my life.

At the beginning of July I had a small accident at work and managed to damage the tendon in my ankle. That's meant that up until recently I haven't been dancing for the last 5 weeks or so (I'm still taking it slowly now but that's for another post). Not dancing for that period made me realise how much of my social, exercise and entertainment dancing is and how the absence of it drove me a little crazy. I think it took that for me to realise what a big part of my life it really is. Not that I'm happy that the lesson had to be learned in such a way.

So I'm hoping that my second year of dancing doesn't go on the way it started but that I can continue to enjoy it and hopefully improve my dancing in the process.

June Review

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.
-Japanese Proverb

Aberdeen Beach Ballroom

I really enjoyed my trip to Aberdeen, the workshops and the parties. Amir has such a good teaching style and I've taken away a lot from the workshops (though still need to practice all of it).

The Saturday party was good, though very busy, and the chocolate and ice cream were wonderful touches. Dance Demon's later, bluesy set, was fab and I had a lot of good dances mostly with people I don't know.

However I preferred Sunday for the wonderful atmosphere and I had my best dances there. At the end of the night I took some advice and closed my eyes while dancing with my partner and it felt wonderful. It made me much more aware of the position of her body and our weight shifting. Another obvious result of this is it required a constant connection. Sending her out into a spin meant that I couldn't be certain of her position or anything. I definitely need to experiment more.

Stirling Tea Dance

I had lots of lovely dances at this tea dance; some very memorable ones from a lovely lady from Aberdeen. I'm hooked on Tea Dances. They seem the best atmosphere for me. I had a really fun four person dance where we constantly gave or stole the lead from the other couple. It was really interesting because it was a challenge invading another couple's space and attempting to disrupt them without actually crashing into them. I shall definitely find some people I can do that with again.

Edinburgh Party

It was a good set at the Edinburgh party and I had a good time. I seem to have a lot of two dances with people from Edinburgh and Glasgow. It worries me that this means that I don't get around to dancing with anywhere near as many people but then I very much enjoyed the dances with the people I had dances with.

Classes and Such

Unfortunately the end of term arrived at West Coast Swing. Which is more of a shame because I finally felt I was really getting the hang of it. I'll see what the next term brings.

A friend I haven't seen for a while came back to the Edinburgh venue and it was amazing seeing how much she had improved. It was really wonderful dancing with her and I think there is a really lovely surprise in seeing people after a few months and see how much they have come on (she is a better dancer than I am, but her style and such were notably more her).

Well that's it for now. I've got a sort of end of June to talk about and the poor months that represent July and the beginning of August. But in time...

May In Review

Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, and she did it backwards and in high heels."
- Faith Whittlesey

Again I've left this much to late to actually remember much about the classes. I did have some wonderful dances during them though.

Big Forum Gathering

My second BFG. This time I was staying a wee bit away from the site making it slightly difficult to get to and from however that didn't seem to stop me attending a big bunch of workshops.

Workshops

I started with Footwork and Body Movement which was basically a solo fixed routine. It was really interesting though as I don't really see myself as a solo dancer but I could see how to integrate some of the into partner dancing. Then I did one of the highlight classes for me Hi-Jack in Style. This had the woman hi-jacking part of the lead and doing her thing. When a follow hi-jacks it adds an unexpected change for the lead and I really enjoy it. Of course what was taught in the class really can only be done by followers (though I have tried a few of them, successfully, as a follower since). There is one that is initiated by the lead. I did a hi-jack class down at Storm but I hated that. I was a joy to do this class though. I also did the Musicality in Practice class though I thought it was alright I probably should have stayed for more of the tea dance (I'll get to that in a bit though).

On Sunday I did the Double Trouble workshop which was mostly the same as last time but I picked up a couple of new moves, it was good to revisit some of the stuff I had already been taught and Bill is always a fantastic teacher. I also attended Playing with the Connection which was interesting though not something you can put into practice with just one workshop. I didn't do any classes in the afternoon as I spent it at the tea dance.

Tea Dances

This BFG really hooked me on tea dances. They have an afternoon relaxed feel about them which is hard to explain. Both tea dances were great to be at with a big bunch of my favourite dancers there. Tiggerbabe really did a wonderful job with the playlist on the Sunday and I had so many wonderful dances I was in heaven.

Friday and Saturday Party

The Friday party might well have been good but I can't actually remember much about it. Oops.

The Saturday party was busy but enjoyable. I got there in time for the end of the class and to watch the Feeling Good routine. Afterwards freestyle got into full swing but a lack of energy kept me from dancing the whole night away.

Overall

There's no write-up for Sunday night's party because I hadn't drank enough water or gotten enough sleep so, by the end of the tea dance, I was feeling pretty bad so I decided to retreat back to Edinburgh.

I had a really great time there and meet some new favorite dancers along with having wonderful dances from existing favorites. The tea dances really had me hooked and I think that shows from my more recent tea dance attendance.

Edinburgh Party

This was a really interesting Edinburgh party for me. I finally managed to get a dance in with a teacher from Aberdeen and she was a truly wonderful dancer. It was a good night otherwise as well with lots of good dances from lots of lovely ladies. I also had a dance with The Tramp. He's an international Ceroc champion so I was interested in having a go dancing with such a proficient lead. It was really interesting following. Unlike most people I follow he was quite capable in leading me into ballroom drops and a somersault move (ok the exit on that didn't go great) and I spent most of the dance in a utter state of confusion. It was good fun though (even if we did have a semi circle of people watching which is a little more attention than I like).

Stirling Tea Dance and Slotted Dancing Workshop

The workshop was really interesting. Since I've been doing a bit of WCS then it was interesting to see how I could apply that slot technique to Ceroc. I try and practice slot techniques in the beginner classes (when I make it) and generally like the style.

Had a really good time at the Stirling Tea Dance. Lots of lovely dancers (many of which were at the party the night before) were there and Tiggerbabe's sets are always spot on. I also took advantage of the cake :D. To say something against it, the sunlight coming in through the large windows made the place even hotter. That mixed with me foolishly drinking coffee and not enough water made me feel faint at one stage. Sensibly I took a break though. Despite there being very few people there I still didn't get around to dancing with all the women :(.

Tags: Ceroc

April Review

Cutting a track short is like stealing a special moment of my life.
-Ducasi

I started off dancing in April early with the April Fools Party. There was some dress code about dressing up foolishly. Since I felt I didn't need much work to get to that state I just went in what I'd normally wear. The party was very quiet since there was another party going on in Glasgow at the same time. This meant:

• having two rooms felt a little excessive.


• it felt like there were more Edinburgh dancers there than Glasgow ones.

This wasn't bad though it did mean that I felt I wasn't really experiencing a Glasgow party. I had a reasonable night though I had a slightly sore knee so I was careful with the moves I did. Not having dips and drops isn't a huge thing but being careful means you have to add another layer on to leading to make sure you automatically don't just lead a move. They supplied Cream Eggs as well which I ate a lot of... and then felt ill :p.

I didn't really attend that many other parties in April. Red Hot and Blue was good from what I recall. I've totally forgotten about classes. This is what you get for writing things up so late. I didn't do to much West Coast Swing this month as most weeks it wasn't running.

My big weekender for the month was Perth ran by Boogie Nights. It's not a Modern Jive event though there was a lot of Modern Jivers there. It made it interesting as you couldn't guarantee that the person who was following had a clue about even the most basic of move. It also means the weekend wasn't necessarily tailored to MJ music though it did end up taking that focus.

The workshops were a bit mixed. I enjoyed the Line Dancing workshop; it was a silly and a fun way to get into the mood for dancing. I enjoyed the WCS workshops though the mix of ability meant that they kept it a little simpler than I was expecting. However it was Keith and Janey's classes that were really the highlights workshop wise. They focused on some really interesting moves and frame theory which was all really interesting stuff. One issue with these classes is the lack of a definitive level of the classes and the fact that there were only two workshops on at the same time meant that people who really weren't ready for those classes attended them.

Friday night party was good and I certainly had a few really enjoyable dances. It was quite warm (indeed this apparently affected the DJ's equipment) but, as it turns out, cool compared to Saturday night. Saturday night was a much shorter evening for me as I didn't get to the party until late and then went up to the hotel room to get a change and fell asleep! So I got about 2 hours of freestyle in (maybe a little less). The atmosphere did seem good but it was very warm and humid making it difficult to have a dance without feeling like you were melting.

However beyond the workshops and the freestyle the hotel, meals and the really pretty city that is Perth made it a really enjoyable weekend for me to spend with my girlfriend. I had a really good and relaxing time.

Ah well that's April's summary done. May and June should hopefully be soon and then I'll try and stay up to date on posting a summary at least at the end of the month if not at the end of a week.

March in Review

Well since I've failed to keep up with my blogging I thought I'd do a few months in review to cover what I've been up to. March was so long ago that I've almost forgotten what happened during it. As I recall there wasn't much in the way of parties in March. There was Red Hot and Blue and the Edinburgh party but beyond that there was the big event: Storm.

Storm

After getting up very early on Friday for the flight and a lift down there I thought I'd call it a short night on Friday night. I did the Funky Jive class; which was a fixed routine to Do Your Thing by Basment Jaxx. It was good fun and was a good way to remove a lot of self conscious feeling you have when in a new dance environment. A few of the things taught, like body rolls, certainly could be used later. I danced 'til 2ish before getting a (relatively) early night. It was good dancing with some people I've met before again and also getting a chance to dance with new people.

Saturday I started of going for pancakes at the chalet of the person who gave me a lift from London. They were lovely :). That gave me the energy to get to a Jango class. This was my first introduction to Jango and Amir as a teacher. People have said a lot of good things about his teaching style and for good reason; he's a fab teacher with good advice and a pleasant and amusing teaching style. Loved the concepts of Jango and the smooth feel of the moves to the degree that I was sold on the DVD. I also did the WCS class which was all stuff I had done before; however it was good to get a different perspective on it. I also did a Dance Psychology class which was like being on the forum except trapped in a room instead. Amir's musicality class was also very good. I'd really glad I fixed partner with Dizzy as my concentration was beginning to wane and I made a lot of stupid mistakes... plus she was a great laugh. I didn't stick with the Waltz, Men Style or Sabotage class possibly because I was too tired and they weren't really gripping me.

Saturday evening didn't start out great for me. I certainly had a few enjoyable dances but nothing wonderful. I thought maybe I had burnt myself out during the day. Anyway I went back to the room to go get changed and back to the dancing but then I fell asleep! It all could have gone horribly wrong if it hadn't been for someone woke me up with a text about how Blackpool was. I promptly left my room to go dancing again and had a really wonderful night including a bit of following, some double trouble with the "D" sisters and some simply divine dances with some of the best dancers from around the UK. I pretty much spent the whole night in the blues room but didn't regret that for a minute.

Did some good classes on Sunday including West Coast Swing 2 and Up Close And Personal along with Cuban Blues which, given the teachers were at the post-party party that I was at was surprised how well we all did.

Sunday evening was just as good, if not better, than Saturday night. There was a woman, who I was introduced to (called Lucy), who I had some really lovely dances with and another woman who I had no idea who she was that I had a couple of fantastic dances with (that I still remember two months down the line). I'm not sure if it was the atmosphere or my mood but so many dances just seemed to work and I had a really, really, really, good time.

Jango

Since I was in London on Monday the person I was staying with kindly took me to Jango. I heard a lot about it before I'd been and I really enjoyed the class at Storm. The Jive/Tango blend appeals to me as I really enjoy Tango and the fusion of the styles sounded yummy. I did have a wonderful time. It was very quiet but there were a lot of fantastic dancers there and after Lily B complimented me on my footwork I was over-joyed.

Tags: Ceroc

February Round-Up

I've gotten very lazy at writing up posts. If my voice was a lot more exciting I might have just uploaded the discussions I've had on the dancing I've done. It's not though.

I've been recording my moves as audio which allows me to replay them on my iPod before going to a dance. This has benefits from having them written down (in the fact that I can listen to them while walking) but there is something about writing a move down that makes it easier to understand. I suppose video would be the best media; though saying that I've never really watched the BFG routines I have.

Who said I don't just write any thought that comes into my head down?

As with the previous few I'm not writing the moves I did down. If someone was actually interested in them let me know.

Tango on the 5^th

Started my first Tango class. It was quite different from the other dances I've currently been doing. A lot more focus on weight distribution (for obvious reasons) and we were taught some very basic things such as walking. The key element to Tango appears to be a very strong torso lead and, when walking, traveling through the centre point of your axis. It doesn't really feel like dancing yet so I'm hoping to progress to a stage where it feels it does.

Ceroc on the 7^th

Quite an average night at Ceroc; this one. The music was a little average and I had difficulty really getting into the dances. A shame after the delightful time I had on Thursday.

West Coast Swing on the 8^th

I had a wonderful night at WCS tonight. Really lovely music; lots of nice dances that though might have been simplistic really felt like they flowed. My brain began to do the steps without me needing to be actively aware of it. Certainly hoping for more nights like this one (unlike the next one).

Ceroc on the 9^th

Another fairly average night at Ceroc. It all started out quite well but I think I started losing energy towards the end which didn't help. Had a go at following which was good fun though I found it very difficult and it does imply that it might just be me anticipating my regular lead more; I'm not sure.

Valentine's Day Ceroc

Tonight was a little better than the last couple. I had quite a few good dances; it was good being a little selfish and getting quite a few dances with my girlfriend. Saying that the evening was quite quiet so I got to dance with most of the women there. One woman seemed a little surprised that I was asking her to dance; I'm a little worried that that's a sign I'm becoming a Hotshot but she didn't seem to imply it that way... it was more a pleasant surprise. I did some double trouble as well; which was a bit of a shame as I would have liked to dance with both women separately (well I did have quite a few dances with one of the women; but none with the other :'( ). At the request of the teacher I wore a pink T-shirt which she did comment on, from the stage, in front of the class, which got me a little embarrassed. The music tonight could have been better but it was alright. I was hauled up for Now That I Can Dance by someone before I could escape. On that note I've discovered I love Chains by, the same artist, Tina Arena; it's a divine WCS track.

West Coast Swing on the 15^th

Unfortunately not as good a night as last week. The music seemed a bit trickier, but I think I was just less on form, most of my dances didn't really flow and that was at no fault to my partners. It did feel like a bit of a step back and definitely not the week that I wanted to finally get a dance with the teacher. Still I'll definitely stick at it; I just need to be more in the zone. At the end of the class the music went a bit crazy and we had Ceroc, Cha-Cha and a variety of stuff that was interesting to dance to.

Tags: Ceroc, Tango, WCS

Thursday Night Wholesome Goodness

I had some utterly wonderful dances tonight. I felt I might have been a little selfish, as I had multiple dances with a few of the women I was really enjoying dancing with, but it was working so well that I didn't want to leave. I had a bit of practice on a few moves that I enjoy doing. Most of the time they worked; which was just fab. The intermediate routine was good as well; it had a lot of moves flowing from another which I think is good practice for freestyle showing how you can break down a move and chain one move straight on from another. I haven't written the moves (I did voice record them; but I'm not taking up Podcasting :p). If you are interested in the moves we did (or at least my scribble about them) let me know. I figure most people skip that stuff anyway.

Tags: Ceroc

WCS Wednesday

Another night at West Coast Swing and though I'm still frequently getting things wrong and finding it difficult to make the moves flow I'm still enjoying myself. Most of my brain is still focusing on making my footwork match the timing of the song and I found out a bit more about the lead/follow connection techniques along with the fact that it's more a slinky dance and therefore there is a lot less hip movement :(.

We did a lot of moves tonight though I'm still sticking with a lot of sugar pushes before doing anything and my "other moves" are quite far between. When I tried linking moves without sugar pushes they generally went wrong. I'd write up the moves but there was quite a lot and I just voice recorded it. If you are really interested I'd be happy to give a go at writing them up.

Tuesday Blues... In a Good Way!

The DJ started by impressing me with his set between the beginners and intermediate class by playing a set consisting mostly of blues. His set didn't quite maintain that for the rest of the evening but was really good never-the-less. Anyway the music and my partners so picked up the night to be a wonderful evening. I had a lot of enjoyable dances where we played with the music a lot. Did a spot of double trouble and swapped leads with a lovely partner which was great fun.

I've got a good hold of double spins now and can generally do them every time I feel inclined (and sometimes when I'm not really initially wanting to). However I am beginning to worry that I'm often not there to take my partner's hand when she comes around and I think that might be effecting the quality of our dance.

Moves:

• Arm Wrap into Neck Break. Start with both hands held; take your right and wrap it so that the woman's arm is under yours and her arm is between your arm and your body. Place her hand on your (right) shoulder and take her to your right facing in the same direction as you as you take her right hand in your right at her right shoulder. Wrap her into you and then double turn her (in one count) around to face.


• First Move Underarm Mambo Walk. First move, as you push her out turn to face (left foot forward) and keep a high frame with the right and the left hand low. Lift your right to take her under your arms and guide with the left. As she is going under your arms step back with the left (where back is in relation to her so 90° to your original position). Then step back right, then left and move into a mambo step for four beats (your right arm is crossed with hers, kinda like what you might have on Sunday stroll, apparently). Bring her in-front of you with the right for a spin. As she spins take her right arm with your left (for a Ceroc Spin) and spin her the other way. Catch, return and go into a double handed hold.


• Slow Walk Push Spin. Double handed. Pull down towards your right hip with both hands taking the woman past you, raise your hands to turn her behind you so that your hands are crossed. Slow walk her forward past you (for 4 counts) as she comes past take your left hand up her left to her left shoulder as you turn her around. Take her right hand into a push spin and push return her (taking the left hand up to put her into a turn). I've done the latter half of this move before.

Tags: Ceroc

Edinburgh Party 7

Arrived just in time for the fun class at the Edinburgh party night. I wasn't going to do the class but the teacher pointed out there was only one woman extra so I thought I'd balance the numbers. As they were on the second move I played a quick catch-up. There were a few women in the class where the party night was their first night. I can't imagine the evening being easy for them (and I had a dance later with a few of them) as it seems they really were starting at the deep end.

I never really enjoyed the music for much of the night. There was a lot of fast stuff (especially earlier on) without any slow, or even average, tempo stuff. There also was a lot of tracks where there wasn't really a chance to play with the music much. I found it, as a result, difficult to really get into it during the earlier part of the evening (that's not to say it was just the music but it was a factor) and I only had a few good dances during the first half of the night. Later on the evening picked up a lot though and I had a lot of really good dances; only wish I could have been in that zone earlier.

During the evening I had a double trouble dance that went well (ish). Another double trouble dance (to Now That I Can Dance) which didn't go smoothly but I found hilarious and made me almost enjoy dancing to that song. I also followed (and led for a short while) Ducasi; he led really well and found it much easier to follow him that most of the people I've had lead me.

It wasn't my best party night ever but it was good fun.

Tags: Ceroc

Thursday Night Going Well

Tonight went well. You always worry after a couple of not great nights that
it might not be but it went well. I had a lot of good dances and part of that
was just feeling like I had a good connection. My balance was good and enjoyed
doing a few double spins. There were a lot of fast tracks which I'm not a huge
fan of but were fun to dance to all the same. There was also no Now That
I Can Dance, seriously it wasn't there. I'm so happy. Anyway a few
of the regulars that I love dancing with weren't there but there were plenty
of women who were there that I enjoyed dancing with (I had a lovely dance
with the taxi dancer who took me through my first lesson). Aleks took me through
how to practice body rolls.

• Armjive Swizzle Into Underarm Pass. I'm to lazy at the moment to look
  this up but I've done it before. Armjive, pass under the arm on the Swizzle
  then push the woman to your left keeping both hands into a half nelson; then
  slide under your right arm to get in-front of the woman and turn her. I notice
  I've gotten lazy in freestyle and kept the right hand at shoulder level and
  pass underneath it there.


• Basket Into Turnaround Spin with Lady Spin. Liked this one. Basket
  but rather than exit turn the lady 180° clockwise as you turn yourself and take your left hand up so it is at the lady's shoulder. Then use that to turn her around 1½ times in one count. Take her hand out to your right and both of you spin (I took this chance to do double spins as everyone was doing a spin).


• Catapult into Sway Accordion Dip. Catapult offering left hand up
  at shoulder level, on the right side, when the lady is behind you. Lead her
  to take it and return her in-front until she is facing away putting your right
  on her waist at the right and putting her left on the left hand side of your
  waist. Push her across with the right taking your left high into an Accordion
  position. Return her wrapping her right into a half nelson keeping the left
  high. When she is facing towards your right side take your left over her head
  (with your arm across her back) and put her into a dip. Exit letting go
  of left and unwrapping with the right swapping to your left hand.

Tags: Ceroc

West Coast Swing

Well I thought I'd give West Coast Swing a go tonight. Much like my first night at Salsa I found the footwork difficult and it feeling a little bit of a step back (no pun). However unlike Salsa I really enjoyed the music and the people were much nicer which makes a big difference. Anyway rather than write out lots about WCS I'll just link to the Wikipedia entry. The basic step works on a step on left (normally back) then on right then a triple step ; followed by a second triple step so your weight is on your right foot (allowing your left to move again). Most followers gave the right tension and were very good at following which was delightful (and I needed the help).

I did find that the footwork and a much more strict requirement on the count took up a lot of my brain activity leaving me with very little to actually focus on having fun with my partner. A few times I got into the zone and found the footwork became automatic. At other times I found myself getting so much into moving to the music I just led my partner into a First Move... oops.

The slotted dancing is nice and neat. I like it :).

Anyway the moves, quite quickly: The Sugar Push (including one where on the push you transferred to the right hand allowing for a right handed step across with you moving to the left and letting go with your hand wait for the woman to turn and take left to right). Underarm Pass (lift hand step to your left, with right foot forward, then cross step so left foot is behind as you turn for you and your partner to do a ronde). A starting move where you have a closed First Move like position and do a double triple step to get on the same timing and do some compression and such then lead the woman out into an open triple step before cross stepping to the left (as another triple step count). The Whip; which:

Whip: This 8 count basic resembles Lindy Hop. The follower starts at one end of the slot and is led around the lead, to the same end of the slot she started. However there is one fundamental difference from the Lindy Hop Swing Out. The follower stays in her slot, pivoting, then coming back to where she started. The leader steps in and out of the slot, creating a less circular, and more elastic move.

Wikipedia Entry

We also did a whip where we stayed in the pivot repeating it over and over.

Tags: West Coast Swing

Tuesday Blues Part 2

I went in dancing tonight with high hopes but again something about the evening just made it a bit of a poor one. I think it was a factor of my own dancing, the music, how warm I was and other dances that didn't go so well. I wasn't really on form and at times I just felt I was going through the motions or that my dance was a bit uninspired. I think that can have a knock on effect to other things; I'm sure I'd enjoy the musical set (well excluding Now That I Can Dance), for example, if I was in the zone. I also found it really warm which I've been finding a lot of venues too warm for a while so it suggests it's something about me. Anyway all said I did have a handful of very good dances. One of which was probably one of the best dances I had with a lady who is very close to me.

That same lovely lady that gave me a fab dance also wrote up some moves for me; I'll quote her write-ups:

• First Move Behind Wrap Spin. Start a First Move but as you push the woman out let go with your left hand and keep your right hand on the left hand side of her waist. Using that hand turn her clockwise 180° keeping your hand on her hip (which is now at the far side) as she is slightly behind you facing away to your right. Nudge her with your right hand and keep your left hand behind you to allow her to loop her arm around it. You then bring her around with that loop and spin her in front catching right. Return.


• Man Wrap.
  

  Starts like a catapult - when the lady is behind you, bend your right arm and turn anti-clockwise to face the lady. Hover your left arm over
  the lady's right arm. P}lace your hand on her arm to bring her in to
  your side. Walk around for two beats, unwrap yourself by lowering your
  right arm and stepping in front of you, finish with a return.



• Secret Walk Turnaround Into Double Handed Ladyspin with a Comb Lean.

  Holding right to right, signal to the lady by placing your left arm
  overyour right arm above the elbow. Step in side to side with the lady
  - she takes spare hand, extend right arm so that lady pivots to be at
  your side. Bring both hands together and turn the lady anti-clockwise
  until she comes round to face you. Twist slightly out so that you end
  up stood side by side, bringing your left arm over your shoulder and
  your right arm in front of the lady at her left hip. Then raise your
  left arm, lower your right as you step across moving the lady to your
  other side, lower both arms so that they are in front of you at hip
  level. Pivot clockwise bringing the lady round to face, taking both
  hands out to the right in preparation for a flick spin. Spin the lady
  catching right to right, Turn the woman for a comb, turning yourself as
  well so you end up side by side,take the woman's arm over your head and
  lunge to the right.

Tags: Ceroc

New Teacher On a Monday

I cancelled a regular event so I could meet someone this week. As she had to pull out then I had nothing to do with my evening. Thankfully dancing was on tonight so I headed up there...

We had a returning teacher tonight. I've never been taught by her before and it was her first night back. I found she instructed well though the intermediate class was relatively simple and I was unsure about the ending on the third move. I'll get to that in a bit though. I haven't been to a Monday in quite a while. There were quite a few new dancers there. Whether that is because of the new year or the Monday caters to a slightly less advanced audience than, say, Thursday I'm unsure. Anyway after playing quite a bit at Route 66 tonight a few women looked a bit confused when I opened a lead for them. I did have some good dances tonight; I am worried that I'm not expanding my move repertoire as much as I could be. Though I think I'm much better at doing many of the moves I lead now I worry that I've got to focus on improving and incorporating moves that I'm weaker at. I've been working on my footwork moves though I'm still a pretty weak lead with them.

I got to do some double trouble with two lovely ladies who I don't think had done it much before. It was good fun though and it has been a while so it was good that I still remembered my limited array of moves.

Now That I Can Dance was on again tonight. I did bring it up at the end because I really don't want to hear it 4 times this week but I suspect I will. Otherwise there were some good tracks on tonight and some less good ones. I thought the set was alright.

Moves:

• First Move Walk. As you enter the First Move keep your left hand on your shoulder (I changed it to a butterfly grip to try and stop the woman anticipating and to make it easier to lead). Walk around for a couple of counts then continue as a regular First Move.


• Basket Cross Step into Left Handed Comb. Basket; as you bring the woman forward though extend her further forward so she takes her right foot very much in front of you. Lead her forward so she takes her left over her right (generally in a cross step but you can't guarantee this; you can cross step as well); she is now doing that directly in-front of you. As you guide her to face left, at some stage, let go with your right hand and return her under your left then take it straight into a Left Handed Comb.


• Double Handed Yo-Yo into Lunge Step. Start a Yo-Yo but offer your left hand in-front of you at waist level. As you execute the push-turn on the Yo-Yo take your left hand up as well (still holding on) and around the woman's head. When she comes to face keep turning her another 90° and turn as well so you are both facing the same way with your left hand at the left side of your waist and your right by the woman's right (ish). Lunge left leading the woman to do the same; as you do take your hand over your left shoulder. As you come back up you take your right hand over the woman's shoulder. At this stage we just sort of broke the flow of the move, rather than side your hand to the woman's hand on your shoulder instead, we just took our hands away and turned to face taking left to right. It was a fairly disappointing ending; it just stopped the flow. I've done this move before sans the weird ending; just to lazy to look it up.

Tags: Ceroc

Route 66

I'll try and keep this quite short since it is late. I doubt it will happen though. Anyway I had a quite good time tonight. I think I was a bit tired and drained of energy. Tiredness generally effects my concentration and therefore has an impact on my musicality; move repertoire and general connection. Lack of energy seems to effect my balance (and therefore my ability to do spins) more than anything else. I think the amount of caffeine I drank to remain awake also kept me very warm. My level of skill fluctuated through the night. There was one fast song, that went on for ages, that started of well but went downhill after it continued on. I coped alright with the bluesy stuff at the end. I had quite a few enjoyable "fun" dances and quite a few good technique dances as well. I did take quite a few breaks and before I knew it the night was over. I had the last three dances with the same girl (because the first track we danced to was naff; the second was better and then we just figured we'd stick with each other for the last track). They were enjoyable; she is a good dancer with a lot of style. We also had a few dances earlier where she lead and we stole the lead from each other which was fun. Had good dances with others too; some regular partners and others much more infrequent (or the first time tonight). I didn't get a dance with every woman in the hall; which was a shame as I certainly think it would have been possible.

I practiced the Argentinean First Move a bit with mixed results but, occasionally, it worked really well and I was over the moon. I also put one follower into a Lambda Drop and she took me bringing her back up as a sign I was going to drop her rather than me just feeling we had held the position long enough. She sort of yelped :o.

I felt the music was a bit of a mix at times. There were certainly a few tracks I didn't like but also some really good ones.

Tags: Ceroc

Thursday Night Fun

After having a fairly poor night on Tuesday it was good to see that tonight was very different :D. Had a great time tonight. A lot of really working dances. Had a couple that went a bit wrong; think I tried playing to much with less experienced dancers. There were a few new people tonight. I managed to get a dance with a few of them; which is good. I got a lot of attention for my "Cunningly Disguised As An Adult" T-shirt as well :). The moves tonight were really good. My teacher for Tuesdays was also there and kindly took the time to work on the move from Tuesday that I really liked. It was of great help and I really appreciated her going out of her way to go over it. Don't think I have it mastered but think I have it more sorted. I'll just update that move. Back to tonight's moves (oh we did a Push Spin on its own in the beginners class; very strange):

• Sway Walkaround Sway. Sway but walk back for a count then pivot yourself and your partner on the spot so you are facing the other way with your left hand at her left hip and right in front of you with her to your left. Then push on her left hip (and draw in with the right) so she moves across in front of you and goes into a Sway. Back and forwards then return (in this case one handed swapping to left.


• Thing With Arms And Stuff. Double handed. Start with a Left Handed Comb but turn your back to your partner so your left arm rests on your right shoulder. Then lift your right up behind you to turn your partner 90° clockwise as you turn the same as well (so you are side to side facing the opposite sides to each other). Turn her back to face you (continuing the turn) as you, umm, turn to face her back. As with the Grande Mangle your right hand is outstretched and your left is on the lady's neck. Take your right to her left waist then right to left. Wiggle (ok I added this in) before taking your right up to turn her twice (anti-clockwise) bringing the left up to meet as she comes to face the first time. You end this part with your hands crossed. Take her past your right side with your hands at your waist. Slide your left up towards her left shoulder as you turn her in front. As she is turned lock your left on her left shoulder (with her right hand in yours) and your right outstretched into a push spin position (though she is 90&#B0; facing your right) to turn her nearly twice. Return.


• First Move Push. First Move but throw out with left and step back with right to face your partner with your right on her back to guide her forward. Lead her forward while lunging and indicate to a clockwise turn and catch right.

The DJ, at a few peoples request, played some new music (new to him playing it) for half an hour. He had a few complaints so he aborted it. I really enjoyed experimenting with the new tracks and though I liked familiar territory as well I'm hoping we can move more to playing more untested tracks.

Tags: Ceroc

Tuesday Night Blues

Well everyone has bad nights and this was one of mine. I couldn't get on form and had difficulty concentrating for the whole evening. My dancing felt a bit flat and I didn't seem to have any musicality or rhythm sense at all. It's not that I didn't have good dances but I felt my own form was a bit off for all of them. My partners certainly weren't to blame and in a few cases we made the most of it. This also was true in the intermediate class as well where I had a lot of difficulty with the moves. I did like the First Move though and the footwork First Moves are certain something I'll be working on. Hope the women I dance with don't get bored of it. Quick move list. I'll try and write some more details later.

• Basket into Double Handed Lady Spin. Start a Basket. As you wrap her in don't lower the left hand. Instead turn her behind you with both hands. Turn anti-clockwise and take her hands out to your left for a double handed lady spin.


• Argentinean First Move. Oh this move was sexy. I shall work on getting it right but I had a lot of issues with the timing. Start a First Move, when you move to pivot the woman out turn 180° to face but offset to her left with your left foot forward along side her back foot (which will be her right) with a hand on her hip with your right and a butterfly or normal grip with the left. Take a whole count pause on this then move your left foot and guide her right foot parallel so you are facing each other then push her left foot back stepping forward with your right in front of the left (a sort of cross-step); this action should take one count. Then draw parallel by moving the left before stepping backwards with your right cross stepping your left. We changed direction at this stage. I got some hints that you should take a full count on this so do a weight shift for a beat (which should lead the woman to a weight shift as well) then reverse direction and draw parallel by using your right. Then step backward with the left; parallel and end with a push out like the middle of a First Move (so you step back with left facing the same way as the women) and end as normal.


• Armjive Step into Slow Comb Walk. Move into the woman's left side taking hands to waists then push out. Repeat on the right hand side. Put hands over both your heads (so you are facing the opposite way with a hand resting on your and your partner's far shoulders) slide out right to right and move into a comb. Travel with the comb for a bit then break contact.

A smart lady pointed out the main difference between the Argentinean moves and the Colombian moves is that in the case of the latter the follow mirrors the action of the lead.

Tags: Ceroc

Red Hot and Blue Number 2

Just come back from Red Hot and Blue. It was a lovely night. Like last time I felt it was a little warm and the floor was tricky to spin on. Someone talc'd the floor and that gave us a brief super spin time (it's like a power-up) where we could spin like crazy. But that quite quickly left the floor on people's feet. The music was the slow stuff that I'd expect allowing you a lot more freedom to play around with the music though sometimes that makes me feel a little lost. Still learning a lot about blues dancing and have some way to go. While I'm on music I found the beat in Santana's Maria Maria very tricky to dance to. I found I could some times get some footwork going for the beat but I found leading my follower to the beat a lot more tricky (or even thinking of moves that might work in this regard). I think it was a track Franck and Tiggerbabe used in the How To Slow Jive class at Southport so I should have had a few moves that could have played to it but I found it a little tricky to execute those moves to it. Anyway as I really enjoyed the beat I'd love to practice dancing to that style of music.

I did have a few dances where I found it tricky to make a connection or that I was too low on energy to concentrate on. However most dances were really excellent and I had such a good time. I found playing great fun and was complimented on my ability to react to a lady steal. Lots of luscious dances with some of my favourite dancers. Aleks (I hope she doesn't mind me using her name; I'll check) said she noticed that I was flirting a bit in the dance and we had a really good time just having some fun. I felt that it worked really well; I've got to remind her to show me how to practice body rolls :). Also my lovely dancing spy mentioned that some people were talking about me and established that I'm a passionate dancer. That wasn't unfortunately said directly to me but I loved that as a complement. I suppose it makes me feel my enjoyment of the dance shows through.

I had a couple of dances where I followed for half the time. One was with a man, though not the man I had arranged to have a man-dance with, we both found it difficult given the bluesy nature of the track. It was also difficult for me to improvise as a follower. I had a second track straight afterwards with a woman who was leading; I found I needed a stronger lead (and I don't even mean that it the clearer way; I actually mean a physically stronger lead) and found it tricky to dance as a follower. Willing to give it more goes though :D. It was fun stealing the lead from her and her asking how that happened.

I really music thank all the women I got a dance with tonight for making the evening so good. Without you I'd just be wiggling my butt on the dance floor.

Tags: Ceroc

Thursday Night Goodness

It was a really, really good night tonight. There were a lot of people there including a big bunch of new faces. It did result in it being very warm for much of the evening. A got in a few dances with women I haven't danced with in a while and really enjoyed them all. They've improved and my lead might well have improved as well and I hope I make a better attempt at dancing with them in the future. Though there were a lot of beginners I hardly seemed to be able to get a hold of any of them leaving me a bit shameful at my lack of dancing with any of them. I managed to get a few dances with my favourite dancers tonight. I find I've been playing more and I certainly really had enjoyable dances with them; a few of them mentioned that they had a good dance with me. Hoping that's also the case with those that didn't mention. I've realised I'm much more a fan of fun dances than technically excellent dances though I'd like a better grasp of the latter. I think my ability to lead footwork moves has actually gone down hill.

I think I managed to annoy someone dancing Now That I Can Dance with them. I did warn her I hated the track but maybe I would have been better turning her down. I don't think I put in that much effort and towards the end of the track I realised how silly I was being but I think she had entirely lost interest by that stage.

I'm currently trying to follow once a lesson. A friend who I really enjoy leading (she does a lot of exciting footwork that I enjoy) lead for a bit of a track. I'm still pretty back at following though. It's this whole taking instruction thing.

I found my double spin confidence has increased as well and I can casually go into a double spin from a Comb. I hope the women I dance with aren't getting aggravated by having to wait for my spin though.

Done the first two intermediate moves before. I'd look them up but I'm changing the way I list moves any day now anyway. There was one woman that I didn't have any desire to do the dip with as it was her first week. I'm not sure why she was in the intermediate class. I don't think she was a bad beginner but I would hardly say she was the exceptional that I think you should be to attempt an Intermediate class on your first week. I tried it on my fifth though so I can hardly talk.

• Accordion Sit Down. Variant involving taking the woman's left hand in right and moving her out for a lady spin.


• False Pretzel Sway.


• Neck Break Weird Lean. Start a Neck Break but put your right hand over the woman's shoulder so your thumb is facing down. Transfer her right hand into your right; turning her so she is on your right side facing the same way as you with your and her right hand on her right shoulder and she offers her left at your waist level which you take with your left. You then turn her into face you though I'm a bit uncertain if there is another step here. Switch her over to your left side mirroring the previous position then raise the right to turn her moving your arms so your right is locked behind your head and your left is at her left waist. Wrap this arm to her waist for support while taking your left leg behind her for support. Twist anticlockwise to put her into a lean. I could do with confirming this move. Move out double handed into an Accordion.

Tags: Ceroc

Triple Spin! Triple Spin?

At the joining together bit of the beginner's class I might have done a triple spin (it might have only been a double; but what a double if so) during a Catapult. Either way I was intending a double but it was the lack of force put into it that (I felt) made it feel graceful and I came to a rest just as I turned to face my partner on the last spin. It was fab; of course I couldn't, as much as I tried, replicate it for the rest of the night. Anyway that made me feel confident for the rest of the evening and I enjoyed a big bunch of my dances. A few times I got some great complements from my partner as well which probably only helped inflate my ego but did help, I think, the confidence I put into the dance. Had a really exhausting dance to Zoot Suit Riot on the "last" dance and finished with a twilight dance with a really lovely dancer. I felt in the zone tonight and more so towards the end which was a shame as I would have happily danced longer (though my legs were beginning to tire).

It was too hot tonight and my first T-shirt change in a regular class since... I can't remember when. There were also far to many extra women leading to me not getting to choose my partner as much as I'd like and not getting to dance with a lot of people that I wanted to dance with.

Moves were:

• Basket Back Turn. Start Basket but keep left hand high and pull with right to put the woman into a clockwise turn. Let go with right as she is behind you but continue to turn her so she is at your left side (though you turn to face). Travel return her back to where she started.


• First Move Barrier Walk Thing. First Move Barrier. Draw your left hand to your right (in a lady spin sort of position) and cross step. Cross step taking your right hand over the left as you take your left hand to the left and turn to follow it. The back right. Spin both of you. Catch right.


• Chop, Lock and Flop. Right hand start. Place left high up right arm and draw the woman in to take it. Extend her out to your right side then turn her in towards you taking your left to her left shoulder and turning her back to you as you move around taking your right to a really uncomfortable position before letting go and pushing her out with the left then turn her using that hand. Accordion. I might get around to writing this up properly; or not.

Tags: Ceroc

Welcome Back To Ceroc!

Well I was suffering some withdrawal symptoms since Saturday so it was good to be back. I think after the amount of concentrated parties I was at tonight was a little flat (the weekender blues). However I did have some really good dances with a few people. Did a Catapult Lambda in a way that worked so well it surprised me and I think my partner liked it too :D (used the second hand on her back as support rather than kept it on her thigh). Had some good dances with a mixed range of other people though a couple of times I found myself going on autopilot rather than really thinking about anything. I was a bit off balance for a lot of the evening; I'm not sure why that happened. I double troubled to Now That I Can Dance. One of the women had already heard my singing and obviously came back because she liked it so much. I still hate the track but I'm determined not to let it beat me!

A few other venues weren't open causing the evening to be quite packed including a couple of surprise attendees. I think a salsa lesson was cancelled and we had a few of the salsa people there as well and they were very interesting to dance with. I enjoy new styles and that was certainly the case.

Had covered two of the moves and most of the other one already but a brief summary (and I'll be changing the way I list these some time soon; seriously).

• Wurlitzer Basket Caress into Mambo Step. Like the other time though most of the time it still seemed that either me or the woman ended up on the wrong footing.


• Catapult Swizzle Comb into Lady Comb. Catapult. Take your right hand to the right then over your head on the way out of it. Then turn the woman into a swizzle position to a comb. Then lady comb (with your thumb downwards to assist with the turn) then do a quick double turn.


• Catapult Into Dip

With the first move I started of getting it right with a lovely partner from Glasgow but it went wrong most times there on in. She asked how our dancing was this evening. I was a bit neutral maybe but I did enjoy the dances and I think the connection was stronger than it has been which makes a difference. She commented on that but I'd be inclined to agree; I find the people I enjoy dancing the most with are those that I feel the best connection with.

Anyway another few days 'til my next fix. How will I cope?

Tags: Ceroc

New Year Ball 2005

I was at the 2005 New Year Ball tonight (well last night and this morning really). The hall was really nice with a good layout for the dance floor and a well sized dance floor. I was warm but that's probably, in part, due to me being ill and wasn't really much to do with the hall. I was also probably quite warm because I started out wearing a dinner shirt, waistcoat and jacket. I changed to progressively cooler and more casual things as the night moved on.

Anyway on to the music which was outright stunning with the exception of Now That I Can Dance (where a woman especially came to find me know I hate that track; feel the love) and there were a few other tracks I couldn't quite get into. I found out a track I was hunting down was called Last Night by DJ Robbie (it isn't on iTunes though :( ).

Dancing was fantastic and I really hope this is an example of how 2006 will pan out. Though I felt I was being a little cheeky at times I had so many really good dances with so many different women. One woman commented very favourably on my wiggle so I'll keep it up until women are sick of it. I had a lot of dances with people I know (and really enjoy dancing with) and a good range of dances with people I didn't know. I didn't managed to get a dance with everyone I wanted to nor did I get a dance with all the new faces. I got the final couple of dances with a lovely dancer who seems to be under the crazy impression that she isn't one of my top dancers.

The was a cabaret performance from Dance Demon (who I didn't realise could sing); someone doing some Irish Soft Shoe dancing and Dancing for (with) Dummies. The last one way very funny. We also did some Ceilidh just after the bell which was good fun though threw many of us out of our element.

I felt I was chaining moves together better as well tonight and I think that's something I need to work on more in future (along with a lot of other things). Said my goodbyes and new year wishes (and kisses :D). Anyway in 2006 I hope I can take my dancing to new levels; given the line-up of weekenders; workshops and parties I fail to see how it won't be a good year.

Happy New Year.

Tags: Ceroc